First shots in over 1 Year
So between the Covid, travel, and other stuff, I hadn't shot in over a year. This is the longest I've ever gone without shooting. I'm sharing this because I don't think theres much out there in terms of data on the actual 'perishability' of shooting as a skill.
I've done some 'shooting' with my SIRT pistol at home, some dryfire, and general pointing my gun at light switches in the house type work for practicing grip and presentation - but nothing in the last 2 months.
Well, yesterday I went to the range with 50rds.
Course of fire:
7 yard
1 shot from holster x 6
6 shot rapid fire from holster
3x Double Tap from holster strong hand only
3 yard
3x Double Tap from retention (gun pressed into hip and angled to allow slide clearance)
6 shot rapid fire from retention
3-10yd
Starting at 3 yards, headshots while walking backward and firing rapidly till 10yd
(16 shots)
https://i.ibb.co/HBxrZ7N/Shooting-drill.jpg
Overall, I was pleasantly surprised. Despite dozens of articles on 'shooting is a perishable skill,' a years absence was not much different then my shooting ability when I'm practicing regularly.
No doubt I do shoot better when practicing regularly, but the difference is not nearly as much as with other skills; taking a year off shooting is much less dramatic then taking a year off exercising, for example. Likewise, I'm a hell of a lot worse playing darts with a few months absence, much less a year. But shooting was pretty forgiving of this years absence.
That said, I hope not to ever go this long without shooting again. But I hope this little test provides some comfort to those who are shooting less these days due to Covid and high ammo prices.
This may differ for different people...
Late 2011 my arthritis (knee) had become so bad I could not even finish club matches, I would shoot 3-4 stages and have to retire from the field. I could not go on.
So to stay in competitive shooting I picked back up on CAS. I had played it a bit late in the last century but never got that serious. All you have to do is stand there, in fact movement is not allowed, no targets to paste, no shooters to chase while you are holding the timer. It became my new thing and I have enjoyed every minute.
So 2014 comes along and I decide to take a conventional pistol class again. I probably had not fired more than 500 rounds of smokeless ammunition of any sort in the intervening 3 years, thinking nah, it is not perishable for me, I have 30 years and well over 150K rounds down range, I am good enough.
On top of that, I arrogantly picked up Mrs. Fatdog's Beretta M92FS to take the the class, a gun I have never liked but she was still in the military and that was always her gun. I kept my hand in it and ran one of those in production for a match or two every year for decades, it was the gun in the nightstand on her side of the bed after all.
My performance in that class "blew dead bears". I absolutely could not do it. When I got home and picked up a Glock, M&P, or my 1911 and went to the range to run some drills my performance was almost as disappointing. It was certainly a wake up call for me. I got religion about practice (dryfire and 7-8K rounds of 9mm) and in a year's time my performance, at least shooting from static positions was back to my old "normal" with conventional modern guns.
My handgun skills were clearly perishable. I think a factor in my case was "platform". While I was shooting during that period, it was only with a SAA clone or a cap and ball pistol. I was improving on that front without question. But all the while my skills with a conventional modern semi-auto were absolutely going to hell in a handbag.
I think Doc GCR and many others have cited the folly of trying to be your best with multiple platforms at the same time. Me shooting single action revolvers exclusively, and not doing skills maintenance on my defensive firearms or modern firearms proved the basic truth of this as it applies to me at least.
While I have a new knee, fully rehabed, and I am looking forward to coming back to some club level USPSA and IDPA matches this year, I won't make the mistake again of thinking "I am good" on this subject again.
It is reassuring to hear that the dryfire and laser practice apparently had such a positive impact on maintaining the OP's skills.