Have a good laugh on me - working on personal defense skills

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anothernewb

anothernewb

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Man, had a humbling session at the range yesterday. Been shooting bullseye for about 2 years now, and getting reasonably decent at it, so I figured I was a capable shot. Wow was I wrong. Decided to try some PD stuff yesterday. fast acquisition of target, Walking and firing from 30 to 20' at a fixed target.

Wow. to say I sucked at it would be an understatement. I'm pretty sure even the ground wasn't in much danger from me. I'd have been knifed about 20 times over before I got in a decent shot. Draw time was fine, and I was perfectly adept at using the pistol as a deterrent - If I planned on using it as a hammer. My only saving grace there is that a 6" GP100 or an all steel 1911 DO function well in that capacity

There's a big difference between standing stable and pointing a pistol at a hanging target than there is walking along and someone randomly designating when you draw and what to target. yikes.
Thought I had a good system figured out. We had set up several targets with numbers on them. I would walk along the range (we were the only ones out there) and my friend would call out a target number randomly, and I would have to draw, aim and fire at that target. then we added walking towards the designated target later on.

Got a lot, lot, lot of work to do in instinctive shooting apparently. been concentrating on target shooting so long that I've got a skill set that's totally undeveloped.

Oh yeah - black on black adjustable target sights? Not so good for fast acquisition, lol. Neither does the instinctive closing one eye. Think I have a new understanding of fixed, large aperture sights now.

Guess I need to get waaaaay back to basics. square 1. learn how to draw and acquire target. start firing once I've got that figured out.
 
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Shooting while moving, move-and-shoot, and those skills are a completely different world than "target shooting" and as already mentioned you should get instruction before you develop a habit that is impossible to break.

Get the basics from an instructor and then work hard and enjoy it. Once I started training to acquire targets while moving and started working at move 'n shoot (as well as point shooting/flash sight picture) and such I began to specialize at this. I rarely ever "target shoot" anymore.

Even if you have to travel, a basics course is essential for safety and self teaching. And good luck!

VooDoo
 
I have to echo the advice to get professional training. You can develop a slew of bad habits in a very short time trying to teach yourself. Not all handgun techniques are intuitive.

I was just working with two kids, 11 and 13, this past weekend, whose father had the foresight to understand he didn't have the knowledge to teach them himself. Father was paying attention as I was instructing the kids and I "might" have spent 15 mins with him during a 3.5 hour session.

He told me that his shooting had improved more during the session then he was able to accomplish in 15 years of shooting
 
There are even IDPA clubs in MN

1. Faribault Rifle and Pistol Club
Club #: C0141
Location: kilkenny, Minnesota
2. Minnetonka Game and Fish
Club #: C0205
Location: Elk River, Minnesota
3. Twin Cities Action Shooting
Club #: C0453
Location: Cedar, Minnesota

But bear in mind that competition isn't training. Competition is just a test of the skills you've learned during instruction (which is training) and practiced (which also isn't training)
 
2 of the members of the twincities shooting club are NRA instructors and hold classes several times a year.
 
anothernewb said:
bummer, nothing within 350 miles of me on that NRA site.
Click to expand...
Gander Mountain Acadamy
16861 Kenyon Ave
Lakeville, MN 55044

Ask about their "Dynamic Focus Shooting" program. It's the same material used in Rob Pincus' "Combat Focus Shooting," but with a friendlier moniker.
 
if you hunt upland game birds, pheasant, etc., that would help you mentally shift gears away from static fire. it isn't the same physically, of course, but may get you to break the bullseye habit.

murf
 
You can't learn these kinds of things on your own.
Click to expand...
If this were true none of these things would have ever been learned. Someone had to learn them for the first time before they could have ever been taught and those persons had to have learned them on their own since there was no one to teach them.

That said, I want to be clear that I'm not arguing against getting professional training.

It is accurate to say that it is very difficult, very time consuming, and potentially very frustrating to try learn these things on your own and it is a very rare person who has the time, mindset and acumen to properly accomplish the task of learning these skills on his/her own. The money and time spent on quality training from a well-qualified, professional instructor is an excellent investment.

The skills learned in a good class are compiled from the life's work of many different instructors and professional shooters.
 
JohnKSa said:
If this were true none of these things would have ever been learned. Someone had to learn them for the first time before they could have ever been taught and those persons had to have learned them on their own since there was no one to teach them..
Click to expand...
I guess it could have been more accurately posted that they can not be easily learned on their own. I guess it is just implied
 
Relax. I treat everyone as an adult until proven otherwise. The poster states he competes in bullseye which infers He has a basic understanding of at least the 4 rules. If he has that I think the FoF course which involves *airsoft weapons* only may be an excellent primer to the shooter deciding to train for defensive purposes. It gives you insight from the start why movement is life, instead of spending years at a static range mastering the perfect trigger pull and sight alignment and then reaching the epiphany that most reach when they eventually do FoF. Without a doubt the basics must be understood before expounding upon them. However, I think the sooner someone does FoF, the sooner they 'get it' and it helps one to understand *why* certain techniques/approaches are being taught.
 
Thanks for the links, Appears to be instruction in Alexandria, about 45 minutes from where I live, which is not too surprising considering the law enforcement academy they have there. Looks like there are a few in Minneapolis as well - not a city I prefer to visit, but doable.
 
Try some IDPA matches if there is one in your area. Not perfect but will help alot.

Jim
 
Real world defensive shooting and weapons manipulation skills are often overlooked, even by long time gun owners. We are fortunate enough to have several training outfits who have their ***** together here in Michigan. It's not uncommon to see students in some of these outfits' entry level classes who have been "shooting for years", but never before looked into actual defensive training. By the end of the class you can see the lightbulb coming on in their head; they usually have revelations about what works and doesn't work about their carry gear (some realize that their "favorite" carry gun isn't the most practical), and what skills they need to practice and continue to learn. The old adage, "You don't know what you don't know" is in effect here.

Most gun owners have spent thousands on guns, holsters, and ammo, but not training. Sell a gun or two, sell some of those fancy holsters that barely come out of the drawer once a year; instead of buying a new gun, put that money into a training fund. If you haven't invested in training on the use of these tools, you're wrong.

If you don't have any quality training outfits in your area, then take it upon yourself to save up the money, and travel out of state for a multi-day training class with outfits who offer classes nationally like Sentinel Concepts, Gun Site, SIG Academy, OpSec Training, Magpul, etc.
 
1. You are doing great to be shooting bullseye. While you should never make an SD shot at 50 yards, the capability to do so shows proficiency with the gun.

2. Competition. All competition invokes stress. Stress simulates (to some extent) a real-life situation. How you perform consistently under stress will be an important determinant in a real-life situation.

3. IDPA / instruction. Get some.

4. Sights; while my target guns get one set (for me it's ultradots), my SD/HD guns get fixed basic sights with white dots painted on.
 
If it's any consolation, I had roughly the same experience the first (and only) time I shot in a 3-gun match. Moving and shooting is a whole 'nuther ballgame from shooting while stationary, even when the target isn't shooting back. I think I finished 64th out of 68, and 4 guys were DQ'd. However, I did accomplish my main 4 goals:
Avoid shooting myself.
Avoid shooting anyone else.
Avoid getting DQ'd for a safety violation.
Learn something.

:D
 
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