Pocket Mags

Trying to compete with yourself is the best way to get better.  So, last night after the shoot, a three hour drive back to Brownsville and a couple glasses of wine (after I returned) I dusted off my statistical skills and started analyzing my scores.  The data is scarce because I have only competed in two carbine matches, one yesterday and one last June both at Texas Carbine in Corpus Christi.

June was my first carbine shoot and I had with me my new-to-me AK.  Because the firearm was new and shooting in a carbine match was new, I purposefully went slow.  The second match yesterday I went faster.  Viewing the statistics, I was faster this time but less accurate and still at the bottom of the heap.  But not way below the bottom but in the bottom.

Sigh, shoot more accurately and faster. That is what the stats told me.

However my point spread was narrowing where it was a couple points difference, not a huge difference between me and the rest of the shooters.

During the match I also learned some important ways in which to minimize losses by being smart not fast or accurate. There are tricks to IDPA matches that you have to learn and here is one of them:

When to call it quits:  In one stage, I ran out of ammo at the very last target.  Rather than take out the empty magazine and put in a full mag I told the Safety Office (SO) I was finished.  My penalty was 10.  However it would have taken  me many more than 10 seconds to change mags, aim and hit the target so I may have saved some precious seconds.

My lesson here is to practice putting in mags faster. I also realized I had no idea of how long it takes me to change mags.  The other realization is that I was using my back pockets to hold my mags.

I need to find a mag holder I like or wear the same jeans every time so that I can be sure of my timing.