All "Squadded" up

Registration is complete and I got my shooting time assignments.

First I am competitor #129, funny as my badge is #29. Here is my shooting schedule:

Wedensday - Barricade event at 9:30 AM
Thursday - Practical Event at 10:00, and Falling Plates at 12:15
Friday - Mover at 12:15

And I am squadded in the practical patch with Marshall Teague, the bad guy  from the movie Roadhouse. Hopefully I wont have to kick his butt like Patrick Swayze did.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5E4GEUkgq1U

oops...

Well, the Icicle match was LAST week. I put in my calendar wrong. It was kind of a blessing in disguise as it was 22 degrees in Lebanon when I got there. That is cold!

So now I'm getting ready for an IDPA match at Lower Providence next weekend. ...and yes I double checked the date.

Training update and match this weekend

Training is going well. I am getting out at least once a week shooting around 300 rounds an outing. When I first started I found that I was having trouble making the par times on some of the stages. (Par time is the amount of time given to accomplish a task. e.g. 2 shots each of  2 targets in 4 seconds) Now ,I have shortened the par times by .2 seconds on all of the stages. One of the reasons is that, at Bianchi the time starts when the target turns toward you, and ends when the target turns away. I have an audible timer, I don't have access to targets that turn. So for me its ...beep, shoot, beep. I am concerned that when I have a visible cue instead of an audible one my reaction time may be off a little.

 I have been shooting a LOT of 9mm ammo. I may start mixing in shooting my .22 do cut back on cost. We will see if its beneficial or not.

This weekend is the Icicle Police Pistol Combat Match out in Lebanon PA, I'm going to go shoot the 600 and 1500 events. This is a little slower pace than Bianchi, but it is still good practice. If I get the results this time (last time I shot a match here I never got the results) I'll post them.

Stimulus via Gun Control

First I want to say that the tragedies of mass shootings are heartbreaking, and my thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victims. I could not imagine what these families are going through. Everyone wants this to stop.

However I have noticed an interesting effect over all of this talk of gun control. It was probably the biggest economic stimulus that has happened over the past few years. During my training I have been spending more time at the local gun shop picking up things I need and on the internet checking out gear. Here are some things I noticed:

#1. You can not buy an AR-15, AK-47, or any semi auto military rife...not because of any ban, but because the dealers can't keep them in stock, they sold them ALL.
#2. You can not buy ammo. Because it was all sold. No pistol ammo, no rifle ammo, no reloading components.
#3. Hi-Capacity guns are rare, because they were all sold.

You get the picture here? Anything that people think is going to be banned, people bought as many as they could.

Effects?

#1. Well, as my Police Departments Firearm Instructor, we can't get what we need to train, no ammo, no new rifles, no parts.
#2. More guns went on the street in the past month than probably in the past 2 years.
#3. This has rallied the troops in organizations like the NRA, for the good or bad.
#4. Any local gun shop, internet company, gunsmith etc, can now afford their kids college.

wow, just wow