The Down Range Forum
Member Section => Upcoming Events => Topic started by: alfsauve on February 23, 2022, 01:20:31 PM
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So many matches so little ammo.
Sort of made up my 2022 shooting schedule. Obviously subject to change.
GSSF River Bend match 3/19. Second largest one the they hold. Got my new LPA fiber optic sights.
USPSA LoCap Nats in May. I think they're calling it Classic match. Revolver of course at Talledega.
SIG EDC if possible in August
USPSA GA state match in Covington GA (South River Gun Club)
IDPA GA state match at River Bend. I haven't shot IDPA outdoors in forever. I'll need to do some local matches.
Finally IRC in Nov down at Volusia County.
And as I posted elsewhere, this weekend local USPSA match will include KC Esubio, Justin Johnson (from Federal), Jessie Harrison and other big name shooters. Should be fun day. But a long day. 7 stages with 14 shooters/squad.
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Have classified (C class) in 8 Steel Challenge divisions (RFRI, RFRO, RFPI, RFPO, ISR, OSR, Prod & SS). Next up will be Ltd, followed by Open and CO. Then I'll have to get a PCC to finish the last 2 divisions.
It was down to 17f when we started shooting at 9amEDT on Sunday. Half the registered competitor dropped out before hand and 3 were no shows. We had 40 people. Did 5 stage w/ 5 squads of 8ea. Laid back, no hurry and we still finished and put away by 11:30.
Had this old fellow, Corky show up thinking it was the GSSF match, which isn't till next weekend. So he shot with us. He'd brought the wrong holster and only 3 mags. Signed up for Prod. Our squad decided, cause he wasn't the steadiest of characters to let he start from a low ready. Well about 3rd stage his gun jammed up pretty tight. He was blaming the Federal ammo. The RO was able to bang on it and get it cleared so Corky could finish the stage. Next stage, same thing. Jammed up just out of battery. They took it to the safe area and were able to pound it into battery, then fired it (yeah, yeah, he should have fired it into the berm, but we let that pass too). Turns out the G34 was coming off it's rails. Huh. Almost perfect I guess. He, amazingly, had a G17 backup, so he did a reshoot and finished the other stages.
SO MANY RULES violated.
I on the other hand shot my '70 Mk IV reasonably well. The loading drill, Barney round, remove mag, put in 8 rounder, remember to put the safety on or it's a DQ, draw, safety off is still awkward to me. Only sent 2 over the target because I shot too early. Did manage to do C class on all stages. I'm just not as comfortable with the manual of arms of the 1911 as I am with the revolver or even striker fired where you don't need a Barny mag. Since I really don't plan on pursuing any more SS or CDP division entries, that'll probably be it for the 1911. Maybe an occasional trip to the range for the fun of it.
I did say it was 17f when we started? So on the FB page for the match I posted my version of the Marlow (who wrote under the pen name Shakespeare) St Crispin speech (band of brothers) from Henry V. Remember we shot this on 3/13. I kind of like it.
And 13 of 3 shall ne’er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers
For ye today that shot steel with me
Shall be my brother, be ye ne’er so vile,
This day shall gentle ye condition:
And gentlefolk in GA now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their adulthood cheap whiles any speaks
That shot with us upon 13 of 3
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CGSSF match...that's one I'll likely never make. Good guns....but butt ugly to me. A thing of beauty to some. However, you guys seem to have been really nice to him.
So the G34 choked? What's up with that?
Also my ham antennas are in disarray right now. I'm planning on rejuvenation of them this week. The big 80 meter loop lost one of the tie downs on top. We had a big wind and the rope parted....which was strange. It was the rope holding the pulley that allows the antenna support to move without fraying the rope.... The 20 meter loop has lost insulation from rubbing in a tree and needs replacement. The 6 meter dipole lost the support line for the balun. All of which was really from neglect.
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The RO said the slide was coming off the rails. Not sure exactly what he meant or how that would happen. All I know is the gun wouldn't function.
Several .22lr on my squad had issues with the cold weather. Shooter blamed the ammo, but funny by the time we got the the 5th stage, and things had warmed up, their ammo was working just fine. My Colt 1911 ran flawlessly with S&B factory ammo.
Rastus, you missed the WSB radio 100yr celebration. The Atlanta Radio Club had a special operation from the studios as well as from the antenna farm. I snagged an FT8 contact and mailed in a QSL card. They operated as W5B. Everyone thinks the stations phonetics are Welcome South Brother, but I know it's Whisky Scotch and Bourbon.
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Nice Alf. I gotta get out and have some fun.
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GSSF 2022, River Bend Gun Club, Dawnsonville, GA
It was the second largest of the GSSF matches behind their annual match, but times are tough, instead of 250-300 in Am/Civ it was 108 this past weekend.
I got their real early so I could pick up my entries and get on the stage listings. It is the most unorganized I've seen GSSF. Last year they were handing out entries by 8:15. This year they didn't start registration until 8:45 and some of the bays weren't set up yet. We did start shooting at 9am as advertised so it al worked out. I got to shoot immediately on 5byGlock and only 8 entries ahead of me on Glock M and no wait on plates. I did get to sit in on the volunteer briefing and got a volunteer rule book. They're using the new GSSF target. It's basically just a rectangular buff target with the two scoring rings. Same rings as the NRA D-1. To make scoring easier they're marked 0, 1 & 3 like IDPA does with their targets. That's how many seconds you're down. Electronic scoring is coming soon I'm told. Don't know if they paid Practiscore or went out on their own. Nobody seemed to know.
I shot poorly with a 77.98. I hadn't practice plates in 6 months and it showed. Last year I did 59.94 and was 10th place. It typically takes lower than 60 to win. So I went home a little dejected. . Well was I surprised when the preliminary scores were posted. 3rd place overall and top Super Senior. I'M IN THE MONEY. Should be $75 for 3rd and $75 for super senior.
Evidently everybody had an off day. Top score for Am/Civ was 64.37. Wow.
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What a good week.
Sunday, the River Bend club didn't have it's normal IDPA match because all the movers and shakers were at the TN State match. However they held a classifier only. Seven of us showed up. In the Revolver division I moved from Marksman to Sharpshooter. I now feel Expert it within reach. More practice, more practice.
Got the final Glock scores from River Bend (Dawsonville). 3rd Amateur and 1st Super Senior. $75 cash prize for each.
I'm sure the 4th place shooter is kicking himself. He did so well in the plates, but blew in the other two stages.
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Got #9 Division in Steel Challenge. Limited. Actually won the division. 1st of 3 Ltd competitors. I'm sure they were probably firing a gun more a tuned to the division than my striker fired X5 Legend. I'll take it Class C qualification. High 40s%.
I like Sig. I like the P320 better than the S&W M&Ps and the SA XDs. But as I have said, every company has its "nits" and I just found one of Sigs.
So I've fired the X5 Legend in Production and Limited Division. This challenge, shooting all 13 divisions, is just for fun. For Open and Carry Optics division, I'm not buying a special gun. I'm just putting my Romeo 1 on the X5 and use it for both red dot divisions.
Easy Peasy right? EXCEPT. The X5 has a removable rear sight that fills the notch already cut and drilled for optics. Take out the rear sight. No sweat. Get my Romeo 1 out along with the mounting kit. (I'd previously used it with its rail mount for my 22/45.) I turned the Sig adapter plated this way and that way but it didn't fit. Okay, so maybe the Romeo 1 mounts directly. Ah, the holes do line up. But the screws are loose. Hmm. Did I strip the screws when I mount it to the rail adapter? Oh well, just screws. Looked in my spare parts and found 2 M4x0.7 screws, tried them in the holes on top of the slide, perfect fit. BUT GUESS WHAT. Turns out the holes in the Romeo 1 are 3.5mm. Turns out I didn't strip the original Sig screws they're just a 1/2mm smaller than the holes. Given all the fine electronics and wires I don't dare try to drill out the holes.
So I go on-line and discover that Sig made the Romeo 1 with proprietary mounting arrangement. Since then Sig has made all the gun mounts standardize with the other red-dot manufacturers AND they made a new Romeo 1 called the Romeo 1 Pro which used M4 instead of M3.5 screws. AGAIN NO PROBLEM, though irritated,.....WRONG. Sig states on their web site that they do NOT make an adapter for the Romeo 1 original to go on the X5 Legend. BUMMER. Springer Precision does though and fortunately they were in stock and shipped same day, but that puts my practice schedule back a week. At least it was fixable.
Trying to get in as much revolver time as I can before the LoCap nationals next month. Did an indoor IDPA last week where we had a drill that you hosed one target with 5, reloaded, then hosed the second target with 5. I really let go. Those new timers not only upload time to the tablet but splits as well. The last 4 splits? About 0.12. Wow. The whole squad was standing there with their mouths open. ZERO Down btw. I was pumped. Beat a number of CO and some PCC shooters on that one.
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Springer Precision shipped same day and as quick as USPS could get it from OR to GA, I got the X5 adapter plate. Fits perfectly.
In the process I order a set (250) M4 socket screws, varying lengths. I needed M4x6mm to mount my 2m radio in the car. Something I haven't had in over 10 years. Kinda neat having it back in for when I drive up to Dawnsonville.
Glock check should arrive today.
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Yes, here I am in beautiful Taledega. And while I'm actually staying in Pell City, I did drive downtown to the actual city of Taledega. Something I doubt many competitors or NASCAR fans have done. Sad rural town. Lots of shuttered stores.
The 2022 Ruger USPSA Classic National sponsored by Federal. L-10, SS & Revolver. This should be interesting. 91+ today with bright sun. Rain and storms tomorrow. Got cart, high chair, & fan for today. Poncho, umbrella and towels for tomorrow. I don't mind being wet, or having my guns wet. Don't like it but I don't let it bother me. Hoping my positive attitude will help my score relative to others.
Had to sit through the CMP video for the 5th time. I'm actually starting to remember some of it. Must qual on 100yds before you shoot 200 & 300. Must qual at pistol range 4 before going to 50yd range 3. I think after so many I get a year off.
Got $150 GSSF check.
Didn't shoot Steel in May because it was Mother's Day. Did shoot outdoor IDPA for the first time in 5 years. Love how River Bend runs their match. Had a great time.
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USPSA Classic: Had a great time. It was hot and very sunny on Saturday. Dry so you didn't realize how much water you were sweating away. Had a great little squad. 9 of us, but 1 guy shot through on Saturday, so for Sunday it was just 8. Monsoor Sabree and his wife out of Brooklyn. Lee and his Daughter GiGi out of Tampa along with Segismund Araniego (JUST CALL HIM JOEY). No I didn't win Revo, nor Class C and I didn't accomplish my goals. I did really well in 3 of the stages and 3 of the stages just kicked my butt. I'll blame it on the heat, but I just totally lost it on those three. Sunday was supposed to storm with hail and high winds. BUT of course the weather "experts" got it wrong. There were some more clouds but just as hot as on Saturday.
One neat thing was they added micro printers to the clip board with the tablets. They'd print you a copy of your score and print one for themselves to keep. Much better than copying the scores from the tablet to paper and yet you still have an auditable backup. BUT WAIT. That's not all, you can also print squad listings and other things. On the bays were we shot 2 quick stages, it made it easier for one volunteer to call out the Up Next, On Deck and In The Hole. They like doing an alternating order left and right. Makes it confusing for the competitors. Why they don't just cut the squad in the middle so we can retain the same order?
The stages were very neat. Mostly designed around 8 shots, but the SS boys had 1 extra round. We revo guys had to make every shot count in order not to have an extra reload. They had two stages that were identical. You shot one one day and the other the next. The only twist was the last three targets had to be shot strong hand only on one and weak hand only on the other.
Disappointments: First CMP allowed competitors to reserved golf carts months ahead of time, but CMP decided that the shotgun tourney should have priority. They didn't however contact the competitors and let them know ahead that their reservation was cancelled. So peopled were pissed. However, on Sunday, I had the forethought to ask and was able to get a cart for the day as the shotgun tourney was over. Since my squad was shooting high bays it turned out to be a blessing. I ferried several squad members back and forth from the parking lot. Secondly, there were only 4 vendors booths. HD Gold and Prem-ear of course, Lyman Revolution 7 machine and another electronic hearing protection company. No souvenir T-shirts, no food, (CMP did keep coolers at each bay stocked with ice and water, and USPSA had a snack cart running around all day) No other sponsor booths, no guns to try out, nada. Then I think that reflects that the Lo-cap are considered a step child these days. L-10, SS and Revo are not drawing the big crowds like CO and PCC.
Didn't stay for awards or food, but high tailed it on back to ATL. Waze said traffic was light and indeed it was so it was a good choice.
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Oh, 233 out of 269 overall. 37 of 39 Revo. Beat John Scouten who was shooting SS. Tip of the hat to him and Shooting USA. John has gone through NROI and did a story about it. He did earn his RO. So for this National, he shot on Friday and RO'd all day Saturday and Sunday. Like Michael, he walks the walk, not just a figure in front of the camera. We had a nice chat on his stage.
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Single stack?
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Revo. Revolver. Wheel gun. Real gun.
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Sorry, you said John Scouten was shooting SS. Be that single stack?
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Yes, SS = Single Stack
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Groovy
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USPSA was nice enough to film one slow, old revolver shooter and post it on-line.
This was stage 11. Visual start. The lights aren't clear in the video but were fairly bright in person. They are on the rear of the table under the cloth to keep them cool. Activated by the timer (The CEDGO light unit w/ CED 7000 timer).
Yes 4 shots per target. Don't think the reload was mandatory, but everybody did it after 8, especially Revolvers - duh.
10As 6Cs 14.99sec. Place 198/269 against Single Stack and Limited-10
https://player.vimeo.com/video/714769963 (https://player.vimeo.com/video/714769963)
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STEEL CHALLENGE
It's official! I've classified in 11 of the 13 divisions. Only PCCOpen and PCCIron sights to go. This Sunday I'll do PCCO with iron sights. Yes, optics are not required for the "Open" Divisions. That way I've actually practice with the iron sights before I go to the PCCI Division in September. Sneaky huh.
Our SC matches are so popular the range strongly suggested they only allow one entry per person to accommodate as many as possible. But I may just politely as, day of match, if they'd let me do two entries and be done with it.
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SHOOTING STEEL: Yes I'm classified in 12 divisions and go for my 13th this Sunday. I'll be among the first 250th to complete all divisions. Of course we're all overshadowed by Cory Klemashevic, who has accomplished Grand Master in all 13 SCSA Divisions and in the 8 USPSA divisions. WOW.
USPSA GA STATE:
HEAR YE! HEAR YE! You are looking at the 1st Place GA state champion in the Revolver Division.
(The fact that I was the only revolver competitor should not dampen that claim. The rest were too scared to go up against me..... I wish.)
I don't know how many other state/regional matches are doing this, but GA has used volunteers to do all the pasting. So you just shoot. That's it. We had a small squad, 6, due to a no show. It was relaxing and I enjoyed all the stages. Well on one I did take an inadvertent makeup shot and that totally screwed up my stage plan. When you only have 8 rounds it makes a huge difference. But I didn't forget to engage any targets. My goal, if any, was to stay near the Single Stack guys, all 5 of them, which in the final result I was just behind them. So not bad. 233/244. I did shine on Stage 9. 175th place. It was a skills stage where accuracy counts a bit more than regular stages. (4 unobscured targets, 2 at 20yds & 2 at 10yds, then 2 targets half-covered with No Shoots at 10yds. You have to shoot one group strong hand only, the other freestyle. I chose the 4 unobscured targets freestyle for speed, and the 2 half targets SHO. I noticed some did it the other way trying to avoid a Hit Penalty.)
There was also one stage with a drop turner activated by a stomp plate. Not visible at rest, best FOUR shots counted. Most people just gave it lip service and some Masters just skipped it altogether. I got 2C and 2D. My feeling was it's a potential 20points for 2-4 seconds of effort. And I think if you didn't at least stomp and fire off one shot you should have gotten some type of penalty, but because they were NoPenaltyMisses, some opted to not even stomp on the plate. You had to pass the port going to the final position, so not like it was out of the way. I guess the race guys know best though.
Alright off Sunday to shoot some steel, PCC Iron Sights.
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Do we call you “Your Majesty” or “Your Royal Highness” now? I can never remember.
Seriously, though, congratulations on the win!
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Did it. Shot 6 Steel Challenge stages with PCCI. Net was a 56.78%, class C, but we'll wait and see how SCSA score is out.
Of course, on the first stage the front sight fell off my PC-9. Remember how I was saying I couldn't find anything to complain about with the Ruger. I was in fact lauding it. Well, they didn't Loctite the front sight screws. Now I have something to complain about. Fortunately my squad was shooting an outlaw stage first, and being a local level match, they allowed me to shoot that string over. I did find one of the two screws and miracle of miracles a S&W side place screw happened to fit. I carry replacement revolver screws in my tool kit so I was back to shooting in short order. About the 4th stage, I'm a slow thinker, the light bulb went off in my head that maybe I should check the rear sight screws. Fortunately they were tight.
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Official. Not listed yet on the Club 13 page but I wrote SCSA to ask to be added and to get my challenge coin. And officially, I'm classified as "C" in all divisions with a 56.78% on the last one I shot on Sunday, PCCI.
Now the question is, what to pursue long term? I'm thinking I'll stay with Iron Sighted Revolver. Since there's no Power Factor in SC, I may make up some powderpuff 9mm loads for the fun of it.
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I am most impressed. I had no idea there were so many options/variations/classes. Where do you go to find out what's out there?
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Rastus, in each competition it's found in the rule book what divisions, and guns, are allowed.
And as of this morning I'm listed on the Club 13 page. I'm #228.
IDPA GA State match is next. I've never shot above a level 1 match in IDPA. This should be interesting.
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Local, River Bend, outdoor IDPA match was cancelled prematurely for hurricane Ian. Turns out it went further east and the ATL got absolutely zero moisture. Oh well, they're all volunteers and I can't fault them for being cautious.
So, the GA State level 4 match is coming up. Interesting spread of divisions. There's actually some PCC-10 shooters. There will be 8 revolvers. That means, in my dreams, if I beat 6 of them I'll get a bump from Sharp Shooter to Expert. I think at least I'll take this seriously. Never can tell who's going to have a bad day.
Pretty sure at this point we're not going to IRC. We're just sticking close to home. Not sure what behind the scene things are happening at ICORE. They didn't use Practiscore this year. Does PS charge per match? Per shooter? I've never looked into the admin side of it.
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Busy weekend. 3 Days, 3 Matches, 3 Different Disciplines, 3 Different Guns.
ICORE on Saturday. 6 classifiers. I'M "B" CLASS NOW. (SW686 6")
Sunday was Steel Challenge. Since I'd loaned my 929 to a friend I shot PCCI. We shot all 8 courses of fire. Long day. Especially on the "senior" squad. My bud, Garry and I are both 73/74 and are always joking about playing the AGE CARD. Well on this squad we were middle aged! The older shooters didn't paint because we'd be waiting all day for them to get to the targets and get back. That means the younger half of the squad did all the work. I won my division btw. (Ruger PC9 Takedown w/ iron sights).
Monday night was IDPA indoor league. Had 3 revolver shooters. We're all going to GA State IDPA and the other two are taking notice of me. I got beat for the match by 2 seconds only because I hit Grand-Ma once. I told her to move, she didn't listen. (SW 686 4")
There are now 9 revolver shooters signed up for the GA State IDPA match. It'll be fun having competition.
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GA State IDPA match is in the books.
In my dreams I would beat all 8 other Revolver competitors, but then they all had the same dream. I did finish 6th beating out 2 Expert shooters. But I got bested by the other two Sharp Shooters. I did come within 6 points of beating out the Master level shooter which is something and I know exactly which stage which target caused me to drop those 6 points. I did do some good stage planning minimizing movement and only reloading on the move. I cleaned 2 of the 3 skills stages. No Penalties and no Hits on non-threats for the match. Finished 209/240 for the match against mostly CO and PCC.
My friend Mark Hu (who always starts on starts on Stage 1. Get it? Hu's on 1?) and I have set our goal to compete in the 2023 IDPA Nationals/World. We've got to earn "points" to enter. Local, level 1, matches don't count so I'll be going to bigger matches. Next up is Sheepdog in Valdosta, GA.
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Here I am. Yes, here I am in beautiful Valdosta for The Sheepdog IDPA match. Those unfamiliar it’s a Tier 4, CCP only match. No Carry Optics. No PCC. And yes, no revolvers. I’ve spent the last 5 weeks shooting nothing but my P320 Carry gun. It’s still strange not to count rounds, just planning where to do the ONE reload. I feel fairly comfortable going into the match. Other than I just changed the mag release to a Springer extended one. I hope it still fits in the box.
The premise of Sheepdog is that the majority are sheep and the few of us are sheepdog destined to protect the rest.
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SHEEPDOG WAS FUN. What a well run match and a very nice facility.
Little River Sportsman's Club, in Valdosta, is very nice, very clean, very well laid out. Flat of course, which for N. Ga people is big bonus. Paved road with parking opposite the bays. The bays are a little smaller than other ranges but that means they're close together and not a great distance between them. Only 1.5 miles off I-75 and at the same exit as all the hotels.
Since we're all shooting CCP and limited to 10 rounds in the mag, no need to have long stages for those SSP and PCC people. All scenario stages were 16 rounds. No steel and no movers. Wow. The AFROTC cadets from Valdosta State assisted in pasting. FLY HIGH AIRMEN. (oops, Aeropeople) For 12 stages I was only 8 points down and finished 142 out of 188. Not bad for me. There were 27 guns given away as random prizes. That's 15% of the entries got guns and about 10% optics and numerous other top tier prizes. Only the >$100 was done by random drawing after the match, the rest of the stuff was already assigned before hand and competitors received it when they checked in. The post match awards went quickly.
Only nit was one of the new rules in IDPA called Nesting. I shot two sets of targets that were at two different points of cover from one position. It was only 3 seconds and I figured I saved about that amount of time anyway, so not a big deal. In reviewing videos it didn't seem the rule was applied consistently. Not upset, just wish I had thought about that at the time. Given my 8 PD I'm happy with what I did. One SO commented on my tight groupings. And I do use my accuracy to take longer shots than other competitors and save time moving. What I need to do is now shoot faster and not be quite so concerned with accuracy.
And no, I didn't win any grand prizes, but I did get one pound of Clean Shot for which I'm grateful.
THANKS TO RUGER and WALTHER for the prizes
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Fun is what it's about!
Hopefully you'll get a gun or two next time. I'd hate for you to win an M&P 2.0 and have to sell it....... ;)
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I’ve done that with a Glock. Twice. First time I worked a deal with the store to order whichever model they wanted on my certificate, but then just keep it in inventory as a new gun, giving me store credit for it. Second time I just sold the certificate to a fellow shooter.
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Finished up 2022 with
39 IDPA matches including GA State and the Valdosta Sheep Dog CCP. Made SharpShooter in Revolver
15 USPSA matches including the Nationals
7 Steel Challenge matches & classified in all 13 divisions
2 ICORE and move up to a B class in the Classic Division
Pretty good year. Now onward on upward to 2023