WA1500 Tips & Tricks
WA1500 / PPC1500
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WA1500 Tips & Tricks from Team Mittledeutschland
These Tips & Tricks are published on the Team-Mittledeutschland website in the german language under the title Tips & Tricks PPC1500.
They have been translated to English using Google Translate and further refined by team members at our club.
Introduction
Anyone who starts with PPC and has gained their first experiences quickly wonders what needs to be changed to achieve success.
This is of course very individual and cannot be answered in 3 sentences. Nevertheless, we would like to try to provide a few tips & suggestions that have arisen from our own experience or have been recommended by other shooters.
You are welcome to give us feedback if something worked particularly well or not. We are also open to further suggestions.
You can find an overview of the entire PPC 1500 discipline here . In the following we go into the individual matches, show the special features and try to give tips.
In the future, photos and videos will be added to visualize the individual positions and processes.
Match 1
STATION 1
– 7 meters
– 20 seconds
– 12 shots free-standing
The firearms are loaded (= always underloaded, ie there is no cartridge in the cartridge chamber for pistols, only the magazine is inserted) in the holster.
In the case of pistols, the tap may be pre-tensioned, which makes it easier to load the first shot after it has been drawn.
At 7 meters there is plenty of time in 20 seconds, so you can “cleanly” keep the 10 clean. After the first 6 shots are unloaded, reload with a speed loader for the revolver or a new magazine is used for pistols and the last 6 shots follow. Reloading takes place without a command, so it is part of the competition process and counts at the specified time.
Advanced shooters do not want to hit 10s at this station, but Xs, i.e. the inner ten, if there is a tie at the end of a competition, the higher number of Xs decides.
STATION 2
– 15 meters
– 20 seconds
– 12 shots free-standing
Identical procedure to tation 1, however the distance to the target is now more than twice as far.
If you start investing too much time here for an exact sight, you will quickly notice that 20 seconds at this distance are no longer so ample.
It is advantageous here if the firearm is as still as possible and does not jump 10 cm high. The less the firearm deflects, the faster you will be back at the target. A consistent shooting rhythm is also helpful: what good is it if the first 6 shots are perfectly positioned, but due to lack of time then the last 6 are placed nicely around the 10?
Some shooters report that they are very irritated or distracted when shooting at open stands and the sight setting is “10 seated”, which is typical for the discipline. Then you can see very nicely how the background brightly lit by the daylight – such as a sand ball catch – changes the sight image. The much used setting “cover 10” provides a remedy here, ie the shooter puts the grain fully in the 10 and covers it.
Time savings provides a reasonable Sport Holster: quick drawing, possible without resistance, facilitates the quick stop. Leather or Cordura service holsters also work, but these are typically every-day carry models and not sports holsters.
It also helps immensely if you know where the firearm is. Sounds banal, but it takes too much time if the hand has reached for the sight or even for nothing and you have to reach out. Small drill exercises at home with an unloaded firearm train the muscle memory enormously.
Also not unimportant is a quick reload: of course I want to reload my expensive cases and if I already shoot revolvers, then please unload the fired cases in my palm and then drop them into a bucket. You can do it if you have the time. The results of many shooters show that at least there is time.
If you only shoot 10s with a high X count here, you can afford such sophistication, all others give away points!
So:
– shoot
– count & know when the last shot of the cylinder is out
– do not look now how you hit it, the holes are irretrievable in the cardboard anyway
– swing out the cylinder and hit the ejector with a strong and powerful impulse: the cases fly out the cylibder and you can reload
– let’s go.
After the match is over and the RO has declared “the range safe”, you can collect your cases.
The first match is over and Match 2 follows.
As a rule, the shooters change their targets themselves, place the shot targets in such a way that low shots or ricochets do not leave any damage and open the next competition target.
At this point, an RO may leave a note on the target. For example “overtime”, ie shots fired after the end of the shooting time, or missing shots if, for example, the shooter had a firearm fault and could not fire all the shots. The notes are very helpful for the evaluators, otherwise there is a long search for these missing shots.
As a rule, the shooters have just returned to the firing line and the RO is already giving instructions on how the next match should go. You can hear that sometimes monotonous “… we shoot Match 2 18 shots in 90 seconds kneeling free …”, looks down and realises: my magazines are not yet full, the timer is still missing, my throat is dry , my hands are wet and my pulse is beating too fast.
Don’t panic, it’s all routine:
Nobody starts shooting until everyone is ready. And I’m ready when I say I’m ready. Of course, the match should not be dragged out unnecessarily.
But the RO gives everyone the time to prepare for the next station. He sees what the shooters are doing. The command “Load & holster” does not come until everyone is done with everything.
And when you are suddenly not sure what was just said, you ask. Always remember: RO’s are there for the shooter!
It helps immensely if you know the course of the discipline by heart, but sometimes the professionals still need a hint as to what comes next. The DM 2015 in Philippsburg showed that humans are not machines: at 40 ° C, some reach their limits.
Match 2
– 25 meters
– 90 seconds
– 6 shots kneeling
– 6 shots standing, left hand, left post
– 6 shots standing, right hand, right post
Many shooters find this match the easiest, which may be due to the fact that it is shot at the standard distance of every GK shooter – 25 meters – can be trained at almost any bay, even if there are completely different disciplines being shot next to or because it feels is a lot of time for few shots.
The fact is: kneeling free is a relatively unstable position that also needs to be practiced.
A little unusual for beginners is the transfer of the loaded firearm to the left hand. There are always critical processes because the muzzle comes too close to the safety area or the finger is still in the trigger guard.
It is essential to pay attention to this: Always change positions with an unloaded firearm . The change from left to right in the standing position is not considered a change of position. It should be clear that firearms always point in the direction of the bullet trap when standing up and not at your neighbors bay.
Match 3
– 50 meters
– 165 seconds
– 6 shots sitting
– 6 shots lying
– 6 shots standing, left hand, left post
– 6 shots standing, right hand, right post
Again, the shooting time seems very long, but the changes of position actually take a lot of time and fast shooting is difficult at this distance. If you have not used a timer so far to display the remaining time, you should rethink here at the latest. It is impossible to estimate the time correctly and to have neither 20 seconds nor 2 shots left brings you closer to the goal.
In contrast to the standing position, the kneeling and lying positions are very unusual. Comfortable clothing is particularly beneficial when sitting, after all we also have to be able to breathe during the 6 shots. You can often see that the forearms are supported on one or both bent knees. It feels very shaky at first, but is preferred by a large number of shooters.
Breathing is not a problem in the prone position, but many shooters find that it is not so easy to aim “uphill” without the sight beginning to blur. The frame of the glasses in the field of vision is also problematic here, remedial action provides a somewhat thicker nose pad so that the glasses sit higher.
Glasses wearers with corrective lenses are once again disadvantaged: the sharpest point of corrective glasses is ground in so that you can look through the glasses standing up straight. of course this no longer works in the prone position. Specialists for shooting glasses such as Stephan Schöggl , Manfred Müller or Stephan Zeitner can help.
However, everyone has to work out these two shooting positions themselves. Apart from the requirements of the sports regulations, which stipulate, for example, compliance with the firing point line, the shooters have quite free choice of how they sit or lie. Nobody should be disturbed on the right or left, this is sometimes difficult on very cramped bays. So if you get used to lying at 30 ° to the target, you can get into trouble in the next match.
In the prone position, you have the option of placing the supporting hand a little lower and supporting it on the ground. 1 or 2 fingers under the magazine or the revolver grip safely separate the firearm from the ground.
Here is the note again: change of position only with an unloaded firearm!
Many range officers initiate the next match somewhat sarcastically with the words “Welcome to the ever popular Match 4”.
Knowing that many very good shooters have “messed up” with the overall result. It is also too tempting: you just came from 50m, had a lot of time – which you also needed – and now you are in a natural, comfortable position again very close to the target and you just need to punch out the huge 10:
Match 4
– 25 meters
– 12 rounds free-standing in 35 seconds
– 12 rounds free-standing in 35 seconds
Of course it’s easy. Basically anyway. If it weren’t for the 35 seconds, it would either be over incredibly quickly or continue to run for 7 seconds overtime after 12 shots.
A timer is also recommended here. It is too risky to be led by other shooters. Sometimes suddenly a dynamic develops on the firing line that even hard-nosed shooters get out of step. So: use the timer!
Match 5 now follows after another target change.
Match 5
In principle, the entire Match 5 is a shortened summary of Matches 1-4, whereby Match 5.1 (= station 1 + 2) is composed of:
STATION 1
– 7 meters
– 20 seconds
– 12 shots free-standing
STATION 2
– 25 meters
– 90 seconds
– 6 shots kneeling free
– 6 shots left hand, post left
– 6 shots right hand, post right
and the Match 5.2 (= station 3 + 4) includes a pure Match 3 + another short 6 shot at 25 meters where a lot of “lousy” shots can accumulate.
STATION 3
– 50 meters
– 165 seconds
– 6 shots sitting
– 6 shots lying
– 6 shots standing, left hand, post left
– 6 shots standing, right hand, posts right
STATION 4
– 25 meters
– 12 seconds
– 6 shots free-standing
You’ve done 144 shots + warm-up in one hour, so what should you do next at 25 meters? Many know from experience: a lot.
The concentration subsides, suddenly the thirst is there again, the next competition is already in the back of your mind … and then 6 shots in 12 seconds are all shot in 6 seconds and you get annoyed.
So again full concentration and the “Ugly Six” placed cleanly so that they don’t really get ugly.
