Re: Whats's accurate. Please show your groups
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: shooter2</div><div class="ubbcode-body">great you put your badges with my masters cards and will have a full house, or a house of cards if you think game shooting has anything to do with a gun fight. or put your 3 gun wins with mine and the sum total will be arithmetic.
simply saying that using a bulleyes target grid which was designed for one hand counter levered shooting is not gonna work well,especially when there was no discussion about the wobble zone. Also the group expected by the op is gonna change simply by what grip he (or any shooter) uses.</div></div>
That is false on numerous points.
First off, competition having no value to gunfighting:
Via JD Potynsky of Northern Red:
http://www.firearmstrainingandtactics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1710
Multiple deployments with 3rd Group Special Forces conducting direct action missions. Decorated with a Bronze Star and an Army Commendation Medal with Valor for his actions during a 6 hour long gunfight in AFG.
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Q: What are some of your thoughts on competition?
A: I think competition is a tremendous way to test your mental performance... at least for me. It's a great way to test your mental performance, especially if you put yourself under some pressure… if you're shooting a match and you care about your score. What it's really measuring, for me, is your ability to make conscious decisions, while you're subconsciously operating your weapon. Seeing your sights, pulling the trigger, clearing malfunctions, all of that stuff. So really, it gives you the pressure - you don't know the stage, you don't know the setup, you're on the clock, some people are watching... so it'll help put some pressure on you.
There is no perfect competition. People game them, they pickup bad habits from doing them, but it's a way to challenge yourself, mentally. To test your mental performance, under some stress… your ability to deal with pressure.
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via Pat MacNamara - 20 year Special Forces Operational Detachment Delta assaulter and Instructor
http://m4carbine.net/showthread.php?p=1170914#post1170914
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Competition is a great way to learn how to work under pressure. If you are a police officer, you are in combat the second you strap it on and walk out of the front door of your home. You do not know when that pro-timer is going to “Beep.” It may not be for twenty years.
Add pressure to the training by introducing the elements of time and peer pressure.
There are many who believe that competing in the likes of an IPSC match has no tactical relevancy, and it is all just a game.
OK, it’s a game where you are shooting your gun at targets, under time, and with people watching you. You must handle your weapon properly, and follow all rules or be DQed (disqualified). You must discern and discriminate between “shoot” and “no-shoot” targets. You have got to move and make use of cover. You will have to fire from awkward positions. You must find a solution to an ambiguous situation within your skill level.
You will compete against those in your division (weapon type and caliber), in your class (skill level classification), and in your category (male, female, age, etc.). You will be doing all of this under pressure!
It is cost effective, non-time consuming, and probably right in your back yard somewhere. I like to consider shooting in a match training that is performance based versus outcome based.
In regards to your second point about weapons handling, I completely concur and will take it a step further.
The fundamentals of marksmanship and proper weapons handling should be engraved into our hard drives and we must be able to perform associated skills intuitively. Contrary to popular belief, we human beings are not capable of 'Multi-Tasking'. We can however perform certain tasks at a subconscious level while consciously performing another.
In regards to gun handling, there are facets that must be felt and performed at a subconscious level. i.e., loading, pre-combat check, safety manipulation, building a position, achieving a natural point of aim, sight alignment, trigger control, feeling the metal on metal imperfections in the trigger group, calling your shot, seeing how far the sight rises, seeing where the sight settles, following through, realigning the sights, and resetting the trigger. Now I can focus on the fight at a with cognitive thought.
The more we develop a skill circuit the less we are aware that we are using it. We are built to make skills automatic, to stash them in our unconscious minds. The more processing we do with our unconscious minds, the better our chance for survival. </div></div>
Add to that, Larry Vickers and Ken Hackathorn... two guys who have taught more SOCOM shooters than really anyone else in history... both founding members of IDPA:
http://vickerstactical.com/about-larry-vickers-2/civilian-background/
As for your grip changing "groups"... that's just plain wrong.
If the shot breaks with the sights on the targets, that's where the bullet goes. You can hold the gun upside down and shoot with your pinky and shoot the same groups if the sights are in the same spot.
Suggesting that your preferred grip technique influences your group size misleading at best. If the gun is stable, you'll shoot well. Period.