Pre-News Talk:

• Select a winner for the Walther Sub Companion Knife
• Received an email from a listener and ordered Glock: The Rise of Americas Gun
• Linking to the Gun Blog Black List
• Missed Hot Shots last week and can’t seem to find re-runs

In The News:

• With gun in tow, Hazleton man educates public on open carry
• $44 Million, Not A Single Crime Solved, Cuomo Tells Legislature Scrap Bullet Tracking
• Make My Day law for business advances in Colorado

Featured Content:

• Top Guns on History 2
• So Simple a 10 Year Old Can Do It from Jay-G of MA-rooned.com
• Frankenglock on the Rack Again from Fill Yer Hands
• Glock Shooting Sports Foundation from Fill Yer Hands

Top Guns on History 2

Cigar and Drink Pairing:

• Cigar: La Flor Dominicana Cameroon Cabinet Chisel
• Beverage: Caribou Coffee

If you are interested in trying the La Flor Dominicana Cameroon Cabinet Chisel
Pick up the phone and order from my preferred retailer.

Buckhead Cigar

Phone: (404) 844-0400 | Twitter: @BuckheadCigar | Web: AskTheCigarGuys

Discussion Topic:

Question from Newstart1651 via YouTube
Great video. I have a Glock 20 10mm. I carry when I’m bow hunting in bear country for protection. I love going to my local range & trying out new targets. Visi Color targets show a paint spatter color around the bullet hole. Makes it easy to see your shot at a distance. When you head to the range, what do you like to carry in your range bag?

Responses from the Walt In PA Facebook Page:

• Toilet Paper as recommended by Jason C
• Foam ear plugs as recommended by Scott B

Stream or Download Audio Only Version

Post from: Walt in PA

Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 27

Possibly related posts:

1. Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 20
2. Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 23
3. Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 19

Please feel free to use the comment section down below to discuss the stage. If you would like to take things a step further, please feel free to download the images (click on them to get the full view, then right click > save as) and mark them up (Something as simple as MS Paint will work just fine). Once you have your markings finished, please feel free to email them to me at walt at waltinpa dot com.

Post from: Walt in PA

USPSA Stage 002: Terror Behind the Crack (Beta)

Possibly related posts:

1. Community USPSA Stage: Stage 001 – Final
2. Community USPSA Stage: Revision A
3. Community USPSA Stage: Shooting Revision A

I have included a variety of items within the packaged zip file. Those items include the Stage Briefing that you see below, a plan view laying out where each target is placed around the props, a dimensioned plan view to aid in setting up the stage, and a few images from different angles to get a feel for how the stage should look when it is set up.

In the event that this stage is used at a local club, I would appreciate it if you used the Contact Form to let me know how it went. Knowing if there were any challenges in setting it up, or shooting it, will help me with future designs.

Post from: Walt in PA

Community USPSA Stage: Stage 001 – Final

Possibly related posts:

1. Community USPSA Stage: Revision A
2. USPSA Stage: Community Developed
3. Community USPSA Stage: Shooting Revision A

When the concept design was posted, I received a fantastic shooting plan from Justin. In fact, Justin’s plan was so good that had I been shooting after him, I would have altered my plan slightly to match his.

Because Justin did so well on the first go-around, I asked him if he wouldn’t mind putting a shooting plan together for the revised stage. In a few days I received an email from Justin with his thoughts on the revision. Like the first, he did not disappoint.

My method is to drop the four steels from the first box, again right to left so that I’d end up facing the left side paper as I transition into the second shooting box. In the back-left corner of the front shooting box, I’d go for the paper between the walls on the left and stay there to take out the paper that’s obscured by the barrel in the front. I’d do this because I can shoot way faster than I can run, and I think the angle would be an advantage the further back you are… and the uber geek in me measured the line length and compared it to your known target distances and my target #6 is only about 7 yards. If I couldn’t hit a paper target at 7 yards, I’d kick myself. Note that I’d only engage targets #5 and #6 in the back-left corner of the front box – the lines just happen to overlap for my target #3 that I’d engage in the first box. Then after my move #2 I’d go after the right side paper between the walls and along side the right side barrel, again I’d stay back as far as possible for the reasons I just said. In my final move #3 I’d center myself in the box and just mow down the paper as I rotate from right to left… for some reason I shoot better swinging from right to left.

I think this should minimize the shooter transitions and yet keep the shooter at a good hitting distance of the targets at each position. Looking forward to your thoughts.

Regards,
Justin

I think Justin did an excellent job of minimizing shooter movement. Because I am shooting Production Division, his plan presents me with a problem. When the shooter moves into the third, and final, shooting position, more rounds need to be fired than are in the gun.

If a reload was done while moving from Position 2 to Position 3, there would be one round in the chamber and ten rounds in the magazine. From Position 3, six targets are to be engaged, using up twelve rounds of ammunition (if all of our shots are well placed and none need to be made up).

To prevent myself from doing a static reload, I would move into Position 3 a little differently. After engaging Justin’s target 7 and 8, I would attempt (I say attempt because I’m not very good at it) to engage Traget 14 on the move. If I were feeling especially good, I might engage Target 9 on the move as well (the stakes are high for me with a no shoot next to the target) before reloading and stopping at Position 3 to engage the remaining targets.

If you are shooting Single Stack (8 rounds in the magazine), things get even trickier. Limited and Open can mow down a great deal of targets without reloading, so that changes things as well.

I must say, I’m enjoying this Community Stage Design project a great deal. Seeing how others would approach the stage has made for a great learning opportunity. I have made a couple of small tweaks to the stage (mostly just re-adjusting targets), which you can see when I release the finalized stage.

I would like to thank everyone that has viewed and offered suggestions to the stage. Please feel free to continue to make suggestions or use the comment section below.

The Progression of this USPSA Community Stage Design Project:

• USPSA Stage: Community Developed
• Community USPSA Stage: Shooting and Resolving a Problem
• Community USPSA Stage: Revision A

Post from: Walt in PA

Community USPSA Stage: Shooting Revision A

Possibly related posts:

1. Community USPSA Stage: Revision A
2. Community USPSA Stage: Shooting and Resolving a Problem
3. USPSA Stage: Community Developed

I’m still trying to adjust to my new podcast recording schedule but I was able to sit down on Sunday and take advantage of a quiet house. The extra time to review and edit was nice for a change. The episode runs a little over an hour and is available in both audio and video formats.

Pre-News Talk:

• Reminder about the current contest for a Walther Sub Companion Knife
• Worked on a Community Developed Stage Design

In The News:

• IN-DEPTH: Women Shooting for Survival
• Author Of Book On GLOCK Banned & Praised At SHOT Show 2012
• Victim kills teen robber on trail, police say

Featured Content:

• Old Ted Nugent Video on Weer’d World
• Power Factor Show: Episode 57 – Professional Shooters
• Join Us in Supporting Starbucks on Valentine’s Day

Cigar and Drink Pairing:

• Cigar: La Flor Dominicana Factory Press IV
• Beverage: Folgers Gourmet Coffee

If you are interested in trying the La Flor Dominicana Factory Press IV
Pick up the phone and order from my preferred retailer.

Buckhead Cigar

Phone: (404) 844-0400 | Twitter: @BuckheadCigar | Web: AskTheCigarGuys

Discussion Topic:

In this weeks episode, I really wasn’t sure what I wanted to talk about. At the last minute, I decided to cover two topics. The first is the direction of the show and my future plans. The second is my purchase of a Lee Pro 1000 Progressive press setup for 9mm.

Stream or Download the Audio Only Version Below

Post from: Walt in PA

Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 26

Possibly related posts:

1. Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 10
2. Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 19
3. Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 15

The image that you see below is the shiny new plan view. As you can see, we now have a handful of new targets and the plan of attack should change considerably. I’d love to get some feedback on the changes.

Unless there are suggestions to make any additional alterations, I’m going to start looking into how to put an official stage briefing together. Once finished, I’ll make it available for download and start sending it to local clubs. My goal is to see it as a live coarse of fire and possibly get some video of people shooting it.

The remainder of the views, like in previous posts, have been included below. Please feel free to save the images and mark them up with your thoughts.

Course of Fire:
Shooter begins the stage in Box A with hands relaxed at sides. At audible alert, shooter is to engage all Steel from Box A before moving to the large shooting zone to engage paper.

Posts that go along with this series:

• USPSA Stage: Community Developed
• Community USPSA Stage: Shooting and Resolving a Problem

Post from: Walt in PA

Community USPSA Stage: Revision A

Possibly related posts:

1. Community USPSA Stage: Shooting and Resolving a Problem
2. USPSA Stage: Community Developed
3. Shooting USPSA at York IWLA (11/13/2011)

Earlier this week I posted the first, of what I hope will be many, Community Developed USPSA Stages. I was happy with the feedback that I received and think it is about time to make the first revision. Before I start making revisions, I want to share two items. The first is a problem with the stage that needs to be adressed. The second is how someone would go about shooting the stage as-is.

Illegal Stage

Going into the design of this stage, I wasn’t sure about the No-Shoot Swinger. I don’t recall ever seeing one, in person or in a YouTube stage being shot. I glanced over the USPSA Rule Book but didn’t see anything barring me from orienting my target in such a way.

In the comments section, I received a note from a friend. He explained that he thought the No-Shoot Swinger created a stage design problem which rendered it illegal.

From Scott via Comments Section:

I hate to sound like a dick but I think ( I could be wrong ) you made an illegal stage , if you shoot the no shoot and the bullet passes through and hits the target behind it , it would be considered range equipment malfunction and a reshoot would be mandatory.

Scott’s comment reminded me of a similar situation that I came across in my First USPSA Match. During that match, there was a stage which placed a No Shoot at the base of a Texas Star. Competitors seemed upset by this as the last piece of the Texas Star had a tendency to stop behind the No-Shoot. In what I thought was a little on the unsportsmanlike side of the issue, several competitors shot through the No-Shoot to engage the steel and forced a re-shoot due to range equipment failure.

I printed off all 108 pages of the USPSA Rule Book and started reading through it, looking for something that would either allow my No-Shoot Swinger to stay, or be a definitive “Get Rid of It”. My first stop was in the section on Targets. I found something that sort of fit the situation.

From The USPSA Rule Book:

4.1.4.2 Cover provided merely to obscure targets is considered soft cover. Shots which have passed through soft cover and which strike a scoring target will score. Shots that have passed through soft cover before hitting a no-shoot will be penalized. All scoring zones on targets hidden by soft cover must be left wholly intact. Targets obscured by soft cover must either be visible through the soft cover or a portion of the affected target(s) must be visible from around or over the soft cover.

From there I went to the section of the rule book on Range Equipment Malfunctions. I couldn’t find anything that fit the situation and was left with no firm answer. I decided to contact the guys over at The Power Factor Show and see if they could lend a hand.

The first time my stage was looked over, the No-Shoot Swinger was missed (in my rendering it looks just like an angled piece of hard cover). My attention was directed to another section of the rule book on Scoring

From the USPSA Rule Book:

9.1.4 Unrestored Targets – If, following completion of a course of fire by a previous competitor, one or more targets have not been properly patched or taped or if previously applied pasters have fallen off the target for the competitor being scored, the Range Officer must judge whether or not an accurate score can be determined. If there are extra scoring hits or questionable penalty hits thereon, and it is not obvious which hits were made by the competitor being scored, the affected competitor must be ordered to reshoot the course of fire. For the purpose of this rule, B-zone and C-zone hits shall be considered one and the same

Impenetrable – The scoring area of USPSA scoring targets and noshoots is deemed to be impenetrable:

9.1.5.1 If a bullet strikes wholly within the scoring area of a paper target, and continues on to strike the scoring area of another paper target, the hit on the subsequent pape

In a nutshell, this means that all targets are impenetrable, including my No-Shoot Swinger. If a bullet passes through the No-Shoot Swinger and strikes the target beyond, it can not be scored. This triggers rule 9.1.4 and the Range Officer must determine if it went through the impenetrable target or was shot in another way. Because the swinger is moving, there is no good way to make this determination.

What all this boils down to is that the heart of my stage, which was the No-Shoot Swinger, isn’t going to work. The guys from The Power Factor Show made some suggestions on how to resolve the problem (using a steel No-Shoot in a static position infront of a standard Swinger) or I could simply re-design this portion of the stage.

While this isn’t what I wanted to hear, I think this has been a valuable lesson on Stage Design. I am not discouraged in the least and think a revision is in order (that is the purpose of this community stage design project anyway).

Shooting the Stage

Despite having a problem with the stage design, I was thrilled to receive feedback on how the stage could be shot. Justin, @HerfDoctor on Twitter, sent me a detailed plan on how he would go about attacking the stage.

From Justin:

Hi Walt,

This is Justin from Facebook or @HerfDoctor from Twitter. I like the idea of your community based USPSA stage design. I’ve never shot in USPSA so what I would do might or might not make sense. I attached my plan as a JPG file where I just drew over your stage design. By the way, the stage is really cool and I can see lots of target transitions and a few shooter position changes, and only one or two reloads depending on the shooter.

As for the way I’d attack the course: I would start with the poppers from right to left so that the swinger is engaged pretty much from the beginning and it can slow down a bit by the time the target behind it is to be engaged. Also by starting out from right to left, the shooter ends the poppers by facing the paper target on the left and can immediately approach it without having to twist or turn. I made the arrow indicating the shooter position movement bent just so it didn’t overlap with the target shooting arrows, the shooter would run in a straight line to engage the left side paper target. After the left side paper target is done, the shooter takes a few steps to the side to engage the right side paper targets and in the moving process the shooter can determine if a reload is necessary based on their shot count up to that point. After the right side paper targets are done, a reload is most likely needed as the shooter transitions forward to engage the forward paper targets. I would approach the forward paper targets from left to right so that the swinger has had the most time to slow down and give more time to drop two rounds into the paper target behind it, finally finishing on the right-most paper target in the front.

Like I said, that might or might not make sense, but I think it tends to reduce the shooter transitions and reloads, as well as working out the timing of the swinger to be slowed down the most by the time the shooter needs to worry about the target behind it.

Looking forward to your thoughts on my approach.

Regards,
Justin

For not being a USPSA Shooter, Justin’s plan was better than my own. My plan was identical to Justin’s right up until the end. I would have transitioned from Justin’s Target #8 to #11 to allow the swinger to slow down even more. Seeing everything laid out on paper, I think this would have created wasted movement in a unnecessary transition.

If Justin and I shot this stage and cleared it with a perfect score, on paper, Justin would have shot it marginally faster and beat me. I’m thrilled by this, not only did a learn a few things about stage design, I also learned a better way to shoot my own stage. This is precisely what I hoped to get out of this community driven stage design.

Please keep the shooting plans and revisions coming. I’ll be sitting down to make a few revisions later this week. Once posted, we can go through this all over again. If you have an idea for a completely different stage, please feel free to send them to me for a future community stage design.

Post from: Walt in PA

Community USPSA Stage: Shooting and Resolving a Problem

Possibly related posts:

1. USPSA Stage: Community Developed
2. Shooting USPSA at Lower Providence Rod and Gun Club (10/01/2011)
3. Shooting USPSA at York IWLA (11/13/2011)

Back around Black Friday, Midway was running their usual sale. Some of the items were kind of cool, others I could do without. One particular item that caught my eye was the Walther Sub Companion Knife. I thought picking up a few would make for nice little Christmas Gifts.

I ordered a couple knives and made sure to get one for myself. The knives seemed to go over well as gifts but I wasn’t crazy about mine. It felt like it took up a bit too much real estate in my pocket and I think Cajun Blaze spoiled me with the Spyderco Delica 4 and Native 4.

I placed the Walther Sub Companion back it the package and set it aside. Rather than have it sitting around, collecting dust, I thought I would give it away. On Episode 25 of Shooting The Breeze, I made the announcement and explained the rules.

Entering is very simple. All I ask you to do is head over to the Walt In PA Facebook Page and give it a “Like”. If you’ve already liked the page, consider yourself entered. During the recording of Shooting The Breeze Episode 27, I’ll randomly select a winner.

Post from: Walt in PA

Contest: Win a Walther Sub Companion Knife

Possibly related posts:

1. USPSA Stage: Community Developed
2. Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 3

I’ve been wanting to try my hand at USPSA Stage Design for a little while now and the prospect of having it reviewed finally made me get started. In the past I’ve tried using the Powerpoint Template that is so popular amongst USPSA stage designs, but I just couldn’t get my head around it (Maybe my lack of Powerpoint and using a Macbook has something to do with it).

In order to design my stage, I made it much more complicated than it had to be. I fired up AutoCAD and got to work, from scratch, in a 3D Environment.It has been a few years since I’ve done anything more than dabbling in 3D, so it took me a little while to find my groove.

After I was finished, I packaged it up and sent it away to The Power Factor Show. I received a positive response from Steve telling me that there were no glaring holes in my plan and that it had plenty of options for the shooter. Steve also mentioned that the use of Shooting Boxes would limit the stage to Level 1 matches only (club level matches) and that I had some room to place extra targets if I wanted to increase the round count a bit.

This gave me an idea. I thought, why don’t I present the stage to the readers of my blog and we can work on it as a collective? After some work on the stage, maybe we can even get it used at a club level match and record some video of it being shot.

USPSA Community Stage: 001

Stage Description:
From Box A, shooter is to engage all steel targets. Once all steel is down, shooter may then procede into forward shooting zone and engage paper with two best shots scoring.

Stage Layout:
From Box A, the shooter is to engage four steel poppers. Steel may be shot in any order the shooter prefers. The closest piece of steel, on the left, is a small popper at 10 Yards. The next piece of steel is placed 15 yards from Box A, on the right. Steel targets three and four are large poppers placed 25 yards from Box A. The 25 yard popper on the right is setup to activate a no-shoot swinger.

From within the large shooting zone, the shooter is to engage a variety of paper targets. The first is a series of stacked targets placed between two walls. These walls restrict the shooters visibility and draws the shooter in to make closer shots. A similar setup occurs on the opposite side of the shooting zone.

Barrels are setup towards the rear of the stage with targets tucked around behind them. Beyond these targets is a narrow shooting lane with two target stands at the rear. The target stand on the right is shrouded by a no-shoot swinger than was activated earlier on in the stage.

Participating in Development

If you would like to help develope this USPSA stage, you can do it in a couple of ways. The easiest is probably to leave comment on this post with your suggestions. If you would like to take it a step further, you could save or print the above images and mark them up. If you send the revised images to me, I’ll upload them and host them here on my blog (you can use any image editing software to draw on them. You could even print them off, scribble on them, then scan or snap a photo of your markups).

Every so often I’ll go through the suggestions, alter the original file, and repost the stage. We can go through the process until the stage is deemed complete. Once we get to that point, I’ll do my best to create the official USPSA Stage Paperwork and submit it to my local club for inclusion in a match (you are welcome to do the same with the completed stage).

Shooting The Stage

If stage design isn’t your thing, I would still appreciate your input. Instead of offering ideas to alter the stage, tell me how you would shoot it. If you have no experience with USPSA shooting, limit your gun to ten rounds and consider yourself a Production or Limited 10 Shooter.

Post from: Walt in PA

USPSA Stage: Community Developed

Possibly related posts:

1. Shooting USPSA at Lower Providence Rod and Gun Club (10/01/2011)
2. My First USPSA Match
3. Match Results: USPSA at Lower Providence Rod & Gun Club

Way back in the early episode of Shooting The Breeze, I sat down and put together a small list of podcast goals for myself. The objective was to keep me focused on producing content week after week. I reached my first goal after completing Episode 10. The next goal was to reach Episode 25.

If feels as though I just started this podcast a few weeks ago, but looking back it has been nearly 6 months of consistently released podcasts. I’ve had a blast putting these shows together and hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

Pre-News Talk:

• Last week wasn’t just a little congestion
• A listener passed my name along for sponsorship consideration
• Giving away a Walther Sub Companion Knife

In The News:

• NYPD, Feds testing gun-scanning technology, but civil liberties groups up in arms
• Florida Hospitals Push for Gun Ban
• For reporter, taking gun course tweaks opinion

Featured Content:

• Power Factor Show: Episode 55 – Local Rules
• Mossberg 464 SPX Tactical Rifles Add a New Twist to Lever-Actions

Cigar and Drink Pairing:

• Cigar: Alec Bradley Prensado
• Beverage: Zaya Rum

If you are interested in trying the Alec Bradley Prensado
Pick up the phone and order from my preferred retailer.

Buckhead Cigar

Phone: (404) 844-0400 | Twitter: @BuckheadCigar | Web: AskTheCigarGuys

Discussion Topic:

This week I review the Julie Golob book Shoot: Your Guide to Shooting and Competition. On a side note, if you were looking for a new drinking game, take a drink every time I say the word “Interesting”.

If you would like to purchase
Shoot: Your Guide To Shooting and Competition
Please Use my Amazon Link

Stream or Download the Audio Only Version Below

Post from: Walt in PA

Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 25

Possibly related posts:

1. Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 22
2. Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 15
3. Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 21

This weeks episode of Shooting The Breeze was rather interesting. If you watch the video closely (or listen closely, for you audio folks out there) you can actually see me get sick during the podcast. In the middle of the first news story I had sinus pressure creep up on me and only get worse throughout the podcast.

Having recorded this episode at the last minute, I decided to soldier on and continue recording. As you would imagine, just before the podcast ends, my congestion lifts and all is right again. Rather than go back and re-record the painful parts, I left everything as-is, mainly because thats how I roll (yeah, I just said that….. lol)

Pre-News Talk:

• Noticed 2 more positive iTunes Reviews
• Content has been a bit slow this week, leading up to the SHOT Show

In The News:

• Fred Vankirk, Ohio Tourist, Busted For Gun Possession In NYC Hotel
• Gun Charges Dropped Against Tea Party Leader
• Homicide Drop While Gun Ownership Rises Shows Anti-Gunners Wrong, Says CCRKBA
• 15-year-old Texas City girl uses her father’s gun to scare off burglars

15 Year Old Girl Uses Father Gun to Scare Off Burglars

Featured Content:

• IDPA.tv: Simple Practice Session from Gun Nuts Media
• IDPA Match: Somedays you shoot like the angels, sometimes you crash and burn

IDPA.TV – Simple Practice Session

Cigar and Drink Pairing:

• Cigar: Four Kicks
• Beverage: Caribou Coffee

If you are interested in trying Four Kicks
Pick up the phone and order from my preferred retailer.

Buckhead Cigar

Phone: (404) 844-0400 | Twitter: @BuckheadCigar | Web: AskTheCigarGuys

Discussion Topic:

Now that the long wait for USPSA Classification is over, I am able to sit down and start creating a couple of goals for the upcoming season. In addition to goals, I talk a little on how a small shooting team should gently prod me into shooting better. Finally, I talk a little about the sponsorship of that laid-back shooting team by Custom Gun Finishes.

Stream or Download Audio Only Version Below

Post from: Walt in PA

Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 24

Possibly related posts:

1. Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 17
2. Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 16
3. Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 15

This shooting season I had one goal that was more important than all the others. It was a simple goal, actually. All I wanted was to get a USPSA Classification so that I could determine a base line for future goals.

To become classified in USPSA you need to shoot at least four classifier stages. The courses of fire are pretty straightforward and used to measure the shooters score against a stage that was uniform across the country.

I picked up a classifier stage here and there and was beginning to worry about getting enough on my record to meet the requirements. It wasn’t until November, when I shot a special classifier match at York, that I made the cut and the long wait of score submission and automated classifications began.

The scores didn’t make it in time to get a ranking in December. January was looking grim up until about two weeks ago when the York scores were on the proverbial books. Once I knew I was going to make the next classification cycle, I began to cross my fingers and hope for C Class in Production Division.

Comparing scores during the later part of the season, I was in the middle of the pack as far as rankings amongst the C Class shooters go. I knew that D Class was very likely but I kept my fingers crossed anyway.

When the scores came out on Saturday, I was ecstatic to see that I came in just inside C Class with an average of 44.50% (C Class is 40% to 60%). Before the scores came in my goal was going to be to strive for the next classification. Now that I see where I came in, I think that hitting B Class by next season might be setting the bar too high.

My goal for this season is to average the Top 50% at club matches. This new goal is a little ambitious. It means coming in the better half of an entire division, B, A, Master, and Gran Master Class Shooters tipping the scales against me, depending on who shows up to shoot.

There are a couple of things that will help balance things out. Over the off-season I became part of a shooting team consisting of three other guys I’ve spent the last few months shooting with. As a collective, we will be helping one another shoot better.

To my complete amazement, after organizing our team, we met up with Troy and Missy Dando of Custom Gun Finishes, who have decided to sponsor us. Not only are they offering us emergency service (We were told to call them 24/7 if our guns go down and they will get them back up and running for our next match), they are also easing the financial impact or attending matches and feeding our pistols.

This season will be a challenge but I can’t wait to get back to shooting.

Do me a favor and support those that support us
Head over to Custom Gun Finishes on Facebook and “Like” them.
It would mean a lot to me

Post from: Walt in PA

USPSA Classified

Possibly related posts:

1. Shooting USPSA at York IWLA (11/13/2011)
2. Shooting USPSA at Lower Providence Rod and Gun Club (10/01/2011)
3. Match Results: USPSA at Lower Providence Rod and Gun Club

In this weeks gun podcast, I was given the gift of gab. That, coupled with simply being in a good mood, stretched this podcast out to roughly an hour and thirteen minutes. I followed the usual flow of the show, however, I added in an extra piece of news as I felt that it shouldn’t have been passed up.

Pre-News Talk:

• Warm Welcome from the folks over on the GRRN Forum

In The News:

• Tennessee Tourist Arrested for Bringing Pistol to 9/11 Memorial
• Gun Goes Off in Starbucks
• 2 arrested in Akron robbery of man trying to sell Xbox on Craigslist
• Oklahoma Mother, 18, Kills Intruder Breaking Into Her Home While on Phone With 911

Featured Content:

• Do More Than Just Light A Candle from Weer’d World
• Hot Shots (Episode 1) on NBC Sports
• An Open Letter to the Anti-Gun Folks from A Girl and Her Gun

Cigar and Drink Pairing:

• Cigar: Litto Gomez Diez SB IV
• Beverage: Caribou Coffee

If you are interested in trying the Litto Gomez Diez SB IV
Pick up the phone and order from my preferred retailer.

Buckhead Cigar

Phone: (404) 844-0400 | Twitter: @BuckheadCigar | Web: AskTheCigarGuys

Discussion Topic:

I last I talked about my options, as far as my Beretta 70S went. I gave it some thought and decided to take the gun to a local gun store and see exactly what it was worth to them. Not completely happy with the offer, I went to a second shop. As it turned out, the gun wound up staying at the second shop and I left with a shiny new gun.

Download or Stream MP3 Version Below

Post from: Walt in PA

Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 23

Possibly related posts:

1. Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 20
2. Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 15
3. Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 19

Earlier this week I was cruising Good Reader when I came across a variety of items discussing the upcoming plans of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. On January 8th, the one year anniversary of the Arizona mass shooting where six were killed and thirteen injured, including U.S. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, Candle-Light Vigils were going to be held across the country to honor the victims of Gun Violence.

On the surface this seems like a noble thing to do, it is sad when any innocent person becomes a victim. The part that tugged at my nerves was the message to end gun violence. What exactly is gun violence? I find myself wondering, if we are creating a sub-category of violence tailored just for firearms, are there others? Knife violence, car violence, bar of soap in a tube sock violence? That all sounds foolish. The point is, an inanimate object was used to commit a crime.

The message to stop violence, as a whole, seems like a better message. This is precisely why I appreciated reading an article on a pro-gun blog taking a look at the cause from a different perspective.

From the Weer’d World Blog:
So on January 8th I ask everybody to post a picture of a lit candle and your carry gun. Because lit candles don’t do a whole lot but cast a meager amount of light…but a loaded gun in the hands of lawful citizens can do wonders to protect innocent lives from harm.

If you are interested in seeing more photos and reading other opinions,
I would strongly encourage you to read
Do More Than Just Light A Candle
From Weer’d World

Post from: Walt in PA

Not Just a Lit Candle

No related posts.

Episode 22 of Shooting The Breeze received some fantastic comments and opened my eyes to a subject that I’ve been thinking about off and on for a while. I decided that while my Beretta 70S was my first pistol and has brought me some fond memories (taking an NRA Basic Pistol Class with my wife, as an example), holding onto it would mean more time spent collecting dust.

If I had spare cash to throw around, I think I would have smiled, stuck my Beretta in a box, and shipped it off to be plated. The photos included in the podcast were beautiful and I would have loved to own a gun like that. Even if I would have had the gun plated and polished, it would have just been a pretty gun collecting dust.

With this new realization set firmly in my mind, I took a ride over to a local gun shop to see what they would be willing to offer me. The situation was a bit strange as the owner wasn’t in and person running the store had to make a phone call to determine what they were willing to pay for my Beretta.

The offer wasn’t horrible but it was lower than I had hoped for. Between the offer and the cost of the gun, in the case, that I had my eye on, things just didn’t work out. I thanked the man for his time and told him that I would have to give the offer some thought. I sat down in my car, put the key in the ignition, and for a brief moment thought about walking back in the store and just accepting the offer. I decided against it and drove home a little disappointed.

After talking with my wife, I decided that another trip was in order that night. I climbed into my car and took a ride out to the gun store where I purchased both my Smith & Wesson M&P and Smith & Wesson Bodyguard. The shop seems to deal less in used guns but it was worth a shot.

When I arrived, I greeted the man behind the counter and explained that I was considering selling my old Beretta. He thunked a massively thick Blue Book of Gun Values onto the counter and looked up my Beretta. The offer was a few dollars less than the previous offer I received.

I thought long and hard about accepting. I looked at my Beretta, down into the gun case, back to my Beretta, then back to the gun case. I felt that the difference between the offer and what I was hoping to get, versus the cost of the gun in the case at this store rather than the previous store, was more in my favor. I accepted and began filling out paperwork.

I’ll miss the old Beretta 70S. I hope it finds a new home where it will be appreciated and put to good use.

Post from: Walt in PA

Goodbye Old Friend

Possibly related posts:

1. My First Pistol – Beretta Model 70S in .380 Auto
2. My (Wife’s) First .22: Beretta Neos
3. Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 17

The holidays were both cruel and kind to my little podcast. While some much needed time away from my day job was great, I had difficulty prying myself away to work on the podcast. My trend of recording the podcast at the last minute continued and I wrapped up recording last night.

The episode runs a little more than fifty minutes and covers everything in the show notes below. Please feel free to leave a comment and use the social share buttons at the bottom of this post.

Pre-News Talk:

• Have become a member of the Gun Rights Radio Network
• Talked about the flow of the podcast for any potential new listeners from GRRN

In The News:

• More and more women embracing gun ownership.
• Was Kroger Employee Justified in Shooting Robbery Suspect
• Miller: Firing back at Gun Control

CBS Story on More Women Embracing Gun Ownership

Featured Content:

• Two Less Things to Worry About
• Empty Mags Podcast Episode 23 – Elzetta Weapon Light
• Handgun World Show: Episode 149 – Competition Burn Out (Steve Zopfi Guest Host)

Cigar and Drink Pairing:

• Cigar: Alec Bradley Black Market
• Beverage: Zaya Rum

If you are interested in trying the Alec Bradley Black Market
Pick up the phone and order from my preferred retailer.

Buckhead Cigar

Phone: (404) 844-0400 | Twitter: @BuckheadCigar | Web: AskTheCigarGuys

Discussion Topic

I have an old Beretta 70S in .380 ACP that I rare shoot anymore. I’ve been toying around woth the idea od selling it to fun another gun, which would see regular use. To complicate things more, I came across photos of a re-finished Beretta 70 Series and fell in love with the way it looked. I’m not completely baffled on what to do, and decided to think out loud to the camera.

Download or Stream Audio Version

Post from: Walt in PA

Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 22

Possibly related posts:

1. Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 19
2. Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 18
3. Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 21

Earlier this month I came across a thread on the PAFOA Forums announcing another informal shoot being held at Oley Valley Fish & Game. I enjoyed myself at the last one and thought I’d sign up and shoot once again.

This time around conditions were less than ideal and I wound up chilled to the bone. When I left my house, wearing a sweatshirt, I thought it was a bit chilly but assumed it would warm up as the day went on. To my surprise, when I got on the other side of the mountain, there was a half inch of snow on the ground.

I spent most of the shoot with my hands tucked inside my pockets in an attempt to keep the feeling in my fingers. Needless to say, I was grossly unprepared for the cold and had to tough it out the best I could.

The first stage consisted of shooting a few rounds from the hip, then taking a shot using the sights. I did rather poorly shooting from the hip but had well placed shots when aiming. The video shows a fair amount of this type of shooting and I edited out even more (I didn’t find it very exciting, and I was there, so I assumed you saw enough).

The later stages involved some twenty-five yard shots and shots while moving. I wasn’t shooting full speed since the courses of fire were small and choppy (we took a few shots, stopped, and walked to another area to start the cycle over again).

Despite being cold, I had fun. One of the interesting things about these informal shoots is that we always wind up shooting in a manner that I’m not accustomed to (Shooting from prone, shooting from the hip, etc).

Post from: Walt in PA

Oley Valley Fish & Game Informal Shoot (December 2011)

No related posts.

This episode comes just a couple of days after a very busy, and pleasant, Christmas week. Featured content and news were a little tough to come by so I used a pair of topics for each segment.

I thought I was going to wind up short on time, which was fine by me this week, but I got a bit gabby and rounded out with just about 52 minutes worth of show.

I hope you enjoy watching/listening as much as I did recording.

Pre-News Talk

• Received some awesome info on getting into a Glock via Nick on last episodes comments
• Called Smith & Wesson regarding my M&P magazines rusting
• Found that Miguel from Gun Free Zone left me a review on iTunes

In The News:

• Castle Doctrine and your right to self-defense | Firearms Lawyer
• D.A: 2 shot in rural Montco came armed with bats

Featured Content:

• It is all in the mindset: Two cases to study
• Sons of Guns: Never Trust Reality TV

Cigar and Drink Pairing:

• Cigar: Undercrown by Drew Estate
• Beverage: Four Roses Single Barrel Bourbon

If you are interested in trying the Undercrown by Drew Estate
Pick up the phone and order from my preferred retailer.

Buckhead Cigar

Phone: (404) 844-0400 | Twitter: @BuckheadCigar | Web: AskTheCigarGuys

Discussion Topic:

On the blog post for Episode 20 of Shooting The Breeze, Corey asked how I went about determing what my next gun purchase would be. in this episode I talk about how I weight what I want versus my perceived need.

Stream or Download MP3 Version

Post from: Walt in PA

Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 21

Possibly related posts:

1. Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 15
2. Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 16
3. Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 10

During Episode 20 of Shooting The Breeze, I talked about having difficulties with the magazines for my Smith & Wesson M&P. When most people thing about having issues with magazines, the first thing that comes to mind is a bad spring or perhaps a broken follower.

My issue had nothing to do with the internals of the magazines. As you can see from the photo above, my woe comes in the form of surface rust. The photo makes it look a little worse than it is but, trust me, it is getting bad.

I first noticed the surface rust a couple of months ago after shooting a USPSA Match. At the time I blamed myself and chalked it up as user error. It isn’t uncommon to drop magazines in the middle of a stage. I just assumed they got a little wet or dirty and I did a poor job of wiping them off before putting them away.

In an attempt to remedy the situation, I spent extra time with my magazines while cleaning my guns. I brought out a plastic bristle brush, which was fairly rigid, and scrubbed the surface rust down with some Hoppe’s No 9 solvent. Once clean and dry, I applied some gun oil directly to the magazines and wiped it down with a rag.

The cleaning and oiling seemed to slow the rust down but not stop it. I wanted to simply sand out the rust but was concerned that I would be left with bare metal that would require some sort of re-finishing. I set the idea aside and planned to revisit it once the USPSA season was completed.

A few matches went by and the problem was slowly but surely getting worse. After each range session I would wipe down the magazines and apply a little oil to protect the metal. When the USPSA season ended, I began doing more dry fire practice to keep in shape for next season. Each practice session put a rusty magazine in my hand and I felt myself growing more annoyed.

The final straw was attending an informal shoot this past weekend. After the shoot, I handed my M&P and a loaded magazine to a friend to try. He took one look at the magazine and said something to the effect of “wow, I can’t believe you have this much rust on here”.

That comment was pretty much the breaking point and got me worked up enough to take action. I was unable to call Smith & Wesson the following day (Monday, a business day) and recording the gun podcast allowed me to stew on it even longer.

On Tuesday I picked up the phone and made the call to Smith & Wesson Customer Service. I wasn’t sure what I wanted exactly. I didn’t really expect them to replace the magazines but I at least wanted them to tell me what to re-finish the magazines with after I sanded out the surface rust.

When my daughter went down for a nap and my house was otherwise quiet, I picked up the phone and called Smith & Wesson Customer Service. I got the usual automated answering service prompting me to key in a number to re-direct my call. Since warranty or support services weren’t an option, I stayed on the line for assistance (the the automated message prompted me to do this). A woman answered the phone and asked the nature of the call. Before I could complete my sentence, I was transferred and put on hold.

While I can appreciate the efficiency of getting my call directed to the appropriate department, I thought it was rather rude. I was on hold for roughly fifteen minutes before it was my turn in the customer queue. A man named Joe answered the phone (According to my personal customer service logs, I spoke with Joe about my previous M&P problem). Joe seemed like he was in a rush to get me off the phone and move on to the next customer, but at no point was he rude about it.

To my surprise, Joe told me to send in the magazines one at a time (he assumed this was my only pistol and wanted to make sure I had at least one magazine to keep the gun operable). When I told him that I could be without magazines for a while, he said that sending in all three problematic magazines would not be a problem and they would simply replace them.

I got off the phone and used the Smith & Wesson Website to request a Warranty Return. I have yet to receive that pre-paid shipping label and I don’t plan on waiting for it much longer. Worse case scenario it will cost me $6.00 to send magazines via USPSA Priority Mail.

At this point, the story is pretty much over until I get the magazines back. When the replacements arrive, I’ll be sure to post a follow up.

You may be wondering, though, what caused the rust in the first place? To be honest, I really have no idea. My Smith & Wesson M&P is stored in the same manner as my other guns and they do not have a speck of rust anywhere on them.

Making an educated guess, I would imaging that the back of the magazine was wearing inside the polymer frame. If you look closely at the photos, you can see what looks like a worn brushed finish, running from top to bottom. My best guess is that plenty of reloads during dry-fire and USPSA Matches wore through the finish and rust began to develop.

Post from: Walt in PA

Rust on My Smith & Wesson M&P Magazines

Possibly related posts:

1. Range Report: Smith & Wesson M&P 9mm (09/11/2011)
2. My First Range Gun: Smith & Wesson M&P 9mm
3. Shooting The Smith & Wesson Bodyguard

Can you believe that, together, we have reached twenty episodes? Twenty episodes may not seem like much but when you associate a week with each episode, it winds up being roughly five months of consecutive weekly podcasts. I can’t believe we’ve been at this gun podcasting thing for so long already. I say “we” because the podcast wouldn’t be much without its listeners/viewers, so thank you for being a part of it.

Pre-News Talk:

• Update on the Buck Bantam Medium 285 ($14.88 on Amazon)
• Shot an informal Shoot/Match at Oley Valley Fish and Game

In The News:

• Bloomberg online gun sting creates more questions than answers
• Pistol-packin’ mommas hone shooting skills in safety
• Store Clerk Shoots Would-Be Robber With His Own Gun

Featured Content:

• CSGV Celebrating Law Breakers from Miguel at Gun Free Zone
• Concealed Carry Myths from Shooting Illustrated
• Shall Not Be Questioned

Cigar and Drink Pairing:

• Cigar: Fuente Fuente Opus X
• Beverage: Folgers Gourmet Selections – Lively Columbian Coffee

If you are interested in trying the Fuente Fuente Opus X
Pick up the phone and order from my preferred retailer.

Buckhead Cigar

Phone: (404) 844-0400 | Twitter: @BuckheadCigar | Web: AskTheCigarGuys

Discussion Topic:

Over the weekend I got together with a shooting buddy and attended a local match/shoot (very informal). After we were done shooting, my friend offered to let me shoot his Glock 35. It was the first time in a few years that I had one in my hand, outside of random gun shop visits.

I must say, the draw to the dark side if tremendous. I’m toying with the idea of selling a gun that I don’t use very often and putting some money aside for a Glock 17.

Stream of Download Audio Only Format

Post from: Walt in PA

Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 20

Possibly related posts:

1. Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 18
2. Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 16
3. Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 17

In what seems to be becoming the norm, I found myself with little free time this past week and wound up putting together my show notes for this episode at the last minute. In fact, it was so last minute that at the start of the podcast I had nothing to use for a discussion topic. As the show progressed, nothing came to mind and I was forced to practically pull the segment from this weeks show.

What I did for the discussion topic, however, was make mention that I would like to do video interviews in the future. The idea is to get a brave soul to join me via Skype and talk about guns. I haven’t come up with a list of topics as of yet, but I really like the idea.

If I can gather a few people that are interested in joining me on the podcast, I’ll be sharing the video in the discussion portion of the show. If you are interested, please get in touch and we can talk about it

Pre-News Talk:

• Update on my first week carrying the Buck Knife as part of my Every Day Carry Gear.
• Another dot Popped out of my M&P Sights
• Recieved an email from the Julie Golob website regarding the bookmark for pre-ordering her book

In The News:

• Bill would ban guns from gas stations
• Students should be able to carry guns on campus

Featured Content:

• Moscow Open 2011, Level III. Russian IPSC in action.
• Episode 25 of the RoadGunner Podcast: Father Doesn’t Know Best
• Shooting USA Pro Tip: Julie Golob on Dry Fire Practice

Moscow Open IPSC Stage

Cigar and Drink Pairing:

• Cigar: Cain F
• Beverage: Gentleman Jack

If you are interested in trying the Cain F
Pick up the phone and order from my preferred retailer.

Buckhead Cigar

Phone: (404) 844-0400 | Twitter: @BuckheadCigar | Web: AskTheCigarGuys

Discussion Topic:

No topic this episode. Nothing came to mind and I really wasn’t feeling it. Mentioned doing a video call with another individual for use in future episodes.

Stream of Download Audio Only Version of the Podcast

Post from: Walt in PA

Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 19

Possibly related posts:

1. Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 18
2. Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 17
3. Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 15

Going into this weeks episode of Shooting The Breeze, I was a little nervous. My usual single page of show notes somehow grew to three pages and I wasn’t sure if I would be able to make it all fit.

Somehow, it all worked out and the podcast finished out at about one hour and ten minutes. As usual, you can find both audio and video formats available at the bottom of this post. Once finished with the episode, head down to the comments section and share your thoughts.

Pre-Show Talk:

• Update on the Spyderco Native 4 (Courtesy of Cajun Blaze)
• A plug for an Open Carry Dinner being hosted by Buckhead Cigar in Atlanta
• Some advice from the Unknown Trucker, from the RoadGunner Podcast, on my DeSantis Nemisis issue.
• Very interesting episode of Shooting USA which focused on Women’s Training

In The News:

• Lawsuit Challenges Gun Ban in Post Offices
• State high court asked to review gun-ban case
• No Charges Against Store Owner Who Shot, Killed Robber

News Report on Store Owner who Shot Robber

Featured Content:

• Doug Koenig Teaches Speed Loading from AmmoLand
• Got it on Camera from Fill Yer Hands
• When Seconds Count – Video from Youtube

Doug Koenig on Speed Reloading

When Seconds Count

Cigar and Drink Pairing:

• Cigar: Arturo Fuente Anejo
• Beverage: Folgers Gourmet Selections – Lively Columbian Coffee

If you are interested in trying the Arturo Fuente Anejo
Pick up the phone and order from my preferred retailer.

Buckhead Cigar

Phone: (404) 844-0400 | Twitter: @BuckheadCigar | Web: AskTheCigarGuys

Discussion Topic:

Prior to this episode, I was asked to create a Christmas List to be distributed to family. Generally this list contains a handful of low to medium priced items that fall into a few categories. For this podcast, I decided to expand on the Guns and Gear section of that Christmas List and throw out my concern for price.

Stream or Download Audio Format

Post from: Walt in PA

Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 18

Possibly related posts:

1. Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 15
2. Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 17
3. Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 14

This weeks Episode of Shooting The Breeze was both fun and hectic. As it has been the case for the last several weeks, I found myself sitting down to record the episode without a full set of show notes in front of me. Thanks to Joe from Twitter, I was given an idea for a last minute featured discussion topic, which I was able to use to finalize my show notes.

The episode runs about 52 minutes in length and is available in both video and audio formats. Once finished with the show, please feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments section down below. I would also appreciate your using the social share buttons, at the foot of the post, to help spread the word.

Show Notes

Pre SHow Talk:

Julie Golob Offers a Signed and Personalized Bookmark to the first 500 people to pre-order her book – Shoot: Your Guide to Shooting and Competition

• Julie’s Bookmark Offer
• Pre-Order Your Copy of Shoot via Amazon (Price is $11.41 as of 11/28/2011)

SHOOT Book Trailer

@HerfDoctor from Twitter and Jason from the Empty Mags Podcast offer some advice on my DeSantis Nemesis Poscket Holster problem.

In The News:

• Police: Boy shoots mom’s attacker with BB gun
• Store Clerk Shoots, Kills Robbery Suspect

Police: Boy Shot Mom’s Attacker With BB Gun

Featured Content:

• Not Intimidated by Jennifer of In Jennifer’s Head
• Gone IDPA Postal, TSSA Style by Miguel of Gun Free Zone
• IDPA Match at AAR by George of Newbie Shooter

Cigar and Drink Pairing:

• Cigar: Oliva Serie O
• Beverage: Dunkin Donuts Original Blend K-Cup

If you are interested in trying the Oliva Serie O
Pick up the phone and order from my preferred retailer.

Buckhead Cigar

Phone: (404) 844-0400 | Twitter: @BuckheadCigar | Web: AskTheCigarGuys

Discussion Topic:

In this episode, I talk about my hodge-podge collection of USPSA equipment. I discuss my Fobus Paddle Holster, iTac Magazine Pouch, and Blackhawk Magazine Pouch.

Audio Only Version

Post from: Walt in PA

Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 17

Possibly related posts:

1. Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 16
2. Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 8
3. Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 15

Last weekend I shot what will most likely be my last USPSA match of the season. With winter setting in, many of the clubs in my area and closing up shop, in terms of outdoor action shooting, until Spring.

In an effort to get as much shooting in as possible, before Winter break set in, I shot three out of four weekends this month. Of those three weekends, I wanted to make sure that I got a chance to shoot at what I consider my home club, one last time this season.

Back in July I shot my very first USPSA Match at Topton Fish & Game and enjoyed it immensely. This club takes an approach to stage design that is very hit or miss with the people I’ve shot with over the past few months. When shooting at Topton, you can expect to face some serious distance shots. It is this type of shooting that some enjoy (I fall into this group) and others dislike.

Heading into this match I expected distance and plenty of steel. Not only did I get those very two things, I got more than I bargained for. Ever since I started shooting USPSA, I have been gambling by attending matches with only four magazines. I’ve been meaning to pick up two more but a trip to two local gun stores left me empty handed.

Having only four magazines really bit me in the ass this time around. I faced a stage with 32 steel targets at distances starting at 40 yards and moving in to 10 yards. For the first time in 5 matches, I ran out of ammo and left 8 pieces of steel standing. The penalty hit I took on this stage was greater than the points I earned, giving me a big fat zero on the stage.

My showing on this single stage took me from what I estimate to around 4th or 5th place out of 10 shooters in Production Division down to 8th place. I walked away from the match very disappointed but I learned a very important lesson. If you are going to shoot USPSA at Topton, you’d better make sure you have 5 or 6 magazines at the ready.

Stage 5: Steely Speed VI

My first stage of the day was Steely Speed VI. I shot this particular stage with my heart pumping and virtually no time to create a game plan. Getting out of the house a little later than I expected and the match starting about a half hour sooner than it was supposed to (I still managed to arrive about 20 minutes before registration was noted to close on the club website), I arrived with squads already broken out and shooting.

After finding the match director, I got the green light to shoot but needed to gran a score sheet and fill it out. With the squad just about finished with the short stage, I ran back to the registration area, filled out a score sheet, and ran back. I had enough time to hand in my score sheet and load up my magazines before I head “Walt, you ready to shoot?”

I glanced at the stage description, said yes, and stepped into the shooting box. Fortunately, the stage description was very simple. Because this was a classifier stage, all that was required was for me to quickly engage six steel poppers at a distance of 45 feet.

At the buzzer, I took a step forward and dropped to my knees to see through a port in a fence directly infront of me. I pressed out and began pressing the trigger. I cleared the stage with eight shots in a time of 6.50 seconds. Despite my feeling a bit flustered, I did rather well and came in 3rd on the stage.

Stage 6: Barrel Tunnel

I didn’t realize it until I arrived at the match, but this was a classifier match. Four of the six stages on the day were setup as short stages with little movement. After having just shot a match like this at York IWLA the weekend before, I was eager to stretch my legs and have fun.

Barrel Tunnel was the first of two stages where I would get the opportunity to do just that. Unfortunately, I went a little overboard and shot the stage much faster than I was capable of doing accurately. When the buzzer went off, I mashed the proverbial gas pedal to the floor and didn’t let up until the stage was complete.

At the buzzer, I drew my pistol, took two steps forward and engaged a target to my right. I continued forward and engaged a closer target that was tucked behind a barrel. I engaged both of these targets at a speed that was comfortable.

Turning left, I engaged two targets that were a mirror image of the first. These targets are where I went into warp speed. I don’t even think I had a sight picture when I took my second shot at each target. I moved back to the right and engaged another barrel shrouded target with complete disregard for a proper sight picture.

I reloaded my Smith & Wesson M&P and engaged a target on the left. I took slower shots on this target because I knew I was moving faster than my skill allowed. Both shots felt solid and I moved on to a pair of swingers at the end of the stage.

I don’t know how I did on the swinger on the left, but I took three shots on the swinger on the right to ensure at least two hits. When it was time to score the stage, my squad mates had a laugh at my misses at the close targets and my well placed shots on the difficult swingers (I drilled the one on the right with a tight grouping of A’s).

My stage time was the best of the day at 15.02 seconds and earned me 4th place. However, I had 20 penalty points for two misses. This is a clear indication of how much emphasis is put on speed, even if I felt as though I shot the stage poorly.

Stage 1: El Presidente

My third stage of the day was El Presidente, another classifier. To be honest, I was getting sick of seeing this stage pop up as a classifier in matches. Of all of the classifier stages, this one seems to be used most frequently.

Facing up range, the shooter is to wait for the buzzer, turn, engage three targets at 30 feet, reload, and engage each target once more. After shooting the previous stage so quickly and poorly, I knew I had to dial things down a bit and find my natural rhythm.

I shot the stage in 12.14 seconds and earned 5th place. After the targets were scored, one of my squad member approached me and gave me a little pat on the back, telling me “thats how you do it, keep shooting at that pace and you’ll do well.”

Stage 2: Can You Count

My fourth stage of the day, and third classifier, was Can You Count. This stage was rather simple. At the buzzer, we are to draw and fire 5 rounds at a target 6 feet away, reload, and fire 5 rounds at a target 10 feet away.

The hardest part of this stage was keeping track of your rounds and remembering to reload between targets. The first target is so close that aiming isn;t really required, point shooting works well. The second target can be approached the same way but using the front sight is a little more important. After shooting, you do it all over again with a second pair of targets setup as a mirror image of the first two.

I cleared this stage with all A zone shots in 14.39 seconds, earning me 7th place. this stage was a good lesson learning recoil management. The better you are at controlling muzzle flip, the faster you can clear the stage. The first place shooter cleared the stage in 10.56 seconds, however, he wasn’t the fastest time of the day. It seems that the individual in last place shot the stage in 7.89 seconds, however he was penalized 100 points (I would guess that he didn’t reload between targets and was penalized for the following 5 shots).

Stage 3: Times Two

Times Two was the last classifier of the day and the first that allowed for a little bit of movement. At the buzzer, we are to draw our pistol and fire two rounds at an array of three targets. These targets are situated at 30, 33, and 36 feet from the shooting box. We then move to a second shooting box and engage three more targets setup much the same way.

After engaging the first three targets, I reloaded my pistol while moving to the second shooting box. I completed the stage in 12.40 seconds and earned 3rd place in production division.

At the tail end of the last leg of the stage, I opted to fire one additional round at a target. I did this because I felt like I pulled a shot and wanted to make sure that it wasn’t a D zone hit. As it turns out, I scored 3 C’s on this particular target. Had I not shot that last round, I probably could have shaved a second off of my time.

Stage 4: Steel Fun

Steel Fun was my last stage of the day and it was the one stage that I was most disappointed with. From a box 40 yards away, we are to engage eight steel poppers. Once all of this steel is down, we then move to a second box situated 30 yards from a series of 8 steel plates. Once cleared, we were to move to a third box located 20 yards from a series of 8 smaller steel plates. The last shooting box was about 10 yards from a series of 8 even smaller steel plates.

With 40 rounds of ammunition, my plan was to take as much time as I needed to drop all steel in as few shots as possible. This allowed for me to miss no more than 8 targets if I wanted to clear the stage.

The stage started out fairly well and I began nailing the poppers at 40 yards. My first stumble came when the last popper didn’t fall and I began moving to the next box. I had to stop and go back to the box to try and drop the plate. I was able to do so in short order.

The second shooting box caused me the most grief and I wound up missing a lot of targets. I had just enough to rounds to clear the third string of steel before I ran out of ammo and had to prematurely end the stage.

As I mentioned in the beginning of this post, I explained that I took such a large penalty hit on this stage that I wound up with zero points and tied for last place. Had I arrived with more magazines, I think I could have cleared the stage and did fairly well. Unfortunately, that just wasn’t the case.

Shooting USPSA at Topton Fish & Game – Nov 20, 2011

Post from: Walt in PA

Match Results: USPSA at Topton Fish & Game

Possibly related posts:

1. Shooting USPSA at Topton Fish & Game (11/20/2011)
2. Match Results: USPSA at Lower Providence Rod and Gun Club
3. Match Results: USPSA at Lower Providence Rod & Gun Club

In last weeks episode, in an effort to save a little time, I compacted the show a bit by only covering two pieces of news and two pieces of featured content. After watching the episode back, I found that I liked the way the show flowed with a little less content jammed into each segment.

As a result, I shortened both the news and featured content once again this week. This time it made those segments feel too short, so I padded the end of the show a bit with extra talk. Going forward, I’ll play with the number of items in each segment to try to dial in the overall time of the show.

Pre-Show Talk:

• Update on Spyderco Native 4
• I Pre-Ordered the Julie Golob book entitled “Shoot: Your Guide to Shooting and Competition”
• I shot what what will probably be my last regular USPSA match of the season this past weekend.

In The News:

• Man Killed by his own Concealed Weapon
• Gun Toting Woman Foils Purse Snatcher’s Plan

Featured Content:

• Texas Tactical IDPA on the Handgun World Show by Bob Mayne
• Match Report – USPSA at Cherokee Gun Club from Fill Yer Hands

Cigar and Drink Pairing:

• Cigar: Oliva Serie V Liga Especial No. 4
• Beverage: Caribou Daybreak Coffee – Morning Blend

If you are interested in trying the Oliva Serie V Liga Especial No. 4
Pick up the phone and order from my preferred retailer.

Buckhead Cigar

Phone: (404) 844-0400 | Twitter: @BuckheadCigar | Web: AskTheCigarGuys

Discussion Topic:

In this episode I talk about my experience with Pocket Carry and one serious problem I am having with a DeSantis Nemesis Pocket Holster.

Click Below to Download or Stream Audio Only Version

Post from: Walt in PA

Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 16

Possibly related posts:

1. Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 15
2. Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 10
3. Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 8

Today I shot was will most likely be my last regular USPSA match of the season. Last month I spoke with the match director at Topton and found out that they would be running a pistol match this month. Because Topton was the club where I shot my very first USPSA match, I wanted to shoot there one more time before the end of the season (On a side note, it looks like Topton shoots year round but they don’t do a pistol match every month).

I arrived at the club around 10:10am and was confused as to why there wasn’t a group of people standing around at the registration shed. A few seconds later I heard gunfire and learned that everyone had been squadded and the match was underway (despite the website showing registration closing at 10:30).

I started walking around, looking for the match director to see how late I was. As it turned out, the match got started about ten minutes before I got there. I jogged back to the registration shed, filled out a score sheet, and jogged back to slip myself into a squad. I had enough time to load my magazines before it was my turn to shoot.

To my surprise, the match was actually a classifier match. There were about six stages in all, at least three of those stages were classifiers. While I didn’t need any more classifiers after last weeks shoot at York IWLA, it didn’t hurt to have a few more.

I think I shot okay but I wish the match would have lasted longer. With a match cost of $25.00 (website said $20.00) I didn’t feel like I got as much out of the match as I did with York, which charged the same for their classifier match.

Shooting USPSA at Topton Fish & Game – Nov 20, 2011

Post from: Walt in PA

Shooting USPSA at Topton Fish & Game (11/20/2011)

Possibly related posts:

1. Shooting USPSA at York IWLA (11/13/2011)
2. Oley Valley Fish & Game Fun Shoot (10/22/2011)
3. Shooting USPSA at Lower Providence Rod and Gun Club (10/01/2011)

This past Sunday I woke up bright and early to begin my USPSA Match Prep Ritual. First I made sure that my Smith & Wesson M&P was tucked comfortably in my range bag. Next I removed any unnecessary ammunition and made sure that I had plenty of 9mm on hand to complete the match. I made sure that both my Countour HD and Flip HD Ultra were charged and placed into my range bag. Last, I tossed in a couple of bottles of Power Aide, some trail mix, and kissed my wife and daughter before I walked out the door.

I had never shot at York IWLA but heard good things about the club. The most important was that they ran a challenging match that was well rounded. With the address punched into my phone for GPS Navigation, I pulled out of my parking spot and was off.

The club was a bit further away than I would have liked but the drive wasn’t bad, even if it did feel like I was making a cross-county trek. I arrived a few minutes before registration opened and spent some time chatting with my newest shooting buddy, Scott.

After paying my fee ($25.00 for a special four stage classifier) and getting geared up, we were squadded up and shooting. Unlike my past eperience with USPSA, things were much more laid back than I was accustomed to. For starters, there was no set shooting order. Everyone kind of shot when they felt the urge. This threw me off my game a bit because I was so used to following an order that I would build a routine around it.

Not knowing when I would be shooting, I found myself less concentrated on creating a game plan for myself and more worried about getting the stage reset and pasted for the next shooter. Another new-to-me practice was the use of Palm devices to track scores. Since I wasn’t scoring, it didn’t effect me directly but the devices were causing some hiccups from time to time.

My biggest concern on the day wasn’t the stage design, it was that I wasn’t 100%. I was at the tail end of a cold and found myself popping cough drops like they were candy (if I didn’t, I was falling into coughing fits) to keep myself from coughing during a stage.

Even though I wasn’t feeling too great, I managed to shoot okay. I placed 29th out of 50 Shooters Overall and 16th out of 29 Shooters in Production Division. I met some very nice people and received some great pointers on improving my game. All in all, I enjoyed the match and hope to shoot at York IWLA again next season.

Stage 1: Melody Line

The first stage of the day was Melody Line. This stage was also the first of four classifier stages peppered throughout the match. The objective was to stand, facing up range, turn and engage each target with one round, perform a mandatory reload, and engage each target with one more round.

Shooting the stage in this fashion tripped up a couple of people. Normally we engage targets with as many rounds as we need, then score the best two. In this case, firing out of the sequence outlined in the stage description resulted in a penalty.

At the buzzer, I turned and began engaging targets. My first six shots fired felt good and my transitions were smooth. I fumbled with the reload (proof that I need more practice at home doing dry-fire practice and reloads). My next four shots also felt good, then I had a malfunction and felt like a deer in the headlights. I went through the motions (tap-rack-bang) without issue but I probably wasted two seconds before my next shot broke.

I shot this stage in 14 seconds with a score of 7 A’s and 5 C’s. I placed 17th out of 29 shooters in production division.

Stage 2: Lightning and Thunder

Lightning and Thunder was our second classifier of that day. When I laid eyes on this stage during our shooter briefing that morning, I immediately became curious. It was the first time that I have ever seen a stage setup to run multiple shooters across a firing line (it was setup to run three at a time to save time).

Facing down range, shooters are to wait for the buzzer, draw, and engage three targets from 75 feet. Best two rounds on paper score while misses do not cause any penalties. The difficulty here was that a par time of five seconds was used. In a nutshell, you have five seconds to draw and engage three targets, with a total of six rounds, before your time was up.

To prep for this stage, I stood away from the shooters and air-gunned the stage as others ran it. This gave me a feel for how fast I needed to be moving before the buzzer ended the stage. When it was my turn, I wound up shooting too fast and having a little time left over. It would have been in my best interest to slow down and take advantage of that extra time in an effort to place my shots better.

Once the other two shooters were finished (again, three on the firing line shooting at their own targets), we moved to a closer firing line at 45 feet. The par time of five seconds remained but this time we were to draw, engage each target with one round, perform a mandatory reload, and fire one more round at each target. Same rules applied as above where misses didn’t draw a penalty.

This time I was able to draw my pistol, fire three rounds, reload, and fire two more rounds before I ran out of time. With my slow reload time, I really had to hustle to break those last two shots and I knew right away that they wouldn’t be placed well on the target.

For the last leg of the stage, we moved up to a firing line at 30 feet from the targets. With the same par time, we were to draw and engage each target with two rounds, strong hand only (for me this meant shooting with my right hand). Much like the first leg, I got all of my shots off with time left over. Again, just like the first leg, I should have took more time in setting up my shots instead of worrying so much about the 5 second par time.

Fortunately, this stage did not penalize misses otherwise I would scored a big fat zero. I wound up with 2 A’s, 1 B, 3 C’s, 3 D’s, and 7 misses. I came in 21st out of 29 shooters.

Stage 3: Razor’s Edge

Stage three was Razor’s Edge, another classifier. This was the most disappointing stage of the day, not because I shot it poorly, but because I was fidgeting with the camera prior to the start and forgot to turn it on for my run. As a result, I have no footage to look back on for this stage.

This stage was setup so that the shooter stood behind a wall with a long cutout in it. The cutout was situated so that a person of average height had to crouch down slightly, creating an awkward shooting stance.

The wall was placed 30 feet from the targets and we were to start with out hands on two marks on the wall. At the buzzer, we were to draw and engage six targets with one round per target. Some targets were shrouded by no shoots while others were, more or less, wide open.

Without video footage of my shooting, it is tough to explain what I did well and where I needed work. From what I recall, my time wasn’t lightning fast but my shots were well placed.

Because I didn’t have video from this stage, I have no way of knowing how I landed my shots. The scoring system posted by the club is rather confusing and the official report is not available from USPSA at this time. I ranked 8th out of 29 shooters on this stage with a time of 7.41 seconds and 28 points.

Stage 4: Pit 4

Pit 4 was our fourth stage of the day and our first look at a stage that was not a classifier. The nice thing about not shooting a classifier is that the stages are more complicated and they allow you to stretch your legs a bit. Being confined to a small shooting box gets kind of old after a few stages.

At the buzzer, we were to draw and begin engaging targets as we saw fit. The most logical targets to engage first were a pair tucked down behind a fence. With some careful footwork around a muddy patch, I reached over the fence and quickly point-shot both targets before getting back on the move.

My next pair or targets were situated behind fencing. In order to get a clear shot on these targets, you had to get close to a gap in the fence. From here, a few quick shots, careful not to hit the no shoot, and the real fun sets in.

Up until this point the stage seemed very logical in the way that I engaged targets. At this point I had a wide variety of options and I struggled on selecting what I thought was best. I decided to turn to my right and engage a single target at fairly close range.

I ran my gun dry and reloaded as I moved towards the back left corner of the stage. I leaned left, over the boundary, and engaged a pair of targets before moving to the right and engaging another pair.

I reloaded before making my way to a port (opening in a fence) to begin working on the plate rack at fairly close range. I expected the steel to be a piece of cake. I put my front sight on the steel plate and pressed the trigger. To my surprise, the gun went off and the steel remained standing. I reset and pressed the trigger again, and still the steel stood untouched, as if it were mocking me.

I took a breath, refocused, and went back at the steel. The first plate dropped and the rest were on and off. I used almost an entire magazine to knock down six steel plates. I still have no idea why those plates didn’t drop. According to my front sight, they should have went down without issue. I must have been pulling the shots or something.

On this stage, scoring was started before the stage was over (score keeper walking behind as the range officer and I moved further into the stage). As a result, I don’t have any video of my targets being scored. Looking at the club results, I managed 106 points in 27.55 seconds. I came in 11th out of 29 shooters in this stage.

Stage 5: Cracker Jack

Cracker Jack was our fifth stage and last classifier of the day. Standing in a shooting box, hands on X’s on the fence, we waited for the buzzer. Once alerted, we would draw our weapon and engage a series of six targets in any manner we saw fit.

I decided, as did many other shooters, that it would be best to engage the first four targets immediate infront of us. A pair were setup at 47 feet with another pair setup at 50 feet. The closer targets were partially painted black to indicate hard cover (a shot in the black counts as a miss). The other pair were wide open.

Holding for A zone shots, I pressed the trigger eight times and moved to my left. Around a corner, at about 8 feet from the box, was a single target. I fired two rounds and moved to my right to engage a single target setup in much the same fashion.

All of my shots were solid, landing in the A and C zones. Unfortunately, two of my A zone shots were inside black painted hard cover, counting as misses. The two penalties killed my final score. Normally I hold a little away from hard cover just to make sure my shots score. This time I threw caution to the wind and took my chances by holding for a solid A zone shot.

On this stage I scored 44 points before I was penalized 20 points for my two misses (I hit hard cover, which counts as a miss). I ran the stage in 12.51 seconds and came in 22nd out of 29 shooters.

Stage 6:

Pit 6 was our sixth stage of the day and looked to be one of the most fun stages. Laid out in front of us was this zig-zag looking firing line that was very narrow. There were seven targets setup on the extreme left side of the pit and seven targets on the extreme right. At the end of this zig-zag path were two targets tucked down behind a fence.

Shooters seemed to be approaching this stage in one of two ways. Some immediately moved to a part of the firing line where they could engage a large number of targets, then moved again to engage the remainder. Other shooters slowly moved down the zig-zag path picking off targets while moving.

I opted to turn to the left string of targets and run my gun dry without moving. I then reloaded and repeated the process on the right string. While reloading, I moved further down the path and picked up the two remaining targets on the left and the two remaining targets on the right. I reloaded one last time while moving towards the fence to pick up my last two targets.

On this stage a racked up 134 points in 30.67 seconds, putting me in 14th place out of 29 shooters.

Stage 7:

The last stage of the day was Pit 7. This stage had a couple of my squad members a little concerned due to the presence of both a swinger and a Texas star. Mixed in with these two pesky targets were a mixture of steel poppers and cardboard.

When it was my time to shoot, I opted to shoot as much cardboard as I could from the starting position. I started with a target on the far left, then transitioned to my right for the next target in the string. The third target required me to lean around a No-Shoot but posed no problems. I picked up a close range target before reloading and firing on the last close range target.

I moved to the far right of the shooting lane and picked up a target tucked behind a fence. I point-shot this target (fired without looking at my sights due to close range) and I felt like I pulled one of my shots into the hard cover portion of the target. I made up the shot, turning to my left to pick up two more targets at medium distance.

With one of these targets I felt like I may have pulled another shot into hard cover. I made up the shot and began moving down the firing line to a break in the fence. I started on the steel from right to left. Shooting in this manner allowed me to hit the piece of steel that actuated the swinger, last. With the slight delay, I setup to ambush the swinger.

I moved back to the starting area to engage the Texas Star. I’ve had mixed results with these targets but I wasn’t terribly worried about it. I was confident in my shooting, put my front sight on the first plate and pressed the trigger. Much like earlier in the day, the steel remained standing and it took a few more shots to drop the first plate.

Once the first plate was down, I had my rhythm hitting plate after plate as the Texas Star went into motion. On the last shot, I pulled the trigger and my brain immediately told me that I missed, but to my surprise, the last plate fell.

After reviewing the footage, I could see that my brain was correct. I missed my last shot but the momentum of the swinging plates must have disengaged the steel target, causing it to drop. it was a range equipment failure that no one noticed at the time.

My biggest issue on this stage was my lack of focus. As the day went on, I was developing some sort of shooting fatigue. My follow through was becoming shorter and shorter until I was actually transitioning to the next target a split second before the shot broke. This resulted in me pulling shots that required me to make them up, costing me time and throwing off my plan in regards to where I would reload.

On this stage I scored 143 points in 43.20 seconds, earning me 14th place out of 29 shooters.

Closing Thoughts:

The nice thing about the match at York IWLA is that it was a special event setup with four classifier stages. The way USPSA works is that the organization uses these stages, which are the same nationally, to place a shooter into a specific class. Four of these stages are needed to generate a classification. Between these four and the two that I shot at Lower Providence Rod & Gun Club, I should have a brand new membership card with a classification on it (right now it has “U” for unclassified).

When I look over the scores from the match, I could see a trend. If I didn’t bomb a stage with misses, I fell into the middle of the pack. In this case, I shot better than the average “D” ranked shooter on several stages and found myself towards the bottom of the “C” class pack.

I have no idea what my classification will be when it is generated. I will be disappointed if I rank “D” but would completely understand (a tanked stage, here and there, will undoubtably drag me down). I’ve got my fingers crossed for “C”.

Match Video from York IWLA – Nov. 2011

Post from: Walt in PA

Match Results: USPSA at York IWLA

Possibly related posts:

1. Match Results: USPSA at Lower Providence Rod and Gun Club
2. Shooting USPSA at York IWLA (11/13/2011)
3. Match Results: USPSA at Lower Providence Rod & Gun Club

This past weekend I got out and shot my second USPSA Match this month (4th Match Total). I wouldn’t be shooting matches so close together under normal circumstances, but we are on the cusp of the season ending in Pennsylvania. After this weekends match at Topton, I probably won’t be shooting very many USPSA matches until March or April when the local clubs begin getting back into the swing of things.

One of the biggest draws in shooting the match at York IWLA is that this last match of the season was setup with seven stages, four of which were classifier stages. By shooting this one match, I could ensure that when next season rolls around I will no longer be an Unclassified Shooter.

This was my first experience shooting at York and to be completely honest, I have mixed feelings about the club. The biggest drawback is that it requires me sitting behind the wheel of my car for an hour and fifteen minutes. While that drive isn’t terrible (I drive about fifty minutes to Lower Providence) it just feels like I’m covering hundreds of miles and burning gallons of gasoline.

The club is spread out over lots of land, allowing for plenty of stages. For my money, I’d much rather pay $20 to shoot a seven stage course than the same money to shoot a four stage course. With that said, I liked running seven stages.

Scores for this match have been released by the club, however, I’m hoping to see the official results posted by USPSA in a few days. When those scores are posted I’ll do a rundown of each stage like I have done in the past.

The video below covers six of the seven stages (I forgot to turn the camera on during stage three. Stage three is the one pictured at the head of this post) and runs a little over four minutes. I edited out all of the scoring to shorten up the video a bit.

Post from: Walt in PA

Shooting USPSA at York IWLA (11/13/2011)

Possibly related posts:

1. Shooting USPSA at Lower Providence Rod & Gun Club (11/05/2011)
2. Shooting USPSA at Lower Providence Rod and Gun Club (10/01/2011)
3. Match Results: USPSA at Lower Providence Rod and Gun Club

This weeks episode of Shooting The Breeze is a little shorter then past episodes. I wound up having a rather busy week and my last minute recording was pushed to an even later time because I had to tend to my daughter (she is sick and wasn’t feeling very well).

Once my daughter was down for the night, I headed for my camcorder and recorded a shorter version of the show so that I would have something for you to watch and/or listen to.

The podcast runs about fifty minutes and is available in both audio and video formats. Once you are finished with the episode, share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Pre-Show Banter:

• Why this episode is “Condensed” and made a bit shorter than usual
• Week 1 Update on the Spyderco Native 4

In The News:

• Woman fires gun to ward off sex offender trying to steal her car, Akron police say
• Woman who took gun to church jailed over night

Featured Content:

• IDPA Stage: Tunnel Rat from Miguel at Gun Free Zone
• Lessons learned if they are smart from Miguel at Gun Free Zone

Cigar and Drink Pairing:

• Cigar: Oliva Serie V Maduro Especial 2011
• Beverage: Hot Tea

If you are interested in trying the Oliva Serie V Maduro Especial 2011
pick up the phone and order from my preferred retailer.

Buckhead Cigar

Phone: (404) 844-0400 | Twitter: @BuckheadCigar | Web: AskTheCigarGuys

Discussion Topic:

For the first time since I got into the Gun Hobby, I had a dream that involved using my weapon in self defense. The dream was rather vivid and made me question the effectiveness of my pocket pistol.

For Audio Only Options
Check Out The Player and Download Link Below

Post from: Walt in PA

Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 15

Possibly related posts:

1. Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 10
2. Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 8
3. Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 14

This past Saturday I had the pleasure of shooting my third USPSA Match at Lower Providence Rod and Gun Club (2nd time shooting at this club, third match overall). I had a great time and felt good about my shooting at the end of the day.

I set a goal for myself that I wanted to place in the Top 50% in production division. When the scores came out, seeing that I ranked 12th out of 24 shooters put a smile on my face.

While I think I shot very well for only having three matches under my belt, I saw plenty of areas where I need to make some improvements. I made a couple of dumb mistakes and there were some situations where I could have saved a second or two by addressing the stage differently.

Down below you can find my thoughts on each stage. I got kind of long winded with some stages but it all comes together if you read my stage notes then watch that portion of the video (video is at the bottom of the post). The video flows in the same order that I outline the stage. This allows you to read a little, watch some video, pause the video and read some more, rinse and repeat…

Stage 4: Green Line

I somehow missed taking a photo of the stage description for this stage. Even without it, the stage is very easy to describe. On the command of the Range Officer, we are to load our gun and place it on a table infront of us. At the buzzer, we are to engage three targets, as we see fit, with the best two shots per target scoring.

My game plan was to pick up my pistol and immediately move to the far left side of the stage. I would then engage targets left to right. Shooting in this manner left me with a score of 6 A’s (best score possible. Referred to as a clean stage) with a time of 10.42 seconds. I was ranked 7th out of 24 shooters on this stage.

After watching the video, I believe that I should have addressed this stage a little differently. After picking up my pistol and running to the far left target, I should have engaged the middle target from where I stood rather than running back to the middle of the stage just to stop and shoot two rounds. I think this may have shaved a second or two off of my time and gotten me into the top 5 (Best shooter on this stage cleaned it with a time of 6.51 seconds)

Stage 5: Let’s Swing

I was a little excited over Stage 5 because it was my first experience with swingers (We’re talkin’ targets here, not the people that pull keys out of a punch bowl at the end of the night).

I had seen these types of targets several times on television shows, such as Shooting USA, and the pro shooters always make them look easy. My concern was that I didn’t know if I was capable of firing two rounds before the target disappeared. Playing it safe would have been to fire one shot while the target was exposed, let it disappear, then fire another shot when it popped back out. This conservative approach would have been slow but effective, but I had another idea.

From shooting a couple of matches, I know that when you hit a piece of steel, the audible feedback is instant, however, there is a delay between when the target is hit and when it falls over. I planned to use this delay to my advantage.

At the buzzer, I drew my pistol and fired one round at the steel popper. When I heard the ring of the steel being struck, I transitioned to the swinger on the left. By the time I was setup, the steel popper had fallen and pulled the supports out from under the swingers.

I ambushed the first swinger, putting two rounds into it before it disappeared (Scoring 2 A’s), then I transitioned to the swinger on my right. I should have taken the same approach, setting up to ambush it when it popped out, but I got caught up in the moment and started chasing it. I fired two rounds and didn’t feel good about them, so I waited for the target to appear again and fired an additional two rounds (1 A and 1 Miss).

I placed 14th on this stage, out of 24 Shooters, with a time of 6.47 seconds. I think that if I would have taken the time to setup an ambush on the second swinger, the time probably would have been a wash but my overall score would have been better. Take away the penalty for missing the target and plug in even a D zone hit and I could have been within the Top 10 on this stage.

Stage 6: Holes in the Wall

Out of all of the stages at this particular match, I was most concerned with Holes in the Wall. There were two reasons for my being concerned. First is that I arrived at the match with only four magazines (I’ve been meaning to get at least one more but the gun shop was sold out) and there were a lot of targets on this stage. My second concern was the Texas Star, which I haven’t had great luck with. Combine all of the targets, the pesky Texas Star, and my low number of magazines, and you’ve got a genuine concern of “Do I have enough ammo to get through this stage?”

As it turns out, I did have enough ammo to complete the stage. A few other shooters did not, however. Because I didn’t have enough magazines to reload where I would have liked, I had a clunky sort of rhythm as I engaged the targets and went to slide-lock before moving to the next port.

I felt that the best way for me to shoot this stage was to simply move from the left most port to the right most port. The first port contained a variety of steel poppers. In the middle of all of this steel were two poppers that were aligned front to back. This meant that the first piece of steel had to be dropped before the second would become visible.

I should have engaged this piece of steel first so that while it was dropping I could engage other targets. Instead I wound up shooting it last (due to a missed shot on it) and I had to stand there and wait for it to drop so that I could hit the last piece of steel.

I reloaded on my way to the next port and engaged three pieces of cardboard. I felt like I pulled my first shot, so I took an additional shot and left the port having fired 7 rounds.

Trying to maximize my ammunition, I did not reload before engaging the Texas Star. I went to slide lock, reloaded, and cleared the star in what I felt was decent shooting. The next port held a sea of steel which also caused me to go to slide lock in an effort to maximize ammo.

The last port contained three cardboard targets at varying distances. I fired 6 rounds and ended the stage with a few rounds to spare. I managed 27 A’s (Knocked down steel is an A), 1 B, and 1 C with a total time of 49.53 Seconds. This put me in 12th place, out of 24 Shooters, for this stage.

Stage 7: Octoberfest

During the morning briefing, the match director told us that he had a long night and forgot some of the paperwork for the match. This resulted in him drafting some of the stage descriptions from memory. This particular stage was not setup as it is shown in the photo to the right.

On the left side of the paper, there are two arrays of targets. The first array shows three targets. Behind it is another area with two targets. The course of fire was actually opposite of this with two targets in the first array and three in the array behind it.

The reason knowing that the stage description and the actual stage are different is important because swapping the arrays totally changes the game plan. Due to the orientation of the targets, the easiest thing to do would have been to run up on them and blast away at close range. While this would have been easier, I didn’t think it was the fastest way to address the stage.

After watching one of the other shooters, I discovered that I could engage all three targets in the second array without going out of my way. In two steps I could engage the first two targets of the 3 target array, then pick up the third by shooting down the fence line after engaging the closer array.

Once the left side of the stage was complete, I reloaded and moved right. In a complete lapse of judgement, I racked the slide of my M&P while moving and ejected a live round. After loosing that round I wound up at slide lock before moving to the stong hand / weak hand sets of targets.

That unnecessary reload left me with a stage time of 46.08 seconds and 14th Place out of 24 Shooters. My score was 24 A’s, 1 B, 6 C’s, and 1 D. If I were to do it all over again, I would correct the reload error and engage the first two targets a bit faster. I seemed to take a long time lining up the shot.

Stage 1: Revolver Friendly?

Out of all of the stages at this match, this one left me the most indecisive. There just seemed to be so many options, all of which lead me to shooting the stage in a different manner.

I finally decided to ignore the target at the far end of the stage. It stood out like a sore thumb and seemed to do nothing but throw a wrench in my plans. Instead, from the starting point, I engaged the two outside most targets that I could see. I then moved left, engaging two targets hidden beside barrels, before picking up the last target at a distance on the left side of the stage.

I reloaded while moving to the right side of the stage, engaging the two closest targets and one at a distance. From here I reloaded on the move and hustled to the far end of the stage where I point-shot six targets at very close range, then I put two round at the pesky target that I ignored from the start.

I placed 10th on this stage, out of 24 shooters, with a time of 26.98 Seconds and a score that consisted of 21 A’s and 3 C’s. I was happy overall with how I shot this stage and would have placed much higher if I could shaved some time off (looks like 20 seconds or less would have gotten me into the Top 5).

Stage 3: Orange Line

This stage was perhaps the simplest of the day and I completely bombed it. We were to start with a loaded gun on our hip, turned 90 degrees to the targets.

At the buzzer, we were to turn and engage three targets. The biggest hurdle, if you want to call it that, was that one target had to be engaged from a kneeling position. This was due to the target being situated below elevated no-shoot targets.

I kept telling myself that I would simply take one big step backward, turn, and drop to a knee. From a kneeling position I could easily engage all three targets and no additional movement would be required.

Despite watching more experienced shooters address the stage in this very manner, I changed my mind at the last minute. A little voice in the back of my head kept telling me that shooting up at those targets from a kneeling position wasn’t the safest way to adress them (the berm was plenty high and it was safe. I’m not sure why I got weirded out by the idea of shooting the targets in that manner).

I took my big step backward, turned, and began engaging the two targets on either side of the no-shoots. I then dropped to a knee and fired two rounds at the low target, closing out the stage.

I had a horrible score, which included 1 A, 3 B’s, 1 D, and 1 Miss. My time was 8.23 Seconds, which wasn’t horrible in the grand scheme of things, but the penalty for the missed shot really hurt. I wound up placing 16th, out of 24 Shooters, on this stage.

Stage 2: Blue Line

After shooting Stage 3, we remained hot and moved across the pistol pitt to shoot Stage 2. This stage consisted of three boxes where we would engage two targets per box.

At the buzzer, my plan was to move left and engage the first target. The strangest thing happened when I pressed out, I couldn’t find the front sight. Feeling a bit dumbfounded, I began rotating the pistol in my hand until I got sight of it (I must have pressed out with the gun twisted in my wrist). My first shot didn’t feel right but I opted to push forward, taking the second shot and moving to the second target. I engaged the second target without issue and moved to Box B.

From here I made four shots (total) on two targets that were partially obscured by hard cover. I then hustled to Box C firing two shots strong hand, and two shots weak hand to close out the stage.

I should have made up my very first shot, as it turns out, it was a D. My time on this stage was 24.25 Seconds. I scored 10 A’s, 1 C, and 1 D, which placed me 8th, out of 24 shooters, on this stage.

USPSA Match Video

Post from: Walt in PA

Match Results: USPSA at Lower Providence Rod & Gun Club

Possibly related posts:

1. Match Results: USPSA at Lower Providence Rod and Gun Club
2. Shooting USPSA at Lower Providence Rod and Gun Club (10/01/2011)
3. Shooting USPSA at Lower Providence Rod & Gun Club (11/05/2011)

According to Murphy’s Law, anything that can go wrong will go wrong. That certainly was the case yesterday when I was driving home from work with plans to get right on to producing this episode. Even though things didn’t go according to plan, I was able to wrap up the podcast before it became too late.

This episode runs close to an hour and ten minutes. In addition to the two video formats available, an audio only version can be streamed or download at the bottom of this post.

Once you are finished with the episode, join in on the discussion and throw some of your thoughts into the comments section. If you aren’t into commenting, use the social share buttons at the bottom of this post to help spread the word about this podcast.

Pre-Show Banter:

• Days activities leading up to the podcast
• Update on the Spyderco Delica 4
• Next carry knife will be the Spyderco Native 4

Hot Shots on NBC Sports – Official Trailer

In The News:

• Newberg School District Tells Legislator They Plan to Continue Breaking the Law
• Local Sheriff’s Comments Renew Gun Debate
• Gun-Haters Misleading People on Concealed Carry

Featured Content:

• Polymer Guns from The Power Factor Show
• Dear Amy from Shall Not Be Questioned (Formerly Snowflakes in Hell)
• Emily Gets Her Gun: Washingtons Unsafe, Gun Safety Class

Cigar and Drink Pairing:

• Cigar: Humo Jaguar 2011
• Beverage: Caribou Daybreak Coffee – Morning Blend

Cigar Notes:
The Humo Jaguar gets it name from a cigar blending competition held at an annual Cigar Festival in Honduras. In 2011, the blend put together by Nestor Miranda won and was branded Humo Jaguar. It is made up of Honduran Fillers, a binder from Talanga (Honduras), and an Oscuro Wrapper from Honduras.

If you are interested in trying the Humo Jaguar 2011
pick up the phone and order from my preferred retailer.

Buckhead Cigar

Phone: (404) 844-0400 | Twitter: @BuckheadCigar | Web: AskTheCigarGuys

Featured Topic:

In this episode I take a look at video recorded from a USPSA match shot at Lower providence Rod & Gun Club. After watching the footage, I talk about how I addressed the stage and what I would have done differently if shooting the stage a second time.

iOS Friendly Version Here

Stream Audio Version Below

Post from: Walt in PA

Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 14

Possibly related posts:

1. Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 8
2. Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 5
3. Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 10

This was the second time I shot at this club and both experiences were great. The match director does a great job of mixing short and medium distance shots with angles, which makes for challenging stages.

After shooting each stage I walked away feeling great. My shooting felt like it was on, for the most part, and I was sure I did great. Since watching my video, I have downgraded my performance to “pretty good“.

Using my Contour HD Body Mounted Camera, I was able to see where simple mistakes were made. I have a very bad habit of dumping a magazine, inserting a new one, and racking the slide (when it isn’t required). This bad habit brought me to slide-lock, on more than one occasion, before I was ready to be out of ammo.

At any rate, I think I did very well for my experience level and can’t wait to do some more shooting. With the cold Pennsylvania Winter looming, matches are going to become few and far between. On the bright side, this should make November a busy month, the negative impact is that shooting multiple matches in a month tends to get rather expensive.

The video from my match can be found below. I left the clips long so that you could listen to the shots being scored. When the match results are posted I’ll put together another post breaking down the stage and how I performed in the grand scheme of things.

Post from: Walt in PA

Shooting USPSA at Lower Providence Rod & Gun Club (11/05/2011)

Possibly related posts:

1. Shooting USPSA at Lower Providence Rod and Gun Club (10/01/2011)
2. Match Results: USPSA at Lower Providence Rod and Gun Club
3. My First USPSA Match

During my Shooting The Breeze Podcast – Episode 12 I made mention of shooting an informal pistol match at Oley Valley Fish & Game. While shooting the match I brought along my Contour HD Body Mounted Camera to record the action. I was a bit slow at getting the footage uploaded, but I suppose it is better late than never.

The match was designed to be shot as a 2 Gun event but those interesting in shooting one gun were welcome as well. I opted to shoot only pistol (I don;t have a rifle that would have been sufficient). I had a great time and look forward to shooting the next one.

I didn’t do as well as I would have liked but I had the opportunity to shoot in positions that were new to me (Weak Hand Only, Strong Hand Only, Prone, and Standing while Supported). Despite only having one pit for pistol, the match director did a great job of mixing things up on the fly so that we had a total of four stages to shoot.

Post from: Walt in PA

Oley Valley Fish & Game Fun Shoot (10/22/2011)

Possibly related posts:

1. Shooting USPSA at Lower Providence Rod and Gun Club (10/01/2011)
2. One step closer to action shooting
3. My (Wife’s) First .22: Beretta Neos

This week has been an absolute mess and this episode almost didn’t happen this week. Due to a freak snow storm and a couple of fallen trees, I was tied up all weekend and wasn’t able to sit down and start planning the podcast until after trick-or-treating on Halloween.

I got a little gabby as I shot from the hip and wound up with an episode that is just over an hour in length. Once you are finished with the marathon video, hit up the comment section and tell me what you think.

I would also appreciate your using the social share buttons at the bottom of the post. Those buttons will share the episode with your friends on a variety of services.

In The News:

• Gun control widely disfavored in recent poll
• ‘Very Afraid’: 66-Year-Old Woman Shoots and Kills Home Iintruder
• Jury: Cops didn’t jump the gun in car search

News Story from CBS

Featured Content:

• US owns almost half the civilian weapons in the world from Miguel at Gun Free Zone
• Put Your Best Foot Foward from AK’s & Cupcakes
• Texas CCW Ads Raising Controversy from Shooting Illustrated

Texas CCW Advertisement

Cigar and Drink Pairing:

• Cigar: EP Carrillo Maduro
• Beverage: Caribou Daybreak Coffee – Morning Blend

If you are interested in trying the EP Carrillo Maduro
pick up the phone and order from my preferred retailer.

Buckhead Cigar

Phone: (404) 844-0400 | Twitter: @BuckheadCigar | Web: AskTheCigarGuys

Topic of Discussion:

Before getting into the real featured discussion topic, I wanted to give a short progress update on my Spyderco Delica 4 courtesy of Cajun Blaze.

The featured topic consisted on some random thoughts on the variety of Gun SHows that I watch on television.

iOS Friendly Video Here

Post from: Walt in PA

Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 13

Possibly related posts:

1. Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 5
2. Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 7
3. Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 9

In this weeks episode, I change up the format just a bit and do some pre-show rambling. Once the random things on my mind were out in the open, I moved into doing the show as usual.

The video runs about an hour and is available in both video and audio (you can stream both down below). If you are on an iOS device, look for the iOS friendly link to the Youtube Version of the podcast.

Once you are finished with the podcast, head down to the comment section and leave me some feedback. I’d also appreciate your using the social share buttons to spread the word to your friends. Thanks for the continued support, I look forward to reading your comments.

Pre-Show Banter:

• Update on the Spyderco Delica 4 Knife
• Surface rust rears its ugly head
• Had the chance to handle the new Smith & Wesson M&P .22 Pistol

In The News:

• Women make their mark in pistol club
• Clerk at Del’s 24 Hour shop shoots, kills would-be robber who grabbed child
• NRA Reveals Truth About National Right To Carry Gun Bill

Featured Content:

• NJ Gun Laws Explained from “Shall Not Be Questioned” (Formerly Snowflakes in Hell)
• The Gun Dudes’ Wives from Proarms Podcast
• Non Traditional Mag and Ammo and Crp Carrier from Miguel at Gun Free Zone

Cigar and Drink Pairing:

• Cigar: Casa Miranda
• Beverage: Caribou Daybreak Coffee – Morning Blend

If you are interested in trying the Casa Miranda
pick up the phone and order from my preferred retailer.

Buckhead Cigar

Phone: (404) 844-0400 | Twitter: @BuckheadCigar | Web: AskTheCigarGuys

Topic of Discussion:

This weekend I spent a couple of hours at Oley Valley Fish & Game shooting an informal / fun match. I had a good time and brought my Contour HD body mounted camera along to share the fun.

iOS Friendly Video Here

Post from: Walt in PA

Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 12

Possibly related posts:

1. Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 11
2. Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 8
3. Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 10

In last weeks episode, I mentioned that I was feeling a bit under the weather and was recording the show a day early. It was a good thing that I did because the following day I woke up feeling like death warmed over. Fortunately, several doses of Nyquil and lots of sleep had me feeling much better.

Between recording last episode and the current episode, I had a pretty busy week. I received a couple of questions about joining the Gun Rights Radio Network, I received a suggestion on expanding the News Segment, and I received an amazing package in the mail from The Cajun Blaze. I got a little gabby and discussed all of these items at the start of the show.

Show Notes

In The News:

• Beyond Politics: Lets Go Shooting
• Newtown Twp.’s ban on guns in parks challenged
• Gun control hysteria is unfounded

Featured Content:

• Using Pocket Pistols from Shooting Illustrated
• IDPA Whining and Assorted Crap By Miguel at Gun Free Zone
• IDPA Safety Officer Tips by Miguel at Gun Free Zone

Zombie Max from Hornady

Cigar and Drink Pairing:

• Cigar: Nestor Miranda Special Selection Dano
• Beverage: Caribou Daybreak Coffee – Morning Blend

If you are interested in trying the Nestor Miranda Special Selection Dano
pick up the phone and order from my preferred retailer.

Buckhead Cigar

Phone: (404) 844-0400 | Twitter: @BuckheadCigar | Web: AskTheCigarGuys

Topic of Discussion:

Over the weekend I attended a Pennsylvania Hunter Safety Class in order to be eligible to purchase a hunting license. On the surface, this may not really seem to fit into the general flow of the podcast, however, there was a heavy emphasis on firearm safety and the class did a tremendous job of piquing the interest of young kids. By the time the class was over (12 hours of classroom instruction) the roughly 70 children and 5 adults in the room were safer around guns than when they walked in.

iOS Friendly Video Here

Post from: Walt in PA

Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 11

Possibly related posts:

1. Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 8
2. Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 10
3. Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 5

Once I was signed up, I did a fair amount of reading. One of the things I found most interesting was the recent addition of a Weekly Drill. Once I was familiar with the way it worked, I made a plan to try and incorporate the drills into my range trips.

Due to restrictions at my local range, I wasn’t sure how much I would be able to participate. Fortunately, the Week 1 Drill was straightforward and didn’t require shooting on the move or drawing from a holster (I’ll be able to do that once my membership comes in from Topton Fish & Game).

I was really pressed for time this week but I was able to make it over to the range on Sunday and shoot the drill. I shot it twice before I had to start packing up. I brought my video equipment along so that I could review the footage later.

Week 1 Drill from Pistol-Forum.com

Range: 25yd
Target: NRA B8 replacement center
Start position: Any
Rounds fired: 10

Fire ten rounds at the 8.5×11 B8 replacement center target. There is no time limit.

Add up the score for all ten shots. Keep in mind that the “7″ ring is visible but not identified, and the four corners of the target are technically the “6″ ring. For hits on the line between two scoring zones, use the higher scoring value only if the grease ring of the bullet hole cuts the line between the two zones. Tears and other marks that are greater than the bullet’s diameter do not count for scoring. Shots that do not hit the sheet of paper score zero.

iOS Friendly Video Here

Post from: Walt in PA

Pistol-Forum Weekly Drill: Week 1

Possibly related posts:

1. My First Pistol – Beretta Model 70S in .380 Auto
2. Selecting a Pocket Pistol to Suit My Needs
3. Range Report – July 9th 2011

In this episode I talk about feeling a bit under the weather and recording before things got much worse. As it turns out, it was a good thing I recorded a day early. I’ve been editing this video between doses of NyQuil.

As usual, this episode runs just under an hour and covers the usual material. All of the links and show notes can be found below. Thanks for checking it out, I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this episode.

Show Notes

In The News:

• Media Silence Is Deafening About Important Gun News
• Emily Gets Her Gun
• Gun control, homicide rates not linked: Study

Featured Content:

• 1911 Inspired Knife from Steve at The Firearm Blog
• Bivouac Camp And Survival Skill Priorities – Fire Wood and Making Shelter
• Tailoring Guns to Females from Massad Ayoob at Backwoods Home Magazine

Cigar and Drink Pairing:

• Cigar: La Flor Dominicana Colorado Oscuro
• Beverage: Mt. Gay Rum

If you are interested in trying the La Flor Dominicana Colorado Oscuro
pick up the phone and order from my preferred retailer.

Buckhead Cigar

Phone: (404) 844-0400 | Twitter: @BuckheadCigar | Web: AskTheCigarGuys

Topic of Discussion

In this episode I talk about my experience with the Range Log website and Android App.

iOS Friendly Version Here

Post from: Walt in PA

Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 10

Possibly related posts:

1. Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 8
2. Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 6
3. Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 9

About a year ago I was interested in getting involved with shooting sports. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go the IDPA or USPSA route, I just knew that I wanted to move beyond standing still and slow-firing at a target a few yards away.

I was intimidated by the sport and wanted to find a friend to shoot with. It would seem that all of my shooting buddies felt the same way, in terms of being intimidated, and passed on the prospect of running around with guns shooting at targets.

This year I decided that I was going to shoot a match, even if I had to do it alone. Before I could do that though, I first needed a couple of things. Among them was a magazine pouch. Being overloaded with information on the web, I turned to a local gun shop for advice on a match ready mag pouch.

What I walked away with was an iTac designed for a Smith & Wesson M&P 9mm Magazine. This particular model is a paddle style which fits over the belt. It was my understanding that the paddle is supposed to slip down inside my pants but I just don’t see how it would work that way (the notch that grabs onto the belt would be on the inside of my waistband, resulting in the paddle popping out when you tug on it…. trust me, it happened).

Due to the design of the mag pouch, I slip the paddle between my pants and my belt. When pressed all the way down onto the belt, a little shelf on the paddle pops out under the belt and holds it securely in place. The paddle rides against my hip and is very comfortable.

By way of an allen screw, I can increase or decrease tension on the magazines. This allows me to make then fit tight enough that they won’t bounce out while moving through a stage yet loose enough to slide out when I need to reload.

I believe this mag pouch was less than $20.00 and I am very happy with my purchase. Due to the way I carry this item (paddle outside the pants), I wouldn’t consider using this for concealed carry but it works great for USPSA matches.

Post from: Walt in PA

iTac Magazine Pouch

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1. Amish Gun Belt from Hanks Clothing
2. Range Report: Springfield XD Sub Compact .40S&W (08/21/2011)
3. Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 5

Ever since shooting USPSA at Lower Providence Rod and Gun Club, I have been eager for the match results to be posted. In fact, I was kind of obsessed and checked the USPSA Website every couple of hours hoping to see how I performed.

While checking this morning, I found the results and they weren’t exactly what I was hoping for. In the image above, you’ll see that ranked 12th out of 18 total shooters in Production Class. My goal was to land somewhere in the middle of the pack. Depending on how you look at it, I may or may not have reached my goal. When I saw a total of eighteen shooters I was really hoping to break into the Top 10.

One thing that did put a smile on my face was seeing progression from my first USPSA match in July. At the Topton Fish & Game USPSA Match I placed 15th out of 18 total shooters in Production Division. While it may be slow progress, it is progress none the less.

I don’t fully understand the USPSA Scoring System but I think I can see which stages hurt the most.

Stage 1:

I scored 25 A’s with only 2 D’s. On the surface this looks great (and I think it is) except I failed to engage two targets. With two rounds per target, that is 4 M’s (Misses) plus two penalties for not engaging the targets. I placed 15th out of 18 shooters on this stage.

Stage 2:

I scored 12 A’s and 10 C’s with 2 M’s. Aside from the two misses, I think that was pretty good shooting. Unfortunately, I wound up hitting two no-shoot targets and drawings penalties. I placed 9th out of 18 shooters on this stage.

Stage 3:

This is the stage that I cleared. I scored 26 A’s with all steel targets down. Even with a perfect score (on the surface), I placed 12th out of 18 shooters on this stage due to the time it took me to shoot the stage. I have to remember, this is a game of speed and accuracy.

Stage 4:

This was a classifier stage. I scored 8 A’s, 1 B, 2 C’s, and 1 D with no misses or penalties. I scored 12th out of 18 shooters on this stage. I’m kind of neutral on this one. More A’s would have been great but I think shooting a little faster would have placed me a little higher in the rankings.

Stage 5:

This was another classifier stage. I scored 7 A’s and 5 B’s with no misses. Even with a time of just over 10 seconds (which I personally felt was pretty fast for my ability), I was light-years behind the 1st place shooter (who turned around, fired 6 shots on 3 targets, reloaded, and fired 6 more rounds at 3 targets, all in just over 6 seconds.)

Stage 6:

This stage was a bit muddy and I deliberately took it easy moving through it (everyone else took the same caution to it really is no excuse). I scored 23 A’s, 3 C’s, with 3 M’s, and 1 no-shoot penalty. The three misses plus the no-shoot is what hurt me the most on this stage. I placed 12th out of 18 total shooters.

This is video from the match in case you missed it in an earlier post
iOS Friendly Version Here

Post from: Walt in PA

Match Results: USPSA at Lower Providence Rod and Gun Club

Possibly related posts:

1. Shooting USPSA at Lower Providence Rod and Gun Club (10/01/2011)
2. My First USPSA Match
3. Received my USPSA Membership

It is Tuesday once again and I am one podcast episode away from reaching my first goal of 10 consecutive episodes. Once we reach that goal together, we’ll baby-step our way to 25, then to 50, and then to 100. I don’t want to get too ahead of myself, but I’m having a lot of fun with these podcasts and have no intention of stopping anytime soon.

As usual, you can find all of the show notes and links down below. If you have an idea for the show or would like to contact me, please feel free to hit me up via the contact form.

The comment section and social share buttons below the post do not bite, please use them to help generate discussion and awareness. Thanks for the continued support.

In The News:

• House-sitter Kills Burglar in St. Louis Home
• ATF: Illegal to Sell Guns to Medical Marijuana users
• State lawmakers push to allow guns on college campuses

Featured Content:

• Shooting Outdoors is for Wimps from Every Day No Days Off
• Cajun Blaze on EDC Knives and Guns
• Self Defense Shooting: Great Lessons in One Video from Gun Free Zone

Cigar and Drink Pairing:

• Cigar: AVO Heritage
• Beverage: Folgers Gourmet Selections – Black Silk (K-Cup)

If you are interested in trying the Avo Heritage
pick up the phone and order from my preferred retailer.

Buckhead Cigar

Phone: (404) 844-0400 | Twitter: @BuckheadCigar | Web: AskTheCigarGuys

Topic of Discussion:

With my second USPSA match fresh in my mind, I talk about Shooting USPSA at Lower Providence, some of the differences between that match and my first at Topton Fish & Game, and a new Practice/Match ammo that I tried out by accident.

iOS Friendly Video Here

Post from: Walt in PA

Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 9

Possibly related posts:

1. Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 6
2. Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 7
3. Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 5

Yesterday, Lower Providence Rod & Gun Club hosted their October USPSA Match. A few weeks prior, I got to talking to Huskyoverlord from the PAFOA Forum about shooting a local match together. We made arrangements and met up at Lower Providence.

This was my second match and my first time at Lower Providence Rod & Gun Club. I didn’t know what to expect from the club itself (I’ve read some not-so-great things about it) but wound up having an absolute blast. Every person that I spoke to at the match was willing to answer questions and offer advice on addressing a stage.

Before I arrived at the club, I assumed that the match at Lower Providence would be more or less the same as my first match at Topton Fish & Game. That, as it turs out, was an incorrect assumption. While shooting at Topton, I experienced a lot of small steel targets and a variety of distance shots (30+ yards). Mixed in with the distance shots were a variety of targets, both paper and steel, that you could while engage from a variety of positions in the shooting lane.

Lower Providence, on the other hand, was more about making you shoot targets at varying angles. The stages weren’t very large and it forced you to really pay attention, otherwise a target could be easily missed. I found myself doing a lot of leaning to get a peek at targets hidden beyond a barricade.

To be honest, I think both clubs put on a great match. I really enjoyed the precision distance shots at Topton and the sneaky target placement at Lower Providence. It was an eye opener as to how versatile the sport of USPSA is and makes me eager to shoot again.

A Few Notes:

While shooting the match, I decided to take along my Contour HD Body Mounted Camera. Down below you can find the video from the match. My squad started on Stage 3, which is why the stages appear to start out of order.

I wish I were better with names. While my entire squad was made up of a great group of guys, there were a few that went above and beyond with advice and encouragement.

Stage 3:

If you were to take an aerial view of this stage, it would sort of resemble an hourglass. At the buzzer, I began the stage by moving to the left and right extremes of the hourglass shape. By standing on the very edge of the boundary line, I could lean out and around the barricades, which hid a total of four targets.

After engaging the first four targets, I moved down into the thinnest part of the hourglass. Leaning out around the barricade, I engaged two steel poppers and a paper target. Getting back inside, I engaged four more paper targets through a port. Two of those targets were short range and the other two flanked a non-threat target at about ten yards. Leaning out and to the right, I engaged three more paper targets.

In terms of accuracy, this was my best stage. I ‘cleared it’ by shooting all ‘A Zone’ shots with no extra rounds fired. While my score was perfect, this is a game of speed and accuracy. My speed on this stage was very slow as I took my sweet ol’ time.

Stage 4:

This stage was made up of eight total targets and two shooting boxes. The objective was to start in one box and engage four targets (of similar type, steel or paper), then move to the second box and engage the remaining targets.

Like everyone else on my squad, I opted to engage the steel targets from the furthest box. My thought process was that any hit on target is good, unlike the paper. With this mindset, I would shoot faster and anything on the steel would be considered an ‘A Zone’ shot.

I shot the first two pieces of steel relatively quickly (for my ability) and had trouble with the third piece, taking three shots to hit it. The forth piece went down easily and I moved to the second shooting box. From the closer box I engaged four paper targets that were painted with portions of hard cover (doesn’t count it you hit it in these areas).

I don’t recall how I did on this stage overall and the scores have not been posted yet. I think I did okay, but I can’t be sure until I get a look at the scores.

Stage 5:

This stage was a classifier stage (actually, I think Stage 4 was also), meaning that it is the same across all USPSA Matches and is used to rank shooters across the sport. At the buzzer, the shooter turns 180 degrees to face the targets, draws their weapon, and fires two rounds at three targets. The shooter must then reload and fire two additional rounds at the same three targets.

Because this stage was a classifier, I tried to shoot as fast as I could. While my time was decent, my shots weren’t placed very well. I should have went into this stage with the midset that Slow is Smooth and Smooth is Fast.

Stage 6:

Of all of the stages at the match, this stage was the one I was most concerned about. We stated in a shooting box with an empty gun, facing up range. At the buzzer, were were to turn and run to a larger boundary area. I chose to load my gun on the move and engage targets on the left first.

Leaning against a wall, I could see around a fence blocking three targets. The first was half-covered by hard cover (doesn’t count if you land a shot in the black) and two additional targets on either side of a non-threat.

Moving down the line I engaged the next group of three targets. Like the first set, there were two paper targets on either side of a non-threat and one steel popper. The next series of targets included a steel popper which I almost ran past, and a Texas Star. Moving away from these targets, there was one more steel popper tucked behind a fence.

The next shooting area contained a steel popper and two targets on either side of a non-threat. I began shooting faster at this point to try and make up time lost on the Texas Star. This is where my shots started spreading apart and going where they weren’t supposed to (into the non-threat for a penalty).

The last series of targets were made up of a partially covered target (hard cover) and two targets on either side of a non-threat. Still trying to make up time, I shot too fast and paid for it by hitting another non-threat.

Stage 1:

If I could re-shoot any stage from the match, it would have been this one as I tanked it. I didn’t pay close enough attention on my walk-through due to all of the close range shots and completely underestimated how difficult it was.

At the buzzer, I engaged two targets directly in front of me, then turned and engaged two more targets. All four paper targets were about 15-20 yards out. I then ran from the shooting box into a much larger boundary, engaging two more targets from a break in the fence.

Hustling, I engaged three paper targets by point shooting as fast as I could. I then moved into a clearing and began engaging targets tucked behind barrels. I engaged one, pointed an empty gun at the second (slide-lock) and moved away from it as I reloaded. I turned and engaged a target on my left, then moved to the right, picking up another target behind a barrel. I moved to the end of the boundary engaging another target behind some barrels and began looking around to see what I missed (I knew it would require four magazines and I only used three). To my left I spotted another target, which I engaged. At this point I wasn’t sure if missed anything, but I went ahead, unloading my gun and ending the stage.

As it turns out, I missed two targets completely (missed, as in, I didn’t see them and failed to engage). I was very disappointed in my performance and learned a valuable lesson in creating a plan and sticking to it, regardless of how easy the stage appears.

Stage 2:

Fresh off of one very disappointing stage, I was determined to do well on this one. It was explained to me that this particular stage was what is referred to as a memory stage. Certain targets can be seen from a variety of angles. This means that the shooter has to create a plan that does not engage the same targets multiple times.

To make things even more interesting, the stage begins with the shooter placing an unloaded gun and all magazines onto a table. At the buzzer, the shooter is to load his gun and begin engaging targets. After so many shots, the shooter must leave the table to be able to engage other targets. A choice has to be made, either spend time picking up magazines and loading them into your mag pouches, or leave the magazines on the table.

I opted to pick up my gun, engage four targets, and dump the last two rounds in my magazine. I loaded a fresh magazine and ran to my left, engaging three more targets. I then ran back to the table, dumped my magazine with four more rounds in it, and loaded a fresh magazine. Before running to my right, I picked up another magazine and pushed it into my mag pouch while moving. I engaged the remaining five targets and ended the stage.

While my shots could have been better, I executed my plan perfectly. In fact, I executed it so well that a few of the more experienced shooters gave me a pat on the pack when I was done. Of all the stages at the match, this was the one I was most proud of.

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Post from: Walt in PA

Shooting USPSA at Lower Providence Rod and Gun Club (10/01/2011)

Possibly related posts:

1. My First USPSA Match
2. Range Report – July 9th 2011
3. Range Report: Smith & Wesson M&P 9mm (08/21/2011)

It is Tuesday once again, which can mean only one thing (aside from a new episode of Sons of Anarchy), another episode of my formal Gun Podcast has gone live. As usual, this episode is just under an hour and covers the usual stuff. Show notes and links for everything discussed can be found below.

I’m still working on breaking that 100 download goal that I mentioned last week. If you would be so kind, do me a favor and click the Facebook, Google+, and Twitter buttons below the article to help spread the word.

Show Notes

In The News:

• DSHS revokes license of Spokane Valley adult home over gun concerns
• Women are arming themselves for protection and sport
• Ind. gun owner sues city over removal from zoo

DSHS Video Mentioned in Podcast

Featured Content:

• Gun Rights Policy Conference, Day 1 from Massad Ayoob
• Gun Rights Policy Conference, Day 2 from Massad Ayoob
• Reflections on a World Championship from Massad Ayoob
• Take the Knife out of Your Pocket and Take a Picture from Miguel at Gun Free Zone

Cigar and Drink Pairing:

• Cigar: San Lotano Oval
• Beverage: Dunkin Donuts Original K-Cup

If you are interested in trying the San Lotano Oval
pick up the phone and order from my preferred retailer.

Buckhead Cigar

Phone: (404) 844-0400 | Twitter: @BuckheadCigar | Web: AskTheCigarGuys

Topic of Discussion:

I spent some time with a shooting instructor on Sunday. This was not a tactical or defensive class, we worked on fundamentals that would benefit in my desire to shoot production division USPSA (I plan on taking a defensive handgun class in the future). I felt as though I learned a lot in the short session and walked away feeling pretty good about my abilities.

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Post from: Walt in PA

Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 8

Possibly related posts:

1. Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 6
2. Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 5
3. Shooting The Breeze Podcast – Episode 2

This week has been a mess in terms of producing my weekly Shooting The Breeze Gun Podcast. I was unable to set time aside to record this episode due to prior commitments, so it cam down to recording at the last minute. And by last minute, I really mean that (I started recording around 5:00am this morning).

The show isn’t nearly as organized as past shows but I had fun with it. I hope you enjoy watching/listening and I look forward to your leaving feedback in the comment section below. I would also appreciate it if you could do me a favor and use the social share buttons to spread the word on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+.

Show Notes

In The News

• Gun Toting Man at Zoo Causes Commotion
• Press Release from Man’s Lawyer
• Kids and Guns: Why Doctors Have a Right to Know

Featured Content

• Gargoyles Ballistic Eye Protection by Caleb of Gun Nuts Media
• What Happens in the Range by Miguel of Gun Free Zone
• Painting a Pretty Sight Picture on USA Carry

Video of the IDPA Stage Mentioned in Featured Content Portion of the Podcast

Cigar and Drink Pairing

• Cigar: La Aurora 1495 BME
• Beverage: Caribou Blend Coffee (Kuerig)
• Retailer of Choice: Buckhead Cigars in Atlanta, GA (404-844-0400)

Topic of Discussion

In this podcast I talk about the three ranges that I am a member of and the benefits that those clubs offer. In addition, I talk about a new range that I would like to join in the very near future.

• Muhlenberg Area Shooting Association
• Daniel Boone Rod and Gun Club
• Oley Valley Fish and Game
• Topton Fish and Game

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Post from: Walt in PA

Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 7

Possibly related posts:

1. Shooting The Breeze Podcast – Episode 2
2. Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 6
3. Shooting The Breeze Podcast – Episode 1

In that earlier post, I stated that I was making an effort to improve my shooting and that I also shared the video with PAFOA to get some feedback. The feedback came pouring in and I began to see many more problem areas than I thought were present.

Eager to test out this newly acquired information, I hit the range the following day. I put fifty rounds through my M&P and focused on the fundamentals. I ditched the superman stance, adjusted my grip, focused on my trigger control, and exaggerated the trigger reset. The changes in my shooting took a lot of concentration but made a big difference in my grouping. While they still are nothing to write home about, I am seeing consistency in my shots.

Since this video was recorded, I have spoken with an instructor. I’m in the process of setting up a time to get some one on one training to tune my shooting. I’m eager to get started and see the results of properly applied fundamentals.

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Post from: Walt in PA

Range Report: Smith & Wesson M&P 9mm (09/11/2011)

Possibly related posts:

1. Range Report: Smith & Wesson M&P 9mm (08/21/2011)
2. Range Report: Smith & Wesson M&P (09/10/2011)
3. Range Report: Smith & Wesson Bodyguard (08/21/2011)

It is Tuesday once again which means I have a shiny new Shooting The Breeze Podcast Episode (6) for your viewing/listening pleasure. This episode, much like all of the others, runs about an hour long. All of the links and information talked about in the show can be found in my show notes below.

Over the past few weeks I have seen the download stats for the podcast increase and comments flow a little more often. I would like to thank everyone for their continued support. Once you are finished with the episode, please feel free to use the comment section, down below, to leave some feedback or offer your own opinion on the items discussed in the show.

In The News

• NYC Mayor Calls for Stricter Federal Gun Laws from The New American
• Permit to Carry from Redwood Falls Gazette
• Guns at Work: Should You Be Able to Defend Yourself? from bNet (CBS Business)

Featured Content

• Advice for your first match from Shelly at Gun Nuts
• New Shooter Podcast
• Zombie Shooting Association
• Masaad Ayoob Interview on the Power Factor Show

Cigar and Drink Pairing

• Cigar: Nestor Miranda Special Selection Oscuro – Buckhead Blend
• Beverage: Tully Kona Blend Coffee (Kuerig)
• Retailer of Choice: Buckhead Cigars in Atlanta, GA (404-844-0400)

Discussion Topic

My Geeky Range Camera Setup, including a Richard Simmons headband with mounted camera. Benefits of this type of thing and my experience in sharing it with PAFOA.

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Post from: Walt in PA

Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 6

Possibly related posts:

1. Shooting The Breeze Podcast – Episode 2
2. Shooting The Breeze Podcast – Episode 1
3. Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 5

Over the past couple of weeks I have been posting range report videos. These have gotten some good feedback and were easy enough to do with the help of my trusty Flip Camera. I wanted to do more though, so when I saw that Contour HD Body Mounted Cameras were marked down in price, I ordered one. The process has gotten more complicated with editing two HD Videos and incorporating them into the same iMovie project, but I really like the results.

In addition to posting my range video here and asking for suggestions, I also posted it over on the PAFOA Forum (I have been a member there for a few years and find that it has lots of information on PA Gun Law and beyond). I’ve already received some feedback and plan to incorporate it into my next range trip. I knew my shooting needed a lot of work but it turns out a lot of work was a gross understatement. On the bright side, all feedback has been constructive and helps me see where I need to focus my immediate attention.

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Post from: Walt in PA

Range Report: Smith & Wesson M&P (09/10/2011)

Possibly related posts:

1. Range Report: Smith & Wesson M&P 9mm (08/21/2011)
2. Range Report: Smith & Wesson Bodyguard (08/21/2011)
3. Range Report – July 9th 2011

This post calls for noise makers, party hats, and confetti! Posting five podcasts has to be some sort of milestone, even if it is a small one, right? Not only is my Shooting The Breeze Podcast posted, but Episode 5 is a day early. I was actually planning on posting this tomorrow but since it was ready and most people aren’t working today, I thought it was probably better to get this episode out a wee bit early.

Show Notes

In the News:

• Grandma’s packing more than just tissues From The Daily Caller
• Your right to self-defense shouldn’t end at state borders From The Daily Caller
• New Mexico Governor gets perfect score on renewal of her concealed-carry permit

Susana (New Mexico Governor) Requalifies for Concealed Carry

Featured Content:

• The RoadGunner Podcast hosted by The Unnamed Trucker
• Empty Mags Podcast hosted by Jason Phelps
• The Rimfire Podcast hosted by Ken Kowalski

Cigar and Drink Pairing:

• Cigar: EP Carrillo Core Line
• Beverage: – Magic Hat No 9

My Preferred Cigar Retailer
Buckhead Cigar Store in Atlanta, GA
Twitter: @BuckheadCigar | Phone: 404-844-0400

Topic of Discussion

The topic of this podcast is my Crossbreed Supertuck Delux. I purchased this holster for my Springfield XD Sub Compact. It is a cow hide model without the combat cut. Links to this holster manufacturer, as well as the others mentioned in the podcast, can be found below

• Crossbreed Holsters
• Theis Holsters
• Concealment Solutions
• Kholster Holsters

iOS Users Click Here for Youtube Version

Post from: Walt in PA

Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 5

Possibly related posts:

1. Shooting The Breeze Podcast – Episode 2
2. Shooting The Breeze Podcast – Episode 1
3. Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 4

It seems like it has been forever since I’ve been to the range. The last time I was there (August 21, 2011) I packed up four pistols and my Flip Cam and did some recording and shooting. Three of those four videos have been posted already, this is the last.

The gun in the video is my Wife’s Beretta Neos in .22LR. I just love shooting this particular gun and probably average at least 100 rounds during each range trip. The video below shows me shooting a few magazines and shows my target along the way.

iOS Users Click Here

Post from: Walt in PA

Range Report: Beretta Neos (08/21/2011)

Possibly related posts:

1. Range Report – July 9th 2011
2. Range Report: Springfield XD Sub Compact .40S&W (08/21/2011)
3. Range Report: Smith & Wesson M&P 9mm (08/21/2011)

I am proud to announce that today is the day that I roll out Episode 4 of my Shooting The Breeze Podcast. This episode was almost the one that didn’t make it on time due to my recent trip out to Easton to cover the Famous Smoke Shop Cigar Expo (Cigarnival) as a member of the press for Stogie Review.

Due to Hurricane Irene, Mike and I wound up coming home a day earlier than planned, to try and beat the weather. While it meant that we wound’t be able to attend the after-party, we avoided the worst of the weather and it gave me an extra day to prepare for this podcast.

As usual, the podcast runs about an hour long and covers everything mentioned in the show notes below. I enjoy doing this podcast a great deal and want to thank the thirty of you that have watched the show consistently. And to those few of you that have commented on past episodes and offered words of encouragement, take a moment to pat yourselves on the back, because you are eff’n awesome!

Thanks for watching. I look forward to seeing your thoughts, opinions, and feedback in the comments section below.

Show Notes:

In The News:

• Toy Gun Swap Aimed at Educating Newark Youth from the South Ward Patch
• Expecting Privacy In Public – Page 70 in American Cop Magazine
• San Antonio Gun Store Sues ATF from My SA

Featured Content:

• Formative Experiences from “View from the Porch” by Tam
• Double Mag Pouches from Shelley at Gun Nuts Media
• Dry Fire Routine by ToddG at Pistol-Training.com

Cigar and Drink Pairing:

• Cigar: 601 La Bomba
• Beverage: Mount Gay Rum

Topic of Discussion:

• The topic of discussion in this episode is reloading. I talk about my grandfathers old Lyman Tru Line Jr Press and the options of using it versus buying new. I also discuss my thoughts on going the single stage route over progressive as well as the single stage press that I have my eye on.

iOS Friendly Version Here

Post from: Walt in PA

Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 4

Possibly related posts:

1. Shooting The Breeze Podcast: Episode 3
2. Shooting The Breeze Podcast – Episode 1
3. Shooting The Breeze Podcast – Episode 2