reviewing match notes for the year

[goodgrouper]

As I sit here bored to tears whilst watching over my sick mother in the hospital, I reviewed some of my notes and memories from this year's matches and thought I'd post them here to give me something to do and maybe someone out there might be edified or at least, entertained.

In no particular order:

Note 1: Always bring rain gear even if the weather girl swears up and down there won't be a cloud in the sky. She is blissfully unaware that the moment a gun is in my hands, the rain clouds will gather from all corners of the earth and converge on whichever tournament I'm at. I attended 8 matches so far this year, and was rained on 6 of the 8.

Note 2: Always have a back-up barrel on hand and ready to go in the event that your current barrel which is shooting well suddenly decides to die.

Note 3: When you’re done lubing your cases, put the lid back on the wax immediately no matter who wants to chat or how bad you’ve got to pee. Mr. Windgust is always looking for an open wax can to sprinkle sand in.

Note 4: All winds are not created equal. Some ranges have wind that sneeks through your windflags or has downdrafts associated with it.

Note 5: Some ranges have conditions where pickers are going to have their lunch ate by the conditions and some ranges make runners run for home. So it’s best to learn both methods if you want to stay and not be hungry.

Note 6: Don’t shoot the eerily calm condition----especially if the mirage is boiling in a way that makes you think you’re drunk.

Note 7: always obey note 6.

Note 8: be patient. The minute you think you’re superman and can shoot through that condition instead of waiting for what you really want is the minute you find out you can’t.

Note 9: NEVER, NEVER, NEVER fire a shot in anger! Just because the 4th shot blew your “zero” group into a .350 doesn’t mean you can ignore everything and just send that 5th shot downrange hastily. It WILL result in your .350” being opened to a .5” (Learned this one the hard way at the last match in Colorado when it cost me the two gun win and lowered me to 3rd place. Arrrghh)

Note 10: Whatever the cost in money and time, always make sure your gun is tracking well. If it’s not, spend the coin until it is and you’ll save money in the long run.

Note 11: Gene Beggs doesn’t use windflags. But don’t think he’s crazy. He will politely tell you that it’s because he can’t read them and there’s no sense it putting something out there you aren’t going to look at anyway. You can’t argue with that!

Note 12: This is a game all about what WORKS FOR YOU! So don’t listen to anyone give you an absolute, hard fast rule about anything. Sorry, Rattigan, ribbon isn’t for everyone! I placed in the top 3 in the two or three gun in every match I went to this year except for the two times I tried to use ribbon on my flags. Those two times I thought I was going to be DQ’ed for sucking so bad. Sail cloth makes my brain happy and that makes my groups smaller. End of story.

Note 13: When asking a fellow competitor for advice, pay real close attention to how they word their answer. If they start out with, “well, I’ll tell you what works for me,” or “what I found is” instead of “this is the way you have to do it” or “you can’t do this”, their information will be reliable. But, if instead,they throw in absolutes like “always”, “never”, “must”, or “can’t” in place of “sometimes”, “usually” or “whatever”, beware. See note 12.

Note 14: You are going to play how you practice and you will practice how you play.

Note 15: Just because you have a March doesn’t guarantee you’re going to beat someone with a Leupold, Weaver, or Sightron. It just means you are trying to.

Note 16: If you smile even when you are having a bad day, you can still make everyone think you know something they don’t!

Note 17: Don’t get into arguments at matches even if it’s just for fun. You will be distracted and you need every brain cell you’ve got to concentrate on the task at hand----shooting little groups.

Note 18: Tuning at 200 yards is best if you can do it. If not, tuning at 100 yards will then be the best you can do!

Note 19: Don’t leave food out lying around at night at the Whittington Center unless you prefer the company of bears.

Note 20: Tee shirts at the Cactus are cheaper on Wednesday and Sunday then they are on Friday or Saturday.

Note 21: Don’t shoot a tail wind at Raton, Springville, or Logan. But don’t take a 5” penalty either.

Note 22: Watch the flags like they are naked supermodels.

Note 23: When you are looking for things to blame your poor performance on, remember Note 22 and how you didn’t follow it. (Gene is exempt from Note 22)

Note 24: Remember to bring short wind flag stands to Grand Junction. Really short wind flag stands.

Note 25: a bad day shooting is still better than the best day at work! And you will also be in the best company society has to offer.

 

[Nader]

Goodgrouper,
Your notes reflect the reality of BR competition,they resemble mine, except that they are legible,written on paper instead of masking tape and don't contain any foul curse words.The beatings that we( all of us) take from the first BR match we attend can best be used as a learning experience. I don't think any of us learn anything because somebody else says " that's what we ought to be doing" . We shoot,we break down,alone! We fix it alone. and We learn that we can do this.
Your work with the chronograph,although dismissed by some as a waste of time has convinced me to take the extra few minutes to set up mine at practice sessions and to observe "more" information instead of " less information",which has explained some otherwise (blind)unexplainable shots and poor load choices.
I know that you're west of the Mississippi, but look forward to someday shooting next to you at a BR match.
Sorry to hear about your mom, mine is 86 yrs old and is enjoying good health except for a bad knee that she developed over the years from kicking my ass.
Joel

 

[goodgrouper]

Goodgrouper,
Your notes reflect the reality of BR competition,they resemble mine, except that they are legible,written on paper instead of masking tape and don't contain any foul curse words.The beatings that we( all of us) take from the first BR match we attend can best be used as a learning experience. I don't think any of us learn anything because somebody else says " that's what we ought to be doing" . We shoot,we break down,alone! We fix it alone. and We learn that we can do this.
Your work with the chronograph,although dismissed by some as a waste of time has convinced me to take the extra few minutes to set up mine at practice sessions and to observe "more" information instead of " less information",which has explained some otherwise (blind)unexplainable shots and poor load choices.
I know that you're west of the Mississippi, but look forward to someday shooting next to you at a BR match.
Sorry to hear about your mom, mine is 86 yrs old and is enjoying good health except for a bad knee that she developed over the years from kicking my ass.
Joel

Thank you Joel.
Just last weekend while shooting with Lowell Frei, he told me that I probably knew how to tune a rifle better than he did especially with N133. That's high praise from a man who's been doing this sport for 30+ years and I have to believe that the biggest reason I shortened the learning curve in this regard is because I have taken meticulous notes and have made numerous chronograph sessions. Keeping a rifle in tune is easy once you know the effects of climate on combustion and have it "mapped" out before you get to the match.

Take good care of that mother of yours and I hope to someday meet you in person at a match.