Practice Pays Off!

Well, it's match day again. After last month's fiasco with the Hi-Power (a triple feed on one stage and a score-destroying brain fart on the second), I took my trusty Para LTC today, and what a day it was.

I've been doing a lot of snap-cap practice with my SP101--nearly every night for the last month. I've practiced my reloads maybe twice with the 1911, and maybe once a week I do some snap caps for fifteen minutes. Apparently that little bit of practice is really working because I had a great run today. I even remembered to take pictures of the course! So, here we go:

Stage one is 21 rounds comstock, comprised of 9 targets and three plates. All plates must be down before moving on to the next group of targets.

Left side, stage 1

Middle, stage 1

Right side, stage 1

I finished with 16 As, 2 Cs, and all 3 plates in 20.93 seconds, 21 rounds fired. I felt pretty great. Especially when the scorer turned to me and said "Dude, your hits are ridiculous!". Apparently my double taps were only an inch or less apart on all but two targets. Hooray for snap caps!

Then on to stage 2. Start with your hands on the shoulders of the middle target. Single targets get two in the chest and one in the head, hostage holders get two shots each. 17 rounds minimum, comstock scoring.

Stage 2. You actually had to move backwards and side to side. Very different!

I ended up with 15 As, 1 B, and 1 C, in 18.6 seconds. The starting line is the middle target, not the table. Maximum distance was about 10 yards, but moving backwards without breaking 180 degrees took some thought, as did running from side to side.

Sure, I wrote this as a bit of an ego massage, but I really do think it shows what a difference some practice can make. It also doesn't hurt to have a $1500 custom 1911 with tailored handloads and reliable 10rd magazines. Keep up the practice, and if you're not involved in a USPSA/IPSC/IDPA club, you need to get involved. It is tons of fun, and not all that expensive (unless you want it to be).