miquela
04-01-2002, 08:10 AM
How did you spend your Easter holiday?
Mine was not very traditional, but I wouldn’t mind at all if what I did this weekend became a tradition. :)
The following story describes a day that started out as competition, and ended up as range exercises and training. It was an awesome day.
My buddy, Ted Murphy, Match Director of Easton IDPA club, failed to check the calendar when he scheduled a classifier for March 31, and thus didn’t realize it was Easter Sunday. :rolleyes: Anyway, I said I’d go so at least he’d have someone to talk to when no one showed up because of family obligations. ;)
It was raining when I left my house but stopped just before I got to his house at 7:30am. We went to a nameless store to buy a shelter to set up at the range – will be good in the heat and sun of summer too in a couple months. Then drove 2 hours north to the range in Easton. Set up the stages for the classifier and ran the first two customers through the stages. I got to be scorekeeper. Then these other two gentlemen came. This is when it got fun. :) We sat and chatted a little while with these two men, while waiting for the third scheduled person to show up. After the third man shot, one of the men got some guns from his truck and a bunch of ammo and set it down and told us to have fun. And fun we did have. :D One was a Wilson Combat something new with light rails (Ted will have to tell ya what it was, cuz I don’t remember, I just thought it was kewl.) The other was a Springfield TRP, whatever that is. lol. They were both 1911s in 45mm. We had fun taking turns shooting lots of ammo through both of these guns. And that was a lot of fun. But wasn’t even close to as exciting as what came next.
This man, Walt, the one who had the guns and ammo he let us “play” with, he is a highly reputable firearms instructor, he also writes for gun magazines (in fact took some pics of us shooting – we may get famous – lol). When I met him at Ted’s match a couple weeks ago, I was rather intimidated. Even though he is one of the nicest men I’ve met in this sport. He actually took time to come talk to me and this other gal I was standing with at Ted’s match on the 24th to make us feel comfortable there. Anyway, after we were done with the 45s, he brought out a 1911 in 9mm. And what happened next, absolutely floored me. Walt gave me basically a 30-minute, mini-Thunder Ranch training session! First, he addressed my stance, “Lean forward. Get mean. Get more aggressive.” All the things that Bubba has told me in the past, my father, Randy Cain, and most recently Ted. And once they tell me too, I kind of do, but probably not to the degree that I ought to. But I always have to be reminded. Walt has a way about him that just commands obedience. I leaned forward. I got aggressive. lol. I could see Ted smirking out of the corner of my eye as he probably thought to himself “I told you so.” lol. I shot several rounds and did pretty good.
Now, a little background on me. I’m right-handed and VERY left-eye dominant. I shoot with my right eye closed. I can’t see the sights at all with both eyes open. I’ve tried, but squinting is just so much easier. Walt told me to open my eyes when I shoot. “I can’t,” I whined. BIG MISTAKE. “What do you mean you can’t? You think the bad guy who attacks you is going to care? You think I do? Don’t give me excuses. Keep both eyes open,” or something to that affect. As I said, his manner just commands obedience. lol. I kept both eyes open. He told me to turn my head so my left eye was lined up with the gun. It was incredibly hard to see the sight picture. I cheated :eek: and closed my right eye for a second so that I could focus, but then opened it right away again, hoping he hadn’t seen that. But that little bit helped me see the sight picture and after one shot and the gun flipped a little and came back on target, I was then able to see the sight picture again. After a few mags worth of firing, and hearing “Good” from the peanut gallery ;) behind me, as I apparently was hitting the target, I told him I couldn’t see where I was hitting it. This is the really cool part. He picked out a stick on the berm. We were maybe 15 yards out. He told me to hit it. “Higher” BANG “Lower” BANG “Right” BANG “Left” BANG “Higher” I hit it and saw it jump a bit. “Do it again” BANG. It jumped again. “Again. BANG. It jumped again. I chased this stick a few feet up the berm. WITH BOTH EYES OPEN! Was sooooo cool. Yeah, I don’t think I’d be upset in the least if a day of fun and learning and hanging out with good people like I did yesterday became tradition in my life.
I hope to take a class from Walt later this Spring. Those of you in the NJ/PA area, if you want to take a class and learn from one of the best, check out Easton Tactical Ops, Training (http://www.eastontacticalops.com/#train) . He’ll be teaching May 11-12 and Sept 7-8. He got me to shoot with both eyes open and accurately enough to chase a stick around in a matter of minutes! No he’s not God or a magician, but in my book, he is a great man and one phenomenal instructor.
[ 04-01-2002: Message edited by: miquela ]
Mine was not very traditional, but I wouldn’t mind at all if what I did this weekend became a tradition. :)
The following story describes a day that started out as competition, and ended up as range exercises and training. It was an awesome day.
My buddy, Ted Murphy, Match Director of Easton IDPA club, failed to check the calendar when he scheduled a classifier for March 31, and thus didn’t realize it was Easter Sunday. :rolleyes: Anyway, I said I’d go so at least he’d have someone to talk to when no one showed up because of family obligations. ;)
It was raining when I left my house but stopped just before I got to his house at 7:30am. We went to a nameless store to buy a shelter to set up at the range – will be good in the heat and sun of summer too in a couple months. Then drove 2 hours north to the range in Easton. Set up the stages for the classifier and ran the first two customers through the stages. I got to be scorekeeper. Then these other two gentlemen came. This is when it got fun. :) We sat and chatted a little while with these two men, while waiting for the third scheduled person to show up. After the third man shot, one of the men got some guns from his truck and a bunch of ammo and set it down and told us to have fun. And fun we did have. :D One was a Wilson Combat something new with light rails (Ted will have to tell ya what it was, cuz I don’t remember, I just thought it was kewl.) The other was a Springfield TRP, whatever that is. lol. They were both 1911s in 45mm. We had fun taking turns shooting lots of ammo through both of these guns. And that was a lot of fun. But wasn’t even close to as exciting as what came next.
This man, Walt, the one who had the guns and ammo he let us “play” with, he is a highly reputable firearms instructor, he also writes for gun magazines (in fact took some pics of us shooting – we may get famous – lol). When I met him at Ted’s match a couple weeks ago, I was rather intimidated. Even though he is one of the nicest men I’ve met in this sport. He actually took time to come talk to me and this other gal I was standing with at Ted’s match on the 24th to make us feel comfortable there. Anyway, after we were done with the 45s, he brought out a 1911 in 9mm. And what happened next, absolutely floored me. Walt gave me basically a 30-minute, mini-Thunder Ranch training session! First, he addressed my stance, “Lean forward. Get mean. Get more aggressive.” All the things that Bubba has told me in the past, my father, Randy Cain, and most recently Ted. And once they tell me too, I kind of do, but probably not to the degree that I ought to. But I always have to be reminded. Walt has a way about him that just commands obedience. I leaned forward. I got aggressive. lol. I could see Ted smirking out of the corner of my eye as he probably thought to himself “I told you so.” lol. I shot several rounds and did pretty good.
Now, a little background on me. I’m right-handed and VERY left-eye dominant. I shoot with my right eye closed. I can’t see the sights at all with both eyes open. I’ve tried, but squinting is just so much easier. Walt told me to open my eyes when I shoot. “I can’t,” I whined. BIG MISTAKE. “What do you mean you can’t? You think the bad guy who attacks you is going to care? You think I do? Don’t give me excuses. Keep both eyes open,” or something to that affect. As I said, his manner just commands obedience. lol. I kept both eyes open. He told me to turn my head so my left eye was lined up with the gun. It was incredibly hard to see the sight picture. I cheated :eek: and closed my right eye for a second so that I could focus, but then opened it right away again, hoping he hadn’t seen that. But that little bit helped me see the sight picture and after one shot and the gun flipped a little and came back on target, I was then able to see the sight picture again. After a few mags worth of firing, and hearing “Good” from the peanut gallery ;) behind me, as I apparently was hitting the target, I told him I couldn’t see where I was hitting it. This is the really cool part. He picked out a stick on the berm. We were maybe 15 yards out. He told me to hit it. “Higher” BANG “Lower” BANG “Right” BANG “Left” BANG “Higher” I hit it and saw it jump a bit. “Do it again” BANG. It jumped again. “Again. BANG. It jumped again. I chased this stick a few feet up the berm. WITH BOTH EYES OPEN! Was sooooo cool. Yeah, I don’t think I’d be upset in the least if a day of fun and learning and hanging out with good people like I did yesterday became tradition in my life.
I hope to take a class from Walt later this Spring. Those of you in the NJ/PA area, if you want to take a class and learn from one of the best, check out Easton Tactical Ops, Training (http://www.eastontacticalops.com/#train) . He’ll be teaching May 11-12 and Sept 7-8. He got me to shoot with both eyes open and accurately enough to chase a stick around in a matter of minutes! No he’s not God or a magician, but in my book, he is a great man and one phenomenal instructor.
[ 04-01-2002: Message edited by: miquela ]