I shot a PPC match last weekend in Lethbridge, and I think I did pretty well!

1st marksman class individual PPC
1st marksman class individual Duty Pistol
1st sharpshooter class team PPC
1st marksman class team Duty Pistol

Some pictures of me in action:






I wan't happy with my score in duty pistol, I thought I did not do nearly as well as I could have, but it was still good enough to win. I shot 1365/1500, or about 15 points off my personal best (1380) that I set at the Red Deer match the weekend previous. My revolver match went much better, I actually set a personal best for that match, even though, or perhaps because, I changed my ammunition to a hotter and faster charge, which seemed to produce better accuracy. Since then though, I actually set a new personal best at leage night last thusday: 1396/1500-30x.

A picture of my duty pistol (Smith & Wesson model 5946, same as the RCMP carry, except mine has a longer barrel to comply with Canadian firearms laws)



A picture of my custom revolver (Smith & Wesson model 10, same as what the RCMP carried for decades before replacement with the 5946; except mine has been very heavily modified for competition use)



I am trading off the 5946 this week for another heavily modified competition pistol, this one will be for a match that I have never fired before, because I have never had the proper equipment. I don't need two 5946s, since the RCMP is going to be thoughtful enough to give me one of my very own (or at least let me borrow it for a while!) this one is surplus to my needs. Thats OK by me, because I don't really care for the Smith & Wesson automatics. They mean well and try hard, but they really ought to stick to revolvers. Their revolvers are the cat's ass. I already have another duty pistol on order, mostly just as a fun pistol since the hard work will be done with the Queen's issue 5946, I am going to get a Sig-Sauer 220R .45 or a Sig-Sauer 226R .40 s&w... Mmmmmm..... Sig! That is what the RCMP just started to buy to replace the 5946 for the tactical teams. Basically the world standard in modern combat pistols as far as I'm concerned. I have been training hard with the 5946, but it's time to get rid of it now. I'll be loving life when I get to training and I have already fired thousands upon thousands of rounds through the exact same model of pistol...

Before I ship it off though, I am going to shoot it one last time, to see where I am relative to the RCMP qualification course... Only difference is that I only have my match ammo for it instead of full power duty ammo that you are supposed to shoot it with, but I am totally not going to spend $75 on ammo just for a shits-and-giggles thing!

The short strokes

I have done everything. There is nothing more for me to do except sit and wait now, for my medical profile to be assembled and sent to Edmonton, and for my background/security field enquiries to be completed.

My boss at work got called last week by the Constable doing the investigation, and at the end of it, (or so I am told!) she said "Wow, I've heard nothing but good things about this guy. I can't wait to meet him." So aparantly things are going pretty well!

In other news, I shot a pistol match on Saturday with the same pistol the RCMP carries for uniform duty and won my category... actually I shot better than a few people who were two categories up from mine! Qualifying at Regina on all the weapons is going to be fun... I'm not concerned about qualifying yes or no, my goal Distinguished Marksman honours in both pistol and rifle, which means perfect shooting through the 50 shot pistol course (perfect score is 250/250-50X or 50 "bull's eyes" and the 20 shot rifle course.

I need top spend a lot more time on the weights, but my running is coming along nicely... I ran a 10 KM practice run last night in 56 minutes, no slowing down, no walking, just go! That was the first time I've done that distance, so I was pretty happy with that. My end of training goal is to do 10 km in 40 minutes, which is absolutly hauling ass, but there is a lot of miles to be run before I get that fast! Based on how I felt last night at the end of the run, there is definately some more speed to pick up, or I can go for some more distance. I want to do both. I want to be able to do 20 km,0 not in any specific time, but just do it, before I go to Depot. I also want to be at 50 minutes or better on the 10 km run.

I have a lot of other fitness goals to accomplish too. I have a list of all the fitness standards that you have to complete in order to pass. I don't just want to be ablke to meet them, I want to be ar the "Superior" level, and preferably before I get there so that I have one less thing to worry about passing so I can spend more time on academics and I have less chance of getting hurt during Police Defensive Training class.

At some point I also want to spend some time at a race track with a friend of my Dad's who is a former RCMP pursuit driving instructor... rent a Dodge Charger or something and then just bag the piss out of it for a couple of days. My problem is I drive very conservatively, smooth and safe.... police driving is much more aggressive, throwing the car around and hanging it out... don't want the bad guys to out-drive you! I need to get more into that mindset when I get behind the wheel for the first time in Regina so I am not so far behind the 8-ball.

At some point too, I have to find out what edition of the Criminal Code the courses are taught out of, so I can get a copy and get to work studying up on the various acts I will need to learn... I am not hoping to teach myself the course, but it would be nice to have read through it a few times first.

But for now, I just sit and wait.