So, I'm back. All things considered, a good, fun, safe day. I've got my shiny new certification card, a bunch of empty brass, and one dirty gun (and 5 dirty mags!)
The first stage (for my squad) was the classifier, Mob Job (link to diagram). Wish I had some time to warm up before the classifier, but no biggy, I guess. First match, not trying to win anything (okay, so I was trying to win a little bit...) Shot okay.
Second and third stages were apparently unremarkable, because I can't seem to remember them at all
The fourth stage was a little different than ones I've seen. 11 IPSC targets in a line. Counting from the left, the 1st, 6th, and 11th had no-shoot's covering the bottom part, and shooting boxes in front. The fault line was about 8 feet from the targets. T1, T6, and T11 must be engaged from within boxes, all other targets engaged completely outside boxes. Start facing uprange, turn and draw. Basically just walked to the right engaging targets as they came in front of me... this one was VERY, VERY hard to keep from going fast.
Fourth stage was scary... a number of people were DQ'ed for the 180 rule. You start holding a box with both hands, then drop it on a activator plate, which activates a 2-turn disappearing IPSC target... basically, the strategy here was to wait for the beep, draw with strong hand holding box in weak, drop, fire each time the target presented. Then three other IPSC targets (all with hard cover). Move (reload), 3 more IPSC on the right, 3 on the left obscured by barrels. Two more disappearing targets (more than 2 turns, though) and two hard-cover targets behind a tall barricade. This one was very hard for me to plan using 10-round magazines... ended up reloading at least one time more than I needed to, just for the confidence.
The final stage was fun. Four steel poppers on the left, four on the right, then a "hell hut" (or something like that) with a port that must be opened, with two IPSC behind it. Then move downrange and engage 8 more IPSC, four on the left, four on the right. The bad part was, I burned a LOT of ammo on the steel... probably about 16 rounds. One of them I hit but didn't knock down (apparently a low hit). Then, to the hut, knock open the port, engage the IPSC's... by this time I had dropped 2 fully empty mags (no slidelock, though!!). Get to the back, burn through my OTHER two mags on the 8 IPSC back there... oh man, it was scary.
At the end of all that, I ended up finishing not-last out of the Unclassified Production shooters (one below me!!) and getting my certification card! I got to see some cool shooting (and a little dance by one of the guys when he couldn't figure out which array to engage next). Got to participate in a somewhat experimental brassing method (EVERYONE brasses after the last shooter is done, sort it at the next stage), and most of all, got to shoot!
Now for the equipment report. I was shooting a Springfield XD 9mm (4" barrel). Performed flawlessly, no jams, misfeeds, weird slide stuff or multi-shot stuff. Shot accurately throughout the day, and even turned a few heads ("What the hell gun is THAT?"). I was shooting 9mm 124gr bullets lovingly manufactured by a guy in Brooks, OR... the interesting thing was that when I was on the line, I didn't even notice the recoil... it was like shooting a BB gun... maybe it was adrenaline or maybe it was just that the 9mm is easy like that
So, what did I learn? I learned that those people who say walk before you run, really mean it and are REALLY right. I got a little ahead of myself at one point and almost fell. I learned that it is real easy to shoot A's if you're not in a hurry and relaxed. I learned that I *love* steel. I learned that my holster has GOT to go... anybody recommend a good, cheap Kydex holster for the XD?
Thanks for putting up with me and my wordiness. I love the game, and I'm sticking with it!
The first stage (for my squad) was the classifier, Mob Job (link to diagram). Wish I had some time to warm up before the classifier, but no biggy, I guess. First match, not trying to win anything (okay, so I was trying to win a little bit...) Shot okay.
Second and third stages were apparently unremarkable, because I can't seem to remember them at all
The fourth stage was a little different than ones I've seen. 11 IPSC targets in a line. Counting from the left, the 1st, 6th, and 11th had no-shoot's covering the bottom part, and shooting boxes in front. The fault line was about 8 feet from the targets. T1, T6, and T11 must be engaged from within boxes, all other targets engaged completely outside boxes. Start facing uprange, turn and draw. Basically just walked to the right engaging targets as they came in front of me... this one was VERY, VERY hard to keep from going fast.Fourth stage was scary... a number of people were DQ'ed for the 180 rule. You start holding a box with both hands, then drop it on a activator plate, which activates a 2-turn disappearing IPSC target... basically, the strategy here was to wait for the beep, draw with strong hand holding box in weak, drop, fire each time the target presented. Then three other IPSC targets (all with hard cover). Move (reload), 3 more IPSC on the right, 3 on the left obscured by barrels. Two more disappearing targets (more than 2 turns, though) and two hard-cover targets behind a tall barricade. This one was very hard for me to plan using 10-round magazines... ended up reloading at least one time more than I needed to, just for the confidence.
The final stage was fun. Four steel poppers on the left, four on the right, then a "hell hut" (or something like that) with a port that must be opened, with two IPSC behind it. Then move downrange and engage 8 more IPSC, four on the left, four on the right. The bad part was, I burned a LOT of ammo on the steel... probably about 16 rounds. One of them I hit but didn't knock down (apparently a low hit). Then, to the hut, knock open the port, engage the IPSC's... by this time I had dropped 2 fully empty mags (no slidelock, though!!). Get to the back, burn through my OTHER two mags on the 8 IPSC back there... oh man, it was scary.
At the end of all that, I ended up finishing not-last out of the Unclassified Production shooters (one below me!!) and getting my certification card! I got to see some cool shooting (and a little dance by one of the guys when he couldn't figure out which array to engage next). Got to participate in a somewhat experimental brassing method (EVERYONE brasses after the last shooter is done, sort it at the next stage), and most of all, got to shoot!
Now for the equipment report. I was shooting a Springfield XD 9mm (4" barrel). Performed flawlessly, no jams, misfeeds, weird slide stuff or multi-shot stuff. Shot accurately throughout the day, and even turned a few heads ("What the hell gun is THAT?"). I was shooting 9mm 124gr bullets lovingly manufactured by a guy in Brooks, OR... the interesting thing was that when I was on the line, I didn't even notice the recoil... it was like shooting a BB gun... maybe it was adrenaline or maybe it was just that the 9mm is easy like that
So, what did I learn? I learned that those people who say walk before you run, really mean it and are REALLY right. I got a little ahead of myself at one point and almost fell. I learned that it is real easy to shoot A's if you're not in a hurry and relaxed. I learned that I *love* steel. I learned that my holster has GOT to go... anybody recommend a good, cheap Kydex holster for the XD?
Thanks for putting up with me and my wordiness. I love the game, and I'm sticking with it!
