I’ve been thinking about getting to the range ever since my disappointing performance at last week’s VIR match. I really wasn’t happy with the number of points down, and a frustrating lack of trigger control. Competing with the compact gun exasper…

If you are a Virginian who enjoys shooting, hunting, or who simply cherishes your 2nd Amendment rights, now is a great time to get a membership in the Virginia Shooting Sports Association. If you join or renew VSSA for three years between April 1 – and June 30th VSAA will send you a knife with the VSSA logo engraved on the blade. A three year membership is just $60, which is a significant savings over the $25 yearly membership. And who can’t always use another knife? You can read more about this promotion at the VSSA blog.

About the VSSA:

The goals of VSSA are to:

• unite shooters, hunters, sportsmen, collectors and all other law abiding firearms enthusiasts to promote the safe and responsible use of firearms

• promote the development of the shooting sports and the facilities necessary to the shooting sports; and,

• provide a united voice to all levels of government to defend the shooting sports, and firearms ownership.

Yes, I renewed my membership for three years.

Last weekend I met up with a couple of my regular shooting companions, and we traveled down to the Norfolk County Rifle Range in Chesapeake, VA, to shoot the Virginia Indoor Regional IDPA match. Although this would be the third year I completed in this challenging match, I think I felt extra anxious as it would be my first sanctioned match in many months. My shooting of late has been limited. This would be a change from last year’s match when I spent the two months prior practicing, specifically shooting with a flashlight. Still any day at the range…

The match consists of 10 scenario stages, plus a warm up stage. The scenario stages are made up of five courses of fire, first shot in the dark and then in the light. Minor modifications are done to the stages between the dark and light runs. At this match, dark means no light, not low light. IDPA rules require that flashlights be hand held, not pistol-mounted.

All of the stages were challenging and quite a bit of fun. Some offered unique tests, in addition to the whole “in the dark” thing. The course of fire descriptions are uploaded here for reference.

“Alley Oops” started with the gun loaded with just six rounds. Spare loading devices were placed in a grocery bag, which also held a five pound bag of flour. The bag, and our flashlight (for the dark stage,) was held in the support hand. The “puzzle” was to figure how to manage the flashlight, and get the magazines out of the bag after dropping it.

At the start of the lights out run, I dropped the mag, switched the flashlight in my strong side hand and used it to retrieve and stow the magazines from the bag. Then, switching the light back to my support hand, engaged the first target with the required six rounds, and reloaded on the move to the next target shooting position. That was entirely too many moves.

In the next, lights on, run, I started by setting the bag down, rather than dropping it. That left my magazines on top of the bag of flour where I had placed them. I then engaged the initial target. After shooting the first target, I grabbed the two magazines at once, stowing just one and reloading with the other. That seemed to work a bit better, and meant less juggling of items.

The starting position for another stage pair, “Shotgun Went Boom,” was holding a shotgun, shouldered and aimed at a cone down range. For the first run, the flashlight was held also in the support hand. At the beep we placed the shotgun in a barrel and moved up range to cover, from where we engaged a round steel target through the -0 zone of a standard IDPA target. Any hits outside of the steel were considered misses.

The added challenge to this stage was that hits on the steel did not make the usual “ping” sound confirming a hit. In the dark run, the smoke from my pistol all but obscured the steel. The lighted run of this stage was my best finish of the match.

“Well Guarded Hostages” was the Standards stage of the match. Five threat targets were fronted by two non-threats. The height of the targets varied, and the non-threats allowed only a few inches clear on some of the targets. The dark version required simply two body and one head on each. Things got a little more complicated when the lights came on. The two body and one head requirement was joined with, “Each threat must be engaged with 1 shot each freestyle, strong hand only, and weak hand only. Shooter may choose what order to shoot each style (free / strong / weak) but once a style is started, shooters must finish all shots of that style before switching to the next style).” There was a quite a variety of executions observed for this one.

Shooting all eleven staes took just four hours, as the match is exrtemely well-organized. On our travel home, we stopped to enjoy a delicious BBQ dinner, adding to the fun of the day.

Despite the initial nerves, once shooting started I felt surprisingly relaxed. I felt no pressure to repeat my performance from last year, and simply allowed myself to enjoy being there. Surprisingly, I shot most of the stages better in the dark than in the lighted versions. Overall, I did not shoot anywhere near as well as I hoped. That was both disappointing and frustrating. I did however, enjoy myself immensely. That’s the important part. I’m looking forward to next year, and being in continued good health, AND getting in more practice prior to the match.

After our morning shooting outing, we headed over to 1781 Brewing to enjoy the pleasant spring weather. We claimed a table out back overlooking the vineyards. It was a pleasant view even if the fields were still barren. Both Colleen and I ordered pints of the brewery’s Dunkelweizen. I am a fan of this style in general, and I enjoy 1781’s version when I can. The low 4.7% ABV, the nutty, slightly sweet caramel and toasted bread flavors make for an easy sipper. I suspect it will be going off the tap list in the coming weeks as they bring on the summer selections.

Full disclosure, one of the motivating factors for the visit was a posting on Facebook about the weekend’s food option; The Turkish Kabob & Gyro Food Truck. After a lengthy viewing of the menu decided on the Chicken Kabob Wrap and a Chicken Gyro Sandwich. The food was served promptly and warm. There was a mix up and I ended up with a Beef Gyro instead of the chicken, but I decided to try it instead. Both the meals were quite tasty. We’d certainly check out this vendor again.

I made the decision that it was time to finally enjoy a cigar, for the first time since December. I had brought along my travel case with three options, just in case the urge came. I settled on the Tatuaje 10th Anniversary Bon Chasseur, with another serving of the Dunkelweizen. The medium bodied smoke with cocoa and coffee notes was a satisfying “first” smoke.

It was such a pleasurable afternoon that we ended up sitting for a bit longer than we had planned. The evening’s musician arrived and was setting up as I finished my beer and smoke. We listened to few songs before finally deciding we couldn’t sit at the picnic table bench any longer — next time I’ll actually bring the folding chairs from the car!

On Saturday morning, Colleen asked, “Do you want to go to the indoor range this morning?” At first I wasn’t sure I felt like making the drive. However, it’s been several months since we used our membership, AND I did really want to shoot. The decision …

I made it to my second IDPA match of the year last weekend. I had been looking forward to shooting another match, and hopefully being less stressed than my last match outing. The morning was sunny, with just enough cool breeze to require a jacket. Really a fine day for shooting.

I’d gotten in a few visits to the range to practice the interim and felt a bit more comfortable with my return to competition. In fact as I approached the line to shoot each stage, I actually felt pretty relaxed, unlike the anxious feeling I felt during the first match after my “event.”

As is usual, five fun and challenging stages awaited us. The first stage our squad shot was a “simple” stage done in two strings. Standing between stacks of barrels, we faced the right side of the stage. After shooting a target between the barrels, we made a nearly 180° turn to shoot a target behind the left barrel row. Finally a center target further down range was engaged. For the second string, we started at the same position. However, this time we ran a ways down range to find three widely spaced targets requiring three hits each. I thought this was a fortuitously good warmup stage to shake off any jitters.

Next up was a course of fire that started at an arm’s length target requiring two body and one head shot. Following that we zig-zagged around the walls to near and far targets from cover. Some of the targets required hard leans around cover. Since the “walls” are open netting, on one of those positions I was actually able to stick the gun around the corner and “point shoot” the target while looking through the fence. Although not my best placing stage, I shot the stage just one point down.

The next two stages I thought truly tested our ability to adjust to a mixture of close and distant targets. On the first we started seated, before moving to engage three very close targets. Then arriving at cover we had to slow to shoot a further target with some tight non-threat cover adding to the challenge. The rest of the stage included more shooting around walls, along with a couple more non-threat targets that seemed to be taking a beating.

After that we moved to shoot an interesting set up with three pairs of targets at increasing distance, each target in a pair was placed on the opposite side of the bay. Shooting in priority meant swinging back and forth as you engaged the targets near to far. In the center of the last two targets there were four steel poppers. The paper targets started with head shots only, followed by two partials, and finally two open targets. All shooting was done from a shooting box.

I felt good going into the stage. But I missed the first shot on steel, which seemed to shake me. Each subsequent target then requiring two shots to hit. As I remarked at the time, “At least it’s good reloading practice.“

The final stage was opined to be the hardest, though I think it was probably the most fun. Our unloaded guns and all magazines were placed on a table, and we retrieved them and loaded the gun at the start. The targets throughout the course of fire were mixed in with numerous non-threat targets. What made the stage extra challenging for those of us shooting in lower capacity divisions, was to avoid standing reloads we had to make two reloads with retention, or tactical reloads. That, added to the need to stow the extra magazines at the start, made for a lot to think about.

I generally avoid doing a tactical reload, which requires pocketing the partial magazine rather than dropping it like an empty mag. So often I drop the mag out of habit, then lose time picking it up to avoid the penalty. I also frequently rack the slide out of habit, ejecting a possibly needed round. Since I was the last shooter on this stage, I had lots of time to get my mind set to do two error free reloads. I also got in some practice picking up two magazines at once and inserting them smoothly into my mag pouches. The preparation paid off and I shot the stage penalty free. It was good to finish with a smile.

In the end, despite feeling relatively relaxed, I still shot faster than I saw the sights much of the time. I did have zero hits non-threats and had just one miss, on a close head shot, but shot enough -1 and even -3 hits to significantly affect my score. Nonetheless, it was a welcome and fun time spent shooting. I felt healthy, energized, and happy to back on the range with friends. I am sure it will only get better as I continue on a steady recovery path. (Admittedly, I also enjoyed a much needed nap after the workout of the match.)

And suddenly it was Friday. It’s been a busy week. I squeezed in a trip to the range. We attended an amazing Joe Bonamassa concert. I had a checkup with my cardiologist, with all good news. I celebrated my birthday with a few good friends. With the doc…

When I walked by the hall thermostat on Monday morning my hopes of hitting the range that day seemed suddenly at risk. But as the morning progressed, I realized I would not be deterred by the blundering prognosticators. Though cool outside, the skies w…

Our son was home last week for his Spring Break. His extended visits home are always fun, especially since we usually hit the range together a time or two. This visit was made more exciting since only a few hours before he arrived I had finally picked …

Sláinte!

It’s that time of the year when a Saint revered by many, especially in the Irish-Catholic community, has his good name and works twisted into an excuse to drink to excess and abuse the color green. As a Catholic of Irish decent, and a lover of naturally-colored beer, it pains me to see what this day has become.

It strikes me as odd that this day, meant to honor a great man and Saint, has evolved the way it has. Whether you accept the traditions associated with his life or not, there can be no denying the good he did. (As much as some of these stories cannot be proven, they cannot be disproven either.) Kidnapped as a young boy and sold into slavery in Ireland, he grew to love the Irish people. Late in his life, he was around 60 at the time, Saint Patrick returned to the Emerald Isle to teach and convert the people he had grown to love so much. Certainly that is worthy of our respect.

Odd is it may seem, we actually have to remind people, and pubs, that St. Patrick was a man, not a woman. His name is Patrick, which comes from the Irish, Pádraig. Shorten his name to Paddy if you must. However, we do not celebrate “St. Patty’s Day.” Patty is a shortened version of Patricia, a girl’s name. Feast-related debauchery is one thing, but transgendering our Saint is unacceptable.
So, celebrate the memory of St. Patrick. Enjoy a drink or two and some good food. There’s nothing wrong with bringing a little revelry into the world, we certainly need it. I like a good party as much as the next guy. (And I certainly appreciate a good Irish drinking joke.) Drink your green beer if you must. Dress up in silly clothes. Dye your water fountain green. But please, remember the reason for this feast. Take a moment to honor the man and all the good he did. In our house we’ll raise a toast, and a prayer, to St. Patrick in honor of his deeds and his country.