What constitutes "very good" handgun skills?

[BCRider]

I like that one inch square idea and the one shot per square. As you say, the results will soon point out exactly how consistent the shooter is.

On the other hand a lot of the folks in the lower 80% are going to smile like a new father/mother if they can even keep each shot in the one inch squares at 7 yards.....

 

[cavman]

That was exactly how I started out in Bullseye.

I took those little black stickers with green paint under them and started on the 7 yard line one summer.

My initial goal was to hit the thing , but eventually to keep on shooting until I could hit ten consecutive shots.

I would stop after a miss, and move on to the next sticker. There were a lot of one shot stops at first!! I used the little glo-stickers because they were easy to see. Eventually, because of costs, (there is a learning curve in shooting and I was going through a LOT of stickers), I started to bring along binocs and a black felt-tipped marker

Then I moved to 8 yards, to 10 yards, 12 yards, etc.

Eventually after thousands and thousands of shots and working on fundamentals, I became a pretty good shot, but I am still working on lots of things trying to improve.

 

[tuj]

I would say if you can make Expert with both the 22 and the 45 in bullseye, you are seriously good with a handgun.

I'm working towards that myself. The 45 is a heck of a lot harder than the 22.

 

[BullfrogKen]

Standing, two-handed at 25 yards, I would think 3-4" should be very realistic.

I agree. This constitutes "very good" handgun skills.

 

[armoredman]

removed due to not meeting standards.

 

[9mmepiphany]

What is you POA on that target?

If it is the X-ring, I might suspect that you are looking over your sights.

Remember that the rule of thumb is that your groups will expand to twice you normal size when shooting under pressure.

 

[Pete D.]

targets

then bring the same target in to 25 yards.

Not quite. The targets are the same visual size (subtend the same minutes of angle) but they have different actual dimensions. They also have different scoring rings.
50 yd. B-6 black scores to 8. Slow fire.
25 yd. B-8 black scores to 9. Timed and rapid fire.

 

[Blackstone]

As an air pistol shooter (because that's all we really have in Britain), I've found that it's the most unforgiving training tool out there. When I finally got to pick up a handgun, people were commenting on how easily I was shooting good groups. It all comes down knowing the importance of sight alignment and perfect trigger control that air pistol demands.

 

[tuj]

@angryhan - yes air pistols are great for learning follow-thru and hold. The pellet is in the barrel roughly twice as long as a .22 so everything you do it magnified. I have found adding air pistol practice to my bullseye shooting has really helped. Plus air pistols tend to be heavy, so that helps build arm strength.

 

[armoredman]

removed due to not meeting board standards

 

[9mmepiphany]

If you are referring to the 1.1" group I posted previously...that shooter is well into his 50s and wears bi-focals. In the interest of full disclosure, he is also an accomplished air pistol shooter

You don't have to be able to see the X-ring at 50 yards. It is simply a matter of having a consistent aiming point...we used to use the neck and place the head atop of the front sight...keeping the sights aligned, running the trigger and letting the group form by itself

 

[armoredman]

As apparent accuracy falls below board standards, posts adjusted accordingly.

 

[Claude Clay]

though i have used the 2" square as a method to slow down the shooter for centerfire.

shooting for small groups, for some shooters, speeds up the shooting where as one shot per square--changing the POA for each shot, helps keep the speed of fire from increasing.

 

[SHR970]

My SP101 humbled my opinion of my shooting skills real quick. It has taken its toll on several people. Snubbies are like that; they are generally far more capable than the groups shooters get with them. If you have any flaws in your grip and trigger pull they will show it PDQ. A 357 snub also can make you a flinching fool.
There is a reason the the 32 S&W Long is used in semiauto pistols for certain target sports; same as the 22......low recoil.

One question is how good is my group. Part of the question is how tuned is the gun and the ammo fired through it. Chances are you aren't going to get spectacular groups with a bone stock run of the mill gun and bulk ammo. People who have the skills; are accomplished and recognized shooters who can show spectacular groups are also running tuned and / or tricked out guns and ammo tuned for those guns.

 

[MrBorland]

Chances are you aren't going to get spectacular groups with a bone stock run of the mill gun and bulk ammo. People who have the skills; are accomplished and recognized shooters who can show spectacular groups are also running tuned and / or tricked out guns and ammo tuned for those guns.

Possibly, but it doesn't generally take sponsorship and a tricked-out gun to exhibit "very good handgun skills". Give yourself permission to shoot less, and you'll shoot less.

BTW, this sub-1" 25 yard unsupported group was shot with a bone stock .22LR revolver (in double action) and ammo bought at Dick's.

 

[cavman]

Not quite. The targets are the same visual size (subtend the same minutes of angle) but they have different actual dimensions. They also have different scoring rings

Not quite. They are the same dimensions.

However, the 50 yard target has a black 10-9-8- bull. The 25 target has a black 10-9 black bull, making the black bullseye appear the same size, as you mentioned.

 

[sirsloop]

I do ~2" groups offhand at 25yds with full horse .357 outta my 8" smith 686 with a 2.5-8x weaver scope. Last time at the range I went 12/12 on soda cans on the ground at 25yrds. That's basically a squirrel sized target. The problem with squirrels and a pistol scope will be target acquisition. I have a hard enough time keeping up with a 12gauge shotgun at that range, let alone a pistol. Tree sniping at say 50 yards is probably more practical.

 

[ORHunter79]

The point of shooting at 50 yards is to be easily able to see your errors in grip and trigger control. The longer distances magnify your errors and remove the fudge factor.

Even someone who is able to shoot 1" (actually a cluster smaller than 1") at 5-7 yards could be fudging. That is why one of the evaluation tools I use is shooting at 1" squares. You only shoot one shot at each square. It really tells you a lot about how consistent your shooting is...a couple of mags into <2" means almost nothing when trying to improve your shooting

That wasn't a stab at you by any means. If you can shoot at those long distances, by all means practice away. I was simply giving the op my opinion. I can however see the value of shooting at long distances since all mistakes are amplified.

 

[Sauer Grapes]

our club has a 25yd and a 50yd pistol range. {combined} In order to shoot on the 50yd side, you have to shoot 10 rounds in 10 minutes in the black of a NRA 25yd slow fire pistol target. {B-16} 10 for 10, no misses. One hand, unsupported. Iron sights or reddot.
If you do it with a .22 cal. pistol, you can only shoot .22's. If you do it with a .45, you can shoot any caliber.

Evidentally it's tougher than it looks, only the bullseye shooters and some of us practical shooters seem to be capable of doing it. I wanted to "qualify" so when the 25yd side fills up, I can shoot in comfort away from the crowd.
I consider that "very good" skill level.

That said, the few bullseye shooters that compete in our bowling pin and steel matches don't fair very well shooting for speed at 25-30 feet.
So who would you consider the better pistol shooter? I can't shoot like the bullseye guys and they can't shoot like practical shooters.

 

[Sauer Grapes]

I'd call hitting a tree rat at 20 yards very good shooting.

I would call that very good also.
You would be in the top 20% of pistol shooters at our club.

 

[icanthitabarn]

When I was in my late teens and twentys, I was a pretty good shot. Back then, I believe that I always shot one hand and unsupported. Now I shoot, all on a rest, in my mid fifties and am not shooting all that much better.

 

[Messenger Guard]

If you are shooting moving squirrels at 20 yards, I don't want to get into a shooting competition with you and I have won a State pistol title in the past.

 

[A strange person]

This was a productive thread for me. I'm glad to know that I apparently have fairly good handgun skills.

If you'd really like to test your trigger handling and follow through kills...try shooting competitive air pistol. It has very little margin for lack of focus as the pellet is still traveling down the bore when many shooters would have already relaxed

I'm starting to really like this idea.

If you are shooting moving squirrels at 20 yards, I don't want to get into a shooting competition with you and I have won a State pistol title in the past.

One learns to "read" the critters and know when they are about to stop and ponder their own mortality. I am a wilderness survivalist and a shooter second. In a match, you'd probably beat me, because I don't shoot paper very well. There is something about focusing on a small, reactive target like a squirrel or even a tin can that makes me shoot a little better.

 

[sirsloop]

Shooting wildlife is more reading/predicting the animal than being a good paper shooter. You need to predict where they will likely show for starters, setup your shot before they appear, see them first (hopefully), predict when your best opportunity to shoot will be, then finally if all that came together you can shoot . Doesnt hurt to be a crack shot on paper, but buck fever has ruined many excellent shooters trips!!

 

[SHR970]

A strange person: For the type of shooting you are doing, you are certainly a worthy shot. As sirsloop said: you have many variables to put together before you can shoot.
In pistol shooting, a very good shot is subjective: between IPSC, bullseye, SAS, et. al. there are many definitions of "Very Good". Being able to consistently put food on the table and that food being a small moving target that only gives you a few moments to get it all together before moving along is something to be considered an accomplishment.