The Shooting Sports: A discussion on the various shooting disciplines with AZ_HighCountry

I know.......was going to have a write-up regarding air rifle competition. Have several things going on at the moment including brass prepping for Camp Perry. Nothing says "fun" more than weight sorting about 1000 sticks of brass to get enough in the same weight range for the matches.
 
If you note closely on the labels in each of the baggies, there is a reason for the precision on the loading. Both of these matches are "big" matches. While I don't need any EIC points as I'm already Distinguished, making the cut at Perry is always nice.

The President's Match on the other hand is where I hope to make the cut for the top 100. This match will typically 1200-1400 competitors. The top 100 finishers receive a nice medal as well as a letter from the President recognizing them for their achievement in competition.

By loading as precisely as I can, I hope to eliminate every possible variable in the equation outside of my own performance. The ammo you see there is loaded to tighter tolerances than Federal Gold Medal Match ammo which some claim to be the gold standard of competition ammo.
 
Today was the "Matt Acker Memorial Match" at Ben Avery in PHX. Formerly known as the AZ State Junior High Power Championships, the match was renamed in 2002 after Matt Acker.

Matt was a top junior on the team from 1992-1997. Following graduation from HS, he earned an appointment to Annapolis. Following that, he died in a motorcycle accident will attending flight training in Pensacola, Florida.

This year was the first year the match was opened to adults. Not surprisingly, most of the juniors shot better than the adults. Including me. Couple different rifle issues one of which that was resolved there on the range. The other will require me to do some work on the optics tomorrow. Need to move it further forward about an inch. Not sure if that can be done with the base that is being used. May need to order a different one. Will see.
 
Shooters, your next course of fire is sitting rapid. 10 shots for record, with a magazine change, in a time limit of 60 seconds:

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Not often I shoot like that. Was a good day yesterday.
 
For a first timer, well done! Admit it, you enjoyed yourself, right?

Next time, focus more on center of mass and less on head shots until you become proficient. Then work on head shots.

Other than a .22, the only other pistol caliber I would start a new shooter out on is 9mm.
 
AZ_HighCountry said:
For a first timer, well done! Admit it, you enjoyed yourself, right?

Next time, focus more on center of mass and less on head shots until you become proficient. Then work on head shots.

Other than a .22, the only other pistol caliber I would start a new shooter out on is 9mm.
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Well first impression i had as soon as i entered the shooting area, is that Guns are Loud. And movies are some class A bullshih, and its nothing like in movies. Cause firing a pistol even with firm grip gives a recoil or kick back, that loud sounds were definitely nerve wrecking and I almost walked out, one thing for sure that I under any circumstance done want to be on the receiving end of a gun lol there were some people shooting probably higher caliber rounds which were even more louder, thank god i did get both ear protection.

My position for now is same about that I am not in favor of Guns been in hands of civilians, but I do find some thrill into firing, I mean first clip was a bit of a shocker as i was collecting my thoughts, but 2-3rd clip i was more confident, i load the gun myself, i put the clip in the gun, remove the safety and put one in chamber... Now to big question, will I ever own a gun? not sure at this point, I did like the feel of that rifle type gun (see pic above) given it takes the same 9mm, and which shoulder support and long barrel it wasn't as bad as i thought, plus it wasn't heavy either. I shoot 3 clips with that gun, and 2nd clip all I had it 15 yards and missed every single shot lol that was embarrassing. But the Red target paper you see above it was from my first 2 clips (Glock-19), I do really like Glock-19's. They are very good, they feel nice, grip is perfect, not very heavy/light, recoil is good too.
 
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Yeah, we did neglect to tell you that part, didn't we? And, that is why when I'm on the range, you will find me double plugged. I'll have both ear plugs as well as a pair of over the ear muffs similar to what you're wearing. After years of NO hearing protection, as well as being married and exposure to other loud noises, my hearing has a very noticeable loss.

That said, the more you shoot the better you get. When I was out yesterday, there were four other guys already there. I recognized two of them from competitions in PHX. The few hours we were out there was more of a social than it was shooting. That's half the fun of shooting: the social interaction.
 
AZ_HighCountry said:
So, as I prepare for the matches, I am prepping two AR15s based on the US M-16A4 rifle. Including optics. Why two rifles? "Two is one, one is none". If you drove 1900 miles (some competitors have come from as far away as Australia!), and your rifle breaks and can't be fixed there, it's hard to compete. So many of us take a backup rifle for just in case.

Without going into the sordid details, I took a 15 year break from competition. My employer was paying me well to sleep around and yes, I got to see quite a few countries. Plus, I got to see my grandkids grow up and of course, got them interested in shooting. They all now have "one of grandpa's guns".

My avatar, which is the Distinguished Rifleman Tab, was earned using an AR-15A2. That means it was earned using iron sights. Well, during that 15 year layoff, as well as rule changes based on the realities of the GWOT, a lot has changed. Optics up to 4.5X are now approved. Why 4.5X? Well, because that was the power of most of the optics being issued by the military as standard equipment including the infamous ACOG. The majority of small arms training is now done with optics and about 5 minutes dedicated to iron. During grass week, the Marines teach the young recruits how to get an initial zero and from that point using the BDC to hit targets at the more distant range when qualifying. Personally, I disagree with that approach but hey, who am I? I at least have solid dope on all of my scopes.

So, with my return to competition, it literally means learning how to shoot again. Optics, adjustable buttstocks, adjustable parallax, you name it. Those are the norm. Gone are the days where everyone used iron sights. If you walk the line today during a match, you are likely to see more M-1 Garands or M-1A / M-14 rifles than you are an AR-15A2 rifle. Dinosaurs do indeed still walk the earth but their number is getting fewer. I for one will wait for the US M-7 / M-8 rifles and their civilian equivalents to show up on the line. I absolutely will NOT be getting one of those POS. But, I still like pulling out one of the A2s for the local club matches. Because that is what I trained on (well, an M-16A1) and earned my tab with.

In one of the upcoming posts, I'll go into detail on prepping two rifles both with optics and both with issues (since resolved) for Perry.
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Love this. My primary application for firearms is for hunting and I have a custom built 308 for deer and anything else under 350 yds. I do have an ar15 with bcm upper 556 (for range fun)with a prism sight and a 6.8spc upper with a scope( that I occasionally take if I am carrying my bow with me too).
I only have one handgun bought specifically from a self defense purposes and it has multiple setups for summer, winter, and home defense (p365)
My hunting handgun I take with me on under my bino chest harness is a 10mm S&W Performance center.
I also have do some skeet shooting have an over-under for that (good old Winchester 101).
Also did some three guns but disposed of my barrette 1301 comp. So don't do that anymore haha.
my primary hunting tools are my bows.
-Bowtech solutions 32 inch A2A shoot 440 grain arrows and 297 avg fps for 71pound pull primarily for 3d archery competitions.
-Hoyt ventum pro 30inch A2A for from-the-stand shooting/hunting 62 pound pull.
-Mongolian horse bow pulls at 52 pounds
-a regular mediterranean style samick sage pulls at 52 pounds takedown
That's pretty much all I have :-).
 
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I am not that strong anymore so both my pistols are comp'd :P. All these old injuries are popping back up now..
 
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codeforfood said:
Love this. My primary application for firearms is for hunting and I have a custom built 308 for deer and anything else under 350 yds. I do have an ar15 with bcm upper 556 (for range fun)with a prism sight and a 6.8spc upper with a scope( that I occasionally take if I am carrying my bow with me too).
I only have one handgun bought specifically from a self defense purposes and it has multiple setups for summer, winter, and home defense (p365)
My hunting handgun I take with me on under my bino chest harness is a 10mm S&W Performance center.
I also have do some skeet shooting have an over-under for that (good old Winchester 101).
Also did some three guns but disposed of my barrette 1301 comp. So don't do that anymore haha.
my primary hunting tools are my bows.
-Bowtech solutions 32 inch A2A shoot 440 grain arrows and 297 avg fps for 71pound pull primarily for 3d archery competitions.
-Hoyt ventum pro 30inch A2A for from-the-stand shooting/hunting 62 pound pull.
-Mongolian horse bow pulls at 52 pounds
-a regular mediterranean style samick sage pulls at 52 pounds takedown
That's pretty much all I have :-).
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What more do you need? Excellent choices in all departments.
 
codeforfood said:
I am not that strong anymore so both my pistols are comp'd :P. All these old injuries are cropping back up now..
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Age is catching up to me. And, a little arthritis in the right thumb.

That said, my plan is to take one of the Glocks, most likely the G19, and convert it to a Roland special. Have already done a number of mods to it. Just not the barrel or slide outside of replacement sights.
 
AZ_HighCountry said:
Age is catching up to me. And, a little arthritis in the right thumb.

That said, my plan is to take one of the Glocks, most likely the G19, and convert it to a Roland special. Have already done a number of mods to it. Just not the barrel or slide outside of replacement sights.
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I did not tinker with the slide at all for my p365 I just added radian ramjet which makes it extremely flat shooting. I have been contemplating on getting a girsan witness (2011). But so far I have successfully resisted that urge.
 
Girsan makes solid weapons. I have one each of their M1911A1 and Browning HiPower clones. Same with Tisas; one of each. Turk workmanship is so well done you would think they came out of New Haven or Liege.
 
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