Ending the 2018 Shooting Season with a Win

The last match of the year is always bittersweet. I love the thrill of competing and testing my skills on a challenging course of fire.  I tackle my match schedule with intention and specific goals. Having an offseason and break is not only vital to my success as a shooter, but it’s also something I look forward to. Yet, I always feel a bit sad when a season is over.

My final competition of 2018 was the NRA Action Pistol Region X, also known as the Show Me Cup. It’s hosted by Pioneer Gun Club at my home range. Competitors from as far as Barbados gave it a go, including members from the US Army Marksmanship Unit. The support this match gets from volunteers throughout PGC’s membership makes it special and a big shout out to all who worked the match!

When it comes to the weather forecast, October is always iffy. It could be 90 degrees or we could have snow. Last weekend it was rather chilly and wet. In a sport where every X counts, keeping the hands warm and dry is important. 

One thing I enjoy in Action Pistol is that you’re often able to self-squad. You get to decide what stage to shoot first and in a way, it feels like you can choose your own match destiny. Normally I prefer to start on the Moving Target Event because I will be the most nervous with those first-stage jitters. Why start there? Because it is usually the final stage I shoot at the nationals, the NRA Bianchi Cup. I like feeling that extra spike of nerves at smaller majors because it helps me to prepare for the big moment.

For the Show Me Cup, I decided to change things up and shoot Barricade first. It’s been several months since I shot Bianchi. I’ve been away from competition and to close out the year, I wanted to shoot the best score possible. Barricade is a stage I feel confident shooting and a good run meant I could start the match shooting 48 out of 48 hits in the 10-ring. My first stage went well. I didn’t have as high of an X-ring count as I would have liked, but I still shot clean.

Next, I opted to shoot Mover. It’s my second best event of the four and I have even earned a National Record on it. I find I shoot the Moving Target well after a few practice sessions. They help me relearn my aiming points and keep the gun moving. With my last run on a Mover back in June at Cameron Cup, my goal was to track the dot and be soft on the trigger. 

In retrospect, I shot this stage a little too quickly. I was concerned about keeping my hands warm as the drizzle started to pick up. The faster I shot the stage, the better chances were to keep the rain from affecting my ability to see through my MRO red dot too. I had several flyers, but I called each shot as it broke. 

For my third stage, I chose Practical. Not having practiced support hand shooting for the past few months, I knew it might be difficult to find the dot on the weak hand string at the 10-yard line. It was. I had quite a few hits outside of the center. With my previous competition, the Rimfire Challenge World Championship, I reverted to speed mode and shot a little too fast at 25 yards, but still, I was pleased.

I left the Plates for last. Most Open Division shooters consider the Plate Event to be the easiest, especially since the times are liberal and you can go prone for additional support. This season, I really struggled with plates. At the beginning of the year, I decided to change up how I shot the stage. Consequently, I dropped more plates in 2018 than in any other year. Knowing it was my last chance to perform well for the season, I saved the plates and the pressure to clean them for last.

The Plate Event consists of 8 strings of fire on a plate rack with 6, 8-inch plates. You shoot 2 strings from each of four fault lines at the 10, 15, 20 and 25 yards. The time limit for each string at the 10 is 6 seconds. An additional second is added at each distance — 7 at the 15, 8 at the 20 and 9 seconds at the 25-yard line. In other action shooting sports, the goal is to clean the rack and knock down each plate as fast as possible. You can also take additional shots if you need to. In Action Pistol, you can only take one shot per plate within the time limit.

My competition background lies mostly in speed events. In the past, I shot the rack as fast as the dot settled onto the center of each plate at a fast but comfortable pace. This season I decided to train like other successful Action Pistol competitors and use up my time on each string. I also opted to shoot right to left instead of my favored left-to-right. The combination proved to be rather unsuccessful. For my final match of the year, I decided to shoot how I know I shoot best.

I walked up to the 10-yard line, turned on my dot, checked my grip and raised my wrists above my shoulders for the start position. My final thoughts before the buzzer were “dot, settle, press.” Each plate fell easily for both strings at the 10. 

At 15 yards, I had the option to go prone, but I decided to stand and shoot. I wanted to prove to myself I can do both at any time. I followed the same plan at the 10. It worked and I cleaned each run quickly at the same pace as the 10-yard line.

I set up a mat to shoot prone at 20 yards and ensured I had a good sight picture before standing and assuming the start position. Instead of looking at the plate rack, I focused on where I wanted to set my pistol down on the mat. Prone is so steady to shoot from, but you cannot take these shots for granted. You have to respect each one and move on no matter if the plate falls or is left standing.

Both strings of 6 plates fell easily at the 20 and I walked up to the final position. I kept my eyes low and on the ground. I felt good, focused and I didn’t want to break it by looking up and getting distracted. I adjusted my dot during my sight picture and took a deep breath and repeated my mantra.  All 6 fell easily.

The final string of the last stage of a match can be the hardest. You have hopes and expectations that can sometimes creep in and affect your focus. You can become distracted by the potential outcome or what you hope to happen instead of respecting each shot. I knew that I might start to think about all the plates I missed this year and how this was my last chance to take on the plates in a major for 2018. And I did! But I let the thoughts happen. Then I made a mental swipe and focused on taking one shot at a time.

The buzzer sounded. I don’t even remember hitting the ground in prone. I only saw the dot and felt the trigger as each plate fell. I cleaned them! My friend Jim Reynolds who happened to be a range officer for stage clapped me on the back after I unloaded and bagged my firearm.

That’s the Julie I know!” he exclaimed.

I felt relieved and happy to end on a positive note. Though some changes can be good, you can’t argue with success. I ended up placing 2nd High Master and taking the Ladies Title. I have lots of room to improve, but ended my season with a win.

Many shooters take the easiest, most comfortable route when they train. For me? I need to know the pressure. It’s the best way for me to learn how to work with it, not against it.

I’m already looking forward to 2019. I have awesome guns and gear thanks to Smith & Wesson, Trijicon, Federal Premium, Liberty Safe, Safariland and the incredibly talented Jec Clark of Clark Customs. Next year is going to be exciting for Action Pistol too. With 7 NRA Regionals, the NRA Bianchi Cup and a newly announced Action Pistol Triple Cup Challenge aggregate series, 2019 is a great year to give it a try.

Have questions? Hit me up on social media or send me an email. I’d love to help you get started!