Oy.
Why did I run those stairs again...?
Went to the range this morning, and I'm on the verge of declaring it a 'learning experience'.
Started out as I usually do, dry-fire from the holster, low & high ready, everything feeling good. COLD, but gun-wise good.
Got my ears on, called range hot, and started firing a few practice relays. The dummy rounds I put into my mags kept me honest, for the most part.
I quickly found out that my jacket is too 'poofy'.
Why yes, that is a technical phrase.
I found that as I would draw from the holster (right-handed), I've a tendency to flare my right thumb in anticipation to lay it on top of my left thumb. In warm weather this is no problem, but with the above mentioned poofy jacket, there were a couple of times when my left hand would rise up to support... not a damn thing, as my right hand's thumb was caught up in the right pocket of my jacket. Whoops.
Empty the mags, ready to shoot for score. Doin' the ICE qualification, feeling like ice, this morning...
First round, at 3 ft from target, bent-elbow shooting, from the holster.
Slow is smooth, smooth is fast...
"Shooters ready?... The Shooters are ready.."
There's the target... draw... *Boom!* scan... tuck & re-holster... target turns again... draw & crap,snaggedonthefriggin'pocket-therewego,extendand... *click* whatthe-taprack*Boom!*... *click* sonofamother-taprack *Boom*!
... and it went pretty much downhill from there. I took a moment to clear and break down the weapon, nothing major out of place, slide-release worked fine, nothing blatantly out of whack. I suspected I was limp-wristing it, but was leaning more towards blaming the gun, the weather, the sun in my eyes... or heck, global warming.
I am, after all, a self-declared master combat super tactical expert pistol sniper...
For the record, I must've shot two bullets perfectly into one hole at the 15 yd line- uh, again. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.
At least I can say that I got some great immediate-action drill practice in this morning. Darn near from every shooting line, to boot.
Transitioning from standing to kneeling was fun, lemme tell 'ya. Nothing like slamming yer knee onto a frozen rock while trying to not whimper from running those stairs the other day like I was friggin' Rocky, or something.
25 yards, shooting from cover... two standing shots, two kneeling (greeeaat), reload and prep for shooting on the other side of the cover, again two standing, two kneeling...
"Shooters ready? The Shooters are ready, standby...
The targets turned, my draw was good, extension was ok, first four shots were fine. Kneeling down again *groan*, I took my first shot from the kneeling on the left side of the barricade. I was so dialed in on the front sight post that barely registered the gun-light flying off the frame.
Figures... heck, I should be happy it's only happened once!
End result? Pretty good (considering), but not great. Heck, a bad day at the range is still a good day, right?
Naturally, runing through the course of fire again and for the heck of it resulted in no problems. None, zip, zero, nada.
Why did I run those stairs again...?
Went to the range this morning, and I'm on the verge of declaring it a 'learning experience'.
Started out as I usually do, dry-fire from the holster, low & high ready, everything feeling good. COLD, but gun-wise good.
Got my ears on, called range hot, and started firing a few practice relays. The dummy rounds I put into my mags kept me honest, for the most part.
I quickly found out that my jacket is too 'poofy'.
Why yes, that is a technical phrase.
I found that as I would draw from the holster (right-handed), I've a tendency to flare my right thumb in anticipation to lay it on top of my left thumb. In warm weather this is no problem, but with the above mentioned poofy jacket, there were a couple of times when my left hand would rise up to support... not a damn thing, as my right hand's thumb was caught up in the right pocket of my jacket. Whoops.
Empty the mags, ready to shoot for score. Doin' the ICE qualification, feeling like ice, this morning...
First round, at 3 ft from target, bent-elbow shooting, from the holster.
Slow is smooth, smooth is fast...
"Shooters ready?... The Shooters are ready.."
There's the target... draw... *Boom!* scan... tuck & re-holster... target turns again... draw & crap,snaggedonthefriggin'pocket-therewego,extendand... *click* whatthe-taprack*Boom!*... *click* sonofamother-taprack *Boom*!
... and it went pretty much downhill from there. I took a moment to clear and break down the weapon, nothing major out of place, slide-release worked fine, nothing blatantly out of whack. I suspected I was limp-wristing it, but was leaning more towards blaming the gun, the weather, the sun in my eyes... or heck, global warming.
I am, after all, a self-declared master combat super tactical expert pistol sniper...
For the record, I must've shot two bullets perfectly into one hole at the 15 yd line- uh, again. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.
At least I can say that I got some great immediate-action drill practice in this morning. Darn near from every shooting line, to boot.
Transitioning from standing to kneeling was fun, lemme tell 'ya. Nothing like slamming yer knee onto a frozen rock while trying to not whimper from running those stairs the other day like I was friggin' Rocky, or something.
25 yards, shooting from cover... two standing shots, two kneeling (greeeaat), reload and prep for shooting on the other side of the cover, again two standing, two kneeling...
"Shooters ready? The Shooters are ready, standby...
The targets turned, my draw was good, extension was ok, first four shots were fine. Kneeling down again *groan*, I took my first shot from the kneeling on the left side of the barricade. I was so dialed in on the front sight post that barely registered the gun-light flying off the frame.
Figures... heck, I should be happy it's only happened once!
End result? Pretty good (considering), but not great. Heck, a bad day at the range is still a good day, right?
Naturally, runing through the course of fire again and for the heck of it resulted in no problems. None, zip, zero, nada.
4 comments:
I remember a few years ago at a IDPA match...
Shooting in a kneeling position around the left side of cover (large cardboard box we stole from somewhere) and getting three hot brass down my shirt and one lodged between my glasses and eyelid when the brass bounced off the side of the box.
Result: four 2nd degree burns from hot brass. Rank in match---dead last. :-(
Sarge:
Dammmit all, now you got ME twichy...
So Ihad t get out all my holsters, AND all my jackets to determine WHICH combo will result in MY best chance of personal survival in COLD weather!
Went downstairs to my "gallery" and proceeded to "don N shed" five different thickness winter jackets.
First using the HI-RIDE Kydex holster, then the midrange belt loop, then the waist tac holster.
then did the draw/point shoot (DRY, naturally...didn't want to bother the LEOS)
Results were(bomber-flannel lined/ski-down filled):
hi-ride w/ bomber jacket-GTG
hi-ride w/ ski jacket-TOTAL FUBAR
Std belt w/ bomber-GTG
Std belt w/ ski-not AS FUBAR
Tac w/ bomber-Semi-FUBAR
Tac w/ ski-STAY THE HELL HOME, (unless pistol is carried IN hand)
Thanks for the intel on something I honest to God never really noticed, and might take for granted!
Much obliged!
Carry On.
Crusis: I caught a piece of brass once, perfectly wedged in the crook of my big ole dumbo ears and the side of my head. my buddy was cracking up, but was happy that I had the presence of mind to keep the pistol pointing down range while convulsively flailing around & slapping at my head.
Bob G.: "STAY THE HELL HOME" made me chuckle. And why the heck can't we carry a pistol in hand, for that matter? Heck, during Christmas time it's darn near absolutely necessary!
hehehe- you obviously walked too close to my blog... been there F***ed that up too! Now I just carry with jacket open, or if it's REALLY cold, in a shoulder holster.
Currently at Camp Foster, working with a few 3MEF folks...
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