OK guys, so if you haven’t heard, I have a quest this year, Quest for Master Class.

So I have decided that I am going to strive to make Master in Limited USPSA by the end of this year. That is my overall goal, with in all that I do have some smaller step goals. My first goal is to work on my dry and live fire practice. Second is to make A class, and the third is to continue and earn my M card in Limited. Now, the one place I differ from a lot of people is that I not only want to earn my M card, but I want to be able to compete at that Master class level. So people (and I have known a few) have earned a M card, or a GM card in USPSA or have a Master in IDPA, but if you see them compete, they are nowhere near competing at a master or GM level, you may hear them referenced as “Paper GMs” or “Paper Master”. That just means that they may have made master or GM from a classification level, but the rest of their game has not caught up yet.

So in my quest to step up my game and rise to the Master level I am going to start a program I am going to call Critical Review. This is where I will run through a debriefing and analyze my performance at all my matches, both local and major level matches. I am also going to try and pull things out of the review to work on. This is going to be the hard part, since I work a full time job, and my job is not really close to any range to get out and practice live fire during the week, but we will not get any better if we do not practice, and I do believe that the quality of practice out weights the quantity, so every draw, every shot, every transition must count and we must learn everything we can if we are to meet the goal.

So the first Critical Review will be from the 2016 SC Section. This will be my first stab at reviewing my performance and picking apart everything from the match to the stages down to the target engagement.

Well I sit here tonight thinking about how I can not wait for spring to get here, part of it is cause I am over the cold, the other is the start of the 2015 shooting season.

I am pretty lucky that here in NC we can shoot just about all year, it gets cold here at night but the days are really not that bad, about 55 degrees, so with a few layers on we can still get some matches in.

So after the 2014 NC Section match I decided I wanted to officially get classed in limited. So I have since sold off a few of the double stack 1911’s I had (P16-40 and a P14-45) and I have acquired a STI Eagle in 40.  This has served me as my limited USPSA and my pistol for 3 gun. So after a few months I have officially made it in to B class in Limited. I was expecting a bit higher scores, but I have a few bad classifiers in plus I had two old classifiers from 5 years ago when I first started USPSA when I was shooting my Glock 22, but that’s OK, I just have room to improve at this point.

So it is February and it is time to start to get serious about my 2015 season, so I have worked over my Para single stack with some new parts and just need to get it tuned and ready. My first L2 match was going to be the Piedmont match in March, but I was a little late signing up and well I am on the wait list, but at this point I don’t think I made the cut. That’s OK, I have signed up for the SC Section match again this year, I will be shooting with staff and working the match on Saturday.

I am still working on my list for matches this year, I have my regular yearly matches I attend, SC Section, GA Section, NC Section, but I have been thinking about going back up to the Area 8 match this year, and maybe the TN Section match, but we will see.

Other than my match schedule, I have been busy with the new range, well it is not mine but ZSA has bought 1/3 in to a established range and we are in the process of clearing out the trees and building berms for the new competition area. If the planets are aligned and the plans we want actually happen it will be great new range for matches.

Well that is all for now, keep your muzzle down range and I will see you at the range. 

Well it has been a while since my last post. Lots of things have been going on and it is time to get back to it.
Well Since my last post I have continued in participating in action shooting sport, mainly ZSA and USPSA matches. ZSA has become a USPSA club, so that gives us a little bit of a leg up on the other clubs out there, where most of all the clubs are ranges, where ZSA is not a "range" but a club so we can put on a USPSA match anywhere that will host our match, so essentially we can hold more than one USPSA match at more than one location, currently we are just holding the ZSA/ USPSA match at ENC range in Goldsboro, NC.

I have been focused on Single Stack over the past year still and have had some good and bad matches. The RO Invitation match was great, but could not find my sights, and the Area 6 Match was great as well and I shot a solid match just needed to be a little faster, but all my hits were there and I feel like I shot a solid B level match.
This up coming weekend I am heading to SC for the SC Section match and should be a good time. This bring me to this up and coming year. As most of my friends know I am a true blue Para Single stack guy. Also I was building a Para 14-45 to be used in 3 Gun (that was going to be part of the last series) I built it up with extended base pads to allow 18/19 rounds of 45. Dawson mag-well and a cylinder and slide warp speed trigger kit. The gun shoots great and I was doing really good in Limited in USPSA and in 3 Gun ans well as Steal Challenge. Well I no longer have that, I sold it to a friend of mine who needed to move to a 1911 style platform.
I on the other hand have moved up, I acquired a older STI that I will be using for Limited and 3 gun matches. So this year after the SC Section I will be playing in Limited for a few months to build up my skills and brig my classification up in Limited, currently I have no classification.

So I will be posting my travels in Limited as well other bigger matches we have this year. There are lots going on, 2nd annual ZSA Gauntlet match, Possibly going to Area 8 (may be shooting Limited :)), Georgia State Section, ZSA Operation 300 benefit event. NC Section, and that is all I have planned so far, so we will see what else pops up.

So thanks for reading about my travels and progression in the shooting sports.

I have been competing in action shooting sports for quite a while and over the past few years I have gotten pretty deeply immersed in the sport. I have competed in just about all action shooting sports except for Cowboy action. I have competed in IDPA, USPSA, ZSA and 3 Gun matches. I have had the chance to compete in the IDPA’s Carolina Cup match a few times, I have competed in all levels of USPSA matches, from the local Sir Walter monthly match all the way to the Single Stack and Revolver Nationals in 2013, and of course I am the VP of ZSA and I help run, design and build ZSA matches here in the NC area. The only one left is 3 Gun matches, which is really where this series is heading.

We at ZSA hold our form of 3 Gun, zombie style and we have held some really good matches over the past few years, we had the first VA state ZSA 3 Gun match, We held out Southern Fired Zombie Gauntlet match this past July 4 weekend, and we had some very high level shooters show up for that. Other than ZSA matches I have competed in a few Tarheel matches, and last year I competed in the Blue Ridge Mountain 3 Gun match.

The BRM3G match is, from what I have heard, one of the toughest 3 Gun matches in the country. The stages are pretty big, and by big I mean there is a long course of fire from start to finish. Also they have pretty high round counts per stage. If memory serves me right, it was 565 ish rounds for the match, and that was only 9 stages.

Pic A

So back to the point of my blog, This series of posts is to show all my friends my road to the 2013 Blue Ridge 3 Gun match, and my quest to place in the top 15 in my division. So speaking of divisions, last year I ran in the Tactical Irons class, which the rules were a bit weird to me since I was allowed to run a red dot sight in TI, but other than that I have realized that I put myself at a great disadvantage compared to the rest of the competitors. This is because, yes I was running a red dot on my rifle, but that is where my competitive advantage stopped. I ran a 12ga pump Benelli shotgun with a smooth bore barrel, so that means there is no choke, then I ran a single stack 1911 pistol. Even though I shoot the 1911 very well, I was competing against guys with M&P and Glocks with 17 rd 9mm mags. Even with all that, I still ended up placing 14^th out of about 30 shooters in TI, not too shabby.

Well this year is going to be a bit different, some of you may have seen me out at the ZSA 3 Gun matches with my new gear, well you aint seen nothing yet :).

This year I plan on competing in the Tactical Optics division, this division you can run one powered optic on your rifle.

So let’s get to the fun stuff, the gear. Picture A is what my rifle looked like last year; I started out with an Elite Arms AR15, 16” stainless barrel, flat top receiver and a M4 collapsible stock and a quad rail fore grip. I changed out the lower receiver for a Double Star “Zombie hunter” lower. I added a Magpul grip and angled fore grip. I bought a copy of a Aim point red dot, I did not want to spend the money till I figured out what I wanted to do with the rifle. Not too bad right, well it did the job for a while. At the BRM3G I won a Nordic light weight fore guard and a Ergo grip. So the transformation began, I put the ergo grip on and it is pretty good. I had to get a low profile gas block to fit the new fore guard as well as a PWS muzzle brake. So that began my journey to what it has become today. Today it is a little different, as you can see from Pic B, I have changed out the collapsible stock for a full rifle length skeleton stock, this is a light weight stock that uses a A2 buffer tube. I have also added a JP coolly compensator. So as of this writing I have not shot the rifle with the stock or brake yet, but I have shot some like it and it is going to be loud, but the important thing

is to stay on target and get fast shots off. The last main mod I have added is the Trijicon Accupoint scope. This is a 1x4 scope and is truly amazing. I have the green chevron reticle, so you set it to 1x and it is just like a red dot, put the tip of the chevron on your target and you are good. I sighted in at a 200yd zero, so from 10 to 250yd I hold center and I am hitting within a 6” circle. For longer just hold a bit more of a 12 oclock hold and you are good.

The last thing I wanted to mention about my 3 Gun gear in this part was the Shotgun. I have not done much in modification to the shotgun, I just replaced it completely. I was able to pick up a Mossberg 930 JM Pro with a 24” barrel, this allows a 9+1 capacity and with it being gas driven it is very fast. Mossberg did a great job on this shotgun, all the controls are large, and the loading area was widened and chamfered to allow a clean reload. I am very happy with it and don’t plan on doing any modification, it runs great right from the box.

Next installment will be the pistol; I am going to be using a Para P14-45. Follow along as I build it as a USPSA Limited gun and my new 3 Gun pistol.

It has been a crazy year...!

3/5/2012

This year has been great…….! As I was getting ready for work this morning I was thinking about the past year. Not only have I been at my job for a year this past February, but my shooting has evolved as well.

Last year I went to the 2011 Florida Open with a bunch of friends, this was my first major match, and my first match out of the state. I went with no expectations except to have a good time and do a lot of shooting and that is what I did, I went in to the match in Single Stack as unclassified and won my division. What a high that was. Went to the SC Section and tanked. At that point I felt like I hit a plateau, I started thinking that my performance in Florida was a fluke and what the hell am I doing. I started feeling like I was in a slump and there was no light at the end of the tunnel, so I turned to one of my best friends and asked his advice. Well needless to say he helped me out with some tough love and got me back on track. I started learning how to read stages better and what I can and cannot do and learned to plan my stage accordingly. So the time came and I finally classified C in Single Stack USPSA.

Well you would think that was good enough, well when I get in to something I get obsessed. Not only did I have to do good shooting, I had to do it all. I have since become a NRA Pistol instructor, and I am an assistant instructor for a class every month. I have also gone through the IDPA Safety Officers class, and recently passed my USPSA Range Officers class. And in a few months I will be taking a class to become a NC concealed carry instructor.

So that sounds like a lot, and it is, but I am not quite done. As all of you know there is a new shooting sports game in town, ZSA or Zombie Shooters Association, it is a mix of USPSA and a little IDPA and is geared as an entry level in to competitive shooting sports. I have been involved with John and Mel from ZSA since the beginning and have helped in just about every match they have had in the NC area. Everything from pistol only, to 2 gun rim fire and 3 gun matches. Well since I have been very instrumental in helping out with everything, I have been appointed as the National VP of ZSA, assisting John Z with progressing the sport forward and making this a national level sport. We have been able to get matches going in about 5-6 states and more are on the list for this coming season.

So with all that I still get out every weekend and shoot one or two matches on the weekends and planning on hitting 4 or 5 major USPSA matches this year including Single Stack Nationals, as well as a few major IDPA matches held here in NC, and of course I will be at the ZSA Virginia State 3 Gun match in April.

So this has been one hell of a year and is looking to be another great year.

So come out to a match, bring your family and friends  and have some safe fun exercising your second amendment rights and help keep this great sport alive.

Hello all, I know it has been a while since I posted and a lot has happened since then.
I went to the Area 8 Championship the beginning of the month and had a blast.I did not place like I wanted but that's OK, Willy and I had a lot of fun at the match and meet a lot of cool people and mad a few new friends.
So it is now mid-week, and everyone knows what that means, time to get things ready for the weekend. If you are like me you can not wait for the weekend and to get out and compete in some form of shooting. This weekend I have a ZSA (Zombie Shooters Association) 3 gun match, that I am contemplation shooting pistol only so I can get my mind set for the upcoming USPSA NC Section match the week after, and there is a local IDPA match, that I will probably shoot USPSA style (sorry IDPA, but I have a state level match to prepare for).

So by now most of you know that I am a fanatic about the single stack 1911s and that is my class of choice to shoot in. So after the issues I had at the Area 8 Championship a few weeks ago I decided that I need to step things up a notch. So I have updated my gear a bit, I am now using a CR Speed belt setup which I am borrowing for now, and I purchased CR Speed clone magazine holders. They are exactly the same, same retention, same mount to the belt, I think it even has the same model designation stamped, but they were way less half the price, and still using the same Blackhawk level 1 holster, which still works great.

I have also decided to step up my pistol choice, I have acquired a new Para 1911 single stack gun that I will be using. A little dis-concerning was I went out to the range yesterday and found that it would not chamber a round, after a few tries I started looking closer and found that the extractor was bend inward and was not moving. You may not know, but Para have this different PXT set up, or their Power Extractor, where the back part of the extractor is solid, and it has a spring and plunger in side with a pivoting claw end. So after further disassembly I found that the plunger is stuck in side the back half of the extractor. So pretty upset that my new pistol was having such a issue I tried calling Para on my way home, but it was 6:30pm and they closed at 5, oh well. So my mission for today is to get  a hold of them and see if they can get me a new extractor assembly shipped out so I can run it this weekend, I know close but we will see how that goes.

So after that debocale, I remembered that my original plan was to run my Taurus PT1911 at the section. I bought the Taurus back in February when I went tot eh Florida open as my backup to my Springfield and I have used it competition before, mainly IDPA. But it very accurate and runs flawlessly every time. So now the plan is to run the Taurus unless I can get the Para repaired and tested before the section.

Thats all for now, this weekend looks like it will be nice so I hope to see everyone out at the range.

Things are looking up...

This past weekends was pretty good. I got to take a much needed break and was able to get away to the beach for a few days. Good thing to since they are talking about hurricane winds and rain hitting the North Carolina shores this coming weekend, but we are all hoping that it will head off shore and we will be safe so we can have our Zombie 3 Gun match.

So to get everyone caught up, a few weeks ago I participated in a IDPA Safety Offices class at The Range in Oxford, NC. So now I am officaly a Safety Officer for IDPA and for ZSA, we are working on getting a class setup for the Range Officers certification for USPSA and that would round out all the games I play. After the class I headed to Raleigh for the Zombie pistol match at Eagle One, as always they put on a good show, John and Mel are great at putting on a good match, and I am not just saying that since I placed first in 8 division. The match was great and the last stage was pretty challenging, it was a 39 round "semi field" course in doors, and I had 40 rounds on my belt, of course all I had was 5 single stack mags. so no big deal, I have one extra shot, well what happens to well layed plans, you guessed it Mister Murphy shows up, After my first mag I though I was doing pretty good, then I had a few feed jams, so dropping a mag with rounds in it was not part of the plan and I ran out of ammo before I was finished, and yes I still managed to place first :). The cause of the feed jams you ask, well I havn't put a trough cleaning on the Springfield in a few weeks and when the chamber gets a little dirty it doesn't allow the rounds to fully seat so it is not going full in to battery. So after a good, field cleaning I was able to make it to the IDPA match the ext day, did not have the same issues, just that I either missed the target or hit a no shoot, but I was in charge of my first squad and I think it ran pretty good. then the next weekend we went to the beach and that brings up to today. Tonight I have the IDPAish match at Durham Wildlife club, then Saturday is the ZAG, or Zombie All Gun match, which under a bit of a sad note I will be shooting pistol only. I will be using this weekend as the last big effort to get get some practice in, you see my friend Willy and I will be heading north next Thursday evening since we are competing in the Virginia Area 8 championships. This is a level 3 USPSA match and from the looks of it it is going to be a really good match. So stay tuned for more info about the Area 8 match and some other great things we are working on.