Hello Fellow Members and Visitors,
This is my first opportunity to say “Hey” to everyone. I first want to take this chance to say thank you for the opportunity to serve as your president. Most of you know that I am not a native Michigander, but in the short time that my family and I have been here we (I mean the wife) have decided that this is it, this is the forever home. As most of you know, I serve with the U.S. Border Patrol and have for almost 24 years now. I was promoted and transferred with the Agency in 2008 to the Gibraltar Border Patrol Station in Gibraltar (downriver by Trenton) as the new Assistant Patrol Agent in Charge. A little about my shooting and Association background; I have been a member of the Border Patrol National Shooting Team since 1989 and have had the chance to represent the Border Patrol pretty much around the world. In 1996, I was elected to the Board of Directors with the Texas State Rifle Association and then to an Officer’s position in 2004. I served with the TSRA until my transfer to Michigan. The TSRA membership numbers around 37,000 members or so. I am also a Life and Benefactor Member of the National Rifle Association and have served for Past President John Sigler on the Law Enforcement Committee. I am thankful for the chance to bring this experience to the MPCPA and look forward to doing what I can to continue the traditions of this Association.
Well, enough of my back ground on with the MPCPA business. As most of you know we will be holding our Indoor State match next month on April 17th and 18th, so mark your calendars for the match. We are still accepting membership applications for the Outdoor and Indoor Season. If you get your application in or renew at or before the Indoor State Match we can pull all of your scores from this year’s matches and rank you for the Top Twenty Indoor Season.
We will be taking over the NRA Outdoor Regional and run it in conjunction with the MPCPA State Outdoor Championship. Set the dates on your calendar for August 20th, 21st and 22nd. There will be a free PPC seminar for MPCPA members on Friday August 20th with open practice in the afternoon. There will be a $10 fee for non MPCPA members for the PPC seminar, all are invited. We have begun working and soliciting dates from other Clubs for the outdoor season. Keep an eye on the website for the summer schedule.
THE SHOOTERS TIP
It was discussed at this weekend’s match about having a regular shooters tip added to my corner, so here goes. I must admit that I had several people this weekend ask me about my grip and my barricade and down positions. So let’s start at the beginning, everything pretty much starts with the grip and proper hand position. Most everybody uses a standard grip where the gun sits in your hand with your thumb and fore finger making a “V” pointing straight up your forearm. I can’t stress enough that your hand needs to be as high as possible on the back strap of the gun. If it is a revolver, make sure that your hand sits all the way at the top of the grips to the shoulder of the frame. This ensures a proper pivot point for the balance of the gun and the recoil when fired. This also puts your trigger finger in its strongest position for a straight line pull. The same applies to the semi-auto; get your hand as high as you can into the back strap under the dove tail. This again helps maintain the proper pivot point in conjunction with your wrist and will better control your weapon, your recoil, and greatly reduce your recovery time to the target. Over the years, and I have done it many times myself, is not re-gripping properly after a reload. How many of you have stood there in Match 1 or Match 4 and said to yourself, those first 6 shots were right there, but after I reloaded, the next 6 went to hell. In my own experience, and talking with other High Master Shooters, you have to re-grip your weapon after a reload. You need to take that extra second and I really mean tenths of a second to grab your gun with your off hand and re-set it back into your shooting hand in a straight line with your forearm and high on the back strap. I can not stress enough to always re-establish your grip after a reload. In my next Shooting Tip, I’ll talk about how the grip transitions with each change of position.
Thanks for your time, interest and dedication to the shooting sports and the MPCPA
John C. Poole
President