A year in....

So, after 1 year of dabbling into the competitive world of shooting I’ve learnt I suck. The reason I suck isn't that I cannot shoot or that my equipment always has issues. It was solely due to my lack of prep and practice. I remember being taught in the military the 7 p’s:

• Proper
• Prior
• Planning
• Prevents
• Piss
• Poor
• Performance

So, let's look at what I have learnt and move forward into the remaining few matches in the year with Quantified Performance, LLC My rule has been simple up until now - don't come in last. if I'm last then I'm not putting enough effort into it, so I am just wasting everyone’s time.

Let's talk about the blaster I'm using. I started off with a proto 12.5 from VKTR (5.56 AAC 75gr) with a borrowed Steiner (thanks Ash Hess before using a Vortex Gen3 1-10 . I had to change out the Gas system to an Adams arms due to the Can I was running.

After 4 matches' using AAC ammo which was great I had a 300 FPS drop on them just before a match, so I decided to start reloading my own shit as I needed consistency running a 5.56 in this competition.

For the finale I changed out the barrel to a 14.5 to get a little more reach and bring the groups tighter. Changed also to the new Primary arms PLxC. Together with my handloads of 69gr n540 and 75gr Ramshot Tac. The set up ran great. I had participated in the 2023 finale and one of the floridaman 2024 match's with this set up without issues with great performance.

While at these shoots I got introduced to other calibers but the one that was always at the top of the leaderboard and was interesting the 6mm max. A chubbier 5.56 round in all essence. It had the capabilities of running heavier projectiles at a great velocity in a sub-16” barrel.

So off we go into the world of 6 max, with support from @BCPrecisionBallistics and Michael Russo I started on the path of this new caliber. So, I bought the barrel and reloading supplies. This will be the first DI gun I’ve ran in a while as I personally prefer piston guns.

After doing some load development and finding my sweet spot I think I'm ready for the competition with it.

Boy I was wrong ……..

I drove up to the Arena after work, crashed out in the car then woke up and hit the zero range. Rifle ran great, had a little tweak on the zero and no clear issues whatsoever. Opened her up gave it a quick clean and lube.

Come to stage 1 …. Shooter ready Go …. weapon fires did not cycle, tap rack bang, did not cycle, tap rack bang, cleared weapon and through in the towel.

Wtf ……

Went up to a bench stripped her down, tried getting feedback from other shooters and had a list of possibilities, JP buffer died, blown primer, gas block moved, gun sucks …. problem found that the adjustable gas block has a locking screw and the damn thing stripped and the other screw walked on out. So i guessed its setting poured Loctite on from another shooter on another squad had with him and we pray..

stage 2. This is one of the first long stages out to 856. So, I said fuck it might work or I'm out for the day. I took off the Can Aswell to see if that helps.

Gun fires and cycles then it short cycles and the Double feeds……. So, racking this rifle like a single action but I hit 3 out of 6 of the engagements. So short cycling is either i need more gas or less gas …. let's put the Can back on.

Stage 3. This is a Standard stage in Quantified performance call “mid-range quantifier” This stage is how you can check your progress, I think. So, I've managed to complete and shoot this stage clean once so far.

So off we go “shooter ready” …. The gun runs but is too slow (thanks Kenny Dangfor the info) on the action, But I cleared the stage.

The rest of the day was ok I was already mentally checked out and done. I continued to shoot, and we got to stage 6 of the day and shot 3 targets clean moving onto the 2nd position and all my shots were 15mils low. wtf … my Can was loose. Next stage action gets slower and jammed.

Finished the day in the rear of the leaderboard but learnt a lot that's for sure.

Love 6mm max it was a very consistent round and profile on the impacts I was seeing. I am changing the DI to Piston ASAP. I know I gave up some accuracy, but I should still be sub-moa.

So still have some learning, tweaking and training before July 6th. Well a full rebuild i think.

Shooting a Quantified Performance, LLC match by far has been one of the best experiences entering into competition shooting. I don't think ive met any pure dickheads. I really do appreciate the help and moral support offered by Cameron Hays heckling.

On a final note, if you have never been to a match before and would like to learn and just "do gun things with gun friends" Please check out Quantified Performance, LLC