This week on the podcast, I discuss a few more issues that I think benefit from applying a values-focused approach: single action guns in Carry Optics (and Production), why the classifier system needs improvement, and why we need to focus on building a sport for shooters, not guns. To subscribe to the podcast, search “Short Course” in your podcast app, or add https://berryshooting.com/short-course.xml by URL.
#88: Major Match Schedule
This week on the podcast, I talk through the five major matches I’m planning to shoot this year, why I’m interested in them, and why I won’t be shooting USPSA Nationals until things improve.
#87: Proposed Rule Changes
This week on the podcast, I talk through the proposed rule changes dropped right before Christmas and my thoughts on whether each one is taking the sport is a positive or negative direction. To subscribe to the podcast, search “Short Course” in your podcast app, or add https://berryshooting.com/short-course.xml by URL.
#86: Overhauling Production
This week on the podcast, in light of the pending discussion of Production at the January in-person Board meeting, I present the outline of where I think Production and Carry Optics should go in light of the lack of a genuine stock gun division in USPSA and based on the apparent demand for a Limited Optics division.
#85: World Shoot XIX
This week on the podcast, I give an update on my Area 6 Director run and the World Pistol Shootout rules, discuss shooting local matches in “Production 15”, and then talk about my thoughts on why USPSA should be doing more to help out shooters that qualify for the World Shoot teams.
#84: Reinventing USPSA?
This week on the podcast, I use the ruleset for an outlaw major match as lens to examine the things that USPSA rules get right and wrong.
#83: Why Practical Shooting Matters
This week on the podcast, I talk about five different ways that practical shooting can, does, and should play a larger role in society, and why it’s important to not lose sight of that as we talk about the nitty gritty of changing the organization.
#82: Values
This week on the podcast, I provide some corrections and updates regarding the bans handed down last week, and then discuss the importance of understanding the values that underlie past decisions and the importance of evaluating if they still apply today. Links: – Pat Brown’s response letter to his suspension (slides 3 and 4)
#81: Final Bans Announced
This week on the podcast, I review the outcome of the five members suspended back in July, and discuss the issues with how little has been disclosed about what they did to earn their respective punishments, as well as their limited ability to defend themselves from unknown charges.
#80: Chrono at the Carolina Classic 2022
This week on the podcast, I talk about things that went well and lessons learned from running chrono and equipment check at the Carolina Classic this past year. For the email exchange I mention during the episode about random sampling of competitors and cheating, see this blog post. To subscribe the podcast, just search “Short Course” in your podcast app, or add https://berryshooting.com/short-course.xml by URL.
Random Sampling of Competitor Ammo: An Email Exchange with DNROI
What follows is an email exchange I had with Troy McManus, DNROI, ahead of the 2022 Carolina Classic. I don’t want to be accused of taking quotes out of context, so I’m publishing the entire exchange here for anyone interested to read and decide. The first email was sent in my best hail-mary attempt to find a loophole around the rule requiring that “every” competitor’s ammo be checked via chrono. In practice, this mandatory requirement results in no time to for random re-sampling, thus making–in my opinion–chrono easy to game, if someone were so inclined. Our original intent of this … Read More
Match Video: TSA Action Pistol – October 2022
Decided to shoot a match with my actual carry gun this month, and honestly I was very happy with it. I’ve been carrying this same M&P Compact for ten years now and I always find it shoots like a full-size gun for me. I shot it the way I carry it, with the flush-fit 12 round mag in the holster and reloading to a 17 rounder. Here’s the match video, with my thoughts on the stages and my shooting below. (Please excuse the copious smoke. I was shooting some uncoated lead practice rounds and didn’t realize just how much more … Read More
#79: Carolina Classic 2022 Lessons Learned
This week on the podcast, I go over how I shot the 2022 Carolina Classic, as well as review things that went well and lessons learned from how the match was run.
Match Video: 2022 Carolina Classic
As usual, I shot this match on staff day (Friday) and worked Saturday and Sunday. (This year, I was working chrono, which will be the topic of future posts and podcasts, but we’ll leave that for another day.) Coming into this match, I wasn’t feeling particularly trained up. I’d only shot about 5,000 rounds all year, and had no consistent dry fire schedule. To be honest, it was hard to summon the motivation to work hard at a sport that I saw as going so badly off the rails as the year went on. Since announcing my run for Area … Read More
#78: Running for Area 6 Director
This week on the podcast, I talk about my decision to run for Area 6 Director, and why I think it’s important that we stay and try to turn the existing organization around instead of quitting. As mentioned in the podcast, USPSA is requiring me to submit my nomination petition on their particular form, but they have previously allowed petitions that include pages with single signatures. I will have a paper petition with me at Sir Walter for the match this weekend, so if you’re coming to that match, you can sign it there. Otherwise, if you want to sign … Read More
How Good Could A Nationals Livestream Be?
USPSA as it is now is not really set up to be a spectator sport, and would need some significant changes to be close to as TV-friendly as something like basketball or football. That said, if we are doing the work to run a livestream of shooters from Nationals, and people are willing to watch it, what can we do to make it as good as possible? Last fall, during the Carry Optics Nationals, I was watching the YouTube livestream. It was boring, with brief moments of interesting content. I got to thinking what might make it better. With no … Read More
True North USPSA – May 2022
This was my first time back to True North in Oxford since last August, and the match was true to their usual style: almost every target partialed, tight shooting positions, and a seated start in the shoot house. I honestly wonder what the goal of such difficult target presentations is, since it definitely does not make the match a crowd pleaser, and attendance is usually pretty sparse. (A lot of folks were scared off by the threat of rain during the match and there were only 18 shooters split between two squads.) I ran “Production Optics” style, shooting my Stock … Read More
Does Staff Reset Need Better Branding?
I’ve been trying to convince people that staff reset is the way to run major USPSA matches for a while now. The match benefits from being able to get more shooters through the stage in the same amount of time. The ROs benefit from having a consistent reset process that reduces reshoots and questionable rules calls (“Was that hole pasted?”). The shooters benefit by being able to just focus on their shooting and have confidence that the score they got is the score they shot. And around here, the momentum is growing. The North Carolina Section match has been staff … Read More
SC Section 2022 Wrapup
Going into this match, my expectations were pretty low. Despite the weather turning nice recently, I had been sidelined from practicing or dry firing by a hand injury until about two weeks before the match. That said, in retrospect, I had the advantage of not having really changed my gear setup in years, so everything was very familiar. Boring does occasionally have its upsides. Going into the match, I was particularly worried about fumbling mags on reloads from further back on the belt, but that ended up being a non-issue. The one new piece of gear for this match was … Read More
Sir Walter November 2021 Wrapup – “Production Optics”
This month, I decided to take out the Stock 2 with the red dot on an EGW plate and shoot a match with it. It’d been running well in practice, and I thought it would be interesting to take it to a pretty tough local match. As I discuss at the end of the match video, I decided to shoot it with 15 round magazines, following on from last month’s match in “Production 15” (aka IPSC Production). In part because I was curious: there’s a lot of discussion about what the future of the US Carry Optics division should be, … Read More