Guerrilla Drill and SIRT

http://www.activeresponsetraining.ne...sistency-drill

So I read this on Greg E.'s site. I printed out the target and hung it on a wall. Then I proceed to blast it (so to speak) with my Glock SIRT. Can't time it and there's no recoil but it's some kind of practice. One problem is that with my old eyes, focusing such that I get a reasonable view of front sights and the small dots is a touch fuzzy but I can do it. Another problem, my wife is telling to stop that and do something useful.

Just something for the retired FOG.

I have always been somewhat skeptical of the up close but precise drills. Not to say that they have no value just that you really can't accurately simulate distance that way. This past October Mike Pannone was in town for a pistol class and Mike brought up this topic. To paraphrase, Mike asked, "shooting small targets (he mentioned Dot Torture) makes you good at?". I responded, "shooting small targets up close! It doesn't translate well to distance. If you want to get good at shooting targets at distance you have to shoot them at distance." Mike concurred.

I need to practice and improve trigger control. I have problems shooting at small circles with issue sights on a service pistol - am I unique in this issue?

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Originally Posted by JohnO

I have always been somewhat skeptical of the up close but precise drills. Not to say that they have no value just that you really can't accurately simulate distance that way. This past October Mike Pannone was in town for a pistol class and Mike brought up this topic. To paraphrase, Mike asked, "shooting small targets (he mentioned Dot Torture) makes you good at?". I responded, "shooting small targets up close! It doesn't translate well to distance. If you want to get good at shooting targets at distance you have to shoot them at distance." Mike concurred.

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Hard to say. It clearly wouldn't train anything wind related, but that's a rifle issue more than pistol. It wouldn't practice eye convergence from distance back to front sight in the same way. It would seem to practice trigger control well enough, otherwise it would be easy to clean. And of course you would be training automaticity.

Hmm.

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Originally Posted by ranger

I need to practice and improve trigger control. I have problems shooting at small circles with issue sights on a service pistol - am I unique in this issue?

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No Sir, not alone. Most current service pistols have wide front sights and a behind the dot POI. Truthfully, at close range just about any sight can be behind the dot, even if POA/POI is top of the blade at 25 yards.

For me, shooting small targets up close is more about the group instead of trying to place them all in a target I can’t see. I don’t worry one bit if I shoot a tight, centered group that is slightly below. To shoot consistent tight groups, you need a consistent aiming point.

For defensive use, you need to be able to put that group in half a face at close range, easily doable with standard sights. A 3x5 card is an excellent close range practice target, IMO.

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Originally Posted by JohnO

I have always been somewhat skeptical of the up close but precise drills. Not to say that they have no value just that you really can't accurately simulate distance that way. This past October Mike Pannone was in town for a pistol class and Mike brought up this topic. To paraphrase, Mike asked, "shooting small targets (he mentioned Dot Torture) makes you good at?". I responded, "shooting small targets up close! It doesn't translate well to distance. If you want to get good at shooting targets at distance you have to shoot them at distance." Mike concurred.

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Lot of truth in there. I have been slowly making improvements at shooting groups at farther distances by "gasp" - shooting groups at farther distances!
Before, I did a lot of shooting 2" circles at 5yd and ended up making things worse for myself.

Not that I am detracting anything from the drill in the OP. My comments are all actually relating to live fire.

Are shooting small dots intended to replicate targets at distance? I thought they were just another trigger control exercise. If you're gonna start crapping on small circle targets at 3-5 yards that's gonna be half the drills on pistol-training.com.

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Originally Posted by HopetonBrown

Are shooting small dots intended to replicate targets at distance? I thought they were just another trigger control exercise. If you're gonna start crapping on small circle targets at 3-5 yards that's gonna be half the drills on pistol-training.com.

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IMO, they have value as a trigger control drill. I also think they are not the end all be all many think them to be. Small errors at 3-5 yards can be hard to measure and correct. They become much more obvious at distance. I would personally rather diagnose a shooter on something other than close range dots.

For my personal practice, I rarely shoot anything smaller than a 3x5 Card.