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How Umarex Helped Me Become a GSSF Master

Training is an essential part of gun ownership. It helps to build the skills and mindset necessary for safe, effective handling of firearms. Of course, the best way to train is to get out and actually shoot, but there are companies like Umarex that have solutions for those times when you can’t.

The Umarex GLOCK air guns are a great way to cut cost and train safely, even at home. The air soft versions have orange tips on the barrels, but that is the only noticable difference from a centerfire GLOCK.
The Umarex GLOCK air guns are a great way to cut cost and train safely, even at home. The air soft versions have orange tips on the barrels, but that is the only noticeable difference from a centerfire GLOCK.

The need to train

As a competitive shooter, I typically shoot matches on the weekends and train during the week, after work. In January of 2020 I had set my sights on becoming a GLOCK Sport Shooting Foundation (GSSF) Master Shooter. This proved to be my most challenging goal to date.

I knew that I would have to put in a lot of hard work to make it happen, but I was ready for the challenge. Within a few weeks of setting that goal my training plans got hit by a curveball with the Coronavirus Pandemic. Businesses in my state closed, ranges were closed or limiting access, ammunition resources were continuing to be depleted and what ammunition I could find had gone up so much in price I cautioned myself in purchasing it.

Soon officials cancelled our shooting matches and I had to come up with a better solution. If I did not keep training for my matches, I would not meet my goal.

Umarex provides an alternative

The month before our state was hit with the Pandemic, I received an Umarex GLOCK 17 Airsoft gun for my birthday. This tool was really the game changer for me. The Umarex helped keep me motivated and allowed me to continue training.

I felt determined. With this motivation I tailored my training sessions with a good friend who has been a great mentor and supporter. He is also the one who really pushed for me and several others to get the Umarex airsoft guns to practice with at home for our GSSF matches.

First, we worked on specific shooting drills and then broke them up into smaller isolated areas of training. We strictly focused on the GSSF format. We split this training time up between meeting at the range for live practice sessions and working on drills at home with our airsoft guns.

Having the Umarex airsoft gun at home was convenient and enabled me to shoot more for much less than going to the range. I have other tools that I have used for dry-fire practice at home, but nothing actually puts a hole in a paper or a cardboard target. So, this aspect of it was very useful for me and it saved money and helped conserve my already scarce ammunition.

Even an air soft gun will punch cardboard. This allows for a good approximation of where your shots would hit on the range, too.
Even an airsoft gun will punch cardboard. This allows for a good approximation of where your shots would hit on the range, too.

I was able to set up my own GSSF stages and work on various drills with my timer and actually see my hits on the targets. I found myself wanting to shoot my airsoft gun every day that I was not at the range. It helped us work on specific drills at home, and then we could go to the range and use a small amount of ammo to confirm that what we had been working on was really working.

Back in the game

A few months later our GSSF matches started back up and then it was time for me to see if this type of training had actually paid off. We had been documenting our times and scores in all of our practice sessions and I knew what I was capable of doing. But when you are actually at a match, sometimes the wheels can fall off between the buildup of excitement and nerves.

I walked into a GSSF match prepared and confident in my abilities. I had worked hard and knew what I needed to do, and knew how to do it.

The Umarex GLOCK 17 Airsoft from Elite Force is an ideal way to train safely, and can even be useful for EDC and holster training, too.
The Umarex GLOCK 17 Airsoft from Elite Force is an ideal way to train safely, and can even be useful for EDC practice and holster training, too.

Thankfully my training strategy worked and all of those days when the weather was not cooperating, or I got off work late and only had a limited amount of time to practice before it got dark, or the range was busy or closed because of required quarantining, had finally paid off. I ended up with several of my personal best times/scores at those matches and by the end of October, I had reached my goal and made the rank of Master in 2020.

There are only a handful of women who have reached this ranking with the GSSF and I am very proud to be one of them.

 

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