Robb Allen over at Sharp As a Marble has a plan for his USPSA match on Sunday. ExurbanKevin at Misfires and Light Strikes has a plan for his IDPA match on Sunday. Mz. VRWC and I are participating in an IDPA Regional Match this weekend, called the South Mountain Showdown, at Phoenix Rod & Gun Club. Surely, I have a plan for shooting this event, I think. The plan has to be somewhere around here, now where did I leave it?
The plan, meticulously based on the only three IDPA club matches I’ve shot so far…is:
Muzzle safety – Don’t point the gun at anything I don’t intend to destroy, including my own body parts, or my match is over early (instant disqualification).
Maintain the 180 degree rule at all times – Don’t point the gun in a direction greater than 90 degrees to the left or right of the downrange berm (instant disqualification).
Only shoot has fast as I can accurately shoot – Any faster than that will waste ammo, time, and incur penalties. (You can’t miss fast enough to win.)
Have fun and enjoy the experience.
Maintain a relaxed approach to fend off the Red Mist, facilitating quick and safe draws from concealment.
That’s it! That is my plan for this match.
I know how to pull the trigger smoothly, line up the sights correctly, and how to be safe while handling firearms. Any other “things” I could plan on doing would probably exceed the mental bandwidth available after the timer buzzes.
Watching other shooters fire at lightning speed can create tremendous performance anxiety. At some point, you realize that you can only perform at the best of your abilities. You need this realization to keep your competitors’ performance from inducing the Red Mist.
Many people focus on the hoped for outcome of the event, at the expense of those tasks that have to be performed to achieve that goal. When those tasks are performed correctly, the sum of those tasks will equal the desired outcome, which is a winning performance. My focus will be on managing the tasks I have control over. If I do everything correctly, the result will be safe competition, zero-down scores, and a good place in the results.
Now I just have to remember my plan…where did I put that plan?
Today, my interwebs are overflowing with stories and information on concealed carry. It’s getting a little safer out there, but there are still plenty of reasons to make sure you ready and able to protect yourself at all times. Here’s some great information about why and how to carry, courtesy of the internet:
My Gun Culture reviews the Ruger LCP .380. A VERY detailed review with a sprinkling of humor that makes for a great read.
NSSF has a link to a Babes with Bullets video that is part of a series on choosing a concealed carry pistol. While this video focuses on semi-auto pistols, they also have a video dedicated to choosing a conceal carry revolver, and a more general video about choosing a conceal carry handgun:
The above videos serve as a great primer for anyone (especially women) looking at the idea of carrying concealed. As an added bonus, you get to learn something from one of the greatest competitive shooters in the world for free.
Jake is (finally) gone, Mike’s a zombie, and there’s only one episode of Top Shot Season 3 left this season. So, who’s going to defeat the other three competitors (and the red mist) and become America’s next Top Shot? Let us know in the comments, and you could win some bitchin’ History Channel/Top Shot stuff:
First person to correctly name the winner tonight gets a spiffy History Channel messenger bag
Second person gets a Top Shot iPod soft case
Third person gets a Large or XL (your choice) History Channel T-shirt
Make sure to enter a valid email address when you submit your answer, and we’ll contact you for your shipping details if you’re one of the lucky three.
Thanks again to the awesome people at History Channel and Top Shot for sending us a nice selection of items to give away to our readers, and for making a pretty darn good show about competitive shooting.
APPLY TODAY!
Email TopShotCasting@gmail.com with your name, city, state, phone number, a recent photo of yourself and a brief explanation of why you are America’s “Top Shot.” For more information, visit pilgrimstudios.com/casting/topshot. Producers will get in touch if they need additional information.
This is an ongoing casting call. Currently there is no deadline for submissions or schedule for the final casting process and production of the next season. Still, we’d like to hear from you!
If you are thinking about answering the casting call, here’s a tip – don’t wait until the last minute. If you do, you might end up having to shoot your introduction video in the basement of a Holiday Inn, then uploading it using the hotel’s computer because you crashed your laptop’s hard drive the night before. On a related note, I do not lose sleep at night wondering why I wasn’t chosen for the next season.
And for those wondering (all three of you) if I’ll be tossing my hat into the reality show ring again, the answer is YES. I figure I’ll just keep answering their casting calls until they either invite me to the in-person auditions or they block my email address.
It’s Tuesday, which means it is time for another episode of Top Shot on the History Channel. We’re making your Top Shot Tuesday even better by running a Twitter contest during tonight’s episode (10/9c). We’re going to be giving away some History Channel merch, so you don’t want to miss it.
We’ll be tweeting out a question about the show during tonight’s episode, so follow us at Twitter.com/GreatSatanInc and tweet us back with your answer (make sure to use @GreatSatanInc and the hashtag #topshot in your tweet). If you win, we will send you a brand-spankin’ new History channel t-shirt.
Good luck and may the red mist stay clear of your favorite contestant tonight!
Note: Merchandise provided by the fine folks at the History Channel. Thanks!
I’ve only been shooting for a couple of years, but I’ve already amassed a decent-sized collection of cheap shooting glasses that don’t work well, and are now collecting dust. I recently upgraded to a pair of $30 outdoor store sunglasses because I just can’t bring myself to drop a few hundred dollars on “professional” glasses, and the options for anything in between big box store $5 cheapies and full paycheck glasses are very few and far between.
Enter the 5.11 Tactical Deflect Shooting glasses. At $99.99 plus shipping, you get the glasses with interchangeable smoke, clear and ballistic orange lenses, a cleaning bag, eyeglass holder and molded carrying case with a strappy thing with a snap that I would guess is for use with other tactical gear (sorry, I’m new at being tacticool).
I’ve had a chance to wear the glasses several times while shooting in both daylight and at night with range lighting, and here’s my breakdown:
Fit and Comfort: I was a little worried that the 5.11 shooting glasses would be too big, as I have an average, girl-sized head. Not only do they fit me well, but on a recent trip to the range, C. Pig borrowed them to wear while driving, and they fit his larger-than-average noggin as well (he needs a bigger head to fit all the extra brains he has up in there). I’m normally not a big fan of wide arms on glasses, as they can interfere with ear protection, but I’ve had no problems with them getting in the way or causing my ear muffs to gap. These glasses have been so comfortable that I’ve been in no hurry to change over to my sunglasses on the drive home after wearing them for 3-4 hours on the range.
Optical Quality and Safety: What was I thinking using el cheapo glasses all this time? These babies are clear (both smoke and clear lenses), with no sign of distortion. The first time I wore them was during a practice that started just before sundown, and it was way past dusk before I felt the need to change over to clear lenses. There have been no signs of fogging, which is awesome, and one of the reasons most of the glasses I’ve purchased have ended up in the closet.
I’ve taken more than a couple shells to the face while wearing these glasses (extractor issues seem to follow me everywhere), and there are no signs of scratches or dings. I’ve been really good about putting them back in their case after each use, but they have taken a couple of tumbles on the ground. Again, no sign of scratching or dings. I have always been clumsy with hard on my sunglasses, so while I know I’m living on borrowed time with the scratching, I’m pleased to see that replacement lenses can be purchased separately. That may seem like a no-brainer, but I’ve got another pair of glasses that I’ve pretty much destroyed the smoke lenses on, and I would have to by the whole set again to get the replacement lenses.
Replacing the Lenses: This is the only thing about the glasses that I don’t like. The glasses come with instructions for changing the lenses, but I couldn’t get the lenses to budge. After about 15 minutes of struggling with them, I finally turned them upside down and flexed them from the middle outward, and got the lenses to release. Popping the new lenses in was a bit of a pain, but I got that figured out in about five minutes. I have noticed that the lenses are coming out and going back in much easier, now that I’ve done it a few times. Last week, I forgot to change the lenses out before heading to the range for an evening of steel shooting, and I was able to replace the lenses at the range in only a couple of minutes.
Overall, I am very pleased with these shooting glasses, and I guarantee they won’t be gathering dust with my other pairs of shooting glasses anytime soon. The 5.11 Tactical Deflects are a great value, and I would definitely recommend them to anyone looking to purchase a solid pair of shooting glasses. For full specs on the glasses, visit the 5.11 Tactical website.
Yes, these glasses were supplied to me at no charge by folks at 5.11 Tactical in exchange for my unbiased review. I was not compensated for the above review and No, you can’t have them.
It’s been about a year and a half since I dove head first into the world of competitive shooting, and while I’m making some progress with my speed and accuracy, there’s something holding me back, and I can’t seem to shake it. I’m no stranger to the stress, anxiety and pressure present when participating in sports (especially since my nature is to be ridiculously competitive), but there is an element of practical pistol shooting that I have never experienced before, and it’s making me look like more like Jerry Lewis than Jerry Miculek when I’m shooting a match.
Some call it the Red Mist. My better half has referred to it as bezerker. It is an indiscriminatory and unrelenting force that is laser-focused on sabotaging your performance. Ridiculously clever and devious, it will allow you to build up your confidence just until you step up to the line and into the shooting box. And then the timer goes *beep*, the red mist appears, and all careful planning and strategy disappears as if it never even existed.
If you’ve been watching Top Shot on the History Channel, you may have noticed that the Red Mist makes a cameo appearance in almost every episode. During episode two of season 3, it appeared during the elimination challenge and prematurely knocked my favorite contestant and WOMA home girl, Sara Ahrens, out of the competition.
During Sara’s commentary at the end of the show, she recognized the role the red mist played in her loss when she said, “I’ve had practice in friend and foe targets, it’s just a matter of I’ve never done that next to another person. I’m kind of being overcome by the intensity of the situation.”
Yep, that’s the unmistakable mark of the red mist. It doesn’t just effect your performance on the range, it also leaves a trail of amnesia and dumbfoundedness in its wake, making it that much more difficult to overcome.
So, is it possible to defeat the Red Mist, and if so, what’s the secret? Watching shooting greats like the Leatham’s and the Miculek’s make it pretty darn obvious that it can be overcome, but how does a mere mortal like me fend off this unwelcome creature that has the power to take over my brain at will?
I recently had the opportunity to ask World Championship competitive shooter, and all-around awesome woman, Eva Micklethwaite how she deals with the pressure and anxiety that builds up when she’s competing in a big match. Eva was kind enough to explain to me what she did to conquer the Red Mist when she found herself a bit “freaked out” by one of the stages at the recent USPSA Area 3 match:
It’s the preparation I do BEFORE I even step on the range that helps me with that. At this particular stage, though, I told myself to take your time and get through it. Don’t rush it, stay focused, and be patient with myself and the trigger. Basically a mental talk off the ledge. Once the buzzer goes off, instinct kicks in as well.
Experience helps a lot, you’ll get there. Mental strength is also a BIG part of this game. And if all else fails….breathe!
Looks like I’ve got some dues to pay to the Red Mist. If you’re looking for me, check the local ranges. I’ll be the one trying to reload my left thumb into the magazine well.
Jake is (finally) gone, Mike’s a zombie, and there’s only one episode of Top Shot Season 3 left this season. So, who’s going to defeat the other three competitors (and the red mist) and become America’s next Top Shot? Let us know in the comments, and you could win some bitchin’ History Channel/Top Shot stuff:
