Yesterday marked the start of the week of shooting the Bianchi Cup events in practice, with a day long 600 round trip to the practice range to get started.
Shooting the various events, I look at two scores: my cold score on the events, and my best score on each stage. Cold performance is a good indicator of what I can do on demand in the match itself; step up to the line and shoot. I’m still stubbornly refusing to go prone on the practical and plates; maybe it’s in my head but since I don’t have a place to specifically train for those positions, I don’t feel like the week before the match is the time to teach myself a new skill. With the NRA Action Pistol World Championship returning to the USA next year, after this year’s Cup it might be time to actually train for that.
Back to the actual shooting – My cold run was 1724; a personal record on the Practical helped that score considerably. That’s up 29 points from last year’s final actual score. My best score of the day was a 1799. My goal this year is to shoot a 1750 or better, so I’ve definitely got that in me. 1750 last year would have been good for 21st overall; squeezing out an 1800 or better would likely drop me in the top 10. However, the closer I get to 1800, the more my small game matters; things like mounting the barricades correctly, and sadly going prone. This year I am actually mounting the barricades, so my point total on the Barricade has shot up considerably.
Now I’m heading out for more practice time. If you want to get updates from the range, make to follow Gun Nuts Media on Twitter. I’ll be updating the official Gun Nuts feed from the practice range…when I have signal.