{"id":5036,"date":"2010-07-21T01:57:09","date_gmt":"2010-07-21T06:57:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.downrange.tv\/blog\/?p=5036"},"modified":"2014-01-04T11:38:01","modified_gmt":"2014-01-04T17:38:01","slug":"the-quest-for-master-class-%e2%80%93-staying-dry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.downrange.tv\/blog\/the-quest-for-master-class-%e2%80%93-staying-dry\/5036\/","title":{"rendered":"The Quest for Master Class \u2013 Staying Dry"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Another good weekend under the belt for the Ruger SR9c in the Quest for Master Class. Sadly, it wasn\u2019t such a good week for our cameras, as the Sunday rains in Indiana prevented us from getting out to the range for our drill of the week and video shoot. The Ruger SR9c did get another 273 rounds of Remington 115 grain FMJ ran through it during the Saturday Steel Match, however. That means for today we\u2019ve got two topics \u2013 the first topic comes from the Steel Match, and the second is our practice tip for when the weather doesn\u2019t cooperate.<\/p>\n

Why Steel?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Obviously, what we\u2019re doing is the Quest for Master Class, specifically IDPA\u2019s 5 Gun Master designation. So why would we branch out from that and shoot Steel Challenge like I did on Saturday, or USPSA like I\u2019ll be doing this Sunday? The answer is simple in the case of Steel (and for USPSA, but that\u2019s next week). Steel teaches you two extremely skill sets that make you a better shooter at whatever you do: faster transitions and aggression. In Steel Challenge, each target gets one hit \u2013 that means if you do a stage perfectly, you\u2019ll fire 5 shots per run, one for each target. In Steel Challenge because each target only requires one hit, you spend the majority of your time transitioning from target to target. Swing too far past a target and you\u2019ve cost yourself time, break the shot too early and you\u2019ve done the same thing. This is tremendously beneficial for an IDPA or USPSA shooter, as cutting the transitions on a string of fire can have enormous time benefits. Look at the IDPA classifier, for example. With the exception of the first three strings of fire, every single string on the IDPA classifier involves transitioning from target to target.<\/p>\n

The second major benefit to Steel Challenge is the aggressive quality it instills in shooters. Steel is unforgiving. You have<\/em> to hit each target, there are no overlays or appeals or \u201cjudgment calls\u201d in steel. You either hit the target\u2026or you missed and you keep shooting until it\u2019s a hit. That\u2019s where the aggression comes in to play. The great shooters at Steel Challenge understand the balance between attacking the course and playing it safe. It is entirely possible to shoot every stage at a Steel match and hit five for five on every target\u2026but you\u2019ll probably be too slow to win. The more you shoot Steel, the more it teaches you to attack the course and to leave everything on the range. In fact, Steel is perfect to teach this because it has the \u201cthrowaway time\u201d. In a Steel Challenge match, each stage fired is 5 strings, and the slowest string is thrown out. A great way to teach yourself to attack a course is to play is reasonable safe on the first four strings, and then go for it with everything you\u2019ve got on the 5th<\/sup> string. When you see how fast you can go, it encourages you to be more aggressive on the first four strings and the next thing you know you\u2019re shooting strings under 5 seconds\u2026then 4 seconds, and then who knows? This directly benefits you as an IDPA shooter. The rules of IDPA in many places encourage timidity in shooters, cover, slicing the pie, and reloads with retention are not \u201caggressive\u201d techniques, and yet consistently the IDPA champions are shooters that also shoot Steel Challenge and USPSA, sports that reward aggression.<\/p>\n

Staying Dry<\/strong><\/p>\n

The second part of this what to do when you can\u2019t get to the range. How do you keep your skills sharp when the weather doesn\u2019t cooperate? The answer of course is dry fire. If you\u2019re rained out like we were on Sunday, that gives you an opportunity to perfect your techniques in dry fire. In this week\u2019s video, we look at the IDPA Reload with Retention, and simple drill to practice the reload so that the next time you shoot the classifier, you won\u2019t freeze up on the Third Stage where it\u2019s required.<\/p>\n