I had the range at my Gun Club all to myself for the first half of my trip today. This particular club has a 10-lane, indoor range. There are usually 3-6 lanes in use at a time, during Mon-Fri mornings.
I set out the PPQ, loaded 2 mags, and warmed up by emptying each mag into 8 inch bullseye targets, from 50 feet. After that, I started working with my usual targets-- police/swat training silhouettes.
I was still alone for the first silhouette, and I really keyed in on trigger squeeze. I have a particular way of grading my targets, and my average score in each of the last 3 weeks has been 84%. My first run today was 87%. Off to a strong start!
As I was sending out the next one, 3 guys walked in together, and started to set up.
I stayed focused, trying to feel the same squeeze, every shot. Score for run #2 was 85%, but would have been higher, had I not flung one round 6" high. Still, squeeze felt good.
Loaded 2 more mags, and saw one of the other guys throw me a thumbs-up. I like neighborly interactions at the range, so that was cool.
Run #3 was more emphasis on squeeze, and zero loss of focus. 92%! Good squeeze was coming easily, and I wanted to keep momentum.
Run #4, I had a great groove going, and put 7/15 through one hole, at the top-left corner of the 10-9 line. 91%, because the top of that hole was on the 9-side of the line. That was the tightest group I had ever printed, and was 1/2" of placement from being my best score, ever.
After that, I had 10 rounds left. I put 5 in each mag, and sent out two bullseye targets. Now, I usually fire while breathing freely. For these, I actually focused on slowing my body down, and fired at the bottom of each of 10 breaths. 5 on the left, 5 on the right. I must admit that I (badly) slung a round in each group. 4 good shots in each, with one flier in each group printing 6 inches off. Even worse: the first was 6" high, the second was 6" low, 2" left. Ugh. Still, I was very happy with putting 3/5 from each in the middle, and one from each within 2" of the middle area.
When I went out to the lobby, one of the guys came out, and complimented me. He said my shooting "was pretty much textbook", and asked where I learned to shoot.
I said, "Have you heard of Rob Leatham?"
"Absolutely."
"I watched him, on YouTube." /shrug
It was a great day at the range!
I hope others will continue to post range trip anecdotes in here. Feel good threads are great, and I know a lot of you are considerably better shooters than me. I like having more to aspire to!
OP, thanks for starting this. I loved reading your post, and seeing the pics!
