22LR practice handgun

[BP Hunter]

I have heard that practicing with a 22LR handgun will make you more proficient with a higher caliber handgun. OK...I am looking for a 22LR handgun that I want to purchase to improve my handgun shooting skills. Will a revolver suffice as a good trainer for both a semiauto pistol and revolver or a semiauto for both types of handguns?

Thanks for your inputs?

PS. No, I do not want to purchase one of each.

 

[Searcher4851]

Since sight picture and trigger control are the essence of good shooting, either one would serve your purpose of improving your general shooting skill.

 

[M-Cameron]

I have heard that practicing with a 22LR handgun will make you more proficient with a higher caliber handgun. OK...I am looking for a 22LR handgun that I want to purchase to improve my handgun shooting skills. Will a revolver suffice as a good trainer for both a semiauto pistol and revolver or a semiauto for both types of handguns?

Thanks for your inputs?

PS. No, I do not want to purchase one of each.

well first off....its not really a 'press button, receive bacon' type deal....

just because you shoot with a .22, its not going to automatically make you more proficient....


and revolvers and autos handle differently, so training with one likely wont do too much for the other.

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

If an auto pistol, the main gun of your choice with an accompanying .22 conversion unit will give you the best of both worlds. I see little point in transitioning from a revolver to a pistol, however; the trigger actions are very different.

I have heard that practicing with a 22LR handgun will make you more proficient with a higher caliber handgun.

It helps, and practicing frequently with the .22 is better than only occasionally with the higher caliber, but you cannot duplicate the big gun's recoil.

 

[BCRider]

ANY shooting will make you better. But to get the most out of a .22 practice pistol it should be of the same type as your center fire guns that you'll be using the most. After all, while a lot of the same skills are needed for both semi and revolver the grip style used to hold each are very different and in the case of revolver you're going to want to use DA since in either defensive use or in many styles of handgun competition you'll be shooting in DA.

A lot of folks will suggest that the guns which are convertable are the way to go so you're practicing with the same trigger pull and frame fit. THere's definetly merit to this IF you only have the one gun and no intentions of getting any others other than the .22 conversion. But if you're like a lot of gun nutz and will have a variety of guns then using a conversion kit over a separate dedicated .22 becomes pretty pointless.

As mentioned it won't replicate the big gun's recoil so most of the gains to be had from the .22 are the speed and accuracy of a draw and first shot and the basics of stable hand gripping and even trigger pulling.

I also found that it's great for kicking out any flinching issues. One or two magazines of rimfire to work on a steady and stable hand grip and trigger pull then transition to a mag or half mag of center fire while your "Zen" peace of mind is still flowing. As the flinch comes back unload and clear and go back to the .22 for another magazine or two. Doing it this way I kicked a bad flinch out in about 1000 rnds of .22 and 200 of 9mm.

Remember that the .22 won't make you a better shooter unless you also do your part. Work on your grip steadiness and evenness as well as your trigger pulling until you can get 2 to 2.5 inch groups of 10 at around 10 to 15 yards. Then work at slowly speeding up your shots while keeping them all within a 3 inch group at the same distance. When you can dump all 10 rimfires into a 3 inch circle at 10 yards in about 15 seconds with no or maybe just one stray I'd say that you will have your grip and trigger work down nicely.

It also helps to do a lot of dry fire drills on your center fire gun. A good test of a smooth and steady grip and a smooth and directly back trigger pull is when you can balance an empty casing on the slide just behind the sight and then pull the trigger through 10 hammer falls then you've got it. If it's a striker fired gun have someone perch the casing after each slide cocking.

 

[BP Hunter]

Thanks for the info. That's what I like about this forum in that I get more usable information than I ask.