07-30-2018, 07:50 PM
Well, I've got to admit, I am not as proficient a shooter as I always fancied myself being. I knew this was the case, but had never had any opportunity to prove it. I set the bar right where I probably should have, scoring 34/86 points, and getting no hits on the bonus stage targets due to the time limits.
Not as an excuse, but I didn't sleep much Friday night. I spent time learning a new ballistic calculator, cleaning the rifle, gathering supplies, wrapping my suppressor, putting together a part and toolkit, packing, and doublechecking everything seven times. I looked at the clock when I finally put things away ready to go for the morning and discovered the clock say 3:30... and I had to leave the house at 6. BUGGER time flies when you're nervous or having fun, when both makes it go 4X!
I learned so much, my brain was full half way through the match, and the rest of the stages were just enjoyable "superfluous shooting emanations" as Brett Favre might say. My biggest challenges were the positional stages. Movement was much more difficult than I gave it credit for, and I was not prepared for the challenge of dialing the optic mid-stage. I've identified and prioritized some things to practice now. My trigger pull suffered - especially when moving to another position, as I would forget the basics; and missed 600 yard + targets by inches, 800+ by a foot. I did get hits from the Grendel at 938 yards twice while prone, in the heat of battle against the timer. I was really proud of that, and the RO (who was the match director) was obviously surprised by the little "pea shooter".
As far as the optic goes, flawless. I really did fall into a really hideous trap, as now I am trying to figure out how to afford it... Really. The Kahles 318i - if anyone is interested - is a worthy piece of kit. There's no point in the magnification range where the view is anything but clear - unless you consider suppressor mirage, which I don't find the fault of the optic. After the midway break, even the 1moa diamonds at 500 were easily seen at 18x, but after three rounds, I had to back down to 12x. At 12x I ran pretty much the whole match, and could watch my own trace and attempt corrections. I think I saw some hits that didn't get called, but I never said anything as I could have just hit a hangar...
I was dissapointed with Ballistic AE. I've switched to StrelokPRO, for $12, it was a no brainer. Now, I need a weather monitor of some sort, I've got my eye on an $85 piece that will do what I need, which is everything a kestrel does via bluetooth to the phone.
I started Friday evening with about 100 rounds of practice and data gathering. I ran Federal GMM, which offered 2340 from by 18" LaRue, with a SD of 14 and an ES of 37 in 10 rounds over a LabRadar. I thought that was fairly respectable from factory loads with a 130grain projectile.
I never had one ftf, fte, or ftF. Not one. In 240 rounds of sighting, practice, and competition. (well, unless you include the fact that I forgot to remove the chamber flag twice... ugh) I ran in a squad of 4, three other "new shooters" and the match director. These were all really great guys, and I spent most of my time realizing that as the newest shooter, I was seeing too many things for the first time. Perhaps the better phraseology would be experiencing rather than seeing. I learn by doing much better than by watching, and by watching much better than by reading, and by reading much better than by hearing. I have to do something to understand it; "put my hands to it" so to speak.
The timer was not my friend, and proved to be the real enemy on Saturday. I know I would have done much better if the 10 round stages were limited at more than the surprisingly elusive two minutes. I had a huge advantage on the rest of the group by having the semi action, the other guys in my squad all mentioned it's "cheat" speed. Even the MD - which made me smile. It was especially advantageous on the "giggly bed", which I did hit 4/10 at 560 yards, something that only the BD beat. I never got all my shots off if there was movement involved, but did get them off handily in the static positions.
I have identified several things that make my next objectives. One, find a way to practice the positional (this is tricky, I can see bad things happening if a neighbor calls the police and tells them what they're watching going on in my back yard) and the barricade stages to make it easier to get a solid form to shoot from. Second, practice trigger pull, lots of dry fire. Lastly, obtain the weather meter, and familiarize myself with the Strelok. Three rather easy to do things that if I can get better at (significantly better than I am now should be easy) will make my score much more respectable.
I had to resign myself to admit that Grendel didn't hit the target as hard as the Creedmore or the 6 dasher. But, the .308 guy in the group said my Grendel hit just like his gun always had. He was shooting a new Creed rifle Saturday.
More than anything else, I learned some things to do to improve my shooting skills quickly and make big gains. And I had fun. I can't wait to get back out, and see if I can improve with each outing. I have no doubt that I can get it done now. I can hit any target within an MOA out to very near 1000 yards (if the stars line up, and I don't yank the trigger
). This validates what I though I was capable of, and proves many of these guys wrong about the capabilities espoused of an AR15.
I destroyed the coyote and rabbit steels at 400 yards, making center vitals hits with ease at 6X, and watching the bullets go in. Grendel is going to do fine in the back seat of my truck.
Not as an excuse, but I didn't sleep much Friday night. I spent time learning a new ballistic calculator, cleaning the rifle, gathering supplies, wrapping my suppressor, putting together a part and toolkit, packing, and doublechecking everything seven times. I looked at the clock when I finally put things away ready to go for the morning and discovered the clock say 3:30... and I had to leave the house at 6. BUGGER time flies when you're nervous or having fun, when both makes it go 4X!
I learned so much, my brain was full half way through the match, and the rest of the stages were just enjoyable "superfluous shooting emanations" as Brett Favre might say. My biggest challenges were the positional stages. Movement was much more difficult than I gave it credit for, and I was not prepared for the challenge of dialing the optic mid-stage. I've identified and prioritized some things to practice now. My trigger pull suffered - especially when moving to another position, as I would forget the basics; and missed 600 yard + targets by inches, 800+ by a foot. I did get hits from the Grendel at 938 yards twice while prone, in the heat of battle against the timer. I was really proud of that, and the RO (who was the match director) was obviously surprised by the little "pea shooter".
As far as the optic goes, flawless. I really did fall into a really hideous trap, as now I am trying to figure out how to afford it... Really. The Kahles 318i - if anyone is interested - is a worthy piece of kit. There's no point in the magnification range where the view is anything but clear - unless you consider suppressor mirage, which I don't find the fault of the optic. After the midway break, even the 1moa diamonds at 500 were easily seen at 18x, but after three rounds, I had to back down to 12x. At 12x I ran pretty much the whole match, and could watch my own trace and attempt corrections. I think I saw some hits that didn't get called, but I never said anything as I could have just hit a hangar...
I was dissapointed with Ballistic AE. I've switched to StrelokPRO, for $12, it was a no brainer. Now, I need a weather monitor of some sort, I've got my eye on an $85 piece that will do what I need, which is everything a kestrel does via bluetooth to the phone.
I started Friday evening with about 100 rounds of practice and data gathering. I ran Federal GMM, which offered 2340 from by 18" LaRue, with a SD of 14 and an ES of 37 in 10 rounds over a LabRadar. I thought that was fairly respectable from factory loads with a 130grain projectile.
I never had one ftf, fte, or ftF. Not one. In 240 rounds of sighting, practice, and competition. (well, unless you include the fact that I forgot to remove the chamber flag twice... ugh) I ran in a squad of 4, three other "new shooters" and the match director. These were all really great guys, and I spent most of my time realizing that as the newest shooter, I was seeing too many things for the first time. Perhaps the better phraseology would be experiencing rather than seeing. I learn by doing much better than by watching, and by watching much better than by reading, and by reading much better than by hearing. I have to do something to understand it; "put my hands to it" so to speak.
The timer was not my friend, and proved to be the real enemy on Saturday. I know I would have done much better if the 10 round stages were limited at more than the surprisingly elusive two minutes. I had a huge advantage on the rest of the group by having the semi action, the other guys in my squad all mentioned it's "cheat" speed. Even the MD - which made me smile. It was especially advantageous on the "giggly bed", which I did hit 4/10 at 560 yards, something that only the BD beat. I never got all my shots off if there was movement involved, but did get them off handily in the static positions.
I have identified several things that make my next objectives. One, find a way to practice the positional (this is tricky, I can see bad things happening if a neighbor calls the police and tells them what they're watching going on in my back yard) and the barricade stages to make it easier to get a solid form to shoot from. Second, practice trigger pull, lots of dry fire. Lastly, obtain the weather meter, and familiarize myself with the Strelok. Three rather easy to do things that if I can get better at (significantly better than I am now should be easy) will make my score much more respectable.
I had to resign myself to admit that Grendel didn't hit the target as hard as the Creedmore or the 6 dasher. But, the .308 guy in the group said my Grendel hit just like his gun always had. He was shooting a new Creed rifle Saturday.
More than anything else, I learned some things to do to improve my shooting skills quickly and make big gains. And I had fun. I can't wait to get back out, and see if I can improve with each outing. I have no doubt that I can get it done now. I can hit any target within an MOA out to very near 1000 yards (if the stars line up, and I don't yank the trigger
). This validates what I though I was capable of, and proves many of these guys wrong about the capabilities espoused of an AR15. I destroyed the coyote and rabbit steels at 400 yards, making center vitals hits with ease at 6X, and watching the bullets go in. Grendel is going to do fine in the back seat of my truck.
Nothing kills the incentive of men faster than a healthy sense of entitlement. Nothing kills entitlement faster than a healthy sense of achievement.