Special Event: Safety On And Ready - A Woman's Guide To Firearms

I can't tell you how excited I am about the women's event I am hosting on the range next weekend 22 March 2015, Safety On And Ready - A Woman's Guide To Firearms. 

I want my fellow females to be armed with knowledge and confidence about the topic of firearms. For more info click here.

Those who know me, know I'm about great things and making a difference.  This my friends is different. There has never been an event like it at CISSA.

The feed back has been so encouraging and I can't wait to see you all.  Space is limited and on a first come basis.  Click here to buy your ticket now.

Breakfast of Champions

You know you're addicted to range life when you come there at 8 am on your day off to have breakfast, train and by chance observe some shotgun science.

We are lucky to have an enthusiastic member who is genius at building and designing fun courses and props for our competitions. I have affectionately dubbed him our resident "Bob The Builder", which he hates and makes it all the more fun to tease him with. 

Bob was also there that morning working on a course design and needed to do some research on the spread/pattern of the pellets that is formed when using different shotgun chokes. While I was waiting for the others to arrive to start target pistol training, I took in my breakfast and a lesson.

Meanwhile, Bob set up a series of cardboard targets at 10, 18 and 30 yards down range. Then he went at them with the modified and full choke tubes to see what would happen. The results were self explanatory...

I have to admit that my nerdy side found this fun. It was great for me as a shotgun novice to understand the effects of using a choke. (Choke tubes are short inner tubes of various diameters that are inserted into the shotgun muzzle.)

There are various size choke tubes between using the just the bare barrel with no choke and using an extra full choke tube.  The basic point is that the closer you get to full choke the tighter the pattern for a longer distance.  (There is lots of info online but I found this site particularly quick and helpful if you're looking to learn more http://www.briley.com/understandingshotgunchokesabriefexplanationbybriley.aspx)

Additionally, the particular shooting event will determine what type of pattern want to achieve and which choke to use. For a tactical shotgun course with still clay targets placed close together at about 15 yards away, we went with full choke for accuracy.

Now, the whole purpose of this excercise was to determine what would be safest and best way to use the shotgun in the three gun comp that was days away.  Therefore, it would have been remiss of me not to have spent a little time with the semi auto shotgun... after all I was there to train, right?

All I can say is that those babies are sweet. Talk about a breakfast of champions.  :)

I love range life.

Related post: 1 Shot, 2 shots, 3 shots...more!

My range family

It's hard for some to understand how I can spend hours upon hours at the range each week.

Sure I have a rigorous training schedule but that's not all there is to it. Nor is it that I get to try out all the cool new stuff but that's always a plus. Nope, the #1 reason is my Cayman Islands Sport Shooting Association (CISSA) family. For me, and many others like me, coming out on range days is about the comradeship.

My fellow members have become my extended family. We try things, buy things, tease each other and teach each other. We push each other to be the best we can be and hold each other accountable.

We are our own little community.  Some have even called it a secret society. But it is no different than any other well established organisation that brings people together on a common ground. You either like it or you don't. You either fit in or you won't.  And you figure that out pretty quickly.

Despite what people think about the club's exclusivity, we are a diverse bunch. Our membership crosses cultures, ages and genders. What always amazes me though is how people naturally find their roles and things to do within in the club...and there are always things to be done. It is the type of environment that encourages leadership as well as a balance between team work and independence. Whatever positive contribution you are willing to put in, it is received with great appreciation.

So what is it like being a woman in a male dominated sport?

It's totally awesome!

It's a lot of testosterone with a splash of estrogen. It's having a band of big brother watching out for you. It's bragging rights when they get beat by a girl. But most importantly it's respect in its truest form.

I have heard that women don't want to come out because they feel it will be uncomfortable. I never felt that way but then again, I am not the average woman.

That said, man or woman, you can't be thin skinned and you better darn well know how to hold your own because at the end of the day it is a competitve environment and no place for sissies.

Sure, as a woman, I have days when I'm emotional or in a bad mood and want to burst into tears for the littlest things. Those are the days I shoot my very best. And when I am done kicking butt I bring out the pineapple upside down cake and all is right again.

I have been told by many a comrade how having more female participation in the club has been a welcomed change to the dynamics. I can only wonder if they know how welcome a change their support and fellowship has also been to my life.

Shooting aside, I love that on a typical Saturday afternoon I can go home to the range and my CISSA family where I reign as range momma and glock queen.

Journey to Jersey - Island Games 2015

In mid 2014, I expressed an interest in competing internationally.  The next major competition that team Cayman would be competing in was the 2015 Island Games.  

At this point I had been exclusively training in the IPSC style of shooting which was practical and required more movement and strategy.  However this discipline, although internationally popular, was not a viable  option for women’s individual competitions in these particular games.  As such, in September 2014, I decided to open up my options for competing internationally by learning a new discipline, 25m sport pistol with a .22 calibre. Yes it was back to where I had started with that .22 Smith & Wesson.

There was a lot of work to do in 8 months. Switching from the powerful, fast paced, two handed IPSC discipline to the one-handed, refinery of the more delicate .22 took more than a little patience. I had to start back at the beginning, feet placement, body positioning, breathing and with the target so close it was insulting. Not to mention it was painstaking to have to keep my hand up there unsupported and steady.   

After a few  months I got the hang of the awkwardness and found my comfort zone.  With support of coach Eddie and my team mate Michaela, I was able to move my target back to the 25 meter mark and steadily increase my accuracy from  66% to 83% (see progress chart below).  Now we were having fun.  My goal between now and June is to increase and maintain my accuracy up to at least 90%.  All while still participating in IPSC events regularly because no part of me is giving that up!  

 

 

Finding "home" on the range

About three years ago something incredibly life changing happened to me.  I became a member of the Cayman Islands Sport Shooting  Association (CISSA).

I have been intrigued with shooting ever since I played duck hunt on my Nintendo gaming console as a child. While the skill it takes to handle an orange electronic gun is far from what is necessary for handling a real life shot-gun, rifle or pistol it is the embers upon which my passion for shooting was ignited. 

For years I'd heard about this gun club by the airport but for some reason could never seem to find the way there. That said, it is hard to avoid your destiny. My time came via an invite to an impromptu Christmas barbecue where I met up with a CISSA member. Somehow the topic drifted to something gun related (as it always does with us) and after expressing my interest I was invited to come out to the range.

I remember that perfect Saturday afternoon, driving down the short semi secluded dyke roads feeling as though the secret path had been revealed, the draw bridge lowered and the gates opened to receive me. As excited as I was, I was also nervous.  But once I pulled the trigger on that .22 caliber Smith & Wesson - BANG! My life would never be the same.  I'd found a piece of my that had been missing; I'd found myself home on the range.