Make up shots

I kinda suck at writing regularly, so this is a largish update. How did I do at my first Level 2 match? Well I came in third place for D Class in Limited Division. I got a plaque and a $100 gift certificate for Precision Delta Ammunition. Of course there were only four D Class Limited competitors, but hey I'll take it.

On the way back to San Antonio, I stopped in Dallas/Ft. Worth and competed in two 3-gun matches. I was still riding the high from placing at an Area match, so I wasn't trying too hard and it showed. I ended pretty much dead last in every stage at the match held by Cross Timbers Action Shooting Association. At this match I tried out a bunch of techniques that didn't work particularly well for me, but it's good to know these things in advance before trying them out of desperation at a match I cared about. I shot even worse at the second match held at Extreme Tactical & Training Solutionsa where there were two stages with long range (100-500 yard) targets, I also noticed that my shotgun just didn't have the reach I needed on one of the stages and I still had a problem with maintaining a good cheek weld on my shotgun and to a lesser extent on my rifle.

Since then I shot another Multi-gun match at Best of the West in September. Again there was a long distance/precision rifle stage that I bombed. This time, I attached a cheek riser to my shotgun and I shot much better, though there was only one stage that was primarily shotgun. I run a Nikon P223 3x32 scope on my rifle which is great for distances of 100 yards or less, but not so great any distances greater than that. Again, I wasn't getting a good cheek weld and the eye relief on the Nikon is OK but I was having trouble acquiring the sight picture quickly and transitions between targets were also slow.

While I do need practice (and instruction) for precision shooting, there are no targets further than 85 yards at the Brownell's Lady 3Gun match at the end of October. I've duct taped extra padding on the stock of my rifle and I've been getting a much better cheek weld which helps with the problem of parallax from not having proper alignment with the scope.

I've been working on a drill where I bring the rifle up and fire two rounds in 3 seconds or less at 8" plate at 100 yards. At the last live fire session, I've been only able to do it under par time twice, but usually less than 4 seconds. The second rifle drill works on transitions between targets. This drill requires putting four rounds on two targets (two rounds per target) under 8 seconds. Again, the targets are 8" plates at 100 yards. I can do this in less than 8 seconds, but not consistently. When I can make par time on either exercise consistently, I'll decrease the par time.

At the Best of the West Multi-gun match, I was hitting the steel on the shotgun stage but they didn't fall because the shot was too dispersed. I've ordered a Beretta/Benelli Mobilchoke improved modified choke to replace the cylinder choke that came with the Stoeger M3000. This chart from Briley shows the yardage and the choke restriction (diameter difference between bore and choke):

The rest of this month is dedicated to working on 3gun skills. Faster sight picture acquisition and transitions between targets with both pistol, rifle and shotgun. Better accuracy with the pistol using dot torture drills and a 6" inch plate rack at 7 yards. I'll continue to work on the rifle drills to reduce the par time. Finally, work on shotgun loading, it's still a toss up between strong hand load or strong hand twins loading