a few comments on this and that...
1. "Accuracy" Issues: I see new 642 / lightweight j-frame shooters checking in and talking about (what seems to me to be) target accuracy at distances of 15 yards or more. As others are suggesting in some immediately-preceding posts, that really isn't what the 2" j-frames (lightweight or steel) are all about.
Remember that current SD law makes it hard to accept shooting at distances beyond perhaps 15 yards--and arguably, even 7 yards--in worst case situations. So, work on proficiency at the closer-in distances first.
2. A good beginner's SD / j-frame drill: That's
Old Fuff's "Quad 5".
Use a blank piece of typing paper.
The drill consists of
1. 5 yards
2. 5 shots
3. 5" group
4. 5 seconds or less.
There's several reasons this drill is good, IMO. First, its parameters help the shooter to start "thinking" about shooting as personal defense, and not as, for example, target-shooting, hunting long-range accuracy, or strategic shooting. SD shooting is a different mindset, IOW, and it has its own skillset.
The trick to using the Old Fuff Quad Five drill is to work on it using an educational concept called
"successive approximations". Figure you may meet only the goals of a) shooting at 5 yards, and b) shooting only 5 shots (it's a j-frame, after all). Aimed, two-handed, one-handed, whatever--accept a slower time to get the 5" group. Or, accept getting them all off in 5 seconds, with maybe a shot even off the paper. So, repeat the drill, changing nothing. As you gain those familiarization skills, your group will shrink--and as the group shrinks, you will probably subconsciously speed up.
Working with this drill will help you build your SD skillset and mindset. That's a "positive" task--to learn a new skillset--rather than "unlearning" your bullseye-shooting subconscious paradigm of "front sight-breathe-target/front sight-squeeze"--or whatever other mindset you have. The bullseye mindset could get you killed in a fast-breaking close-in situation.
Remember to change only one parameter at a time; that's critical to developing the entire 'gestalt.'
3. Shooting Hand conditioning: This one is, I suspect, the most unrecognized issue for most of us. We talk about "recoil," "the little mule," or whatever, or accuracy with a short barrel, or trigger-finger usage. For the chart noted above, those variables will work only once the shooter has figured out how to use each appropriate muscle--for example, squeezing the trigger with the finger muscles only, and not subconsciously squeezing the grip with the palm muscles.
Get a hand exerciser and use it; squeeze tennis balls, whatever--and shoot a lot. (Personally, for me this was a primary factor in building my SD skillset; I had gotten woefully out-of-shape when I started shooting my 640 and my M&P340.
That's enough for now--except to say that I suspect
wjh2657's drill outlined in
this post, for more-advanced SD j-frame skills is a good one.
And, remember jt1's advice: ...this is what the x42's are all about. Remember, at close quarters the gun is protected, not extended, and most often the off hand is unavailable, going for the knife, reload, backup, protecting family members or in direct contact/distracting the BG/'s...
I'll probably edit this post later, and do some style changes, but for now--LEARN TO SHOOT YOUR LIGHTWEIGHT J-FRAME WELL.
Jim H.