How Have you Built Shooting Skills?

[Al-jim19]

I’ve had an LTC for a little over 6 years now, and I’ve been shooting for 7. I built a lot of skills the first couple years but then improvements started to get less frequent and much more subtle. For the last twoish years, I’m not sure I’ve improved much at all.

It’s not a fun thing to say, but I feel like a pretty mediocre shot with a pistol and probably pretty poor with a rifle. I’m a safe shooter and know well how all my guns work, but I’d like to try and build my skills.

I’m hoping for a little feedback on just how to keep getting better:

For my pistols: I can get really nice groups if I shoot slow and really focus but if I try and move to the next level and add what I consider intermediate skills (shooting faster, adding a reload, drawing from concealment) things really fall apart. How can I start to mix in additional skills or build on what I know?

For rifles: I’m pretty bad at this point, as in not really having a groups, but all my shots are usually on standard pie plate size targets at 50yards. I’d like to tighten up my groups and like my pistols start to shoot a little faster and add some additional skills like reloads.

I know a lot of responses will be to pay for some professional training, and I’m not opposed to it, but I’m mainly looking for diy at home kinds of drills or things to focus on.

 

[Hasaf]

Something I did recently (for about the past year) was to get a Mantis shot analyzer. It has made my dry-fire time much more productive. Some of the time I also use it at the range. I find that if I focus on what gives me a high score on the shot analyzer, it directly relates to higher scores on paper.

(I have no connection to the company other than being a satisfied customer)

 

[jmr40]

Dry firing will allow you to have thousands of trigger pulls at zero cost. Of course you need to be double sure the gun is unloaded and that it is OK to dry fire that particular gun. Virtually all modern guns won't be hurt at all by dry firing, but there are exceptions.

I have a bolt rifle that I bought new in 1975 that has probably been dry fired at least 100,000 times. That is 5000 boxes of ammo and priced at an average of $15/box I'd have spent $75,000 on ammo over the last 40+ years to get in that much live firing. The gun hasn't been hurt at all, and even if it had been the $75,000 saved on ammo would replace it with money to spare. I have a home office and can look into a wooded area behind my house and practice dry firing at knots on trees, squirrels, and birds. I get in several hundred dry fires every week with various guns just to maintain my skills.

Of course I get to the range at least once per month for a few hundred rounds. Even at the range a 22 is a lot cheaper to live fire than any center fire rifle or handgun. I'd recommend both a 22 rifle and handgun for cheaper live fire practice.

 

[tarosean]

Go get some professional training. If your fundamentals are not sound you really cannot move to the next level

 

[Bama59]

Basic handgun course I attended a few years ago helped a lot grip an stance. The biggest trouble as new hand gunner was with 9mm Shield , took me hundreds of rounds to get away from low left. Had great groups one day with my 5906 and Blazer 115 gr , a week later shot lousy. I'm really bad now off hand with 10/22 shooting targets ,guess trying too hard.

 

[TN Outlaw]

I agree with jmr40 about 22LR.

Buying a dependable well running 22lr handgun and rifle of whichever design you wish to become proficient with and running countless rounds through them will do wonders. Noticable improvement

Lots of dryfire practice, breathing, trigger control, front sight front sight front sight, while dryfiring will always aid in improving your skill level but with that said, nothing will top actual on the range live fire training and cheap to shoot recoil free 22LR will allow thousands and thousands of actual down range shooting for a fraction of what it would have cost otherwise.

So lots of dry fire and several bricks of 22LR mixed with what your already doing, you should see marked improvement.

 

[Al-jim19]

I get out and shoot pretty often but it’s a lot harder in the winter. I should definitely get more range time. Is it just about volume though or is there a way to maximize time at the range?

 

[Deanimator]

Incessant practice.

Back when I had the time and money, I was shooting bullseye handgun three times a week, sometimes more.

 

[stillquietvoice]

Describe your process for shooting step by step for firing both rifle and pistol. If shooting offhand you can practice holding rifle unloaded at a point on the wall start with 15 seconds and work toward longer intervals. You will shake after a short time but just hold it will train fineuscle movements and allow longer time on target. It works the same for pistol.
When I shot bull's-eye an experienced shooter Gabe me that advice and within a few weeks I was shooting 280's up from 190's.

 

[Doc7]

Appleseed. please go to one asap for rifle. You will never consider yourself a poor rifle shot again.

 

[Wisco]

You need to know what right looks and feels like and ensure you’re practicing correctly. That costs money...or a friend or family member who is willing to train you for free.

 

[brewer12345]

Trigger time on a rifle is really the answer. Take your time with each shot and develop the muscle memory. Nothing wrong for 22 for this and it is currently cheap to shoot.

I find handgun to be more challenging to develop proficiency. A bunch of trigger time and an educated observer telling you what you need to correct is probably it.

 

[OneFreeTexan]

I shoot slow,,, often with a rest, both for pistol and rifle... at my own range. Shoot every day, winter, fall, summer, spring...

Find no need to be fast,,,,, I prefer accurate, that’s just the way I am.

 

[Kaybee]

For ccw your draw is also very important.

I highly recommend a blue gun to practice drawing from concealment at home.. A blue gun is a worthwhile investment. Its great to find one modeled after your ccw, but if it’s about the same size it’s still good.

 

[labnoti]

What kind of range is available and does it cost? I pity the people stuck with only expensive indoor ranges, but if you don't have ample shooting opportunities it only means that having a plan when you go to the range is even more important. A plan consists of fundamental skills that are identified to be worked on and appropriate tasks or drills that can help you focus on this skills. For example, the "Bill Drill" is a popular drill for practicing holster presentations. Done with dry-fire and a shot timer app on your phone it costs nothing. After a few hundred repetitions, I doubt you will say anymore that things fall apart when you draw from concealment. There are other drills like the El Presidente, 5x5, Dot Torture, Hateful 8, Casino and on and on. Besides doing drills, you'll want to diagnose what is happening. If you're fast, but missing, you might check your trigger control skills and if that's the issue, you could do Dot Torture drills to work on that. On the other hand, if you're getting accurate hits, but you are slow, you might try working on drills that put time pressure on you. Timed drills are usually best done many times with dry fire before you start burning up ammo as fast as possible. Take something like the Bill Drill. Besides just being fast, it's important to use correct technique. This is where professional instruction comes in handy. If you're drawing from concealment and then "bowling" the gun up to acquire sight picture and sight alignment, you'll want an instructor that can stop you doing that and get you using correct technique before you put in a thousand reps. That's just one example of poor technique, but there are others in everything from grip, to stance, to reloads, magazine-handling, you name it. That's really the risk of embarking on an extensive practice regimen without getting good instruction first.

But once your technique is sound, you can increase the reps with the confidence you will see improvement. Have a plan when you start dry fire practice. Diagnose. Make a plan for your time at the range. Measure. Keep a record for yourself. For example, you could record your time on the Bill Drill and how many shots you dropped on Dot Torture and at what range. You should see times improve, increase in hits, increase in range. If you stop seeing improvement, troubleshoot, get help.

 

[earlthegoat2]

I shoot mostly for fun and recreation. Subjective or objective improvements in shooting are a happy bonus.

I guess I would ask what your goals are. Bowling pin champion? Three gun master? Bianchi cup?

As far as I can tell, the initial improvements most folks make in the first weeks, months, years, give them some pretty good skills as it pertains to self defense and any further and much slower improvement shows that they are still practicing and working to improve.

I believe that what you perceive as slowness in continued improvement is more manifested mentally in much better consistency than ever before. In other words, given a shooting scenario you have aced before, you think, I got this and then you ace it again. Someone with less experience may not be able to ace it with such consistency and mental clarity.

 

[Al-jim19]

What kind of range is available and does it cost? I pity the people stuck with only expensive indoor ranges, but if you don't have ample shooting opportunities it only means that having a plan when you go to the range is even more important. A plan consists of fundamental skills that are identified to be worked on and appropriate tasks or drills that can help you focus on this skills. For example, the "Bill Drill" is a popular drill for practicing holster presentations. Done with dry-fire and a shot timer app on your phone it costs nothing. After a few hundred repetitions, I doubt you will say anymore that things fall apart when you draw from concealment. There are other drills like the El Presidente, 5x5, Dot Torture, Hateful 8, Casino and on and on. Besides doing drills, you'll want to diagnose what is happening. If you're fast, but missing, you might check your trigger control skills and if that's the issue, you could do Dot Torture drills to work on that. On the other hand, if you're getting accurate hits, but you are slow, you might try working on drills that put time pressure on you. Timed drills are usually best done many times with dry fire before you start burning up ammo as fast as possible. Take something like the Bill Drill. Besides just being fast, it's important to use correct technique. This is where professional instruction comes in handy. If you're drawing from concealment and then "bowling" the gun up to acquire sight picture and sight alignment, you'll want an instructor that can stop you doing that and get you using correct technique before you put in a thousand reps. That's just one example of poor technique, but there are others in everything from grip, to stance, to reloads, magazine-handling, you name it. That's really the risk of embarking on an extensive practice regimen without getting good instruction first.

But once your technique is sound, you can increase the reps with the confidence you will see improvement. Have a plan when you start dry fire practice. Diagnose. Make a plan for your time at the range. Measure. Keep a record for yourself. For example, you could record your time on the Bill Drill and how many shots you dropped on Dot Torture and at what range. You should see times improve, increase in hits, increase in range. If you stop seeing improvement, troubleshoot, get help.

I have access to an outdoor range where I can do almost anything I want during daylight hours.

The thing that made me make this thread was the casino drill. My friend and i tried it out a few weeks ago and it was humbling. I missed a lot more than I thought I would.

 

[9mmepiphany]

Dry fire won't help you if you aren't practicing the correct techniques...more than likely it will ingrain bad habits which will take even more time and ammo to correct.

A good class covering the fundamentals of handgun handling would introduce correct techniques which you'll be able to practice on your own.

Taking an Appleseed class is the most cost effective way to learn the correct techniques of accurate rifle shooting

 

[Old Dog]

As tarosean said, get some training. It's always helpful to have someone else watch what you're doing, evaluate you, and hopefully, be experienced enough to give you some productive advice.

For ccw your draw is also very important.

I highly recommend a blue gun to practice drawing from concealment at home.. A blue gun is a worthwhile investment. Its great to find one modeled after your ccw, but if it’s about the same size it’s still good.

Make it fun. I practice drawing my blue gun from my Safariland duty holster while watch Seasons 1 and 2 of "Miami Vice" on Blu-Ray ... although my Sonny Crockett combat roll has alarmed my dogs on occasion, I will tell you seriously, that practicing your draw from whatever gun/holster combination you use daily is as necessary as the range time you spend working on your accuracy if you are a serious concealed handgun carrier.

 

[LiveLife]

been shooting for 7. I built a lot of skills the first couple years but then improvements started to get less frequent and much more subtle. For the last twoish years, I’m not sure I’ve improved much at all.

How can I start to mix in additional skills or build on what I know? ... I’m mainly looking for diy at home kinds of drills or things to focus on.

Improving shooting skills takes deliberate practice.

Check out this thread on improving accuracy and speed. While information posted is for match shooting, most posts should benefit you improve your skill set - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...-help-me-speed-up.824618/page-4#post-10902226

If you never heard/tried point shooting, it's another skill I recommend to people for fast close range defensive shooting and another drill for you to practice at the range - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...-help-me-speed-up.824618/page-4#post-10902245

Enjoy.

 

[Labguy47]

I have access to an outdoor range where I can do almost anything I want during daylight hours.

The thing that made me make this thread was the casino drill. My friend and i tried it out a few weeks ago and it was humbling. I missed a lot more than I thought I would.

Instead of going full bore remember it’s all about the front sight. Where it’s pointed, the round goes. Remember to lock it in when squeezing the trigger. Anything else is suppressive fire.

 

[Jeb Stuart]

Frequent, moderate Practice. Constantly train point shooting skills and become faster and then faster to the point that you are shooting as fast as you can pull the trigger at multiple targets. Invest in 22.cals and BB/Pellet guns for fast point and shoot skills. Do not spend a lot of time "Target Shooting" waste of ammunition.
A BB/Pellet pistol means you can train virtually every single day. In a garage in winter, backyard in summer. At the range you can shoot a lot of fast shots with a 22.cal.

For short barrel training I use these.


And love the LCR22 for Snubbie training.

 

[Rembrandt]

Competitive bragging rights is what made me a better shooter. Pheasant hunting with my younger brother did it, every time we went out he was bragging & bagging all the birds (and he made sure I knew it). Began shooting trap and skeet every week for 9 months. By the time Pheasant season opened again, the situation flipped to my favor....an he noticed. Now that may seem petty, but there was great satisfaction on my part being able to quiet him.

 

[jar]

Making mistakes. In fact I try to make as many mistakes as I can; but try to always make new mistakes and not repeat old mistakes.

 

[Jeb Stuart]

Making mistakes. In fact I try to make as many mistakes as I can; but try to always make new mistakes and not repeat old mistakes.

What is interesting is how I can have days where I can shoot the eyelash off a flea, and other days can't seem to be able to hit the side of a barn. When I am off, I know it is time to take a short break from shooting.