Basically, at 10 yards you have to fire six shots from the cover crouch, six from high kneeling, and six from low kneeling in 75 seconds, and there are two reloads in there. I felt like I was cruising along with time to spare*, and then...
I had a failure to fire (dud primer) during the "high kneeling" part and when I ran the slide and got back on the sights, the rushed shot had me slap heck out of the trigger. It was counted as breaking the 8 ring, which might be generous, but I'll take it.
This meant that I was short one round to complete the string of fire. On the clock.
Now, the class is split into two relays for the qualifier, and your partner from the other relay is there to help you load mags and keep an eye on the timekeeper for you and whatnot. Feeling like the clock was ticking away the last seconds and thinking I was about to lose my shot at a 300, I kept the gun pointed downrange while waving my off hand behind my back and frantically yelling "MAGAZINE! GIMME A MAG!"
I felt the magazine full of Big Girl Bullets that I took out of the gun that morning get snatched out of my right hip pocket and slapped into my waiting palm. Duh.
Sure that the call of "TIME!" was about to end my chances at a clean score, I lined up the sights again and pressed off the last, expensive, Winchester Ranger-T 127gr +P+ shot.
As it turns out, I still had ample time. I really could have slowed way down for the whole qualifier and finished farther up in the tiebreaker standings. Anyhow...
It wasn't until just a month or so ago when I was looking at the target hanging on the wall in the office here at Roseholme Cottage that I noticed something that tickled me no end. Looking closely at the target, can you spot that last, hurried, under pressure shot from slidelock? The one I thought was for the whole shootin' match? Hint: It's the only JHP hole on the whole target...
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17 comments:
The one in the x-ring that looks like a wadcutter made it?
Hah!
Yup, that should be it. Nice!
Similar stuff has happened to me as well in training and in competition.
That one moment when everything goes to crap and you're not really worrying about sight picture, squeeze or all the rest of the crap, just MAKE THAT SHOT.
And you do.
Feels DAMN good. Wish I'd feel it more often...
Hmmm...very nice.
When the weather warms and I have enough daylight after work I'll have to run that course.
Kinda like the Africa match last summer where I was sure I whiffed the head-on cape altogether since it was moving and I was too, and it turned out I shot it twice right in the nose. Sometimes you surprise yourself, and it's not always sucky. Nicely done, that girl.
Sometimes we over think our shooting.
Be the ball - Ty Webb
Gerry
Nice Shootin' Tex!
@Scott J:
Flashlight! If you don't want to hold it, just lay it on the ground. You're already close to it, so no biggie.
rremington beat me to it.
That phallic symbol pointing to the X . . . deliberate?
;-)
rremington,
"Nice Shootin' Tex!"
I'm not at all pleased with the buckshot spread caused by running fast and just aiming at the 8-ring.
At the 10- and 15-yard stages I was shooting at the whole 8-ring at a pace a little faster than I'd use to hit the 3x5 in a FAST drill when there was plenty of time to slow down and aim in on the x-ring.
@Will, small interwebs.
Folks, if Will is who I think he is then he's referring to a comical incident at a night action pistol match when a cheap weapon mounted light I'd borrowed flew off my XD-9 on my first shot.
Lesson learned: spend a little more test time with new gear before attempting to run on the clock with it.
That's something to remember when you have to shoot for all the marbles.
That COF seems rather arbitrary; I understand the idea of "performing against a known standard," and embrace it for the most part, but why force students away from modern technique during a qualification? And if forcing students into a poorer position like chapman or weaver, then hell, why not throw in urban prone, or shit, why not supine? I don't even want to start on using a COF centered around wheelguns in 2013. I mean if we're trying to level the playing field, what about those who still want to carry a muzzleloader or single action army?
Please don't take my bitching too seriously - I am just feeling particularly cantankerous this afternoon.
Mike,
The COF is about as far from "arbitrary" as it can get.
It is not intended as a comprehensive test of one's mad, 1337 handgun skillz, nor is it intended to impress you or Eric Grauffel; it is intended to impress a jury, which is why its various stages are cribbed from LE quals.
The Chapman/Weaver/Iso at 15 yards is because most ranges don't have PPC-esque barricades handy and so it is (at least if I am divining the intent properly) intended to force one to fire some of the strings at that range from a position outside one's comfort zone, as a barricade would do.
The six shot strings are indeed for the vestigial reason you gather, and are present in a lot of qual courses.
*mumbling*
...well I was almost on a jury last week...
Now, who is Eric Grauffel?
*googling noises*
Well, I don't think he's going to appreciate being lumped in with a guy that can barely shoot a clean Dot Torture at 5 yards.
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