The Down Range Forum
Member Section => Down Range Cafe => Topic started by: alfsauve on October 13, 2013, 12:59:29 PM
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(Actually that's rather a bold statement as I'm doubting about making it to the "hero" status.)
So the adventure begins. Not quite how I expected though. My wife's mother passed away Friday and I found myself on a plane to Tucson Saturday. The fortunate part is she did live in Arizona. Martha was 97 and had lived a full life, no regrets. The other nice part is the her family fully supports me going on this adventure. I'm pretty sure Martha would have, too.
So some time this morning I'm hopping in the rental car and driving up to Phoenix. Two stops, Cabela's and to have a cool one with KMitch. Then on up to Prescott. I've been pretty reserved up until now about this trip. Worried a little that I'd be able to shoot well enough. And that I'd be able to absorb and apply the lessons Gabe will be teaching. Due to the sudden change of plans I missed shooting practice Friday, so it's been a week without shooting. Will I be good enough material for Michael to air? All these doubts. However as I type this at my sister-in-laws house, getting ready to get on the road, I am becoming somewhat excited. More tonight after a few with Kevin and the crew.
The adventure begins.
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Have faith, Alf.
You might not start out as the best and you might not achieve that status during the sessions, but, after watching how you approach the other shooting endeavors you have posted about here, I have little doubt that you will excel.
You focus, put a lot into it and always are looking to improve and be as good as you can be.
That attitude will see you through..
Take care and have a blast.
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I think you'll do fine. You know how to pull a trigger.
Sorry to hear about the Mother in law. Glad the family is OK with side trip.
If knew you wanted to hit Cabela's I would have waited to spend too much money 'till this week...last week was WOW! :o when they rang it up. But now I'm almost completely set for some calibers I hadn't reloaded for previously.
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I'm in Prescott!!
First though I stopped off at Glendale to have lunch with KMitch. Great time. We shot the breeze about everything including shooting. Then we went over to Cabela's to do a little shopping. I had a picture taken of us by the Cabela's guard, but I'll need to find a way to get it out of the camera on the road.
Then on to Prescott. Nice drive, but after doing 80 for an hour throttling down to 35 in town was painful. Went all the way downtown and tooled around the city, then back out to the hotel on the edge of town. Met Kevin and we went to dinner. Got to know each other and discussed the shooting industry. We tried to figure out what the next two days would be like. Hoping we can put lots, I mean lots of rounds downrange! The key is somebody else's ammo. I'm hoping my trigger finger gets so much work out I can't move it by Wednesday. I hope Michael brings several cases.
Pictures when I can get them uploaded.
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Alf,
You'll have a great time at Gunsite. Thanks for sharing your adventure with us on the forum.
M'ette and I just got back from Gunsite after taking the team tactical course.
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I am totally envious and wish you the best.
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Me too...what they said!
Richard
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Hope the weather is better for your run. It was COLD and rainy when we were there last year. Of course, what is that saying? If it ain't raining, we ain't training?
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Wow a long day. Yes I know it's only 5:20pm but when you're on your feet all day shooting ,shooting, shooting. Good thing I already had a good callus on my shooting finger.
To correct a misconception, we're not at GunSite. This is all being filmed at one of Gabe's shooting facilities. It's closer to Prescott and since we're the only ones there our melodious voices won't be drowned out by wanna be yahoos shooting on another range. ;). Weather is perfect for this. 40 to 75. We all used a lot of Michael's Nutrogena sunscreen.
Went through basics today. Grip, stance, trigger pull, and of course, sight picture. Red dots. That's one of the purposes of this class is to get familiar with red dots. I've had some cheaper ones. Not so good. I now have a Burris Fast Fire on my .22s. However, it's not good for tactical work, because the battery won't last long enough and it's light activated, meaning in dim light it shuts off. Ideal for plinking,but not tactical.
We're using Glocks with Leupold and Doctor brand sights. Never heard of Doctor? Neither had I. Check them out. http://docterusa.com (http://docterusa.com). 7mm dot versions. Gabe is a great teacher and very practical. He calls it likes he sees it and I think when you see the show there will be great discussion. Some things I'm okay at and need just a little tweaking. Other concepts are new and I need a lot more practice. I'm very bad at Tap-and-rack, which I had to use a lot today. Seems I just can't get my magazines seated properly. Guess that's why I'm the zero in this equation.
I also suck at personal interviews on camera. I feel like I majorly failed the screen test today.
So spent the day shooting Michael's ammo now we're going to eat and imbibe on his AMEX card!
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Thanks for the update Alf!
Don't worry about the flubs. If you didn't have them you wouldn't be learning.
Don't worry about the screen test. My first on camera experience was on the 10:00 news after a tornado hit our yard. Yup, that's right boys and girls. I was the redneck with a six day beard in greasy, dusty hog chore clothes that had been worn for 36+ straight hours ... suspenders and all, and I was waving my arms pointing all over the place explaining where the tornado came from and headed off to. Really impressive :-[
In my defense, it was planting season, and I was working around the clock doing everything father-in-law had aged out of: Maintaining the equipment at night when he was sleeping, doing chores while he kept clean, loading the planter and hauling fuel while he teased the grandkids and fed Oreos to the dogs. I guess that is what he earned by continuing to work well into his 70's.
Mean while back at the range:
Enjoy the lessons, share what you can, enjoy the fellowship, and represent us well ... Knowing this group that should be very easy. Oh yea, and don't get blood all over the guns and ammo ;)
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Alf, you should be worried. Everyone here who could do better is ragging on you right now, just listen, you can here them laughing. .....crickets..... Enjoy brother. Have a good time. None of us could do better and we'd all like to be in your shoes.
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Congratulations! Thanks for keeping us posted.
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Strangely, my gut reaction to a red dot on a pistol matches your description of the Burris battery life: great for plinking, not for tactical. I'm interested to hear your thoughts on using the dot in awkward positions, where I think it will be 'hard to find'. Do you find that the dot it bright enough in the Arizona Sun? I wonder how these microdots compare to the IPSC Open class optics?
Overload in CO
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Ovedrload,
Several USPSA Open shooters use the Docter red dots. My first exposure to them was at Rio Salado, and I was impressed with what I saw.
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One thing I'm curious about is how Gabe is to deal with in that situation. What's he like?
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So jealous, Alf.
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FIRST: Just got home at midnight last night. I hate typing anything longer than a text message on a touch screen. That and poor wifi, plus helping the wife wrap up family business in Tucson. I'll have a full final report posted with pictures by Sunday night. I promise.
One thing I'm curious about is how Gabe is to deal with in that situation. What's he like?
Not sure what you situation you mean. I can only describe him as a gentleman. Very refined. Laid back. He's not at all what one might expect. He handled Kevin and I with utmost respect, even though our skills were way below what he normally trains. But don't let the "laid back" fool you. He is well trained, experienced and more than capable in self-defense situations. Any bad guy on would be in serious trouble if they cross him.
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One thing I'm curious about is how Gabe is to deal with in that situation. What's he like?
I've taken classes at Front Sight, I've gone thru everything the NRA has to offer, I've done a two day Combat Focus Shooting class and I've trained with Rob Leatham, so i've had a few hours having someone tell me how to shoot a gun...
Gabe is a fantastic instructor. His methods aren't "Hands On" in the literal sense, but what he teaches is simple and easy to understand. As an instructor, Gabe is first-rate.
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So jealous, Alf.
Great minds and all that....Pretty much word for word what I told him at lunch.
Michael gives out some great prizes!
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Oh, and Alf, did you make it to Gunvana, aka the Scottsdale Gun Club?
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Great minds and all that....Pretty much word for word what I told him at lunch.
Michael gives out some great prizes!
+1
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Great minds and all that....Pretty much word for word what I told him at lunch.
Michael gives out some great prizes!
So when does the Safari contest start?
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This is more of a photo essay than an after action report. Pictorially step you through some of it.
When Kevin and I were on-camera it was hard to take pictures, so you won't see any "action" pictures of us shooting. You'll have to wait for the show.
As you know I dropped the wife off in Tucson to be with her family and then drove up to Prescott, stopping for a few hours to have a pleasurable lunch with KMitch and to visit Cabela's. The handsome one on the right is KMitch.
(http://sauve.smugmug.com/DRTV-Video-Shoot-2013/i-XvqVRkK/0/L/IMG_8637-L.jpg)
Then on to Prescott. Quaint place. Full of all sorts of firearms industry folks. Think Ruger, JGSales, Davidsons and many others.
(http://sauve.smugmug.com/DRTV-Video-Shoot-2013/i-Cn4rGnj/0/L/IMG_8686-L.jpg)
Oh and there some good places to eat and have a libation or two.
(http://sauve.smugmug.com/DRTV-Video-Shoot-2013/i-spBJDR2/0/L/20131015_191943-L.jpg)
Monday we were off to meet Gabe and the nice folks at Suarez Group International.
(http://sauve.smugmug.com/DRTV-Video-Shoot-2013/i-F9t9353/0/L/IMG_8640-L.jpg)
And here we are. l-r Kevin, Gabe and myself.
(http://sauve.smugmug.com/DRTV-Video-Shoot-2013/i-G5x3hNs/0/L/IMG_8668-L.jpg)
Here's some photos of the crew and the gear they were using.
(http://sauve.smugmug.com/DRTV-Video-Shoot-2013/i-vjTQpqP/0/L/IMG_8646-L.jpg)
(http://sauve.smugmug.com/DRTV-Video-Shoot-2013/i-q3DcKf4/0/L/IMG_8651-L.jpg)
(http://sauve.smugmug.com/DRTV-Video-Shoot-2013/i-MZbfDB9/0/L/IMG_8661-L.jpg)
(http://sauve.smugmug.com/DRTV-Video-Shoot-2013/i-Dsvq7jS/0/L/IMG_8659-L.jpg)
Then here's some of the gear we got to use. Along with the 3 THOUSAND rounds of ammo. Unfortunately we didn't get to use it all up. I so wanted my trigger finger to go numb. Alas, video shooting took priority.
(http://sauve.smugmug.com/DRTV-Video-Shoot-2013/i-GMrcJMW/0/L/IMG_8645-L.jpg)
Here's a closer look at some of the modified Glock's from Suarez.
(http://sauve.smugmug.com/DRTV-Video-Shoot-2013/i-JFpft32/0/L/IMG_8642-L.jpg)
Finally, my Glock, my ammo.
(http://sauve.smugmug.com/DRTV-Video-Shoot-2013/i-xK35cdc/0/L/IMG_8641-L.jpg)
So here's my first "baseline" target. Shot at several different aim points. Probably in the show you'll get to see this target dissected.
(http://sauve.smugmug.com/DRTV-Video-Shoot-2013/i-rZLmZWT/0/L/IMG_8657-L.jpg)
Then here's the same exercise conducted at the end of day two. Pretty much one single aim point.
(http://sauve.smugmug.com/DRTV-Video-Shoot-2013/i-6TpDCgg/0/L/IMG_8664-L.jpg)
And here's the crew setting up a long range steel target with some Go-Pro's. (No we didn't hit the Go-Pros)
(http://sauve.smugmug.com/DRTV-Video-Shoot-2013/i-8D8KCjp/0/L/IMG_8662-L.jpg)
And again, the whole motley cast.
(http://sauve.smugmug.com/DRTV-Video-Shoot-2013/i-kDr7w66/0/L/IMG_8674-L.jpg)
What does Michael do all day? Well at the end of the day he records a few "intros".
(http://sauve.smugmug.com/DRTV-Video-Shoot-2013/i-C3BrN8G/0/L/IMG_8667-L.jpg)
But mainly during the day he just operates the complicated piece of equipment called the Clap Board (or slate). As you can see DRTV wastes no expense on the latest and fanciest model.
(http://sauve.smugmug.com/DRTV-Video-Shoot-2013/i-JzZqMnp/0/L/IMG_8675-L.jpg)
A few uh-oh's of course happened. Like the time John yelled action and I went to shoot but hadn't loaded the gun (I was taking a sight picture, that's all.) And then there was when John backed the SUV into an overhanging rock. Shattered the rear window.
(http://sauve.smugmug.com/DRTV-Video-Shoot-2013/i-cPqVLzw/0/L/20131015_084213-L.jpg)
On Wednesday morning I had been staring at the art work in my hotel room. Seems like every room had the same picture. But I noticed something about it that the crew, who has stayed here a lot had never noticed.
(http://sauve.smugmug.com/DRTV-Video-Shoot-2013/i-dTs9bmp/0/L/20131016_070404-L.jpg)
(There's a gun case in the luggage rack.)
One the way home I swung through the east side of Phoenix and went to the highly vaunted Scottsdale Gun Club. Very pretty, very clean and lots of tactical gear. Worth a stop.
(http://sauve.smugmug.com/DRTV-Video-Shoot-2013/i-JsWBnMR/0/L/20131016_110414-L.jpg)
BONUS: Right next door.
(http://sauve.smugmug.com/DRTV-Video-Shoot-2013/i-786hDVC/0/L/20131016_110432-L.jpg)
Finally, I know many are wondering where the requisite toe shot is and whether I took the tactical Topsiders.
(http://sauve.smugmug.com/DRTV-Video-Shoot-2013/i-vrvTthB/0/L/IMG_8687-L.jpg)
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Great pic's Alf.
Looks like a good time was had by all.
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Way to go Alf! Going down there last year was definitely one of the coolest things I have gotten to do. Sounds like your experience was every bit as good as mine.
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Thanks for sharing, Alf!!
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A Second Day report and a summation.
The second day we worked on more movement. Movement to keep us from getting shot and on shooting back. While it might not get me the best scores in IDPA, I'm going to apply this practice at matches where applicable. Then we backed up and tried shooting at distance. 50 and 70 yds. I thought I would do better but then again I had only done this with single shot T/C and with a long barreled revolvers. Not as good as I had hoped with the Glock. Gabe worked with us on trigger and grip as well as thinking about creative positions. Leaning against a wall while seated and even the IHMSA Creedmore position.
Finally we went back and fired some of the basic skills test from day 1. This included working with the red-dot and co-witness iron sights. While I may not put it at the top of my priority list, these are real workable. My last grouping, the top of a USPSA target, I cut off and saved as a souvenir. I should have had everybody sign it. Duh.
(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-bhNJAqx1mXs/UmWeq9ulB0I/AAAAAAAAxbg/zrngbP0q5zw/w776-h676-no/Final+Target.jpg)
In summary it was a great time. I don't express it outwardly, as in <clap> <clap> "goody, goody", so Michael had to ask me several times. I gained some valuable instruction, got 15 seconds of fame, and met some very nice people. I can't begin to tell you what a gentleman Michael is. Yes, he's the star and "owner" of DRTV, but I notice little things that show me he's not full of himself. Like the first morning when we were through with breakfast, he jumped up and bused the table. He is a class act. Just in casual conversation you realize he's been a mover and shaker behind the scenes in the shooting world for many things he doesn't publicize or advertise. He's very honest. When he doesn't know something he tells you. I stumped him with one behind-the-scenes question which he readily admitted to not knowing.
Gabe is also a first rate gentleman. His program is based on experience, and testing and trials. They are not just theories. We only scratched the surface of his self-defense/tactical knowledge. I highly recommend Suarez Group and their instructors.
Red-dot for self-defense: I think I've posted elsewhere what I thought. I'm very tempted to put together a rig with the Doctor sight. The co-witness is the key. S&W makes an M&P all ready to accept these sights. Suarez can provide Glock slides with the sights. Others will follow. If IDPA or USPSA (production) allowed them it would be a no-brainer. Maybe they'll create a SSP/Production red-dot division.
My own performance: As Gabe said, I need a lot of work in tactical handling of the semi-auto. Since I only shoot the Glock in GSSF matches, where tactical handling is not needed, so that is true. I need more work on handling. I will start practicing at my next range session. While I'll probably stick with SSR in IDPA, I may try to get back to Production in USPSA.
I'd had never really considered getting tactical training, thinking I wasn't good enough. Let me encourage everyone to take a class. Whether it, Suarez, Gunsite, or any of the other quality training groups. They'll work with you at whatever level you are.
Great time. Thanks DRTV. Thanks Suarez Group.
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Alf, thanks for the report. Just one question...what do you mean by "Tactical handling"? Think I know but ......
Richard
PS: I don't think you entered anything "special" I think MB likes you cause you are named after "The Wonder Beagle!" LOL
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Just one question...what do you mean by "Tactical handling"? Think I know but ......
Reloading. Reloading on the clock, mainly. Dropping my magazine twice didn't help my image.
PS: I don't think you entered anything "special" I think MB likes you cause you are named after "The Wonder Beagle!" LOL
Yeah, I think that had something to with it. We talked about it. I said I felt like Indiana Jones. Named after the dog.
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Nice write up Alf, thanks for the report. (and the kind words)
Had I known exactly when that gal was going to snap the picture, I would have sucked my gut in more. :P
If any of you guys get down GA way and can arrange meeting with Alf, I highly recommend it. He's a solid, normal guy.
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Thanks for the photos and report...looks like a great time.
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(There's a gun case in the luggage rack.)
I never noticed that! Nice catch!
If any of you guys get down GA way and can arrange meeting with Alf, I highly recommend it. He's a solid, normal guy.
Agree 100%. Sorry about the half-marathon to get to Macayo's that first night, Alf!