Full video links from last weekend added to those posts, here's the stage I am most proud of though:
Full video links from last weekend added to those posts, here's the stage I am most proud of though:
26th Match: 2024 GFDS and Southern Bobby-Q Maryland State USPSA Championship, September 28th , 2024
(1st Major Match!)
PCC Division, with my usual Keltec Sub2000
Placement: 2nd Place, B Class PCC
160th of 276 overall (57.5%) | 15th of 28 PCC (60%)
Scores: https://practiscore.com/results/new/ddbeab35-0147-48e2-9011-652373e1d413
Video: https://youtu.be/I08td7kNdnE
MD State Championship complete! As noted above, this was my first major match, and very exciting. My entry was sponsored by MD Arsenal, and ammo by Hill Top Arms, and additional support from my friends at Car Care Complete. A big thanks to them for supporting me!
I went into the match with a mixed feeling of trying to do my best because I felt I had a shot to get the B Class PCC win, but also recognizing that I should try to have fun, learn, and of course be safe and don't DQ. Since Thurmont is close to me, I took off work Friday to walk the stages and watch some of the staff shoot. It was a rainy, dreary day, but definitely worth the time to get familiar with the stages and have time to come up with a stage plan that makes sense without the stress of a 4 minute time limit, and the whole squad walking it at the same time like it is before shooting each stage day of. Alex, another regular at MD Arsenal also walked stages with me Friday, and we got some good plans which I think were especially helpful on some of the larger stages.
Saturday was the day we shot, and we got lucky on the weather. It was humid, and did drizzle a little bit, but compared to the day before or the day after, we definitely had the best weather day for the event. I got there early and walked the stages again, since I checked in the day before I was free to review the stages and then wait to get started.
This match was split into two zones, which I think worked well. In the morning, we shot Zone 1, which was stages 1-5, and we started on stage 3. I am just going to stick to the highlights, not a full stage by stage. Overall, the morning was a bit frustrating. The first two stages each had two misses, and of zone 1 I only had one stage with a hit factor above a 5. Then the 3rd stage (stage 5) I had a procedural FTSA because I stopped myself because the gun sounded weird. After being present for Bea experiencing two cracked case deals just in the last few months, I wasn't going to take chances. Fortunately, I only had one target left for the stage, so only 1 procedural, but still unfortunate. I guess since I stopped myself on a squib call that turned out to be incorrect, the scores were left as is. I didn't fight anything, and figured it was best to just play it safe and do the best I can the rest of the day. There was no squib round, and everything seemed ok. The only thing I noticed was that since I have one "primary" magazine for PCC, a 33 round Glock mag with a +10 extension, when stages often don't use the full mag, I would just reload the magazine as is. Those bottom few rounds were getting pretty dirty, so I suspect maybe something to do with that caused the weird sound.
After those stages we had a break for lunch from Southern Bobby-Q. It started out as a decent length break as we would be starting on Stage 8 after lunch, and we were done with lunch before them, so then the stage 8 ROs needed their lunch break. The break got extended further due to a medical emergency. One of the ROs there at stage 8 got stung by a bee, and to make a long story short the ambulance was called. Fortunately, he is doing ok, and was home from the hospital that night, but definitely a scary situation.
Zone 2 for the afternoon started off with stage 8, which was a fixed time stage with two strings. I was actually looking forward to this after the classifiers two weekends ago, I felt I had a good shot at a decent performance. For string 1, I did ok. String 2 was a disaster. Apparently when I made ready for string 2 before walking to the forward shooting box, I did not fully seat the magazine. So, I got one shot, then a click, then on my tap/rack/bang my angled foregrip fell off! I managed only two shots on the second string. Obviously, the mag seating issue was my fault which is frustrating. The foregrip I 3d printed a few years ago, I knew it had a crack, but I wasn't expecting that. That part was quite funny. The rest of zone 2 went pretty well and we ended on stage 7, which was by far my best stage for the day. I got 3rd PCC on stage 7, which I am pretty happy with.
Overall, when I got home and really could look at the scores, I could see that while I felt like I left some on the table, I did not do as badly as it felt in the moment. After the rest of the competitors shot on Sunday my final placement is 2nd place B class PCC. Initially there had been 11 or 12 registered, but a few dropped out leaving 8 total PCC/B competitors, so no second-place award, but that is still pretty cool.
Funnily enough, even if I had sandbagged and held myself back to C class, I still would have been 2nd place in class. Goes to show I made the right choice in not trying to game it.
All in all, it was a great time. My next level two will be the DelMarVa section championship in April, and I will be staffing the match. (RO class in January) I think the Keltec will retire from competition now, at least regularly. I think I will go back to PCC at some point, but likely with a "better" PCC. Until then, I begin to work at my Carry Optics skills now with my Canik.
MD State Video: https://youtu.be/I08td7kNdnE
In reply to slantvaliant (Forum Supporter) :
I like it! Saved it to my phone, I'll have to send it out to all the shooting buddies on Valentines day. 
27th Match: MD Arsenal USPSA Outlaw, October 7th, 2024
Carry Optics Division, Canik Rival-S, Holosun 407a, Standard mags, MAGMO EDGE grips.
10th of 20 overall (62%) | 4th of 9 Carry Optics (64.7%)
Scores: https://practiscore.com/results/new/f59104da-7e74-4f4d-ae97-0cdefc720d85
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZTH1Bke3aI
It's been a busy last couple of weeks, but last Monday was the monthly outlaw match at MD Arsenal, and my first real match on pistol. Ahead of time I got my dot put back on the pistol and verified zero and adjusted my belt and mag pouches to how I wanted it for pistol. I also decided to take the mag well off, so that it fits in Carry Optics. Limited Optics brings in all the 2011's, etc, so there's no sense in going to that division yet.
Overall, the match went well, but on stages 1 & 4 I had malfunctions. Both were double feeds, with two different mags. That part was frustrating, I definitely would have been probably 2+ spots higher placement with no malfunctions, but that's all part of the game, I guess. I really can't complain too much for more or less my first time on pistol. I had run the outlaw match once before with the Canik before I had my belt setup or a red dot and was very slow. I also brought the Canik to the Hill Top event once, but that was also without the dot I believe.
I got my Taylor Freelance Mag extensions this week, so I don't know if that may or may not fix my double feeds. (Though, also on the ~100 rounds I used when I put the dot back on I had zero malfunctions...) I'm going to give it at least one more match and see how it does. I may swap springs as there are some recommended replacements for reliability improvements. The double feeds I think are more mag related though, so I may also test out using MBX mags since they are the top of the line in this game.
And just since I haven't had many pictures in this thread for a while:
28th Match: MD Arsenal USPSA Outlaw, November 4th, 2024
Carry Optics Division, Canik Rival-S, Holosun 407a, Standard mags, MAGMO EDGE grips. (+ TF +4 Basepads & Rune Followers)
6th of 19 overall (77%) | 2nd of 6 Carry Optics
Scores: https://practiscore.com/results/new/fb370245-a564-4d9f-8c91-532dded44141
After last month's frustrations with double feeds, the only thing I changed was I got my +4 basepads from Taylor Freelance. They are nice, I got the brass models, so they are hefty, and the Rune follower allows for an extra round, I believe I am getting 23 rounds most of the time now. Since the Rival-S had some manufacturing changes, I also have 1"x1/8" O rings on the mags to prevent over insertion. I was skeptical of this at first, because with the factory magwell, they kinda stuck a little bit instead of dropping free, but I decided to go the carry optics route for now and skip the magwell, and they fall free just fine this way. I figured this way if I get a polymer Rival as "backup" or similar, I can use the same mags just take off the O rings instead of getting Rival-S specific basepads.
Now, unfortunately the basepads did not solve the double feed issue. I had another double feed on the first stage, which naturally slowed me down a lot. It was about halfway through the magazine too. One of the other guys there, Alex, also got a Rival-S and had previously recommended me getting the spring kit from Rune Tactical as his has been running smoothly. He was also kind enough to let me use his slide for the rest of the night to test out. Stages 2, 3, & 4 I ran my frame and his slide, and it ran smoothly! I forgot where I planned my mag changes on stages 2 & 3 both, but overall did ok.
Stage 4 I did really well with the 2nd place score for the stage. Stage 4 was set up very closely to the 22-04 classifier, the calm before the storm, which I did with PCC back in July and completely bombed. This time I got a 6.91HF, which would have been roughly a 64% B Class run if it was officially a classifier. I am pretty happy with that as I still feel like I'm getting used to the pistol side of things. We'll see how it goes for real this weekend. Shadow Hawk has a special all classifier match this weekend that I am doing on Saturday so I can have a baseline Classification for Carry Optics.
I did order a spring kit from Rune Tactical, but will it be here before Saturday....
And just for fun, here's a picture of our musical guns fun from the evening. I kinda really like the Darkside black slide on my chrome frame.
So how did you do at the steel challenge match?
I have since done three steel challenge matches and a three gun match as well.
I tried shooting my VP9 instead of my Canik meta just to see how I would do as the VP9 is my edc and I did better. The dot on it is a green dot that is solar powered with a 2.5moa dot. Now I never liked it as much as the dot on my Meta for general range stuff but for steel challenge having a bigger and overly bright dot made transitions so much faster.
It was also fun to see people looking at my VP9 and being like there is no way you can do that with that pistol.
I am torn as to what to try next. I have both a DWX and a Czechmate. I shoot both extremely well but then I will be playing with the big boys and I am just there to have fun and try new weird stuff.
My other new experience is three gun. So much fun and generally the people seem much more relaxed. I used my meta my LMT Marz h and my Benelli M2 three gun. I put a SRO on my M2. It is the cheat code for shotgun.
I am definitly doing 3 gun again. So much fun.
In reply to dean1484 :
Steel Challenge match performance was meh. Out of 27 PCCs, I was 21st.
Being my first steel challenge, I'm not mad at that or anything, though I had hoped to be slightly better. Since that one had all 8 Steel Challenge stages, that gave me a classification, I believe I missed making B class on that by 1% or so.
If they have a similar match locally next year I might go, being a level 2 match it had some perks. I'd probable try a different division just to have fun, either pistol or rimfire. I had a good time, but it's not the type of match I plan to pursue often, I just enjoy the courses of USPSA matches more.
Note to self before next Monday's outlaw match:
Installed 14lb recoild spring, 6lb stricker spring, & the upgraded extractor spring. (On the Canik.)
It's been a bit since I've updated here. Some shooting has happened, though not a ton. I'm going to keep the updates brief since it's been so long. Also limited video because I've been lazy.
29th Match: Shadow Hawk Defense USPSA Special Classifier Match, November 9th, 2024
Carry Optics Division, Canik Rival-S, Holosun 407a, Standard mags, MAGMO EDGE grips. (+ TF +4 Basepads & Rune Followers, borrowed slide with Rune Springs)
Scores: https://practiscore.com/results/new/9a39cc85-cb14-4364-9bf1-7860da100cb4
Long story short, this was a 7-stage match, all classifiers, so I brought my Canik so that I could get a baseline classification for Carry Optics. I figured I should be able to get at least C class, though B was the true goal since that's where I'm at with PCC currently.
Initial classification uses the best 4 of your first 6 classifiers, and since the match was a special all classifier event, I believe the best 6 are taken into account.
So I just barely made B class with a current classification of 60.67%!
30th Match: MD Arsenal USPSA Outlaw, December 2nd, 2024
Carry Optics Division, Canik Rival-S, Holosun 407a, Standard mags, MAGMO EDGE grips, Rune 14lb recoil spring, 6lb striker spring, & the upgraded extractor spring. (+ TF +4 Basepads & Rune Followers)
4th of 11 overall (72%) | 2nd of 5 Carry Optics (90%)
Scores:https://practiscore.com/results/new/e5ffe0af-f5bf-4bf5-8036-50e8cb3026d5?q_division=0
The big takeaway from this match was that I put upgraded springs into the slide, recoil, striker, and extractor springs, and the gun ran flawlessly. Hopefully it continues that way!
January:
They took the month of January off for the outlaw match, but I did take the USPSA Range Office class and got my certification. This will be put to use in April as I am on staff for the Delmarva Sectional Championship. Looking forward to it! Another plus side is a bunch of the local level 1 matches are offering a free entry to a match for new ROs, so I have about 5 matches this year to go do for $0 entry.
Side Plot:
Not completely related, but I started in September with a 3-month program with a friend who is a coach, kept on with him since then on a monthly basis. Macro tracking, and working out. Currently weight training 4x/week, and 25 minutes of cardio per day. Shooting for 15 more pounds, then figuring out a good maintenance routine so I don't gain it all back.
I've officially lost an entire weight plate (45lbs). There was multiple factors in why I finally decided to do something about it, but I do enjoy practical shooting, and seem to be half decent at it, so if I can help that along a bit with less weight and more agility, all the better.
31st Match: MD Arsenal USPSA Outlaw, March 3rd, 2025
Carry Optics Division, Canik Rival-S, no changes.
8th of 19 overall (67%) | 3rd of 7 Carry Optics (67%)
Scores: https://practiscore.com/results/new/3eaddc43-e129-4e89-9d7b-999f65839a63?q_division=0
First outlaw match of the year! It was a bit rough... I'm a bit rusty, and I had two malfunctions. No video this time, I realized on my way down that I forgot my magnet mount.
Stage 1, I was slow, and I had a double feed (Mag#1).
Stage 2 felt really good, my stage plan worked well, and the gun ran fine with Mags #2 & #4.
Stage 3 was crap because of a double feed, mag #3 this time. Very short stage, so any delay screws it up.
Stage 4 ran fine with mags #2 & #4 again. The gun also got a basic cleaning & lubing before this stage. Hard to say if that was the issue, but I feel like it should be able to run without needing cleaned super often.
So yeah, the malfunctions are frustrating. Too many variables. Also, every time it happens; I question whether I should've saved a little longer and got a Shadow 2. I think for now I am going to keep trying to run it, with tweaks to try and fix it, but I wonder when the sunk cost fallacy applies.
I have been running O-rings on the mags to ensure no over-insertion problems. The general concern is the baseplates not stopping the mag from slamming into the extractor, but I'm pretty sure that's only a risk if you load on slide lock, which is very rare in competition. Weather this is part of the double feed issue, I guess we'll see.
It's also curious to me that the double feeds seem to happen around the 3-5th round in the mag roughly. Not sure what that could mean.
I do still have other recoil springs I can try, but I'm not sold on that solution yet.
In good news, I got into the local fish & game club, so I'll have access to that range soon. I believe one pistol bay just has a bunch of steel ready full time, so I can blast through some rounds quickly and test things out.
Over the weekend I cleaned the Rival-S a bit more in depth, and then took it to the range.
I also ditched the O-Rings on the mags. I don't think over-insertion damaging the extractor is a major worry for me. It seems like it would only really be an issue on slide lock, and while slide lock reloads aren't very common in competition, it should really never happen for me since the mag followers I have in these magazines do not slide lock.
No malfunctions during the range trip this weekend, so my hopes are high again. I'll just plan to keep the gun cleaner than I had been.
Got signed up for the USPSA match with West Shore Practical Shooters this coming Saturday. As a benefit from taking the RO class earlier this year, 7 local clubs have offered to comp 1 entry to their level 1 matches, so I plan to utilize as many of those as I can. 5/7 are within no-brainer distance, the other two I'll have to decide if I want to make the trek that far.
Great thread (which I had missed until today), and great progress!
Competition (of any kind) is the best way to hone skills.
Some of those indoor stages are crazy, at least they seem that way when you're used to shooting outdoor stages!
In reply to Rodan :
Welcome to my thread!
The competition stuff is definitely a fun time, great community, and great training in gun handling.
31st Match: West Shore USPSA, March 15th, 2025
Limited Optics Division, Canik Rival-S, only change was bolting on the factory mag well.
35th of 64 overall (59.85%) | 15th of 22 Limited Optics (60.97%)
Scores: https://practiscore.com/results/new/58fb2375-a968-41b3-bc7b-49df559a6f39?q_division=0
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-hE5JYo04E
Went up to the West Shore USPSA match for the first time the other weekend and had a great time. I did have a double feed malfunction on stage 2, still not sure why... After the last range trip, I was hopeful, but it's still happening at least sometimes. One of my fellow competitors said he has some spare MBX followers and springs I can try; I have Rune springs/followers currently. We'll see if that helps, I guess.
Other than the one malfunction the match went pretty well. One stage I had some makeup shots and knew it, so I did a standing reload before the last target, come to see after I finished that I would have had just enough rounds to finish. Not mad at myself for the reload, because I had the awareness in the moment to not run empty, but I guess in the future I should attempt to note how many makeup shots I can fit in without reloading. Things like this though are nice to see, I've been able to progress from the nerves of the time Beep and go time, to now I am comfortable enough to just got shoot and have enough presence of mind while running through it to think about some of these things.
I did put my mag well on and shoot in Limited Optics because I figured why not. I'll shoot it enough to get a classification and then switch it back to Carry Optics setup. I know classification is kind of arbitrary, but I like seeing the letters. Over time I'll definitely try to have a basic classification in each division.
The best part about this match was that there was a photographer there the whole time who got some awesome shots! Other matches have some photographers sometimes, but most of them I've seen just kinda float around and shoot. I liked that this one just stayed on stage 1 and got pictures of each person on stage and a squad picture of each. Pretty sweet!
This picture was also helpful for my training too. The face of concentration is a little funny, but it made me realize how much I bring my head down when shooting. I think most people agree that it's better to keep your head straight and bring the gun up to your eyes, so that's something I'll be working on.
Squad 1!
Looking good!
The face of concentration is a little funny, but it made me realize how much I bring my head down when shooting. I think most people agree that it's better to keep your head straight and bring the gun up to your eyes, so that's something I'll be working on.
It's not going to affect the performance much in a particular moment, but ducking your head and pinching the shoulders forward will create a lot more fatigue. Fatigue is cumulative, so you may notice an improvement in later stages by keeping your head up. As noted, the better technique is to bring the gun up to eye level. Same goes for carbines.
In reply to Rodan :
The fatigue aspect makes sense. I was getting my hits just fine, so it does work. Room for improvement though, so I'll try and take that into account. Hopefully I can get that habit fixed in this next month, DelMarVa Sectional is 12 stages, so that's going to be a long day. (Then two more days ROing for the rest of the match!)
32nd Match: MD Arsenal USPSA Outlaw, April 7th, 2025
Limited Optics Division, Canik Rival-S. (Mag #1 & #2 with new MBX Springs/Followers)
4th of 19 overall (88.3%) | 1st of 4 Limited Optics
Scores: https://practiscore.com/results/new/1fbba7d4-e6a8-447a-995a-99be40bcc592?q_division=0
Video: (None for stage 1, I was first up and forgot to turn on the camera.)
Stage 2: https://youtu.be/RTeuAdd9GsY
Stage 3: https://youtu.be/Mt_TVDd5L0E
Stage 4: https://youtube.com/shorts/3BbYqCvjnfE?feature=share
Pretty successful Monday night at the MD Arsenal Outlaw match. Alex, my fellow Rival-S shooter lent me a pair of MBX mag springs and followers to try and see if those fix the double feeds I've been having. I installed them in my #1 & #2 mag and only used those two mags for the match. No malfunctions to speak of so far! I am going to give it a bit longer before I am confident that that fixed it, but my fingers are crossed!
Overall it was a pretty solid night until stage 4. Stages 1-3, I was 3rd, 2nd, 2nd, with different people beating me each time, so I read that as not being the "best" in the group, but I had been the most consistent. Then stage 4, I snagged two No Shoots, and that killed my scores.
Stage 1 & 2 were both solid short courses. I am getting better at shooting while on the move.
Stage 3 was a fixed time, 5.5seconds, and I nailed it pretty well. Time doesn't count for fixed time, but I did have the fasted time...
Stage 4 was a close-ifier, not official, but basically the same as 24-01, Can you Strong and Weak hand?. Good practice, obviously accuracy needs some improvement since I snagged two No Shoots. I am fairly sure each one was on the strong hand and weak hand parts, so I'm not too mad about it.
33rd Match: Shadow Hawk USPSA, April 13th, 2025
Limited Optics Division, Canik Rival-S. (Mag #1 & #2 with new MBX Springs/Followers)
77th of 121 overall (49.5%) | 30th of 40 Limited Optics
Scores: https://practiscore.com/results/new/e1c68208-392c-409c-8ec6-cdde50c7e3a7
Video: https://youtu.be/U-6kjVVdtsc
Went to Shadow Hawk this weekend with high hopes having had a malfunction free match earlier in the week at MD Arsenal. My squad started out on Stage 6, where I had a slow start. Movement seemed slow, and the further out shots I didn't feel real stable on.
We then moved to the classifier 24-04, where I had a malfunction on string 2, and botched the reload on string 3. I also somehow both cut my thumb and gave it a blood blister. Nothing terrible, just annoying. I grabbed a bandage from my range bag and went about my day.
The only stage that really felt good was, I believe, stage 4. Had a good stage plan, stuck to it, and ran it fairly well.
The rest of the stages went similarly meh overall.
I had two more malfunctions throughout the day. These were all with the two mags with the MBX followers and springs, so unfortunately that isn't the fix. At this point I'm not sure what else I can do, so I have reached out to Canik and I am hopeful that they can help me somehow.
The only other thing I can think to try is MBX mags, they are supposed to be built better with thicker feed lips, and an improved feed angle, but they're $110/each, so it's an expensive experiment. Fortunately, my friend Alex has some he said I can use for the DelMarVa Sectional since his runs fine with his factory mags & extended baseplates. That'll be a 12-stage match so, it should be a solid test.
I'll be taking the mag well back off for DelMarVa to run Carry Optics. I do plan to do a little more with the Canik at least to get a LO classification. Past that, I may pickup the Keltec again for a bit if the Canik keeps pissing me off. I've definitely contemplated selling it and replacing with any number of alternatives, but when it runs I do really like it.
I have shot both the rival and the mete. I also have a new TTI. Out of the three I shoot the Mete Sfx the best. Never had a malfunction ever. It is one of only a couple pistols I have that I consider to be a "cheat code". Maybe see if you can try a Mete. If you were close by I would have you shoot mine.
Do you ever travel up to MA for matches?
In reply to dean1484 :
I appreciate the offer. I haven't traveled that far for a match so far. Not likely to terribly soon either, I'm having a kid in a couple months so I'll probably ease off the matches at least a bit for a while. Definitely not stopping, I enjoy it too much to stay away for long. Hoping to keep up with 1 match per month.
I've heard great things about the Mete SFX, and the poly Rival too. One of my shooting buddies ran a poly rival for quite a while and only had issues after ~1500 rounds of no cleaning. I've definitely considered grabbing an SFX or a poly Rival since my mags & holster would still work, but I really do like the weight of the steel frame. I think if the Rival-S doesn't work out somehow, I may have to get into a Shadow2. 2011s are also tempting, but a bit too deep of a money pit for what I want.
Edit: I think my local range has a Prodigy in the rental cabinet I might test out. That would be an affordable 2011 platform, but still could become a money pit too. Worth a rental though to check it out.
Uploaded the video from Shadow Hawk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-6kjVVdtsc
I also contacted Canik about my recurring malfunctions and they defaulted to having me send it in for warranty. I got it sent in, so now I wait 6-8 weeks to see if they send mine back or a new gun, or what. Hopefully they tell me what they do to resolve it, but their communication skills haven't been great.
In the meantime, I have a level 2 match next weekend, and no Canik. Recently when I was chatting with my LGS they said they'd be interested in having me run one of their PCCs to see how it does, so once I sent the Canik in for warranty I asked the guys at Hill Top Arms if they were serious about having me run one of their guns, and they were. So I'll be running their PCC at Delmarva. Should be a fun time!
First impressions, even a fairly basic AR style trigger is worlds better than the sub2000 trigger even after the work I did to it. Length of pull alone is a giant difference. It is heavier than the keltec (metal vs plastic lol) not too heavy though I don't think. Bolt closed mag changes do require a good bit of effort to seat the mag, so that'll be a little interesting, but there's only a couple stages that I'll need to deal with that on, so I'm not too worried about it. It'll be interesting to see how well I can run it having been on pistol for the last few months.
AWSX1686 (Forum Supporter) said:Bolt closed mag changes do require a good bit of effort to seat the mag, so that'll be a little interesting...
You may already be doing this, but downloading by one round from capacity will often solve that problem.
Is that PCC a straight blowback, or delayed blowback? I built an AR9 a while back, but didn't like straight blowback with a suppressor so ended up selling it.
I am interested to see what they find with your Canik. I have way over 10k rounds on my mete and it has been flawless. Mine was purchased before manufacturing was moved to the US and it is well known that there were some QC issues in the beginning runs of stuff in the US. When did you get yours?
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