My weekend report and Firing range summary
I had a good weekend even if i had to work last saturday and today which is supposedly an off day for me.
Spent last saturday with my best-est friends, tho ate Hil was not with us. (Sorry talaga ate Hil). We pigged out on tons of pizza and played guitar heroes! I got hooked on that game because of ate Jan and Je, its a must-try for all you frustrated guitarists like me, hehe. it was a rare time actually, we dont really get the chance where all of us get to meet and hang out with Feanne in her house. Hopefully it wont be the last time. Feannes house is perfect for our "Thursday club" meetings, not to mention the humongous TV in their living room which is perfect for Guitar Heroes, hehe. Thanks so much my wifey Feanne for having us over. Cant wait to do it again, and this time i'll make sure that were complete!
Yesterday my Uncle Ru, my cousin Ace and I joined a fun shoot in our gun club in our village. Registration started at around 9am which was supposedly 8am. The course had 4 stages, each stage with different scenarios. The first round was a terrorist scene where the target papers simulate a hostage set up. 2 target boards were marked as the criminals and another 2 marked as hostages. Hitting the hostages will merit -10 points every shot. Shoot it twice you get -20.
The course was based on IPSC (International Practical Shooting Confederation )rules. Gun handling rules were applied tho disqualifications were not applied since it was just a non bearing fun shoot. The first two stages had no limit to the number of rounds fired as long as you hit the targets, the other stages had a rule applied which was called a "Virgina count" where a shooter is required to shoot only the number of rounds allowed on a given target. Shoot more or less you get -10 per shot. It was harder cuz you cant just fill all your mags up and rain bullets on your targets to make sure you make the shots right. With the virgina count you have to fill your mags with just the right number of bullets so that you wont fire more than required, and also in such a way that you wont have to load the chamber when you have to do a mandatory change of magazine. this would mean that you have to add 1 more bullet in your first mag and lessen 1 bullet in your second one.
It was a good day for shooting. It was my first timed course of fire, non bearing, but the experience was awesome. Its so different when your time pressured and when youre up against other shooters you dont know compared to just standing and busting caps. The club had different types of shooters, there were old men, middle aged, a few young-ins like me hehe, and one lady. A shooter named Richard displayed awesome skill that made him top shooter for the day, he joined two categories: the single stack .45 caliber and the hi cap (compared to a single stack of only 7 rounds, a hi cap gun has 13 or more.) His run on the first stage was fast, he got it in only 12 seconds. From a sitting position shooting one target then running towards a grilled window shooting 2 terrorists then running to a small and low window while doing a mandatory magazine change shooting another 2 then the last one with also 2 targets. Imagine all this in just 12 seconds, not bad indeed!
My time in this stage was slow. My run was 23 point something seconds. My hands were shaky, i was nervous i admit, its really hard being under time pressure and having a dozen of pair of eyes watching you. My shots from the seated position were okay, i got both shots in the "A" ring which is the tightest and highest score grouping but running to the window and shooting at 2 targets between the grills were something new to me, I missed 3 times and got a -30. But doing the mandatory magazine change while running to the other grill-less window was even harder, I fumbled while inserting the mag into my 1911 45 Caliber norc which cost 6 seconds 6 seconds or so. This was a frustration for me but still it was loads of fun not to mention a good learning experience.
However nothings gonna beat my last run on the last stage. It required firing 5 rounds standing up from the15 yard line, 5 rounds kneeling from the 12 yard line and 5 rounds standing up from the 10 yard line using your weak hand. Sounds easy? hell no! Well actually yeah a bit, but the mandatory change mag was hard, at least for me since im new to this and my gun was all stock, with no magwell for an easier feed. I scored pretty well on the standing position, i got all "A" rings, same with the kneeling position all "A" rings as well, tho the mag change made me lose time again, but here's the kicker, walking towards the 10 yard line to to do the weak hand position i reached for my third magazine to load, and when i did i felt that it was unusually light. I saw that i seem to have forgotten to load it and the slide of my pistol was already locked signifying that i was out of ammo, i was in panic! That cost me 5 shots, 5 shots times -10 points = - 50!! ARgh! I failed, even if my previous 10 shots were all A-rings, i still failed. It was frustrating but in the same time it was hilarious! The people were actually laughing with and at me, it looked funny than stupid actually, or maybe it looked stupid thus making it look funny. hehehehe.. It was a frustratingly funny end to a fun shooting day! Sigh. Haha..
i promised myself that i'll practice more and do better the next fun shoot, hopefully i get good enough to join a real competition and represent our club! I also wish i had enough money to set my gun up, it helps to have the right kind of rig and mods on your gun. All in all i had a super fun time met several friends and learned a ton of shooting tips! Too bad tho that my Dad and my other uncle and cousin was not able to go. Dad was in CDO for almost week. I miss you Pop! next time we'll hit range again for sure!