How Have you Built Shooting Skills?

[entropy]

Part natural ability, part having a Dad and his friends who were good at teaching it, and military service. I learned Bullseye pistol shooting first, then picking off rats at the dump up at the cabin. Rifle, pretty much the same thing, though 3 position instead of Bullseye. I learned to snipe the rats with a Rem. 572. Shotgun, my Dad's best friend Rich was a great wingshot, and started me on a hand trap, then Skeet, then Trap ranges. I found the rifle and shotgun skills are retained better than pistol, it requires more practice to get good at, and to retain the skill.
Then I went into the military and basically had to relearn to shoot rifles, but I was wise enough to listen (I was about 5 years older than most of my Basic platoon) , and set my ego aside.

 

[illinoisburt]

Best practice for rifle is airgun. Needs to be about same weight and size as your centerfire with similar sights. I wouldn't recommend anything with very high fps as it defeats the purpose of easy indoor practice and low cost. Shoot a tin or two per month, starting at short range (like literally 25 to 30 feet) and extend out as skills progress. After a few months practice you will be amazed the difference in offhand shooting skills.

 

[FL-NC]

Perfect practice makes perfect. Its really difficult to improve any skill without working with someone who is knowledgeable and can observe and critique your performance. Once a "base level" is achieved, improvements come with that perfect practice. Shooting is one of many skills that that can't be effectively "self taught". Also keep in mind that people who are highly skilled at any discipline are always skilled at applying the basics.

 

[ATLDave]

Three words: Comp. Uh. Tishun.

Competition will force you to learn things. Competition will expose you, for hours on end and at relatively little expense, to people who know stuff you don't. Competition will give you some motivation/energy to really work through problems.

Competition is not the only answer to your question, but it is a runaway leader. The fact that you'll have fun and will make a bunch of new friends is just kind of a bonus.

 

[LiveLife]

Its really difficult to improve any skill without working with someone who is knowledgeable and can observe and critique your performance.

OP can post videos for us to provide critique. In Competition category, members frequently post their match videos for us to "armchair review" and provide feedback - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/my-competition-journey.836825/

Video recording of me running through a match stage was one of many tips that really improved my shooting. Like football coach showing the team video of the game, it readily shows where all the mistakes were made. In the same manner, first time I saw myself shoot I could not believe how many mistakes I made and how slow, awkward, inefficient, etc. I was.

Most people have cellphones that can record video. You can ask another person to record your shooting at the range or devise a selfie stick to record by yourself.

OP can run the steps and drills outlined in my previous post and video record for us to critique - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...u-built-shooting-skills.848074/#post-11061333

 

[ATLDave]

And unless you're really unlucky, if you're moderately (or less) skilled, it's just about guaranteed that a competition will put you around people who not only are more skilled, but who are happy to help you get better.

 

[jmorris]

Best way I know of to judge what skills you have and how you improve them over time is to compete.

If pistol stuff is what your after right now, find a local USPSA, IDPA or other club. It will take you a couple of matches to get the rules down but after that it’s all about how well you handle yourself and firearm.

 

[Jeb Stuart]

Personally just like to compete with myself. Nothing wrong with competition with clubs etc. Did enough competition in sports all my life, until I learned to like the freedom of being alone. Invest in a timer, set goals etc. I know exactly where I want to be with my carry. Know what distance I want to be proficient at, what gun I want to be proficient with. In fact, love winter, when it is very cold outside. No one else at the range, have it all to myself. Do not care for groups, or crowds. Hate waiting in line to take a turn etc. Just me. everyone is different.

 

[LiveLife]

And if you want to be proficient at defensive shooting distances, try some point shooting drills - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...-help-me-speed-up.824618/page-4#post-10902245

So you can do things like these with practice - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/point-shooting.814672/#post-10428857

 

[jmorris]

^ I agree steel targets and a timer will let you know how you improve too.

You can change sizes to make them easier or more difficult.



Even make them moving targets.

 

[John Joseph]

If you're already an accomplished bulls eye shooter your basic shooting skills probably already exceed those of most people you'll see at the range.
It is taking those skills outside the limitations of the bulls eye match that is the next step.
The old police combat revolver course is a nice entry, IMHO.

 

[LiveLife]

We should get back to helping the OP ...

How Have you Built Shooting Skills ... 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.

 

[JR24]

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.

I have started always bringing a rifle and pistol to the range. If I'm having a "bad" day with one, I will almost always have a great day with the other. Very rare to just be off with both (usually due to the kids being up all night (no sleep) and drinking too much AM coffee).

For the OP, I've got no advice for rifle other than work the fundimentals (or get training), I've always been a pretty good shot with a bolt gun just from growing up hunting and many, many rounds down range.

For pistol, if you're feeling good about slow fire and have good fundamental grip and trigger press, a really good drill I like is the Dot Torture. Start close and slow, and when you are making all or 90% hits, start going faster and moving back. It gives you slow fire, target transition, mag reloads, strong and off hand, everything but moving and is easy to print off and tack to a cardboard target.

https://pistol-training.com/drills/dot-torture

 

[Olon]

Personally just like to compete with myself. Nothing wrong with competition with clubs etc. Did enough competition in sports all my life, until I learned to like the freedom of being alone. Invest in a timer, set goals etc. I know exactly where I want to be with my carry. Know what distance I want to be proficient at, what gun I want to be proficient with. In fact, love winter, when it is very cold outside. No one else at the range, have it all to myself. Do not care for groups, or crowds. Hate waiting in line to take a turn etc. Just me. everyone is different.

Going off of what Jeb said. I printed off a ton of SR-2 targets and started keeping score. I tally up each of the targets and take notes on conditions and what not, then put it in a binder. Recording my results and chasing my own PR is motivation enough to get me to improve, and it's encouraging to see the score go up over time. I'm sure professional instruction or organized competition would work more quickly but I like this way because I can do it on my own terms.

Folks say something along the lines of "what gets watched gets changed" but they say it more eloquently. I've found this to be true. Keeping track of how I'm doing in an organized manner has yielded more improvement than simply shooting at something and hoping I hit it more often than not.

 

[Captcurt]

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

This helped me more than anything. I joined the local gun club and was tutored by a friend who took 4th in State in 3-gun IPSC. We shot IDPA once a month and had a smallbore precision match every week. That helped with the handguns. Then I started shooting informal skeet with another friend who runs 98% on the skeet range and 75%-80% on sporting clays. When shooting with either man, I was shooting for 2nd place.

 

[caribou]

I shoot things.

Then I reload and shoot some more

 

[Casefull]

I.e. Shoot a lot.

 

[J-Bar]

For both rifle and handgun, focus on pulling the trigger without disturbing the sight picture. This means following through and looking at the sights after the sear breaks ( if dry firing) or after the shot goes down range if shooting live ammo.

If you can consistently pull the trigger without disturbing the sights then group size will be a determined more by the inherent accuracy ( or lack of accuracy) in your ammunition and the firearm itself. It is easy to say, hard to do. After 60 years of shooting, I still occasionally jerk the trigger. But trigger control is still the most important part of shooting accurately.

 

[Casefull]

For both rifle and handgun, focus on pulling the trigger without disturbing the sight picture. This means following through and looking at the sights after the sear breaks ( if dry firing) or after the shot goes down range if shooting live ammo.

If you can consistently pull the trigger without disturbing the sights then group size will be a determined more by the inherent accuracy ( or lack of accuracy) in your ammunition and the firearm itself. It is easy to say, hard to do. After 60 years of shooting, I still occasionally jerk the trigger. But trigger control is still the most important part of shooting accurately.

I can also say my trigger control needs constant work after as many years as you have. As an eight-year-old boy in the 50s I began shooting sparrows in the family farm barn at night. My set up was a daisy BB gun with a magnetic flashlight attached to the barrel. Only a chest or headshot would bring them down. That gun had serious penetration problems. Lol

If you shoot enough you will know where the rounds going when you pull the trigger. That's where you want to be.