I am going to move to WV.

Ok,

Most people have seen how I have been working here in WV since April 5th, I have about another 10 days to go. So while here I have had some really fun shooting. I did the Appleseed Shoot two weekends ago and then some of the guys I met there asked me to join them at the Beckley Gun Club for Pistol Sunday, three matches consisting of a Tyro NRA Match, a Steel Plate Shoot and a TSA Air Marshall Qualifier Match. Well considering it was that or sit around my hotel room watching NBA playoffs... well I was there about 20 minutes early. I only had my SIG P6 with me, not the best gun for extended combat shooting, but not the worst. At least the gun is very accurate.

Well the Tyro course is three 8 shot string, large silhoettes at 10 yards. Point are added up and all strings must be completed in specified times, from holster. I ended up shooting all the targets accurately and made the times. I did not shoot as accurately as some though and ended up tied for 4th from 12 total shooters. Some of these guys can shoot,

The plate match was fun also... 10, 15, 20 and 25 yards... 6 shots a string. I shot 33 out of 48 plates... took 5th out of 12. I suck at 25 yards with this gun... not a plate shooter. But up close, at 10yards I did clear all 12. The fun part of this was watching the two guys shoot their Tokarevs in 7.62x25. Jeez I need to get one of these.. or two. The report is very loud and when they hot their was no questions the plates were going down. Even when they missed, the roster tails in the dirt berm were enormous. about 4' high compared to 1' for the 9mm. I got to shoot some rounds from one, nice slim design, horrible ergonomics for a lefty, recoil was suprisingly light, sights were less then helpful though. And boy did those plates fall. Fun stuff.

The final match was run by a couple of instructors at Firearms Reseach Institute (F-R-I.com) and they run a Non Official TSA Air Marshall Qualifier course for students. Now, as I was told this course of fire is no longer TSA's recomended qualifier because they never got less then 92% fail rate. So they altered the course and made it easier... hmmmm. So this course entails alot of drawing from holster @ 7rds, shoot in less then 1.2 seconds or double tap from low ready in less then 1.5 seconds, spin from holster 1 shot left target one shot center target in less then 3.0 seconds... stuff like that. 13 stages. Total shooting time allowed is 33.8 seconds. And more then 5 shots outside the FBI QT target is a disqualification. Well I am proud to say I never missed the target... but I also took 9 sconds too long. I only managed to make it in time on 4 stages. My main issue was my unfamiliarity, in a speed envronment, with my P6. I might have done better with my G19... but not much better.

Lessons learned.... always bring your favorite gun and learn to shoot it, handle it, reload it, empty it, failure drills etc etc etc. Accuracy counts... but speed is necessary. Practice more. I need to shoot more combat classes or comps. RWS makes good 9mm ammo... you can get it at WalMart in Pa for $12 or so a box... good stuff.

All in all it was great fun. And once again the BGC is absolutley one of the nicest ranges I have ever seen... just a great place.