TRAINING LEAD-UP
Tuesday, May 19:
Went to Blackstone to practice
- 6 mags of ball & dummy, focusing on trigger reset and stance with the bit of forward lean
- 6 mags of ball & dummy, focusing on trigger reset and stance with the bit of forward lean
- 3 mags of cadence on a 4x2 rectangle, focusing on trigger reset... I had some fliers, which go away fi I avoid "driving" the gun back into position trying to get it back more quickly
- 3 more mags of cadence... letting the gun fall back naturally and then doing a neutral squeeze back
- 1 mag right-handed, centered on average but tending a little high maybe due to my cant
- 1 mag left-handed messier, with group size 4x the size from an area perspective (2x per dimension)... need to squeeze the lemon and only move the trigger and not rush the shots
- 4 mags Delorian @ 5yd on a 2x2" circle, overall not bad, counting 4-3-2-bang going faster over time
- 2 mags @10yd
- 3 more mags @ 10yd, starting to fatigue so more spread
Cleaned the pretty crusty CZP10C afterwards.
HDT 31.1.2 (CORE) in 32:05
Wednesday, May 20:
Dry fire at home...
- 8 mags draw and shoot for 30 min
> wasn't worried about time
> focused on left hand grip pressure... wasn't using enough at first but figured out the right amount over time
> my first mag was slower at 2.0x, but I got as fast as 1.48
> experimented with punching the gun out on the draw like a youtube commenter suggested
> I still need to think more about clamping the back of the grip
- 30 more minutes of multiple targets with walking and shooting in different directions... the strong back clamp feels way more controlled in all situations.
Thursday, May 21:
Rucked 3 mi around the USNWC parade loop playing Ingress in 1:13:52, with 30# in the v3 shorty rucker in MACV2 8", after dropping my parents off at the airport.
Friday, May 22:
Yoga for Panic and Anxiety & TRUE - Day 8 - SALVE yoga with Adriene
More dry fire...
A short session the day before the gun run, to burn in left palm smash muscle memory, which I can already feel fading from Wednesday.
- 2 mags of draw and shoot, starting at 2.08s and getting down to 1.6's most of the time and 1.5 a few times.
- 2 mags of 180 degree draw and shoot from hands above shoulders... times and accuracy is more variable with this drill
- 4 mags of draw, walk, stop past door threshold, and shoot, trying to land with legs apart, in 2.2-2.3xs pretty consistently after figuring out the leg split... still not the most accurate, but I may be tired, so my left palm smash is inconsistent.
LAND NAV GUN RUN @ DEWITT'S
This may be our favorite match to do every year, since it combines land nav plus shooting.
We attended the 10:30am brief, and this time, we were transported to a separate start location in trucks. Our truck wave was the last to set off, leaving at 11:45, to allow people 6 hours on course. When we were dropped off, the RO there explained to us how to pull security, check that we still had all of our gear, and we waited for our team's turn to be released, so that we were still staggered. He drew from his experience in the military. That was a neat way to start.
Point A
Our release time was about halfway through our truck group. We were shown intel, saying we should go down the dirt road to find an orange cone. There was also written intel saying that our informant was wearing a black t-shirt with white graphics, and to not shoot them.
We had already plotted the CP and RP back at HQ, and we had figured out where we were at the security area. I pace counted the distance to the cone, but at the cone, we were given grid coordinates to our current location, along with guidance to move on a 323 degree azimuth for 2,640m to find point A.
There was a road going along about that azimuth, but there was also a road-based route (the one we had driven down) to get to the same place with a moderately longer distance. We had seen at least one team coming back along the path to the security area when we were there... they must've chosen to take the road.
SB had seen some forest roads during the drive in, so she felt like the road in front of us might take us a shorter way back to the main shooting area vs nav area road. I would've taken the road if I was alone, but I went along with her suggestion.
The dirt road went the way we wanted it to go for a while, but then it started deviating a little bit, before intersecting with a road that led to private property, which was marked out of bounds on the map. You definitely want to heed no trespassing signs when you're out in the woods near property that is probably owned by firearms owners. SB had seen a side trail going west not long ago and suggested that we go back and take that, to get around the private property, which wasn't a huge area. We went back and followed that west. Our general desired direction was northwest. The path became less clear, and eventually, it ended altogether, so we had to start bushwhacking. Based on the map, there would be a couple of streams that we'd have to deal with by bushwhacking. Some parts were OK, but others were really thick and had thorns. It's not the worst amount of thorns I've dealt with during land nav, but it was enough to be annoying. At one point, I grabbed a thorn vine with my hand, early on, not realizing it was a thorn vine.
We kept pushing north and west, taking the least dense ways possible. We had to force ourselves to go more north than west, since we had already gone west a decent amount. Eventually, after a long time and stream crossings and pushing through wet vegetation from the recent rains, we came across a road that we could take north. We looked around, hoping to find the point along the way, and we saw a decoy (the pink paint on trees marking gamelands boundaries)... no point, but at least we got to the main road. The plan from there was to go out to the power line, pace count back, and get to the point that way. We figured out where we were before we got to the attack point, though, using terrain. We searched the area but came up with nothing. I decided to replot, to see if I might've plotted wrong. I realized that the bearing was drawn the way I had expected, but the point appeared to be way on the shooting side of the property, and that didn't make sense. I wasn't sure what I was missing, and I doubted that Ellis would've messed up the bearing.
We came across a couple of other teams in the woods, looking for the point near the main road. We went to them to see if they were onto something, but it turned out that they were kind of searching randomly, so we we decided to give it up and proceed to HQ. We had burned like an hour and a half already, and we didn't want to have to short-course the event like last year.
At the CP, we realized that the azimuth was a compass azimuth that had to be converted to map azimuth.... that was the trick. We had the option to go back to re-shoot then, or tackle it later. We decided to save it for later, since the point was close to the start, so we wouldn't have to do any extra distance saving it for later, but saving it for later would give us more guaranteed time on course for everything else.
Stage 1:
- Shoot 2 pistol targets @ 20 & 25yd and 1 rifle target @ 100yd, 5x ea
- Each person must shoot all 3 targets 5x each, but the two of you can't shoot at the same target simultaneously
- At some point during the stage, one of you has to move the ammo can out to the power line tower, too.
Learnings/Outcomes: 42/49 passers /51 overall in 124.53s
- Before the stage, I suggested that SB start with rifle then move the can, while I start on pistol, thinking that pistol had 2 targets so might take longer
- I ended up getting done first, though, since SB's chest rig messed up her prone position, and she shot 23 rounds and had to raise her legs to move her upper body more forward onto the rifle.
- It was good that we could be flexible with the plan
- I got back from dropping off the ammo can just as SB finished on rifle, so I yelled "pistol" to her to let her know she could move on
- I had scope shadow on rifle since I hadn't moved my butt stock out a notch, but I shot OK and cleared, just as SB had one round left
- It worked out well timing-wise, even if in an unplanned way
Point B:
Once we finished Stage 1, we went to HQ, where we got coordinates for Point B. I drank and filled up on water before leaving.
On the walk over to Point B, we discussed how Stage 1 went. SB mentioned the chest rig issue. I have a chest rig that's just as big, so we figured out that she just needed it lower on her body. I loosened the straps for her, which ended up putting it in a good spot for her.
I plotted the point on the southern side of the southern chicken farm building that we've seen in previous years. As we approached, I saw fencing blocking off the southern side, but I spotted paper on a door on the northern side. I wondered at first if it might be a sign related to USDA or other regulations, but it was our point.
(Photo Credit: Jimmy Nutt)
We had seen the RP on the drive in, in its usual spot. We were directed to follow roads up to Stage 2.
Stage 2:
- SB runs next to a tree and shoots the left rifle target 3x standing (but braced on a tree)
- Then, she shoots 3 cardboard targets, 3 hits each (close)
- Then she shoots 3 hanging pistol targets L->R 3x through, close and easy
- Leave the rifle on the ground for the RO to clear, and run to me.
- Simultaneously, I'm shooting. through 4 ports, 1 hit from each on the right rifle target, 3x through
- Once I'm done, SB takes my gun and s hoots through the same 4 ports at the 1 target, but only 1x through
Learnings/Outcomes: 26/34 passers /51 overall in 163.17s
- SB had to brace on the left side of the tree, since there was vegetation on the right side of the tree, but she remembered from our last team match to make sure that the ejection port was far enough away from the tree that the spent casings didn't come back in to cause malfunctions.
- We did think it was odd that they had ROs clear the rifle, but extra safety can't hurt, and it didn't disrupt the flow or anything
- I was slow to acquire my target maybe 2x early on
- I figured out that I had to cant my rifle on the second port
- I missed only 2-3x total and felt pretty clean and efficient
- The Steady Shot didn't get in the way in the ports
- I didn't have any issues with wobble, so maybe the Steady Shot helped
- SB arrived when I had 3 shots left
- I told her to hold the bottom corner of the target (the target was tilted upper left / lower right)
- I told her that she'd need to cant from the second port (her third port coming back), but she chose to cant in the opposite direction that I chose... I liked being canted in line with the tilt of this target, to give me more leeway on holds. I had tried to explain that on the clock, but she got the hit anyway, so it didn't matter
- We had our longest wait time of the match here, of about 28 minutes
- I had estimated that the target was at about 125yd and had looked up the dope on the card on my chest rig
- I forgot to adjust my ocular focus for SB before handing the rifle over to her, but she adjusted it
- We decided on my rifle, due to better glass and 10x magnification vs 6x.
(Photo Credit: Jimmy Nutt)
Stage 3 was right after Stage 2.
Stage 3:
- Both start hot and kneeling
- Shooter 1 goes to position 1. Once Shooter 1 starts shooting, Shooter 2 can move.
- Once Shooter 1 shoots the one target 4x, Shooter 2 can start shooting at the same target, 4x.
- Once Shooter 2 starts shooting, Shooter 1 can move to their second spot.
- Once Shooter 2 has 4 hits, Shooter 1 can start shooting 4 hits from their second spot.
- Once Shooter 1 starts shooting, Shooter 2 can move to their third spot.
- Once Shooter 1 has 4 hits, Shooter 2 start shooting 4 hits from their third spot.
- Once Shooter 2 starts shooting, Shooter 1 can move to their third spot.
- Once Shooter 2 has 4 hits, Shooter 1 can shoot 4 hits from their third spot.
Learnings/Outcomes: 28/47 passers /51 overall in 122.63s
- We had decided on pro words "shoot" and "move" during the drive in for this classic bounding stage, avoiding a word like "go" which sounds too much like "no". In theory, "shoot" is the main one that you need, since you don't really need "move" since the gunshots are the "move" signal... you only need to use "move" if your partner has a brain fart.
- I chose the right lane since that seemed to have some prone options, and of the two of us, I'd be able to take advantage of prone more, based on what we learned during Stage 1.
- SB was still able to go prone in 2/3 spots, and the chest rig was no longer an issue
- I missed about 5x from my first position since I forgot that my 200yd hold is only 0.3 down, not low plate... I had forgotten that, even though I had looked it up right beforehand. SB took a while to get into position that time anyways, since the target could only be seen from a particular spot on the left that time, so I was done before she started shooting
- We had good comms and a good plan
Stage 4:
- Play rock / paper / scissors with your partner, and winner chooses whether they want to be Shooter 1 or Shooter 2.
- Shooter 1 shoots from 3 spots at 3 diamonds *inside* the trench, 5x ea. Holster.
- Shooter 2 goes into the trench and shoots torsos from the 3 spots where the diamond targets were, 5x ea, low crawling between spots while holstered. Shooter 2's rifle is staged away.
- Once Shooter 2 is done and comes out of the trench, back to the firing line, Shooter 1 draws and makes 1 shot on the left torso to end the time.
Learnings/Outcomes: 44/48 passers /51 overall in 91.35s
- I intentionally chose Shooter 1, thinking that I'd be shooting first and have longer pistol shots, but once we're briefed, I learn that I'm shooting the diamonds in the trench, not the same torsos as Shooter 2, so my shots are actually easier.
- I'm not watching SB as she does her shooting, since I'm busy reloading my pistol mag, so that I don't have to do it later on the run and slow down my run. I had spent 16 rounds earlier, so I had 1-2 left, but I wanted to be topped off, just in case I needed multiple tries on the last target, too.
- SB tried to exit through barbed wire initially, since the grey blended in with the surroundings, but fortunately, she was fine.
- SB didn't have the option for a pre-emptive mag change mid-stage, since she was crawling between positions, so her hands were occupied.
(Photo Credit: Jimmy Nutt)
(Photo Credit: Jimmy Nutt)
(Photo Credit: Jimmy Nutt)
(Photo Credit: Jimmy Nutt)
Point D:
The trails took us back to the RP, where we were given coordinates for Points C and D, which we could do in any order. I refilled on water before leaving.
We came across the attack point for D first, and D is kind of out in the middle of the new pine forest, so we went after that first. We measured the bearing and went for it... I was to the left, but SB was on.
We went around a tilled field to get to Point C. It's also within vegetation, but fortunately, it wasn't very dense, so we could be in the general area and find it without wasting a lot of time.
Once we found the two points (or gave up), we could go back to the RP for directions to more stages.
Stage 5:
- The person on the right is Shooter 1.
- Shooter 1 has 15s to make 10 shots on a 20yd partial torso that's on some vegetated ground, slightly obscured. If they fail, they have to carry a 60#SB to a bucket on the side and out to their partner... not too far out of the way. If they pass, they can skip the SB and go directly to their partner.
- Shooter 2 simultaneously goes to a sandbag prop and shoots 5 targets, 2 hits each (SB goes R->L, it turns out, since she had TID'ed the right one as the rightmost one during the brief Q&A)
- Once Shooter 2 is done, "die" after laying down your unslung rifle.
- Shooter 1 rolls Shooter 2 to the side and shoots the same 5 targets 2x ea with their their rifle or their partner's
Learnings/Outcomes: 36/41 passers /51 overall in 110.68s
- I hoped to be the pistol person, since it seemed hard, but I might have the best chance
- I had topped off my mag beforehand
- When it was time to start, I had a malfunction after the first shot, maybe because of the top-off. I think I just tap-racked that one. I had some misses and probably pushed speed a bit too much towards the end, fearing the coming of the PAR time, but I somehow managed to make it, even though the target was pretty far. That was exciting.
- I got to SB before she even started shooting, perhaps.
- SB skipped over a red target out there and had to go back for it... I wasn't watching, though, since I was busy staging my rifle to get ready for my turn
- SB made the rollover easy
- I default L->R when I shoot, since other matches often require that sequence, and it feels more natural for righties, maybe. Anyways, I didn't realize that SB had gone R->L and she didn't realize that I was going R->L, so when I was trying to look for a red target as my second target, I kept having to guess shoot at red-looking vegetation, but really, it was the 4th target going L->R. It took a while and a few misses for us all to figure that out. No harm, though. When I did come across the actual red target, it was fine, since the spacing was the same among all of them.
Stage 6:
- I chose to be Shooter 1, not knowing the implications
- Shooter 1 shoots 4 hits on 2 pistol targets, from stick 1.
- Shooter 2 can move to stick 2 once Shooter 1 starts shooting.
- Once Shooter 1 is done with their 8 hits, Shooter 2 shoots 4 hits on those same two targets.
- Shooter 1 can move to stick 3 once Shooter 2 starts shooting.
- When Shooter 2 is done with their 8 hits, Shooter 1 shoots the same 2 targets, 4 hits ea, one last time, then go down.
- Shooter 2 applies a TQ to the non-holster leg of Shooter 1, then drags their buddy to a short stick about 10m away
- Shooter 2 then goes to the base of a deer stand and engages an unknown number of cardboard targets on their steel heads, 1 hit each
Learnings/Outcomes: 26/30 passers /51 overall in 143.22s
- I topped off my pistol between the two sticks, since 8+8 = 16, and I wanted buffer in case I missed, but that caused a malfunction to tap rack again.
- SB also had a malfunction for the same reason... I wonder whether the tightness of the 17+1 rounds in there causes a jam. It doesn't happen with 147gr Remmington ammo... just this Blazer 115gr Aluminum, but those are the only two 9mm rounds that I compete with... one for precision and no need to carry for long distances, and the other when I need to save weight
- Before the stage, we reminded each other about the potential for informants to not shoot... we were pretty late into the game now, so it had to show up at some point soon. I had seen t-shirtted targets out in the field, too.
- SB encountered a black t-shirt guy and a black t-shirt with white graphics guy, and she got the difference right
- At first, though, SB shot the cardboard instead of the steel heads, since the steel head part hadn't been specified.
- SB braced on the deer stand but shot standing
- Scanning sills helped SB find the grey shirt target, which was harder to see.
Stage 7:
- One person pops a smoke grenade, and let it rise for a bit, off the clock
- On the beep, Shooter 1 shoots a dueling tree out and back, where everything must flip
- Once Shooter 1 starts shooting, Shooter 2 can run up the road to a board with ports
- Once Shooter 1 finishes with the dueling tree, they make 3 hits on a rifle target that was IPSC shaped but with unclear distance/dimensions
- Shooter 1 then grounds their rifle, grabs a 50# ruck and dummy rifle, and searches the ruck for intel to relay by radio to their partner. "Choose any port. Shoot the far target 1x, near target 2x. Repeat from 3 more ports" were the instructions on the paper.
Learnings/Outcomes: Fail (only 15/51 pass)
- I had a few dueling tree leaves not flip, since I had to shoot the far side with my 115gr
- I missed once or twice on the rifle target, since the unknown size and its somewhat skylined past a hill position made it difficult to judge the distance
- I went prone on rifle
- I searched the big pocket of the ruck first, but I should've known to search the small pocket first, since the big pocket would be where you'd stick a sandbag, and you wouldn't stick intel in the same pocket as the sandbag and have it get messed up in there, so that ate up some seconds
- I dragged the ruck, since it was heavy but a short enough distance that I wouldn't want to waste time donning it
- I decided to read the instructions verbatim, since they were clear and simple enough
- We had decided beforehand that I'd be the reader, since SB can hear better and has a better memory
- We had decided that SB wouldn't need to reply once she got the message, but she decided to anyways
- SB had been listening to my shots as she was running to her barricade, so she knew she had time since I was still working on pistol. She was able to walk and calm down her HR for the last bit, but it was a long movement.
- While waiting for instructions, she was proactive and looking for work and scanning to see what targets she could find. When I mentioned targets on the radio, she already knew what I was referring to.
- I was able to finish the dueling tree with 1 mag, with 1-2 rounds left
- SB chose the diagonal port, followed by square, then square... horizontal would've been her 4th one, if we hadn't run out of time.... horizontal is not ideal because of the cant, but she couldn't make use of the other ports since they were either too tall or were prone with zero visibility of the targets.
- SB shot standing for all 3 spots, widening her legs
- SB only missed 1x and was doing really well
- Once I was done giving radio instructions and had returned the dummy rifle and ruck, I started reloading mags. It turned out that the ROs weren't communicating with each other, though, since after SB ran out of time, she was doing the same, waiting for me. Oh well, at least we were topped off.
- Our first DNF stage of the match, but it was a tough one... it would've been hard to do much better
(Photo Credit: Jimmy Nutt)
(Photo Credit: Jimmy Nutt)
(Photo Credit: Jimmy Nutt)
Stage 8:
- One person shoots 5 rounds on a cardboard head
- Move the litter with SB to the other cardboard head, and someone shoots that 5x too
- Alternate shooters with 1 hit on rifle steel from kneeling or seated, for 2 hits per person.
- Repeat alternating hits on the rifle steel, 2 hits per person, but from prone.
Learnings/Outcomes: 37/50 passers /51 overall in 125.32s
- SB was smart to suggest that she put the SB on the litter while I shoot
- The carry wasn't bad, maybe 20yd
- Next time, if SB says "on you" that means I'm the front person in the boat, and she'll just move when she sees me move, so I don't need to count down or say anything
- My rifle started to slip down when front-slung during the litter carry, so I smashed my butt against the litter so that the sling couldn't get past my butt+litter and make the rifle fall on the ground. The fallen sling did make squatting to put down the litter harder, though. SB likes to put the rifle on her back for that reason, but I've not wanted to do that in the past, since I can't see the muzzle and whether it's close to hitting the ground and getting dirt in the barrel.
- I shot the second cardboard target, too, so that SB could start to load and prep for rifle at the same time
- She was finished with her shot before I could finish setting up
- I missed 1-2x due to wobble when I had my left elbow on my left thigh, since my elbow skin moved around a lot, but I managed to hit
- Prone was quick and easy, and we shot in succession like pros
(Photo Credit: Jimmy Nutt)
(Photo Credit: Jimmy Nutt)
Point A - Try #2:
- We had about 18 min to cover about 0.5 mi and find the point. It would be close, but we had a good chance.
- By then, many had gone in before us, so it was an easier find.
- We both had wait time clocks going, which was good for backup purposes, though we never needed the backup
- Since SB moves faster than I do when kitted up, it was good that she could help carry more of the load and bring water for me. I could grab my water or her mags from her backpack, which worked out well.
- The chest rig still worked well for topping off mags
- SB almost went black on water, and I should help her check water bladder levels next time
- Expect topped off 115gr Aluminum to malfunction... at least with 17 added to 1. I may need to experiment with 16 added to 1, which is what a fresh mag would normally deal with.
- We should decide on a rule of thumb for whether we take a bushwhacking route or a road route in the future, before the fog of war starts. I looked it up afterwards, and to do it properly, you do need to estimate time with each route based on terrain, so it's not super simple. But reasons to take the road: 1) faster with no vegetation, 2) no real risk of getting lost which would waste even more time, 3) less risk of ankle roll. Our bushwhacking route was decently direct, though, so at least we didn't add a bunch of distance that would've ended up equalling what we would've done by road, although that's a risk, too, if you have to go around obstacles or super thick vegetation in an unplanned way.
- I coughed up a lot along the way
- We covered 984 mi in 5:35:26, with 815feet ascent, minus 70.50 min wait time.
- Luckily, no rain toady... just overcast with wet vegetation and streams.
- I fully cleaned my pistol and rifle afterwards, since there was vegetation and water stuck in everything.
Another fun adventure!
I got a TitanX from the prize table. Just what I wanted! And it was even the Glock 19 variety! Perfect!
