Photoshop

Here’s a few photoshopped images:

Photos Available

I’ve most of the photos from the Nationals here: http://www.zooomr.com/photos/jeff686.  The order seems a little backward.  There are also several pages of the super squad, plus a few other random pictures.  Squad 15 starts around page 6.

I’m working on the videos tomorrow.  You can find a few here: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=53EF209B65A98A3D

Here’s Angus:

Day Four Recap

Today was the final day of the match.  We had only three stages today so they could have time to tally the scores  before tonight’s award presentation.  I shot my best today, probably because I wasn’t worried about trying too hard.  The three stages today were very short, simple and straighforward.

This morning I woke up with a slight hangover, but I wasn’t drinking last night.  I guess that the hot and dry desert has dehydrated me more than I realized.  I drank a lot of water this morning, but am still feeling a little dry.  After brunch I headed out ot the range, only to get a voice message that I was late!  To my embarrasment, the afternoon session was starting at 12:00, not 12:30 as I had thought.  Luckily, I made it in time to join my squad and didn’t miss any stages.

I uploaded some videos to youtube.  You can find them by following the youtube to the right at the bottom of ‘Favorite Links’.

I didn’t take any pictures today, but here are a couple from day two:

Day Three Recap

I didn’t manage to make any live posts today from the range.  The shooting bays we used today were in the lower areas of the range, and I didn’t have any cell phone signal to get the messages out.

I shot pretty well today, better than on previous days.  We only shot four stages today,  but also had to visit the chronograph to measure our ammo to confirm it meets the minimum power requirements.  My division (open, major) requires a power factor (velocity x weight) of 165.  Unlike the Area 1 match last year, I made sure I had enough extra headroom in case there was some variability in my loads, and scored a 169.

Our first stage today had a ‘texas star’.  It is a star of five falling plates that can rotate on a central hub.  The star on our first stage had a couple of hard cover that limited the range where you can shoot the plates.  See a video of the texas star below.  I didn’t have any trouble with the star, but at least one other competitor managed to stop the star with two remaining plates hidden behind the hard cover.  It was quite a delema, and cost some people points.  You can also see a video of me shooting the stage below.

I stayed late at the range today and took some pictures of the super squad (the group of professional shooters) shoot one of the stages.  The pictures are not really noteworthy, but I did get a good one of Rob Leatham.  I’ve attached it below with a couple shots of guys from my squad doing speed reloads.  Notice that they are ejecting the used magazines while reaching for a replacement.  Sometimes they are so fast the flying brass from the last shot doesn’t even hit the ground. 

Tomorrow, we have three more stages in the afternoon.  I don’t know if I made up any ground in the points standings, since it is too early to get the results for day 3.

                                                             

Day Two Recap

Day two was great fun.  Again today my performance was not up to par.  I know I can shoot better, but just can’t seem to get my head in the game.  As of the end of today, I am at about 150 out of 300.  I have two more days to try to climb up into the top third.  More importantly, I’m having great fun.  The stages are difficult to shoot and are doing a good job at testing skills that I don’t regularly practice.

As I said below, it was very dusty and windy today.  The free-standing awnings they use for shade on each shooting bay did not tolerate the wind too well.  Several times the wind picked them up and blew them around.  We took to hanging our gear bags from the awning frames to hold them in place.

Here are some fresh pictures from today:

 

Dusty Day Two

Day two is almost over, and boy is it dusty! The winds have picked up and my eyes ard burning from the dust. It seems to get everywhere, in my gun, camera, phone, eyes, and a thick layer has coated my glasses.

Guess I’ll have to clean my gun tonight!

Start of Day Two

Today I’m shooting in the afternoon. It will likely be hotter than yesterday, since we were done before noon.

The first stage today went much better than yesterday. There was one swinger that was mostly hidden and one pendulum that was moving pretty fast. I got them both without any extra shots.

The second stage looks very straight forward with lots of wide transitions and some chances of getting disqualified by breaking the 180 degree safety rule. I’ve attached some pictures.

I’d really like to go watch the super squad shoot and take some pictures and video of people some of you might recognize. However, they seem to be shooting at the same time we are. Maybe we’ll finish early.

Day 1 Recap

Well, I didn’t do as well today as I could have.  I wasn’t shooting as fast as I can, but even then I was still hitting a occassional penalty target.  I have to remember to go faster when it is right, but then change my cadence and slow down for the tight shots.  Three of the four stages today were very short (worth fewer overall points), so that still provide some chance to improve my overall score over the next three days.

I woke up early this morning, after going to bed very early last night (I was tired from traveling).  After the usual morning routine and breakfast at Fudruckers (in the hotel), I headed out to the range.  The local shooting club that runs the range is having trouble with the anti-gun zealots.  Apparently, the local zealots have tried every tactic they can to shut down the range.  The latest efforts involve the air quality ordinances that the county has passed.  We all have to crawl around at  10 mph on the range to keep the dust down.  Although I don’t like reasons for the speed limit, it does really help to keep the mess to a minimum.  I can’t believe how dirty everything had gotten in just one day.  I think my camera needs a bath, and my iPhone was coughing and wheezing all day.

The first picture is the view of the mountains from the shooting range.  As you can see, things are nearly as green as Oregon.  The big jagged rocks are pretty, but there isn’t much life out here.  I also included a few pictures of people on my squad.  We have a couple of female and one junior competitor.  I even met a couple from Western Pennsylvania!!

Second stage

This was my second stage (officially stage 15). Here is a picture of me shooting stage two. It was a short stage, but you had to shoot it really fast.

The second photo is “the long walk” to the next stage. It is 104 deg now, but feels cooler since there is a nice breeze. Gotta drink lots of water.

First stage

Well, my first stage went ok, but I hit a penalty target. Now that I’ve got rid of the first stage jitters, I should do better.

Another guy on the stage almost zero’d the stage because of popper calibration. Luckily he got a reshoot. I’ve attached a picture of the popper that didn’t fall. You can see the bullet marks.

Final Preparations & OSU

Today I am making final preparations and packing my gear and clothes for the trip.  I fly out of Portland tomorrow morning, nonstop to Vegas!  Special thanks to my beautiful wife for supporting this adventure, and for running the things solo while I’m gone.

I’ve packed most of the essential shooting gear in my checked luggage, along with my gun and clothes.  I thought I would check most of the odd looking stuff in the luggage, rather than playing 20 questions as they inspect my carry-on.  I know a lot of people fly to shooting matches all around the country, and for that matter, around the world.  However, for me this is an unusual occurrence.  I’m hoping for a trouble free trip, but wary of the unexpected.

I’ve been very undecided about taking the computer, since I’m trying to avoid unnecessary gear.  I had been thinking that I could post all my updates here and on Facebook using my iPhone.  However, considering I’ll have photos from my Casio camera to edit and post, and maybe even some videos, I think taking the computer is smart.  My carry-on bag is not very heavy yet, and I should manage OK with the laptop.

On a separate note, I was very surprised to find that the Oregon State University Beavers will be in Vegas to play football on Saturday.  Many of my coworkers are OSU graduates, and even more of them live near the University.  Imagine my surprise to find that some of my good friends from work would be in Vegas for the game!!  I’ve made tentative plans to meet them for dinner or a beer, and I hope they can come to watch me shoot at the match.

Friday will be a busy day.  I’m leaving early for the airport.  Upon arrival in Vegas, I need to get the rental car, meet friends for lunch, register for the match, check into the hotel, pick up my ammo at American Shooters, visit and survey the range, find a Walmart to buy miscellaneous supplies, and unpack/repack my gear for day 1.

If you are reading this, and will be in Vegas (for the match, or for the Beavers game), post a comment so I know to look for you.

UPS and Anderson

Yesterday I took a 20 lb box of ammo to the UPS service center.  Luckily, one of the big local gun shops in Las Vegas offered to receive shipments of ammo for the Nationals.  Thanks to Ray Witham and American Shooters!  To understand how important this is, you have to know that most airlines allow a limited amount of ammunition in your checked luggage, and it is almost impossible to carry enough for the match.  Although it is permissible to send packages directly to yourself at a hotel, they charge large fees, and I worry about the safety and reliability of delivery.

I finished loading my match ammo last week.   The final recipe was 7.6gr of 7625 with a 121gr Hornady HAP in 38-TJ brass and a Winchester Small Pistol Primer.  I decided to take 600 rounds.  That seems like a little to much, since last year the total round count was 377.  Of course, I need enough buffer for misses and possibly a few reshoots.  I hate running low on ammo, and plan to avoid that stress.

Last night I started working more seriously on dry fire drills.  A have Steve Anderson’s dry fire practice book, and started with the basic indexing drills.  If you’ve never seen his book, you can learn about it here: Anderson Shooting.  I practiced 15 and 30 ft draw and index, from both ’surrender’ and ‘hands naturally at sides’, plus the 30 ft turn-and-draw (ala el-presedente).  I hope to find time to add additional drills as my personal life allows.

I’m a bachelor this weekend!  My wife and son are going to the coast with some friends.  They are excited, but I worry they will be too cold to enjoy it.  The Oregon coast is notoriously chilly.  I’ll be shooting at a local match on Saturday morning, and joining some friends for a friendly poker match in the evening.

Quick Match Update

I just wanted to post a quick match update for those of you tracking my progress. July 18th and 19th was the Columbia Cascade Sectional Championship. My gun ran great! The changes I made to my magazines and the TJ brass with HAP bullets made all the difference. Thanks Hornady!

I only placed 6th at the match, but feel I will do better as I push myself more. I used this match to ‘get back into things’ after coaching baseball all spring, and spending a couple weeks on vacation. My main goal was to get my gear running.

Last weekend, I attended the NW Regional Steel Shoot (see the link in the sidebar) in Portland Oregon.  Since I was still low on primers, I decided to only compete in 22 rimfire.  I shot pretty well, but since there were a lot more people shooting multiple guns, I had a lot of good competition.  I think I placed 6th or 7th, but can’t find the official results online yet.

Both matches were great fun!

This weekend: load ammo for Nationals, dryfire, and start packing!!

Been a long time and future plans

I know it has been a very long time since my last post.  We had a wonderful vacation in Orlando.  Planning, packing, traveling, and post-trip recovery stopped me from posting on the blog.  I’m finally starting to catch up with life, and should be adding more content regularly.

I really love being on vacation with my family.  We had eight great days at Disney World, visited all the parks and even spent a day at each of the water parks.  We had been to WDW before, but this was our first stay at a Disney resort, and our first visit to the water parks.  I won’t ramble on too much, but will say it was HOT!  Somehow I found the guts to climb to the top of Summit Plummet and ride the slide almost straight down.  I was clocked at 71 mph.  It was also really great to see my parents, and I enjoyed spending a few days with them.  We even had a wonderful father, son, grandson brunch on Father’s Day.

My latest shooting related update:

I did a little ammo development just before/after my trip.  I worked up good recipe for 115 grain Hornady XTP and 121 grain Hornady HAP.  I had to take IMR7625 up to almost 8 grains (slightly compressed) to make major with the 115 gr bullet.  I was only getting an average of 166pf.  The 121 gr bullet made a nice 170pf at 7.5 grains.  Since I’ll need a little headroom, and I’ve been using 121 gr bullets in the past with a good feel, I’ll be using them at the Nationals.  The big difference between the new load and my old standby is the brass.  I was using Armscor 38 Super RL (rimless) and Startline SuperComp.  I had a lot of nose-dive issues (will full mags), and wanted to try some TJ brass.  Hornady was generous enough to send me a few boxes to try.

I also had another other unrelated magazine problem.  The best magazines for the Gold Team are made without spacing ribs.  Mine are the older ribbed style magazines.  The ribs don’t extend the full length of the magazine, which is no big deal with a standard base pad.  However, with an extended base pad, the cartridges fill the magazine below the end of the rib, which is an abrupt change in the width.  Frequently, the cartridges would bind and jam under the end of the rib.  The end result was that I couldn’t load them full.  I experimented with adding some spacers to extend the rib lower in the tube, and found that a great way to extend the rib is epoxy putty.  I was able to mold and cut the putty to form a perfect extension to the rib.

This weekend is the Columbia Cascade Sectional Championships.  Today we shot 7 great stages, and there another 5 tomorrow.  I was able to try the new brass and magazine modifications on several stages, and had absolutely no problems.  All the previous nose-dive issues are gone!  Furthermore, I can successfully load 23 rounds into my 140mm magazines.  In fact, my gun ran flawlessly through almost 200 rounds this morning.  I’m extremely geeked!  Now all I have to do is get myself ready for the Nationals.

Future Plans:

Until I get a large supply of primers, I have to assume that I only have 2000 to for practice and match ammo.  That’s not much!  As a result, I’ve ordered Steve Anderson’s dry-fire book, and hope to start a daily dry-fire practice regime as soon as it arrives.

I also have to start a packing list for the Nationals.  I’m sure I’ll have trouble deciding how much stuff to take, and what items are important.  I have to admit, attending local or regional matches are much more simple.  It is easy to load the car with extra ammo, tool kit, cooler, range bag, and range cart.  Flying to Las Vegas and staying in a hotel limits the amount of gear and extra stuff I can bring.  This could get quite interesting.

What’s this all about?

Since my family, friends, and coworkers might be visiting this blog, I thought I’d briefly explain what practical pistol is all about.

The sport known as practical shooting encompasses several different styles and competitions throughout the world.  It includes activities such as practical pistol, 3-Gun (pistol, rifle, shotgun), MOR (manually operated rifles), speed steel, and airsoft.  There are several affiliated organizations that govern the competitions, including the National Rifle Association (NRA), International Practical Shooting Confederation (IPSC), United States Practical Shooting Association (USPSA), and the International Defensive Pistol Association (IDPA).  Here in the states, the USPSA and IDPA are most popular. 

The USPSA holds several national championships, including the Handgun Nationals, 3-Gun Nationals, and Single Stack Nationals.  This year, the Handgun Nationals are in September in Las Vegas.

 Practical pistol competitions usually consist of a combination of targets that must be hit as quickly as possible.  Both speed and accuracy are critical skills, and often shooting the fastest does not make you the winner.  A match consists of several individual stages where the competitor is scored and timed, each stage having a different design and target layout.  Performance is judged by a ratio of score divided by time.

Usually, a variety of tasks may be necessary to complete a stage, including running, shooting around barriers and walls, and shooting through windows, doors, and under barricades.  Targets can be cardboard cutouts with scoring zones or rings, or steel of various shapes made to fall when hit.

This year, the 2009 Nationals in Las Vegas will consist of 18 stages shot over 4 days, and will likely require over 350 rounds of ammunition.

If you’ve never seen a USPSA match check out the videos of Todd Jarrett (a professional).

Primers and Practice and Christmas

Primers and Practice

I’m a little worried about getting in enough practice before the Nationals.  There are a lot of obstacles in my way this summer.  Assuming that I can adapt and overcome, I’ll post some of my practice plans and progress here.

First, primers are a problem.  The cupboard is bare.  I have about 1500 WSP left to make compete all summer and practice and go to the Nationals.  A local friend has offered me an additional thousand, but I hate to infringe on his good nature.  I’ve had an order in with Graf and Sons, and heard they are on about a 3 month wait.  Hopefully, I’ll get a shipment in July.

Second, time.  Baseball season is wrapping up for my son’s team.  I’m the coach, and spend all of my Saturdays at the ball field.  I’ve only been to one speed steel and one USPSA match each month since March.  Even though the season ends in a couple weeks, the family is immediately off to Florida for a two week vacation.  I’m really looking forward to the trip, especially since my wife and son love Disney.  I won’t be back until the 4th of July, so serious practice won’t start until then.

Third, partner.  My favorite practice partner is no longer available.  He and I used to work together, and would practice after work at the local club.  He has moved on to a different job in the next town, and can’t make evening practices any more.  He was a great help, and made practice fun and interesting.  I’ll have to talk with him about an alternative practice schedule.

Because of these limitations, I think I’ll try to implement an agressive dry firing schedule to add to any live practice I can get.

Christmas

It seems that today was Christmas at my house.  Well, I thought it was.  I arrived home to three heavy boxes on the front porch and a padded envelope in the mail.  The padded envelope contained a couple of skins and a carrying case for my new iPhone.  Way cool!  The boxes on the front porch were reloading supplies and equipment from Hornady.  Seems that I’ll be using their brass and bullets loaded on a red press.  I’m wishing they made primers too.  Oh, and the iPhone skin is Hornady red too!!

Since I forgot to post a picture of my competition gun in my last entry, here’s one now:

Tanfoglio Gold Team

iPhone and iGun

I just got a new iPhone this weekend. Other than being really cool, it has some great features for blogging and my trip to the nationals. WordPress, the site of this blog, has a cool app for publishing via the iPhone. I’m using it to post this entry! I hope to use it during the match to provide frequent updates and pictures. Since I’ll be experimenting here via the iPhone, please be patient with me.

Just to keep this blog on topic, I’ll share a little about my gear. I’m shooting a Tanfoglio (EAA) Gold Team in 38 super. I currently load starline supercomp brass with 7625 and a 121gr Hornady HAP. However, I plan to switch to 38TJ asap, since it feeds better when my mags are stuffed full.

I’m reloading using a Hornady LNL AP which I really like. It is nice to have 5 stations (my last press only had 4), but I really love the case feeder. It doesn’t add a lot of speed, but it does let me concentrate on monitoring the other operations more closely.

I know what you’re thinking, “He’s talking about Hornady stuff because they sponsor him.” True, but I used it before too.

Birth of a Blog

Today is the birth of my blog.  I’m planning to use this space to capture my comments, observations, and experiences leading up to and during the 2009 USPSA Open Nationals.  Since this is my first trip to the Nationals, I have no idea what to expect or how to prepare.

This year, the Nationals are in Las Vegas, Nevada in September.  I’ve been there many times as a tourist, but never to compete.  The match registration is on Friday, September 11th.  Competition starts on Saturday, September 12th and ends on Tuesday the 15th.  The awards ceremony is on Tuesday evening.

So far I have made hotel reservations at The Orleans, the official match hotel.  I’ve also paid my entry fee and sent my entry form to the home office.  Next I plan to buy airplane tickets and reserve a rental car.

Most importantly, however, I have been recently sponsored.  I’d like to thank Hornady Manufacturing for paying my way to the Nationals and providing me with reloading supplies and equipment.  You’re probably wondering how a lowly B-class shooter got sponsored.  It’s a fairly simple story.  While tinkering in the garage one day, I designed a small part for Hornady’s LNL AP reloading press.  It worked so well, I sent the design to the R&D guys at Hornady.  Surprisingly, the big brains at Hornady liked the design enough to use it.  While I had their attention, I politely asked that they review and consider a proposal for sponsorship that I had written.  They accepted and agreed to sponsor my trip to the Nationals.

Since I don’t have a GM card, and can’t swagger around and show off my trophies in search of a sponsor, I decided my proposal should focus on grass-roots type of marketing, where qualities like good sportsmanship, helpfulness, dedication to shooting sports, and local/regional activities are the cornerstone of the sponsorship.  Of course I will strive to score well, but more importantly, I hope to represent Hornady in a positive manner, exposing more USPSA shooters to their products, and showing that Hornady is a quality company.