IDPA 1911 Round Two

Bill Scott shoots an IDPA Stage with his 1911 9mm.

Our first attempt to use the Bonomo Custom 1911 (Hereafter: 1911BC) last week was a frustrating exercise in optimism gone awry.  First off, we couldn't draw the pistol out of the Blackhawk Sherpa holster.  For some reason, the trigger lock took took much pressure to release.  It was a minor miracle we were able to pull the pistol out of the holster and actually compete with it.  Then, to make matters worse, we had a bad magazine that wouldn't feed.  And, if that wasn't enough, two of the magazines wouldn't lock into place.  Somehow, we only finished third from the bottom of the "Combat Defensive Pistol" Division and actually finished 30 seconds faster than our Arizona shooting buddy, Bob Brubaker.  Our 190 second time was actually faster than 10 other shooters for the July 27th match.  Looking back, we have no clue how we were able to shoot that well while facing so many weird issues.  Luck, I guess.

OK, meanwhile, we had two rounds of company over the weekend.  Saturday I felt "something" coming on and then my fears were realized Sunday when I came down with a raging summer cold.  I made the mistake of taking some antihistamines Sunday night to stop the majorly runny nose and eyes, etc.  By Monday morning, I was wiped out--that's what antihistamines do to me.  I was at the lowest energy ebb I have experienced in many years and felt like a walking zombie.  I even took a 2+ hour nap Monday afternoon and went to bed as early as possible.  Right then and there I began to worry about the August 3rd IDPA match.  Would I be able to participate?  Could I solve the 1911BC's issues by Wednesday?  When Tuesday morning rolled around, I could barely get out of bed I was so tired.  I didn't think I'd be able to go to the range and figured I'd just miss Wednesday and hopefully pick it up again on August 10.

Luckily, by early afternoon I was feeling a little better and figured I might as well see how it would go at the range.  Prior to our company showing up, I had taken a hack saw blade to the Blackhawk Sherpa holster and cut out the retaining pin for the locking mechanism.  I tried in vain last Thursday and Friday to find a decent left-hand holster for the 1911 but there were none available anywhere in River City.  Whiel roaming online, I realized Blackhawk doesn't even make a lefthand holster without the lock.  They make such a holster for other pistols but not for the 1911.  Weird but true.

Anyway, I felt that justified my butchering of the Sherpa.  Afterwards I sought out one of the IDPA Chieftains.  His name is Elden and he's the Alpha Male at the Sportman's Warehouse gun department.  I asked Elden if he felt my newly butchered holster was IDPA legal.  After hearing my side of the story, he agreed that it would be legal.

So, on Tuesday I was relieved to find that the shade tree hack job on the holster worked just fine.  OK, one issue solved.  Meanwhile, I had worked and worked on the 1911BC's safety, moving it up and down at least 500 times.  This made it a little more compliant.  I also practiced moving the safety up with my right thumb and my right hand came forward into the grip before firing.  OK, issue #2 solved.

My Tuesday problem that wouldn't go away was the magazine feed.  I had purchased two new Kimber magazines the prior week.  It turns out one of them was simply defective.  So, to be safe after Tuesday's range session, I traded in both of the low cost Kimbers and bought the most expensive Kimbers in stock at Sportsman's Warehouse. 

I went back to the range first thing Wednesday morning and tested out the two new magazines.  Whew, they worked perfectly, so well, in fact, that they became my #1 and #2 "GOTO" magazines even over the Wilson Combat magazines that Tom included with the 1911BC. 

After two sessions at the range Tuesday and Wednesday, I felt I was shooting pretty straight and also felt that last week's issues were behind me.  Meanwhile, instead of pooping out in the middle of the day, I actually began to feel better and better as the day rolled along.  However, I can't by any means say that I was feeling 100% when I showed up out at the range for the match tonight.

OK, meanwhile, Susun decided that she was going to attend tonight's match.  That's a good thing but it sure did change the game for me.  Naturally, I wanted to shoot well and impress my sweetie.  Anyone who shoots knows that's usually not possible.  Having a Loved One attend a shooting match almost always invokes the Law of Unintended Consequences.  And so it was tonight.

Everything was going along really well.  The group said the Pledge of Allegiance, heard the obligatory safety talk, split into squads and dutifully trooped off to their assigned stage.  Our squad drew Stage One which turned out to be THE toughest stage of the match.  And wouldn't you know, I was drawn to be second to shoot.  

Somehow as I stared at the daunting stage, all my tenuous energy seemed to flow right out the bottoms of my feet and vaporize.  In hindsight, I really should have asked to be moved down in the shooting order.  it was foolish of me to shoot second.  But, hey, I was trying to impress My Honey.  If my number was called, then well, I was going to stand and deliver.  Big mistake.

Luckily, everything went well with the "Load & Make Ready" command.  However, when the buzzer went off, my brain went completely dead.  POOF.  Just like that.  I drew and raised the pistol to shoot and pulled the trigger and nothing happened.  It seemed like an eternity before I realize I had not dropped the safety.  OPPS--the idiocy factor strikes again.   Then, I was so flustered after finally releasing the safety that I didn't focus on my shots and received not one but TWO FTN's.  The dreaded FTN is the second worst penalty one can receive in IDPA.  It means Failure To Neutralize.  The FTN is a Mortal Sin in IDPA.  It means you are a total eff-up.  Boy, did I feel like an idiot or what?  I slinked back off the firing line with my tail between my legs.  It was easily the worse shooting performance in my entire IDPA career and with Susun looking on, no less.

Everyone in my squad was real nice about it and, as it turned out, I wasn't the only one to get an FTN on that stage.  Several people got FTN's too so I wasn't the Lone Ranger.  Everyone was complaining about the stage setup and how it sucked and so forth so that buoyed my spirits somewhat.  Nevertheless, another shooter's failure to hit the target doesn't justify your own lack of accuracy.

So, we moved on to Stage Two and wouldn't you know I had to shoot first.  Yikes.  Well, in hindsight, I should have voluntarily dropped down to last in the order but that wouldn't look good so I said OK.  Now this one was borderline ridiculous.  There were six IDPA targets.  Three of them were upright in the normal manner.  The other three were turned upside down.  So, here's how it worked.  One of the Safety Officers flipped a coin.  If it was heads you had to shoot the three targets that were upright.  If it was tails, you had to shoot the ones that were upside down.  However, it was more complicated than that.  After loading and making ready, you had to turn uprange to face your squad.  Meanwhile the coin flipper hid behind the Safety Officer with the timer and flipped the coin.  The guy with the timer didn't tell you whether it was heads or or tails until he pushed the buzzer.  So, for me, he yelled TAILS just as he pushed the buzzer.  So, then you had to spin around and draw and shoot the upside down targets.  Bear in mind that the location of the center of mass circle changes greatly when the targets are upside down.  Whew, I actually did pretty well on that stage and redeemed myself, scoring zero on two targets and only getting a minor time penalty on the third one.  I was able to walk back smiling to Susun and say, "See, I really CAN shoot accurately with these guys."  She thought that stage was a real hoot.  It turned out I probably shot the stage about on par with the average of my squad so I felt much better.

Susun left after Stage Two so that took a lot of "stage fright" pressure off my back.  Meanwhile, the natural rotation of the squad bumped me down to last position for Stage Three and near last position for Stages 4-5.  That gave me huge gobs of time to goof off and watch everyone else shoot the stages.  Trust me, there is a giant advantage to shooting near the bottom of the order.

I did real well in Stages 3-4, probably finished in the top half of my squad.  I was feeling pretty good by the time Stage Five rolled around.  I was shooting 3rd from last by that time and my confidence had really grown after the fiasco of Stage One.  First and foremost, the pistol was performing flawlessly.  No jams, no misfeeds, no failures to feed, and no magazines failing to lock in.  Life was good indeed.
After watching the squad shoot Stage Five I decided to kick back and NAIL that SOB Stage. 

Here's the way it was set up.  Supposedly, we were in a Wal-Mart with a bunch of psychos.  (Gee, ain't that the way it ALWAYS is?)  Well, anyway, we had to start in the shooter box and advance toward Bad Guy #1 putting three rounds in him while on the move.  Then we had to go to the end of a wall and peer around the corner and put three rounds into the distant bad guy.  Meanwhile there were two more bad guys that you could only see as you peered farther around the wall.  It was actually a pretty tough stage design as stages go.  Only one shooter before me in our squad recorded a perfect score. 

Now, as you know, the 1911 can only hold 9 rounds and this is obviously a 12 round stage.  The trick here was to shoot to slide lock and duck back behind cover for a reload.  I figured I would put three rounds into the guy while advancing and then spend four rounds on the distant guy before putting two into the middle guy and then do the reload, finish the middle guy with a shot and then dump three into the nearest bad guy. 

Well, it worked to perfection. and I scored ZERO on all four bad guys.  Not only that but my shots were all in tight groups in the middle of Center of Mass.  One of the Safety Officers gave me a High Five and several of the other shooters offered their congratulations.  Everyone was all smiles.  I said I was trying to make up for Stage One and the head Safety Officers said, "We've ALL been trying to make up for Stage One tonight, John!"

It was a great way to end the match and the evening and I was very pleased.  I must say that when I was standing there waiting for the buzzer on Stage Five, I felt very comfortable and at peace with my situation.  When I drew out that 1911BC, it felt like it was made for my hands.  I can distinctly remember a great feeling of comfort with that pistol in Stage Five.  It was like we were all acting together on the same stage with the same plan.  Me, my eyes, the grip, the stance, the sight plane, the pistol, the ammo, everybody did their part and it showed in the results.  I've shot a few stages well before but a lot of it has been pure luck.  This wasn't luck tonight and it's the first time this summer at IDPA I've had a feeling of success through practice, concentration, determination and the newfound ability to shrug off adversity in search of success in the next stage to come.

Thanks, Tom, for making this possible with your pistolsmithing wizardry.  Thanks, Wes, for your kind and steadfast encouragement.  Thanks, Susun, for your loyal and faithful support for this "shooting gig."  Thanks, Bob B. for your tips on mastering the "load and make ready."  And, THANKS to my fellow IDPA shooters for all their great camaraderie.  This club ROX!

It's been a great day.  I think I vanquished my summer cold this evening.  We're ready to move on now.

Thanks for reading.  Happy Shooting & Many Cheers, jp