WA State IDPA Championships 2011 Match Video (not!)

This was an awesome match, 16 stages of the best of previous state championships. Challenging and fun. Too bad they had a draconian video policy that forbids anyone from taking video (either hatcam or 3rd person) of these matches. *sigh*

I did however come in 2nd ESR, beat two Masters, and 1st Sharpshooter and got to meet Massad Ayoob in the flesh. Funny guy.

Read more about this here : http://gunnuts.net/2011/06/23/video-killed/

here’s a link to the Match Booklet : https://skydrive.live.com/?cid=5b843dd49e67a653&sc=documents&uc=1&id=5B843DD49E67A653!177

IDPA ESR Classification : Sharpshooter (Time 125.20)

Finally got to shoot an IDPA Classifier after shooting my S&W 625 JM revolver for almost a year. Didn’t do too well, wasn’t looking at the sights or not in the right frame of mind. Speed was decent but accuracy sucked a$$!

here’s the entire classifier in one video, including all the funny wheelgun banter with the SO Jay Tavares.

 

And the final scores, 125.20 in Enhanced Service Revolver (ESR) :

at least I got my classification and can shoot in the Washington State Championships next month, and no I’m not sandbagging!

Personalized Name Stamps

Our local clubs have recently switched their scoresheet system for both USPSA and IDPA to individual sheets instead of one big scoresheet. Doing this would allow the stats people be able to pick the scoresheets and enter them into the tabulation system while the match is going on. This allows them to be a lot more efficient and able to post scores by the time most of the shooters reach home in the evening.

One small problem with having individual scoresheets, is that you have to write your name and stage number on each individual sheet. I decided to be lazy and ordered a Personalized Signature stamp by Trodat.

It pops open using one hand and it’s self inking which is very useful. so now I can just stamp on each scoresheet and make sure that the stats guys will not make a mistake reading my shoddy handwriting.

Fun IDPA Match this weekend

I came in 10th overall out of 80 shooters, with a revolver nonetheless! Had lots of fun but two stupid brain farts. checkout the match video :

Bad Form in Competitive Shooting

Have a question and a statement to make.

Do we, while shooting in a squad (either IDPA or USPSA) rat out on a fellow shooter because the SO and scorekeeper did not notice/catch a procedural error? Do you do it? I definitely don’t, unless it’s a safety issue. Why? for one, according to the rules (I believe only in USPSA), you’d receive a Procedural penalty for Assisting or Interfering with the shooter. Match penalties aside and for IDPA, it’s BAD FORM.

It’s like an unwritten code between fellow shooters. You will not ever see me do this, even if it means losing a state/national match. I understand a lot of folks are very competitive in nature, but some lines should not be crossed.

It is also BAD FORM, to do this post match, either on the forums or by dissecting videos. Commenting about procedurals is fine, complaining about them and crying foul is absolutely distasteful.

IDPA Postal Match–Revolver

Shot this today at the Renton Fish & Game Club organized by the NorthWest Practical Pistol Association.

Shot pretty decently, except for one stage where I missed two targets, 2 misses and 2 FTNs (Failure to Neutralize) for a total penalty of 15seconds!! That basically threw the whole match for me.

Before heading to this match, I made sure my Revolver spring tension was set and locked at 7lbs, checked all my primers to make sure they’re below flush and hand seated them.

But I still had one light strike, out of about 60 rounds. I have a theory about what’s causing the light strike and I’ll see if I can remedy the situation. If not, I’ll have to set my tension weight to a higher weight and deal with the slightly harder trigger pull.

Blackhawk Serpa Holster Suggested Fix / Mod to make it Safer

I’ve heard a lot of people complaining about the safety of the release mechanism of the Serpa holster and I agree. I’ve used it a few times in IDPA matches and it’s either

1. very hard to engage the switch or
2. when I do it under stress I find my trigger finger in the trigger guard when it releases.

In this video, I discuss the benefits of this holster, the problems and a suggested fix or modification that Blackhawk could do to this good holster to make it great.

What do you think?

*Update: Here’s a video of me doing the Serpa Double/Triple Pump *

Watch time index 1:15 and 1:45

 

 

Wheelgun Weekend!

Shot two matches in this rare weekend. One is the November IDPA Match in Renton. This time round, our Match Director, Cel, put together 7 stages of pure fun, designed to be very revolver friendly. We also saw all kinds of revolvers being used because we created a special division just for revolvers that don’t meet IDPA specs. We saw classic Colt and S&W Model 1917s, vintage S&W Military and Police 38 special and more.

Here’s my performance :

 

You can watch some of the other revolver shooters here :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOpV2bEVpD0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkBjqGU5k78
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDBXFcqlBWs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKNccflpcls

Then on Sunday, I brought my dirty S&W 625 out to Marysville to shoot the USPSA match. I squaded with a bunch of Production super shooters. I took twice as long to complete the stages and got in a TON of reloading practice. I also tried switching from strong hand to a weak hand reload technique.

 

Fun weekend, and the weather was perfect for this late in the year.

S&W 625 JM Works well in an IDPA Match

Shot the monthly IDPA match in the Renton Fish & Game Club on Saturday and had a lot of fun. The gun ran flawlessly, only one light strike, probably from a primer that didn’t seat well. The trigger job is very good, I just need to get used to it and I’m sure it’ll do wonders to my score.

I came in top revolver and 30th out of 91 shooters. Not bad considering I beat most Sharpshooters & Marksman of other faster semi-auto guns. Need to work on my accuracy and reloading a little bit more.

Here’s the video of the match :

My goal is to beat Experts in other divisions (namely ESP + SSP) in a few months. Let’s see if I can do it!

Rudy Project Shooters on YouTube

I’m proud to be invited (and accepted) to join the Rudy Project IDPA Shooting Team. They make great products that I use at every match. definitely recommended. The Rudy Project squad has over 60 members shooting across various disciplines (IDPA, USPSA, and 3Gun).

here’s just a small list of members that post their experiences on YouTube. Check them out.

Aristotle Bartolome	http://www.youtube.com/aristotle13
Brett Greene	http://www.youtube.com/BnRGreene
Brian Gonsalves	http://www.youtube.com/ChicoShooter
Bruce Keeler	http://www.youtube.com/bkeeler1
Chandler LaFrain	http://www.youtube.com/idpalafrain
Chris Keen	http://www.youtube.com/1burritoguy
Chris Smith	http://www.youtube.com/chefcs51
Corey Estill	http://www.youtube.com/springfield1911guy
Dave Dolio	http://www.youtube.com/glshooter10
Garret Chan	http://www.youtube.com/3gunneronline
Henrik Blixt	http://www.youtube.com/gose
Jordan Ohlmann	http://www.YouTube.com/jplaysg
Keith J. Bourgeois	http://www.youtube.com/rr4406pak
Loke Uei	http://www.youtube.com/gunrobot
Nathan Berg	http://www.youtube.com/rentcollector40
Norbert Baraoidan	http://www.youtube.com/norbs007
Tray Jones	http://www.youtube.com/tjones76031

 

I’ll be updating this page as I get more info. If you’re a Rudy Project shooter and are not on this list, please send me a mail or post it in the comments.

Enjoy!