mikemyers said:
If it's OK to ask, can I ask you which guns you prefer shooting with, and maybe "why"?
I'm curious how often you get to shoot, and whether you practice dry-fire every day, but from what you've written, you are WAY beyond simply putting holes in targets. Any thoughts of shooting rapidly, or on multiple targets, is way over my head. I'm never going to make it into high school until I graduate grade school, and thinking about college is just a pleasant dream.
Well, it'd be easiest to answer your questions with My Story. Pull up a chair.
I shot a firearm for the 1st time 8 years ago at the tender age of 43. Fortunately, I somehow figured the fundamentals were important, so I spent my first two
years doing
nothing but practicing with a .22 rifle off a bench. Sight picture and trigger control. Period. I thought it was fun and was too naive to understand most thought was I was doing was exceedingly boring.
At this point, I went to the range with a LEO friend of mine, and
she brought her old service revolver (a 3" M65 I now own). 'Course, I cocked the hammer to shoot it, whereupon she harangued "just shoot it double action, you big wuss". I did, it was challenging and I've been intrigued with DA revolvers since.
Shortly after this, I bought a 4" S&W 617 .22 and a 4" 686 .357 on the same day, and over the course of the next year, I spent my time, once again, shooting paper; sight picture and trigger control. Probably once or twice per week, with trigger pull dry fire in between range visits. Maybe not daily, but nearly so. I even kept my rimfire brass during these first 3 years, and one day, I dumped it all into a single box (pic below). I don't really know how many rounds I shot, but the box weighs about 35lbs.
Eventually, I got the itch for a little competition to apply what I've been learning. My initial thought was bullseye competition, but nowadays, most shoot bullseye with a semi-auto. I discovered the best home for a speedloader-fed revolver was in runNgun competition, such as IDPA's Stock Service Revolver division, so I started there (along with a little USPSA and ICORE) and competed mainly in IDPA SSR for about 5 years using that 686 I bought along with my 617. I was going to the range to practice about twice a week ('bout 250 rounds per week) and shooting 2-3 local matches per month, and a number of big sanctioned matches. Range sessions involve shooting for pure accuracy, and running drills (see vid below) and focused scenarios to get speed (shooting and reloading) and accuracy up.
I tried to dry fire regularly, but here, dry fire is more about efficient gun handling, reloading, movement and seeing what you need to see.
I shoot an L-frame 686 best when things speed up, but enjoy shooting anything, and occasionally shoot an M&P40 in competition for a little break. I've spent a lot of time shooting that 617 .22 revolver, too. I have about 70k rounds through the 686 and 617 each, so though I choked when writing that check some years ago, they were among my wisest firearm purchases.
Anyhow, this year, I decided to take a little mental break from handgun competition. I figured this would be a good time to work on my neglected rifle skills, so I bought a good AR15 and started practicing for High Power rifle competition. Just shot my 2nd match 2 weeks ago and it went well. Again, I try to get to the range about twice a week and dry fire regularly.
I've done well in handgun competition and have a good start in rifle competition, and I sincerely believe it's because I put the work in and laid a good foundation in the fundamentals. Simply putting holes in targets, and doing it well, is not only a worthwhile endeavor in itself, it can pay
huge dividends down the road if you ever decide to go beyond that. Lay a good foundation, and
anything beyond that is do-able. The world's your oyster!
mikemyers said:
I suspect that Murf would do all his own work on his guns, but do you also do that, or do you have a gunsmith do the needful? .........and even if Murf is as good as anyone at working on his guns, there had to be a time when HE was a beginner. I wonder how he learned.....
Competition requires a lot from the shooter and the gear, and it can be tough on revolvers. Most revo guys I know don't have the luxury of having a good 'smith on call, so out of necessity, many do much of their own basic tuning and repairs. I've had tuning done by gunsmiths, but I, too, do my own basic tuning and repairs now. If machining and/or serious accurization's involved, it goes to a good 'smith. We all just sorta learned by reading the Kuhnhausen manual, getting the right basic tools, asking questions, then slowly and carefully jumping in, just like you did.
Rimfire brass:
Speed drill: