Sunday, May 27, 2012

BHPC May IDPA Match Results

By Division:

JD    CDP    164.35
Dean W    CDP    232.98

Jesse W.    SSP    145.96
Richard G.    SSP    150.8
Michael K.    SSP    188.98
Bryan B.    SSP    190.89
Brad E.    SSP    191.53
Kurt G.    SSP    199.78
Victor C.    SSP    228.73
Mike C.    SSP    232.64

Scott R.    ESP    126.69
Jon F.    ESP    140.85
Jeff C.    ESP    169.82
Rod D.    ESP    162.22
Dean C.    ESP    176.89
Greg C.    ESP    174.85
Gene H.    ESP    197.16
Hakkon R.    ESP    211.01


Match Overall:

Scott R.    126.69
Jon F.    140.85
Jesse W.    145.96
Richard G.    150.8
Rod D.    162.22
JD    164.35
Jeff C.    169.82
Greg C.    174.85
Dean C.    176.89
Michael K.    188.98
Bryan B.    190.89
Brad E.    191.53
Gene H.    197.16
Kurt G.    199.78
Hakkon R.    211.01
Victor C.    228.73
Mike C.    232.64
Dean W    232.98

Average Score: 182.56



Points Down:

CDP    JD    34
SSP    Kurt G.    35
ESP    Scott R.    44
ESP    Jon F.    60
SSP    Richard G.    62
SSP    Mike C.    64
ESP    Rod D.    64
ESP    Jeff C.    66
SSP    Brad E.    68
SSP    Jesse W.    72
SSP    Michael K.    72
SSP    Victor C.    78
ESP    Gene H.    89
ESP    Dean C.    90
CDP    Dean W    94
ESP    Hakkon R.    95
ESP    Greg C.    105
SSP    Bryan B.    110

Average Points Down: 72.3

Division Winners       
SSP    Jesse W.   
ESP    Scott R   
CDP    JD   

 Division Most-Accurate       
SSP    Kurt G   
ESP    Scott R   
CDP    JD   

The full break down of stage by stage info will be sent via email to those I have email addressed for here shortly.

We had a total of 18 shooters and six stages, thanks to all who helped set up and tear down.

Hope to be out tomorrow for USPSA, but not sure if I'm going to make it.

Good shootn' all!

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

BHPC May 27th IDPA Match Update

We will be shooting six stages with a total round count of 90. See link below for more details


Guns, Guns, and More Gosh Darn Guns: Waterloo, IA - Black Hawk Pistol Club IDPA May Mat...: Our IDPA monthly match for May is on the 27th @ CVPR   on Rt 63 between Waterloo and Hudson just west of the John Deere Implement...

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Getting Ready To Go Glock....

So about two years ago, I bought my wife a 4th Gen Glock 19 as she wanted something smaller, lighter, and higher capacity than her 1911. While @ TDI for Handguns I-III she discovered that the 4th Gen G19, even in it's "smallest" configuration was still to large for her. One of the instructors let her borrow a Bowie Tactical Concepts Signature Series Limited Edition Glock 19 (#11 of 50) and she really, really liked it. She decided that during our return to TDI for Partner Tactics that she would drop off her G19 for Dave to do his magic on.

While there I got to shoot some of David's other work, including the S&W M&P 9mm that may have been the cover gun for the 2011Custom Combat Handguns magazine....I know I'm a geek but that makes me kind of giddy...

I also got to shoot a Glock 17 that had been Bowie'd, no optic, no grip reduction but did have the grip texturing, good sights and probably the one of the best Glock triggers I've felt.

I've always been big on the wife and I having the same platform for carry, not to mention it will make the 33rd magazines in the glove box work for both of us...so I'm going to be going Glock.

I'm currently seeking a 3rd Generation Glock 17 to send in to Bowie for work, I'll detail the work later when I complete the work order.


Oh yeah, my HKP30S is still in Ohio awaiting some upgrades as well.

Monday, May 14, 2012

Waterloo, IA - Black Hawk Pistol Club IDPA May Match

Our IDPA monthly match for May is on the 27th @ CVPR  on Rt 63 between Waterloo and Hudson just west of the John Deere Implement.

As mentioned previously, any updates/changes to this match will be posted at the iliowa practical shooters forum (sign up is free) and our Facebook page.

Match Fee is $15.00

Match times are as follows:
Setup: 07:00/07:30
Sign in: 08:30
New Shooter Orientation: 09:00
Safety brief - stage walk through: 09:30
Shooting starts: 10:00

We had 25 shooters at our season opener, looking forward to seeing more of you this month! I'm still working on the stage details, we're sharing stage "foot prints" with the USPSA stages being shot at the BHPC Memorial Day match (more info on that can be found @ the Iliowa forum mentioned above.

If you are able to be there early for set up, any and all help is appreciated!

Three Days of Partner Tactics Training @ TDI...

We're home from Ohio and have lots of notes and other information to process, the AAR will be posted later this month.

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

On the Topic of Gun Games and Training....

...And the differences between the two:

USPSA Close Quarters Standards....15, 21 & 30 feet? Close Quarters?

"Training" Close Quarters (skip to 4:30)



Not knocking USPSA, I just got my member packet in the mail, just stating why we need to keep things in perspective between the two.

Friday, May 4, 2012

AAR: Suarez Intl. Point Shooting Progressions - April 21-22 w/ Roger Phillips and Greg Nichols


Suarez Intl. Point Shooting Progressions
April 21-22, 2012
Big Springs Range – Searsboro, Iowa
Roger Phillips and Greg Nichols

~Preface~
First and foremost, I will say that I am writing this with the intent to post it at multiple venues and that some comments may be made to certain groups of individuals and not the member base of any one particular forum etc. Also, please excuse any typos or errors, while I usually go through great lengths to use proper spelling and grammar, I've been writing most of this with my 4 month old daughter on my lap and it's been kind of hard to type...


It seems that whenever I see a review of a Suarez Intl. Course posted outside of Warrior Talk, Gabe Suarez’s forum and meeting place for his students, customers, and colleagues; that some will take to condemning the organization for elements of Gabe’s past.

I do not care about Gabe’s past, it was in the past and that is it. If you have some beef about Suarez as an individual, I would ask that you not air your issues where this class review is being discussed as it’s not really about Gabe Suarez.

I did not take this course because of Gabe Suarez, I enrolled in this class mainly because of Roger Phillips. I’ve been reading Roger’s writings for years at DefensiveCarry.com and have always found his pieces, well written, technically and tactically proficient, valid and quite informational. To this day, every time I shoot a shot looking for maximum accuracy (yes that does mean using sights), I do so using information that I obtained from Roger and his writings.

I have wanted to take this course for years, particularly under the instruction of Roger, for many reasons I was never able to make it to this class until this month, I have taken a few training classes with other instructors but I've still wanted to take this class.

The final straw driving me to this class was when I was attending a course at the Tactical Defense Institute of Ohio (TDI) one of the instructors, Greg Elfritz made mention of a study on movement and other factors and how they altered the results of modeled gun fights using AirSoft Force on Force training. Near the end of this study, the following can be found.

"This clearly identifies a need for additional training and highlights the critical importance of making yourself a moving target during a gunfight. If highly trained shooters hit their opponents’ torsos with only eleven percent of rounds fired, imagine how much worse the average street thug with no training and minimal experience will perform under similar conditions!"

"I’ll simply say that we as trainers need to do some more work. We need to find a better solution to allow our students to hit their targets with a greater percentage of rounds during the stressful, fast-evolving nature of a gunfight. Whatever that solution is, be it training in point shooting techniques, an enhanced sighted shooting curriculum, or stress-inoculating scenario-based training, it is our collective responsibility as trainers to find it."

While some of the material from the Point Shooting Progressions Course, hereafter referred to as PSP had been covered in those classes other classes, PSP is just the class to fill the gaps referenced above from Greg’s article and I highly recommend it. I have no qualms referring friends, family, and my own students to Suarez International (SI) and after reading this after action review (AAR) in its entirety, neither should you. 


~Day 1~
The class was hosted by Suarez Intl. Staff Instructor, Greg Nichols. While Roger did a majority of teaching the course, Greg did his fair share of giving feedback to the students and word is that he is doing quite well inside the SI Organization. I have a feeling I'll be seeing more of him in the future and have some friends and prior students looking to take the Defensive Pistol Skills Class with Greg this June. I will be eagerly awaiting more feedback from this class.

It will surprise a lot of readers to learn that this class, which is often thought of as the “must have” of point shooting classes did not start off with a sacrifice along the lines of sights being sawed off from pistols and thrown into the trash, after all the paper work was filled out, mags were loaded, eyes and ears in place; we started with…

…An exercise in accurate shooting. That’s right, the first shots in POINT SHOOTING CLASS were shot using our sights in a “One hole drill” where the goal is to try and shoot five (5) shots into as tight a group as possible with a single hole being the desired result. Range was only about three (3) yards and the “target” was a small piece of blue tape no bigger than the fingernail of my little finger. This is just to see if anyone is having any issues regarding the fundamentals of shooting a pistol.

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Pearls of Wisdom From The Greatest Generation Part 1






Pearls of Wisdom From The Greatest Generation Part 1


-Select quotes from “Shooting to Live” –


Fairbairn and Sykes


I am utterly amazed that I have not read this piece before now, I’ve seen it mentioned many times over, have seen it available when shopping for other books but have never pulled the trigger on it so to speak until know. The following is just a list of quotes from the book that jumped out at me for a variety of reasons.

“It must not be inferred on that account that we in any way decry the sport of target shooting. On the contrary, we admire the high degree of skill for which it calls and which we personally cannot emulate.”

“Target shooting has its place and we have no quarrel with it. There probably will quarrel, however, when we go on to say that beyond helping to teach care in the handling of fire-arm, target shooting is of no value whatever whatever in learning the use of the pistol as a weapon of combat. The two things are as different from each other as chalk from cheese, and what has been learned from target shooting is best unlearned if proficiency is desired in the use of the pistol under actual fighting conditions.”


Now don't get me wrong here, my reason for quoting this piece of text is not to bash competition shooting in general, during the time when this work was being written USPSA and IDPA were non-existent. Bull's-eye was the pistol sport of the day,  but that being said we still need to reflect on the matter of USPSA and IDPA as well as what commonly passes for training as related to the carrying of arms in this country.

I think we all need a little reminder every now and then that USPSA and IDPA are no substitute for attending proper training when it comes to fighting with a handgun. This is should also reinforce the known that the basic marksmanship class that many take to meet training requirements is just not good enough. I'm very happy to see the widely available training. I think Fairbairn and Sykes would be pleased with the many programs available today.

“…you may find that you have to shoot from some awkward position, not necessarily even while on your feet. There is no exaggeration in this analysis of fighting conditions. Here we have a set of circumstances which in every respect are absolutely different from those encountered in target shooting. Do they not call for absolutely different methods of training?"

Weaver, Iso, Modern Iso, whatever your favorite flavor is, if you sudenly find yourself going for your gun, and incorporate any kind of movement, you're not going to be in your favorite stance. One of the things that I do like about IDPA etc. is that some match directors like to get some unorthodox shooting "positions" in there. 

"To answer this question, we much consider the essential points which emerge from our analysis. They appear to be three in number, and we should set them out in the following order: -

1: Extreme speed, both in drawing and firing
2: Instinctive, as opposed to deliberate aim.
3: Practice under circumstances which approximate as nearly as possible to actual fighting conditions.

Instinctive aiming, the second essential, is an entirely logical consequence to the extreme speed to which we attach so much importance. That is so for the simple reason that there is no time for any of the customary aids to accuracy. If reliance on those aids has become habitual, so much the worse for you if you are shooting to live. There is no time, for instance, to put yourself into some special stance to align the sights of the pistol, and any attempt to do so places you at the mercy of quicker opponent."
 This will be touched on a little more in depth in my review of the Point Shooting Progressions Course I recently attended but some things covered therein and some things seen as something that needs to be addressed in training regarding to close range encounters. Again on the training aspect, I hope this information reaches those that think they're NRA Basic Pistol Course is all they need in terms of firearms training. Don't get me wrong, the Basic Course is fine for teaching fundamentals etc. but it's incredibly lacking in regards to defensive use of the pistol.

"We cannot claim that the system produces nail-driving marksmanship, but that is not what we look for. We want the ability to hit with extreme speed man-sized targets at very short ranges under the difficult circumstances which have been outlined all ready. Nail-driving marksmanship will not cope with such conditions."
I can't say I agree or disagree on this. Again, in the PSP course we worked on a lot of things that I had done in other training classes, such as the Langdon Tactical Inc, Advanced Tactical Pistol Course, some drills / exercises were almost identical expect that we were using sighted fire in one and "point shooting" in another. I would say that I had more accurate hits in the Langdon class, but more hits in the PSP class, and they were not what I would call inaccurate. While we did a LOT of moving in the Langdon class, we did FASTER moving in the PSP course but the lack of waiting for perfect sight alignment / sight picture allowed for a lot more shots on target resulting in more hits, and while they weren't all in the "down zero"

There's a saying attributed to Bill Jordan:

"Speed is fine, accuracy is final."

Where this falls into play...at this moment I'm not quite sure what the correct balance of speed vs. accuracy is. I've been trying to improve my ratio of both speed and accuracy and as of right now I think I have to go with getting good hits and with more time and practice the speed will improve.



"In this training system nothing is permitted to interfere with the development of speed. For that reason we have steadily set our faces against competitions or rewards of any kind. The instant that competitions, with the accompanying medals, badges, etc., are introduced, men will try to shoot deliberately, whether consciously or not, and we find our object is being defeated."
 Man, did this one strike home or what? When you look at the history of the Leather Slappers, USPSA, IDPA, or any kind of scored system...it's impossible to refute the above quote. I got in to IDPA for the "practice" aspect of it and to have a better avenue to apply what I've learned in training and I find myself trying to shoot more for score and competition and I know I'm not the only one. At the end of last season I was pretty determined to leave the game aspect of it behind and I will try to hold myself to that and not care where I place.