My first shooting experience

[desert gator]

I recently went out and shot my handgun (Walther PPS 9mm) for the first time, not only was it my first time shooting my handgun, it was my first time shooting any hand gun. I shot at 10 yards at a paper that was about 14"x14" with a target in the center about the size of a dinner plate.

My first twenty shots where horrible, I totally missed the paper target all together for 10 of those twenty shots, and the other ten that did hit the target where scattered everywhere!

By the time I had shot fifty bullets I was hitting the target and actually starting to make groups with random shots here and there outside of the target but still on the paper, so at least I am hitting the paper everyshot now instead of missing the entire thing

By the time I got to 100 I was shooting every shot inside the dinner plate size circle and usually getting a tight group with 3 out of five shots right near center.

I think that my accuracy improved by not being nervous of the recoil, and changing how I breathed and pulled the trigger.

 

[C-grunt]

Good work. Handgun shooting is surprisingly not as easy as people think when they first try.

Just keep practicing and you'll get to the point where keeping all your shots on a paper plate at 10 yards is fairly easy.

I would suggest that you get a .22 caliber handgun, if you can afford it. It makes shooting much much cheaper (550 .22 is 15 bucks) and practice makes perfect.

I picked up a Ruger MKIII .22 for under 300 bucks last week. Its super accurate and reliable.

 

[rougeqc21]

Congrats! You sound like you are well on the road to pistol shooting. For me it was just figuring out the sight picture and after that focusing on everything else. Mainly trigger control. What helped alot for me was printing out a giant + and taping it to the wall. Then I would dry fire with a snap cap and watch as the front blade moved when I pulled the trigger. So I learned how to control the trigger to minimize the front movement and that is when I really started to shoot.

 

[ParaElite]

Congratulations! You are no longer a Gun virgin!

 

[yeti]

One of the fascinating things about shooting, there are few things so simple to do, that are as difficult to do well.

 

[rougeqc21]

there are few things so simple to do, that are as difficult to do well.

Golf...

 

[yeti]

Golf is just a good walk, ruined.

 

[tomaz45]

" 95% of off target shots are the result of anticipation of recoil" Welcome to a great fraternity my friend! SIGHT ALIGNMENT, FRONT SIGHT FOCUS, TRIGGER PRESS. So simple to say, hard to do. But remember to focus on the last part that you have any control over...FRONT SIGHT-TRIGGER PRESS. We all want to look at the target, but we have no control of it, only the gun in our hand. Check around your area for some recreational shoots, IDPA or USPSA. Your attendance will be welcomed, and the advice will be free.

 

[searcher451]

Good for you, and a very nice selection for your first handgun experience. The PPS is the real deal, especially as a concealed carry firearm. Just remember that the more work you put in, the better you'll become.

Lee Trevino once said that if you want to get good at golf, you have to hit 300 balls a day. You could say the same thing about range work with a new pistol. Keep it going.

 

[desert gator]

Thanks for the support guys. It really was an eye opening experience to see what it is really like to shoot. Much more difficult than I expected. The day I first shot I lost allot of respect for the realism of handgun use in action movies.

Also a question about .22 shooting, is it better to invest in a gun that has a .22 conversion kit, or two just get like a walther P22 to go with my PPS. It seems like the conversion kit would be better because you use the same gun.

 

[tomaz45]

conversion kit will cost as much as second gun. You can't have too many guns.

 

[Hungry Seagull]

Well. My first 50 flew somewhere over yonder down range and I kept a ear out for the RO yelling to me HEY!! QUIT BLASTING MY *&^&%^ LEIGHTS YOU &^%$

The next 50 were on paper and I quit hiding behind the wooden table in fear of the recoil.

A few hundred later I started to see the front sight as I should have from the beginning.

I love to shoot the thing now. Hopefully that little problem of the first shot missing the top of the paper will be solved soon.

But to get really good? Hm... That will take some time. I dont mind.

 

[LoganDub8388]

good work bro. Shooting handguns accurately is extremely difficult for beginners and even for novice shooters. Trigger pull, breathing, and grip are all important!!! By the way congrats on the PPS, i have wanted one for a while now.

 

[bigfatdave]

Good work. Handgun shooting is surprisingly not as easy as people think when they first try.
Just keep practicing and you'll get to the point where keeping all your shots on a paper plate at 10 yards is fairly easy.
I would suggest that you get a .22 caliber handgun, if you can afford it. It makes shooting much much cheaper (550 .22 is 15 bucks) and practice makes perfect.
I picked up a Ruger MKIII .22 for under 300 bucks last week. Its super accurate and reliable.

I'll second the recommendation for a good Ruger .22 autoloader. mkII or mkIII is fine, I hear good things about Browning Buckmarks as well.
We bought a Ruger mkIII and a P22 as our first guns. I have a PPS for conceal carry as soon as I can get the paperwork rammed through.

As to what .22 to get ... I just bought another Ruger, and the P22 sits lonely at home on most range trips lately. It does have similar controls to the PPS, but it just isn't made to the same standard.