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  • justeric

    Active Member
    Apr 6, 2010
    377
    Thanks for the responses guys. I just spent $180 on Ben's site and had a real hard time not spending another $100 on the 100 9mm case gauge. I ordered his 3 books, some dry fire targets and some new magazines holders. Thanks again for the tips and I hope to see you shooting soon.

    Thanks,
    Eric
     

    BigT5g

    Ultimate Member
    May 12, 2014
    1,442
    Dayton MD
    Thanks for the responses guys. I just spent $180 on Ben's site and had a real hard time not spending another $100 on the 100 9mm case gauge. I ordered his 3 books, some dry fire targets and some new magazines holders. Thanks again for the tips and I hope to see you shooting soon.

    Thanks,
    Eric

    Awesome! Hey, now let's see some videos of you putting the new gear to use in practice!!!
     
    Last edited:

    Racinready300ex

    Active Member
    Jun 3, 2009
    381
    Thanks for the responses guys. I just spent $180 on Ben's site and had a real hard time not spending another $100 on the 100 9mm case gauge. I ordered his 3 books, some dry fire targets and some new magazines holders. Thanks again for the tips and I hope to see you shooting soon.

    Thanks,
    Eric

    Your next purchase should probably be a timer if you don't already have one. Timers are a key training aid.

    But, in the mean time you can download one to your phone for free and get by with that for dry fire at least.
     

    justeric

    Active Member
    Apr 6, 2010
    377
    I have a timer. I am starting to use it after letting it sit for most of the winter. I have been practicing the draw, shoot reload drill. I am no where near 2 seconds. I have been getting about half within 3 seconds though. I can draw, load and shoot within 2 seconds most of the time. But I guess that would mean I have a bullet in the chamber and no magazine in the gun. I'll call that the Barney Fife drill. Drawing an unloaded gun, putting a magazine in and racking the slide would take me a lot more than 2 seconds.

    Are you reloading 9mm BlueBullets? What weight do you like? I just went back to 125 grain. Seemed the 147 grain bullets shot like a rainbow. I had a hard time shooting from 7 yards to 25 yards. I sight in at 7 and I am over the target at 25. I think the 125's shoot a little flatter which is better for shooting close and far targets in the same stage.

    Thanks again. I can't wait to get my books from Ben Stoeger.
     

    BigT5g

    Ultimate Member
    May 12, 2014
    1,442
    Dayton MD
    I have a timer. I am starting to use it after letting it sit for most of the winter. I have been practicing the draw, shoot reload drill. I am no where near 2 seconds. I have been getting about half within 3 seconds though. I can draw, load and shoot within 2 seconds most of the time. But I guess that would mean I have a bullet in the chamber and no magazine in the gun. I'll call that the Barney Fife drill. Drawing an unloaded gun, putting a magazine in and racking the slide would take me a lot more than 2 seconds.

    Are you reloading 9mm BlueBullets? What weight do you like? I just went back to 125 grain. Seemed the 147 grain bullets shot like a rainbow. I had a hard time shooting from 7 yards to 25 yards. I sight in at 7 and I am over the target at 25. I think the 125's shoot a little flatter which is better for shooting close and far targets in the same stage.

    Thanks again. I can't wait to get my books from Ben Stoeger.

    I am now a huge fan of the 135grn 9mm. I find them to be a great balance between the 124s and 147s. Blue bullets recently added that weight and I just started loading a batch of theirs, but I have been shooting 135 bayou bullets for awhile a love them.

    I don't think you will find much difference in your point of impact between the bullet weights within 25 yards. The issue is more likely just how the gun is sighted and/or shooter error. For example, I know that, with my gun, to hit a head box at 20-25 yards I need to hold the top edge of the front sight right on the line where the head box joins the torso. So basically my "hold under" is about 2.5" at 20-25yards. Which decreases as the targets get closer.
    And for me this stays pretty much the same if I'm shooting 115-147grn bullets. If you increase the distance out past 30yrds then yes bullet weight will likely have more of an effect on POI.

    I think choosing a bullet weight that feels the best to you recoil-wise is the more important factor and then just shoot lots of groups at various distances enough to where you know your holds with confidence. If you are shooting annoyingly high at 25, then consider a higher front sight post or lower rear sight. Just be sure before you do, that you are doing your job as the shooter to make good sight pics/trigger pulls.

    Good luck with your practice! Stick with a regular dry fire schedule using Ben's books and you WILL improve rapidly. Ben has a couple dvds out also which you might enjoy. Sometimes seeing the technique demonstrated is better than written descriptions and still photos.

    Dry fire 5 days a week, and shoot groups(properly) twice a month and you will be competitive at matches in no time flat.
     

    Racinready300ex

    Active Member
    Jun 3, 2009
    381
    I have a timer. I am starting to use it after letting it sit for most of the winter. I have been practicing the draw, shoot reload drill. I am no where near 2 seconds. I have been getting about half within 3 seconds though. I can draw, load and shoot within 2 seconds most of the time. But I guess that would mean I have a bullet in the chamber and no magazine in the gun. I'll call that the Barney Fife drill. Drawing an unloaded gun, putting a magazine in and racking the slide would take me a lot more than 2 seconds.

    Are you reloading 9mm BlueBullets? What weight do you like? I just went back to 125 grain. Seemed the 147 grain bullets shot like a rainbow. I had a hard time shooting from 7 yards to 25 yards. I sight in at 7 and I am over the target at 25. I think the 125's shoot a little flatter which is better for shooting close and far targets in the same stage.

    Thanks again. I can't wait to get my books from Ben Stoeger.

    When I work on reloads I never include racking the slide in my practice. I'm shooting Limited in USPSA, so I should never do a reload from slide lock, in fact the slide stop is disabled on both of my guns. If I was shooting IDPA regularly I would take a different approach.

    As far as bullet weights go, my wife runs a 9mm 1911 in single stack. With a full weight slide I like the faster snappy 125's loaded around 132 PF. Getting the slide speed up makes the gun at least feel faster and I think the bullets feed better too. With a 42.5 oz gun, recoil really isn't a issue. And the reality is that little changes I make in the gun/load she doesn't even notice. You need to be practicing a lot to really notice little changes like that.

    When it comes to zero, I zero most of my guns out around 17-20 yards. As I get closer, the POI is off a little but not really enough to matter much. I can pretty much hold right on a target from 3 yards to 25 yards with my 40. In fact even at 50 yards, it's pretty well on depending how big the target is.
     

    BigT5g

    Ultimate Member
    May 12, 2014
    1,442
    Dayton MD
    Ok time for some more dry fire practice videos. Here is a set of 2. Both feature work on a weakness in my game especially being a big guy (6'4" 260lbs): position exit/entry.

    On the first vid I am simply drawing, pressing a pair, then moving to the next shooting box and firing another pair. I am focusing on trying to get out of position as fast as I can, keeping the gun up in between boxes, and being ready to press the 2nd pair as soon as my first foot is in the box. The targets are close at 5yrds. The first few are with par time of 3.8 which was too easy so I bumped it down to 3.3 and that was about right.

    The second vid is like the first except I add a reload between shooting boxes. The goal is to do all the above, and not break the 180 rule during the reload, especially moving right to left.
    par time is 3.5 on these.

    I have a couple rough entries, but then work to smooth them out.


    -------
     

    BigT5g

    Ultimate Member
    May 12, 2014
    1,442
    Dayton MD
    Well that was a frustrating match. (ESPS USPSA match today) Just couldn't get my concentration working, and wasn't in match mode.
    Gotta take this as a teachable moment and remember to show up and be present at the next match.
    10th out of around 35 shooters (Production) is not satisfactory.
    I know I have been needing to do more live fire practice and this should motivate me to get out and do it.
     
    Last edited:

    Racinready300ex

    Active Member
    Jun 3, 2009
    381
    Well, if it makes you feel any better BigT5g my ESPS match was about the same. I think I was pushing a little, and I had a lot of Mike's drop into hard cover. They were all really close, dropping low a inch or so. This is clearly a target presentation I need to work on, I think I'm aiming to close to the hard cover to get the A's. When I shot open this was much easier to do thanks to the dot. I'm also still not giving my sights enough respect. Again, shooting Open for two years probably spoiled me. To take something good from the match I did smoke stage 4, even beating the Open GM. :party29:

    Here is a video from practice the other night that I though was funny.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3KFOZ4ctQg

    :lol:
     

    BigT5g

    Ultimate Member
    May 12, 2014
    1,442
    Dayton MD
    Well, if it makes you feel any better BigT5g my ESPS match was about the same. I think I was pushing a little, and I had a lot of Mike's drop into hard cover. They were all really close, dropping low a inch or so. This is clearly a target presentation I need to work on, I think I'm aiming to close to the hard cover to get the A's. When I shot open this was much easier to do thanks to the dot. I'm also still not giving my sights enough respect. Again, shooting Open for two years probably spoiled me. To take something good from the match I did smoke stage 4, even beating the Open GM. :party29:

    Here is a video from practice the other night that I though was funny.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3KFOZ4ctQg

    :lol:

    Ha! I like that you posted throwing a reload. If you aren't doing that every so often you aren't doing it right!
    Hopefully more folks will post some practice vids. They don't have to be perfect or fast. Just show us that you're doing the work!

    Sounds like your match wasn't so bad. Looking back I can admit that I wasn't seeing my sights and was not pressing the trigger with anything approaching my usual level of competency. Oh well, we all have off days. I will fix for next match. Sanners lake on March 12. You going?
     

    Racinready300ex

    Active Member
    Jun 3, 2009
    381
    Sanner's isn't off the table yet, it's like 4 hour drive for me and they start pretty early. So it involves staying with the in laws for the weekend. My wife wants to go over there sometime soon, I may try to push her toward that weekend. I'll have to wait and see how things go. lol
     

    Racinready300ex

    Active Member
    Jun 3, 2009
    381
    Ok time for some more dry fire practice videos. Here is a set of 2. Both feature work on a weakness in my game especially being a big guy (6'4" 260lbs): position exit/entry.

    On the first vid I am simply drawing, pressing a pair, then moving to the next shooting box and firing another pair. I am focusing on trying to get out of position as fast as I can, keeping the gun up in between boxes, and being ready to press the 2nd pair as soon as my first foot is in the box. The targets are close at 5yrds. The first few are with par time of 3.8 which was too easy so I bumped it down to 3.3 and that was about right.

    The second vid is like the first except I add a reload between shooting boxes. The goal is to do all the above, and not break the 180 rule during the reload, especially moving right to left.
    par time is 3.5 on these.

    I have a couple rough entries, but then work to smooth them out.


    -------


    A couple of things I'm wondering. At what point will it makes sense to take your support hand off of the gun. 1st video, can't tell how far you're running 8 steps or so? I think I would take my hand off the gun then bring it back in the last couple steps. Especially when running right to left, as that is a little awkward anyway. But, I have not tested this my self with a timer. Certainly worth breaking down to figure out. It would probably be easier to figure out in live fire.

    Another thought, would it be worth having more targets at each position? When you move into the position, you're keeping one foot off the ground the hole time. I would think having both feet on the ground for a more stable base would be better, and if you have more targets it would be more important. Then you can still work on getting that first shot off as soon as your foot touches the ground, but also continue to bring the other foot into the box so you can be more aggressive with the remaining shots.

    And, I wish I had a basement...
     

    BigT5g

    Ultimate Member
    May 12, 2014
    1,442
    Dayton MD
    A couple of things I'm wondering. At what point will it makes sense to take your support hand off of the gun. 1st video, can't tell how far you're running 8 steps or so? I think I would take my hand off the gun then bring it back in the last couple steps. Especially when running right to left, as that is a little awkward anyway. But, I have not tested this my self with a timer. Certainly worth breaking down to figure out. It would probably be easier to figure out in live fire.

    Another thought, would it be worth having more targets at each position? When you move into the position, you're keeping one foot off the ground the hole time. I would think having both feet on the ground for a more stable base would be better, and if you have more targets it would be more important. Then you can still work on getting that first shot off as soon as your foot touches the ground, but also continue to bring the other foot into the box so you can be more aggressive with the remaining shots.

    And, I wish I had a basement...

    Good questions. I have been reading and seeing a lot of the top guys keeping the gun in both hands and up between positions rather than having to rejoin, re aquire the grip and present it right before entry. This makes sense to me especially when talking about short distances. I find I am more likely to be ready to shoot sooner if I keep both on and the gun up but haven't scientifically compared them on the timer personally. The simplistic idea is that you are kind of following the gun around the stage and just pressing shots as they present themselves.

    I do that drill with multiple targets also, but that day I was keeping it simple so as to focus on trying to be aggressive in and out of the box while keeping the above techniques in play.
     

    Racinready300ex

    Active Member
    Jun 3, 2009
    381
    I would think this could be something that will vary some from person to person, and may not really make much difference as long as you are ready to shoot when you get to the next position. But, I'll add this to the list of things I need to test in live fire to see what is faster for me.

    I could also imagine techniques like these may need to evolve as you improve. My thinking is that as you improve, things you couldn't do before now may become a option. This might skew the results of testing, as the technique that used to get you the best results may not anymore. A example might be as you improve at shooting on the move you will also improve the speed you can get that 1st shot off coming into a position, which is basically shot on the move. At that point it will be even more important that you are ready to shoot when you get to the position. The only way to really know what works for you is test it on a timer.

    Just a thought.
     

    BigT5g

    Ultimate Member
    May 12, 2014
    1,442
    Dayton MD
    I would think this could be something that will vary some from person to person, and may not really make much difference as long as you are ready to shoot when you get to the next position. But, I'll add this to the list of things I need to test in live fire to see what is faster for me.

    I could also imagine techniques like these may need to evolve as you improve. My thinking is that as you improve, things you couldn't do before now may become a option. This might skew the results of testing, as the technique that used to get you the best results may not anymore. A example might be as you improve at shooting on the move you will also improve the speed you can get that 1st shot off coming into a position, which is basically shot on the move. At that point it will be even more important that you are ready to shoot when you get to the position. The only way to really know what works for you is test it on a timer.

    Just a thought.

    All good stuff. Another thought I had is that this idea of keeping the gun up super high really only fully applies to Limited and open (and now carry optics) shooters since production will be changing mags between almost every position.
     

    pauln

    WECSOG Alumnus
    Mar 2, 2007
    656
    Harford Co.
    All good stuff. Another thought I had is that this idea of keeping the gun up super high really only fully applies to Limited and open (and now carry optics) shooters since production will be changing mags between almost every position.

    It doesn't matter which division you are shooting, you should still be keeping the gun up during reloads.

     

    BigT5g

    Ultimate Member
    May 12, 2014
    1,442
    Dayton MD
    It doesn't matter which division you are shooting, you should still be keeping the gun up during reloads.



    Easier said for an open shooter like shown in the video.
    You can literally throw the mag at the mag well. For a production shooter it may be necessary to look down slightly while indexing your elbow to a consistent spot on your body to facilitate the load. See my first video post on this thread.

    Also please post videos of yourself working the gun. There are already lots of threads that host videos of Instructors' various tips and tricks. I want to keep this one for us competitors. Thanks!
     

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