That was fast

A fast shooter’s perspective on fast shooting follows the video.

That’s Molly Smith from Team S&W shooting Smoke and Hope, the fastest of the Steel Challenge stages. In the video, she posts times of 3.01, 2.81, 2.91, 4.14, and 2.93. Her slowest run, the 4.14 is thrown out per Steel Challenge rules, giving her a stage time of 11.66 seconds. That’s fast, but to truly understand just how fast it is you have to have some perspective. In terms of professional speed, it is very fast – on that stage she posted a better time than Randi Rogers’ Open run and Jessie Abbate’s Limited run.

So why is that so cool? Because she’s ONLY 14. She is literally half my age, and she’s shooting times on Smoke and Hope that are world class fast. In 10 years, think about how much practice she’ll have had, think about how fast she’ll be then. There is a theory called the 10,000 Hour rule, which basically states that the people who are great at something (Tiger Woods, Bill Gates, Todd Jarrett) are not necessarily more skilled innately, but have over 10,000 hours of practice at their specific skill which has allowed them to develop it. Whether or not you think the 10,000 Hour Rule is bogus, it’s hard to argue that having 10,000 hours of practice at a specific sport is not going to make you really, really good at it. To give you an idea of how 10,000 hours breaks down, for me to hit 10,000 hours of trigger time assuming I started today and practiced 2 hours a day, 5 days a week, and 50 weeks out of the year it would take me 20 years to reach 10,000 hours. I would have mastered the sport just before I turn 50.

Molly on the other hand will run into 10,000 hours a lot quicker than me, and that’s a good thing for her and for the sport. I really enjoy seeing junior shooters out there pulling triggers, and Molly has the potential to be every bit the legend in the shooting community as Jerry Miculek is.

Comp-Tac paddle holsters

Yesterday with the arrival of the mail came my second paddle holster from Comp-Tac, this one for a J-frame revolver.  My fire engine red paddle holster is a straight drop, because I use it primarily for competition with the Ruger SR9c that I’m using in IDPA and the Quest for Master Class.  This holster is set up with a muzzle rearward cant, which makes it a better choice for concealed carry as the gun when carried at the 4 o’clock position will hold better to the natural angles of the body.

I’ve had a lot of holsters, and like most gun nuts out there am always interested in finding a really great holster.  I have to say, for outside the waistband holsters, I have been ridiculously impressed with Comp-Tac’s quality.  There are some paddles on the market that really aren’t suitable for concealed carry – they may stick the gun out too far, or they may not offer the right amount of speed, or they may just be junk.  The thing that’s really impressed me about Comp-Tac’s paddle holsters is that while they do hold the gun in tight to the body, they’re still fast.  I don’t get a fistful of shirt when I’m grabbing for gun, which means I can get very fast presentations from concealment.

As I’ve said, I like Comp-Tac so much that I buy all my gear from them.  Belts, holsters, you name it – plus they really do have GREAT customer service.  I’ve had more than a few emails back and forth with them, and they’ve always been great with me.  Is their paddle holster more expensive than a lot of other plastic holsters on the market?  Yes it is.  Is it worth the extra money? Absolutely.  I have thousands of reps through my SR9c paddle holster, I’ve done things to it that would destroy a cheapo-Israeli paddle, and it’s still going along quite fine.  I’m sure that eventually I’ll break it, but I suspect that won’t happen until well after I’ve gotten my $57.50 worth of use out of it.

I actually prefer paddle holsters to holsters that you have to wind the belt through – Comp-Tac’s paddle is designed so that it’s just as stable as a belt loop holster, but the easy “on/off” is really nice.  It’s quite pleasant to be able to just remove the gun and holster as a package from the belt – it lessens the opportunity for something bad to happen with the gun if the gun never leaves the rig.

Bottom line?  I have thoroughly consumed the Comp-Tac kool-aid, and I’m totally okay with that.  It’s a quality product, great customer service, at a price that’s worth it.  You won’t be sad if you buy one.

USPSA Multi-Gun Nationals Results

As mentioned below, Jerry Miculek won Open Division, here are your winners from all divisions at the USPSA Multi-Gun Nationals.

  • Heavy Metal Tactical: Adam Popplewell
  • Limited: Kurt Miller
  • Open: Jerry Miculek
  • Open Woman: Maggie Reese
  • Tactical: Daniel Horner
  • Tactical Woman: Tasha Hanish

As usual, Tactical and Open had the largest number of competitors.  Limited Division and HM Tactical had relatively small fields, which is likely due that the bar for entry in Tactical is relatively low – lots of people have an AR with an optic, and that’s what you need for Tactical division.

Congratulations to all the shooters, and especially to the winners of this year’s USPSA Multi-Gun Nationals!

Repetition

Type the words “Jerry Miculek wins” can get very boring sometimes, because anymore it’s news when he doesn’t win whatever match he’s entered in.  That being said, USPSA Multi-Gun is a different animal from revolver competition, but Jerry’s won lots of 3-gun titles before, and so his winning the USPSA Multi-Gun Nationals shouldn’t come as a shock.  Reading the press release, it sounds like this was a great match, as the lead changed hands several times before Jerry finally sealed the deal and then held off last year’s champion, Michael Voight through a tough match.

All kidding aside, congratulations to Jerry on his bajillionth National Championship!  He’s truly one of the legends of the sport, and if we had a Hall of Fame he’d be a lock for a first ballot induction.  Congratulations to everyone who shot this year’s multi-gun nationals and again congratulations to Jerry Miculek for his win for Team S&W!