My first tattered target

[Route666]

Hi Everyone, I've finally done my pistol induction, it was a lot of fun, even the sitting down lecture bit, since there were four of us it was very relaxed.

This wasn't even practice really, just familiarisation with handling a pistol. We didn't have all that much time to shoot.

The outer ten-ring is 2 inches diametre.

This was 5 sets of 5 at 5 metres, first two sets were two-handed, slowly.
The third set was one handed.
The fourth was two handed, in ten seconds.
The fifth was in our own time, I did it two handed.

(I have no idea where the 25th bullet went either)

At first I had my finger in the trigger too far in the guard, but the guy helping me told me and I fixed that up. As I said earlier, I didn't really have much time, so I didn't aim all that much.

So what do you think for a first timer? Suggestions on fixing the off aim?

http://www.thehighroad.org/attachment.php?s=&postid=851990

[SDC]

If the pad of your trigger-finger wasn't centered directly on top of the trigger , that COULD explain why your group is centered off to the left; it's also commonly seen among new Glock shooters, who end up "jerking" their shots to the left when they feel the trigger start to tense up. What range (yardage-wise) were you firing this group at?

[Route666]

5 metres, approximately, which is about 5.5. yards.

Also, I've been having trouble replying to you for the last 10 minutes or so.

[Route666]

I tried not to jerk the trigger either. I've been reading a lot on techniques, holding, etc. I've examined the trouble target, that shows you what you're doing wrong. I don't think I'm following through either which could explain the off aim as well.

I didn't know how hard to grip. My grip seemed weak, but any harder and it started to shake.

Also, I found the trigger difficult, not hard to pull, but it only moved about 1/8th of an inch very firmly before it went bang, so I could really squeeze it, because as soon as I started squeezing, it would go bang.

How much of a fluke would those dead-center shots have been?

[Navy joe]

You will figure out your grip, stance and trigger problems. Just recognize an imperfect shot and try not to do whatever you did wrong again. Learn to recognize a flinch and either stop shooting or correct with dryfire. Try different things with grip and stance, see what you like as far as hard or soft grips and such. One suggestion for now is to work with a target whose total dot size is about the size of your ten ring. It will help you refine your aiming point to the same exact spot every time. Aim small, miss small you know? Saze all the fast and fancy stuff for after you can break the shot every time and have it go where you want.

[Route666]

Thanks for the encouraging advice. I'll explain the situation.

Here in the great state of Queensland, in the land of the wizard of Oz, you have to be a member of a pistol club for 6 months, and have shot a minimum of 6 competitions before you can apply for a pistol license. From then on, you must shoot 6 comps, and attend the range 4 times for every type of pistol (rimfire, black powder, centerfire, air).

In the pistol induction they told us what to shoot, the rapid(ish) fire, and one-handed (if we felt like it). Next I have to do a coaching course, in which they show us how to hold better, etc, and we do another 25 rounds.

The club also has things you have to do to advance. You have to do 6 competitions in .22 or air pistol. Then they'll endorse your reccomendation for a license. So no dry-firing for me for a while. After that, you can do the centerfire revolver course, and must shoot 6 comps in that before they will endorse you getting a centerfire pistol.

The police and the club are both trying to discourage people who aren't genuinely interested in pistol shooting, which I can understand to an extent, but it really is a whole lot of stuff to do.

Oh, and once you get your license, you can have a maximum of two handguns for the first year, and one MUST be an air pistol.

I don't mind, as I don't have all that much money, and I just want to shoot .22 for now, and get a Beretta 87 Target and shoot that for a while. I'll move onto centerfire later. Good thing about .22 is that it is cheap, and low recoil, making it really enjoyable.

You don't have to worry about me flinching, I don't really understand why people do it. I just concentrated on aiming, and slowly pulled the trigger. The gun is gunna go bang, but you're holding it, so it shouldn't hit you, why flinch?

Oh, one thing I noticed, was that at home, and for years before hand, while I was a kid, I would always hold the gun with my left foot forward. For some reason at the range I had my right foot forward.

[SDC]

One thing that you might find helpful (not possible with a lot of air pistols though) is "dry-fire" practice; this is aiming at a target with an unloaded pistol, and maintaining that sight picture while you squeeze the trigger all the way through the pull. As long as you don't jerk the sights out of alignment when the pistol finally "fires", you should be able to keep your shots centered in real life too. You don't say if you're left or right handed, or what sort of shooting you're doing (bullseye?), but the normal stance for a right-handed shooter while firing a "precision" event like bullseye is to have your left foot stepped back a little, and the left hand hanging loose or tucked into your pocket.

[Route666]

I'm right handed, and will be doing bullseye type competitions, and eventually get to action type stuff in a couple of years. I won't be able to do much dry fire practice because I can't own a gun for at least another 6 months, the only ones I can use are friends or the range guns.

[atek3]

get an airsoft pistol similar to the CF you'd like to get. That way you can check out its ergonomics and "dry fire" with a little bit more 'feedback'

atek3

[Route666]

I think you need a license for one of those too :(