However, I, as the Match Director, do sincerely apologize to the 3 of 4 shooters who elected to not finish...2 elected not to finish because of the late time constraint of the match lasting longer than usual and they had to leave; also, 1 was still sitting in the range's waiting room unbeknownst to us while we broke down the stages :-[ One other shooter elected not to finish because, well, his ammo wasn't firing despite light primer strikes....but the cylinder in the revolver looked cool as it, well, revolved with each trigger press ::)
Yes, there were a couple or few PO'd folks because they would have like to have left earlier in the match. And I accept responsibility for that faux pas...we usually alternate shooters (i.e., one does Stage 1, and the other does Stage 2, and then we switch those two to shoot the other stages) based on the date and time of their online registrations in order to honor "the early bird gets the worm". However, today we just had the entire group shoot Stage 1 and then pushed to get everyone through Stage 2....which apparently messed with some folks plans to leave earlier. Oh, well, that experiment won't happen again. ;)
My feelings are, if I want to enjoy this sport (or SC or Zombie shoots or RYG's or whatever), I need to help out, not only to speed up the shoot and keep it rolling but to perpetuate its existence.I agree with this. Except for the black spray paint extortion thing :laugh:
Therefore, if I make the commitment to attend a shoot, I'm there for the duration. My personal time is precious to me too. Call me a hardass, call me selfish, but I don't believe anyone else's free time is more important than mine. Frankly, I think it's selfish to "shoot n' scoot." If YOU want to keep this sport alive, YOU need to make the commitment.
Dare I say it? No one is special??
I've seen too many of these shoots end with just a handful of shooters left at the end of the match. Having said that, I was happy to see there were still a good number of shooters present at the end of Saturday's overtime, hard cover riddled event. :)
On a side note, if you are having trouble finding black spray paint in eastern Nebraska, I have a few cans stashed away I can sell at just a few dollars above market value. :)
What was everyone using for ammo/bullet type? One of the problems I had was I couldn't really see the holes made by my 9mm FMJ's and so I was never sure if I had my 2 hits in or not. But with some of the other shooters I had no problem seeing their target holes even from the back of the crowd. I assume many of those were .45's but I'm curious if anyone was using wadcutters or hollow points, something that cuts a larger hole than what I used.
What was everyone using for ammo/bullet type? One of the problems I had was I couldn't really see the holes made by my 9mm FMJ's and so I was never sure if I had my 2 hits in or not. But with some of the other shooters I had no problem seeing their target holes even from the back of the crowd. I assume many of those were .45's but I'm curious if anyone was using wadcutters or hollow points, something that cuts a larger hole than what I used.
I should add, as jthhapkido said, in those and other conditions, you are not likely going to see the holes. Another issue is that age makes it even worse. Part of being a good pistol shooter is knowing when you have a good shot (sites aligned, proper trigger, etc.) so that you can decide if you need to make up the shot without seeing the hole.
{snip}
Younger guys like jthhapkido may be able to visually transition from near to far very quickly, but it is not so easy for us guys that are a few years older.
As far as seeing your hits: Don't look for hits, watch your sights while you shoot! If your front sight was properly aligned with the rear sight as the trigger broke, you got a good hit. Trust your sights. :)
I saw mine dip a few times but decided not to take a makeup shot. I should have, however... I threw two into the hard cover (black) on one target, thankfully one was close enough to the perforation that I got credit for one "down zero" hit.
My feelings about people leaving, not being ready to shoot, having equipment issues, etc. is that I trust people to be responsible for themselves. If they are not, I'm not going to work super hard to help them out. Exceptions, of course, for those that have medical/physical issues that prevent them from being able to participate a lot of the time. I would strongly suggest bringing a folding chair and staying in the range, if possible, in those scenarios.
I have pretty decent eyesight. No need for glasses/contacts yet. :P
What probably got me more than anything is I have not practiced at that range. I just finished my CHP training a week or so ago so I'd been doing everything at 7 yards, and even with the mile-long trigger pull of an LC9 that was no sweat. But being on the clock and trying to fire quickly at longer ranges with the DAO trigger was all new to me. I knew my groups were pretty loose. I had lots of -5's on the second stage, so it was a game of "Do I hope I hit the second shot, move on, and risk -5's" versus "Do I take an extra couple seconds to do a third shot just in case".
Haha, shooting with an LC9 does put you at a significant disadvantage vs a lot of the other competitors too. A lot of us have full-size guns or even "competition length" guns with longer sight radii so we can see our sights "move" much more easily than you can with a short sight radius and the LC9's sights, if I remember, aren't the best from the factory either (it's been awhile since I've looked down the factory sights on an LC9).
Hopefully we see you at more matches in the future, mott! It was good to meet you in person.
The LC9 was my carry weapon when I had a CCW in another state, and it will be my carry weapon here in Nebraska too, so it's important to me that I'm proficient with it. I could get a good single-action 1911 or something and do much better in scenario matches but that won't help me at all if something happens and I have to take action with an LC9. I was armed security at my last church before moving into Nebraska so having to take quick shots at hostage-takers is actually a very practical scenario.
How Lorimor sees anything is beyond me .... he uses "Cowboy Jakes EXTRA smokey Gun Powder" and coats his boolits with pig grease