Range Dumpster Diving and Muscle Memory

The last couple Thursday night tournaments I did lousy.   I wasn't thinking as I was shooting, my concentration was off, and I was nervous.  Guess what?  I had not practiced those two weeks.  Just like the piano, you have to keep practicing.

Here is a good tip.  People buy targets, shoot them up a bit and put them in the trash.  Rather than buy a new target, I drag the used ones out of the trash and put little stick on target dots.  I never thought I would be a range dumpster diver, but shooting is not cheap and you begin to find ways to conserve money.  You can also print out your own targets from http://www.mytargets.com/ .  They have a shooters log which is nice also.

Back to the discussion topic of this entry, practice, practice, practice.....So, yesterday I took my 9mm M&P to the inside range and practiced dropping the magazine with one hand and reaching  for the new magazine with the other.  In order to make time to increase your score, you need to be able to do this.    I loaded my magazines with five bullets each.  Shot them, released the mag with only one hand and, at the same time, reached for my magazine holder on my left side.  I took my time and carefully developed my muscle memory.

In tournaments, you don't have much time to reflect and analyze what you are doing as you go along.  There are so many things to think about you need to train your muscles to think for some of that.  Although your fellow shooters will relay every mistake you made afterwards when you go to the traditional feast after the tournament.  We go to the Wing Barn and sit outside at the picnic tables with the biker club.  Yeah, we  cool!  Ya gotta love a place that serves the best wings I have ever tasked and wine in a water glass.  They also have fried Oreos and Twinkies, but I haven't had enough wine to want to try them.

People who are in professions that they have to use a gun, practice constantly.  How do I know?  It seems every time I go to American Firing Range, the Boarder Patrol, Brownsville's Finest Police, or U.S. Customs is hogging the range.  Now you know where all the ammunition goes purchased by the local and federal government - into the targets I steal from the wastebasket.