Aiming high Crotsley named to AF Action Pistol Team

Published Oct. 22, 2015
By John Parker
Staff Writer

TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- Competitive shooter Eric Crotsley learned early in life that marksmanship can have its perks.

When he was 5, his Air Force dad entrusted him with his first pellet gun. On trips with his father to a trap-and-skeet range in Abilene, Texas, Crotsley took aim at cans of sodas - one quarter at a time.

"They shoot little clays that are orange, and I used to set them up and as the old-timers would walk out I'd say, 'Hey, if I hit that would you give me a quarter?" Crotsley said. "I was basically already in competition at 5."

The technical sergeant's latest perk is his selection this month to the elite five-member Air Force Action Pistol Primary Competition Team. The team gets together a few times a year to compete, conduct clinics with young shooters and contribute to the Air Force's recruiting efforts.

Kelly Raglin of Tulsa, Crotsley's shooting coach for the last several years, said the Air Force's decision was "fantastic." Crotsley's "got it all," he said.

"He is quick on his feet. His eyesight is amazing. His target transitions are phenomenal," Raglin said. "I just can't say enough about him. On top of that, he's a great young man."

An instructor section chief with the 373rd Training Squadron, Detachment 9, Crotsley was drawn to Action Pistol competition in 2008. He watched a monthly competition at an Oklahoma City gun range and started with the next tournament. It triggered his passion for the sport ever since.

The Action Pistol squad is one of nine Air Force Shooting Program teams that compete in national and international tournaments. Action shooting requires competitors to move between firing positions and hit multiple steel and/or paper targets with speed and accuracy.

A sound-detecting device records the timing of shots fired for scoring, with other scoring based on proximity to the bull's-eye if paper targets are used. The outdoor matches roughly simulate an ambush with targets close by or up to 30 yards away.
A shooting course typically features obstacles such as simulated walls and corridors. Each stage, or round of shooting, involves firing up to 30 shots or more.

"You basically just try to find the fastest and most efficient way to shoot that course, and the faster you do it and the more points you score on the targets, the better off you're going to be in the match," Crotsley said. "Points per second is what it comes down to."

Crotsley's competition weapon is a custom-built 9mm semiautomatic "2011" (based on the Colt 1911 pistol). The modified grip is large enough to hold a 30-round magazine.
He competes most often in the top-level "open" division, which allows him to modify his weapon with a laser sight and a compensator that prevents the barrel's upward movement during recoil. "Obviously, the second shot on paper is going to be a lot faster than if you're waiting for the recoil impulse to go away," he said.

Before shooting, competitors are allowed to examine the course and figure out the fastest way to finish it with two shots on each paper target. Reactive steel targets fall down when a bullet hits them.

"When the buzzer goes off, it's like a big adrenaline rush," Crotsley said, "and you have to execute the plan that you have in your head. Your heart rate gets up and if you're shooting a target 30 yards out, that's a long shot with a pistol. Breathing comes into play big time."

Shooters can be slowed down by misfires, jammed cartridge cases and sometimes just going too fast, Crotsley said.

"Sometimes reloads don't go so well because you reload one or two times per stage," he said. "I've put a magazine right past the gun going too fast. Then I have to reach down and get another one.

"Those things affect your mental clarity of what you were doing because it didn't go well. Now you're not thinking about shooting - you're thinking about getting more bullets in the gun."

Crotsley was chosen for the Air Force team, whose members serve at different duty stations, largely due to his competition accomplishments.

They include beating multiple world champion Jerry Miculek to win the High Plains Shotgun Challenge Match in 2012. He finished second in the open master class division and fifth overall in the 2013 Pro-Am in Florida, sponsored by the United States Practical Shooting Association. He also shot the highest military score there.

Crotsley is currently a master shooter, which is just below the top grand master level. Grand masters must be 95 to 100 percent accurate in classifying shoots. Crotsley's current average is 90 percent.

Competitive shooting is an expensive sport when it comes to top equipment. Crotsley's custom pistol cost him about $5,000, he said. He saves money, however, making his own bullets for about 12 cents each.

"The kicker is you have to order everything in bulk," he said. "So I order 4,000 bullet heads and a thousand primers at a time because you get really good discounts when you do it that way."