USAF Academy M9 Training

[seabiscuit]

Some dry firing would help take care of that issue. When I shot IDPA, every once in a while we would get some guys from FT. Jackson or USMCR units who would shoot 92s. Took some effort, but going from that heavy first trigger poll to the lighter is "doable". COL. Cooper suggested that either cocking the hammer first (like drawing a 1911 with the hammer down and a round chambered) or simply throwing the first round downrange to get to the single action mode could work. While the latter suggestion is sort of silly in a civilian setting, if it's a two way rifle match, no big deal.

Not sure about pilots in flight and the AF in general, but work on drawing and charging your M9 - lots of .mil installations want you to have the chamber clear and at best a loaded magazine in the weapon.

As for the holsters, I spent some time overseas and I had three different carry points for my M9. Depended on what I was doing and how I was dressed.

Thanks for the advice. One of my buddies bought a 92 just to train with it, I think I'll borrow it this weekend and at least do some dry-fire with it. It'll just take some practice, I think.

[ToddG]

... or simply throwing the first round downrange to get to the single action mode could work. While the latter suggestion is sort of silly in a civilian setting, if it's a two way rifle match, no big deal.

SLG should be back later this week to beat you about the head and neck for suggesting this.

[Al T.]

Snicker. Haven't had a good beat down in several years.

When my primary weapon was an M9 in an environment where the bad guys had AKs, I tended to think in terms of "Bill Drills at extended ranges" until I could get my hands on an M4/M249/M240 or some other novelty. I also carried multiple magazines. Engagement ranges for my part of Iraq tended to either be in buildings or on the roads.

Which brings up a couple of points:

Seabisquit, spend the money to get some OEM Beretta magazines. I carried six and always had four on me, two on my body armor. Never had a reliability issue. The crappy recycled GI magazines went in my ruck as a last resort.

It also surprises a lot of .mil folks that the M9 can supply suppressive fire out to 200m or so. Takes some practice, but handgun rounds are not as feeble as some think.

[TGS]

I was going to say that bit about carrying your own weapon sounded funny, thanks for the references.


I'm guessing they were teaching you to stage the trigger? Try not staging it. If I can get a 110lbs female to shoot a Beretta more accurately with the DA than the SA in as little as an hour, then you can surely shoot it. Stop telling yourself that DA sucks, or that it's a bitch to learn......because it isn't. You're just mentally fucking yourself for the learning process by saying that. People made do with DA triggers for a very long time before it suddenly became the newest "If you carry a DA you're going to die" sort of internet sensation. F' that noise. DA rocks. Embrace it.

[seabiscuit]

No they told us to squeeze, and that it should surprise us every shot. I do squeeze, just not used to a DA squeeze. A couple dry fires and 30 rounds isn't enough to get me accurate.

I've seen lots of improvement with my Glock in the last few months, I'll just need some time to get better with the M9.

Any recommended dry or live fire drills?

[Al T.]

Dry, get a buddy to work the action to get your transition from DA to SA down. You get in a good aggressive shooting stance with a cleared M92 pointed in a safe direction. Dry fire the m92 DA. Have your buddy place one hand on your shoulder and use the other hand to work the slide, cocking the pistol. Dry fire SA. Pause, dry fire DA. Buddy runs the slide, fire SA.

Rinse, lather, repeat.

[YVK]

No they told us to squeeze, and that it should surprise us every shot. I do squeeze, just not used to a DA squeeze. A couple dry fires and 30 rounds isn't enough to get me accurate.

I've seen lots of improvement with my Glock in the last few months, I'll just need some time to get better with the M9.

Any recommended dry or live fire drills?

If you can, take a class from Todd or Ernest Langdon. These two dudes teach specific skill that helps with DA/SA shooting, which is a press-out. It has been discussed a lot online, but it is best seen and learned in person. Ernest currently teaches with a compact DA/SA Beretta so you'd be able to see him do this on nearly identical gun.

[seabiscuit]

If you can, take a class from Todd or Ernest Langdon. These two dudes teach specific skill that helps with DA/SA shooting, which is a press-out. It has been discussed a lot online, but it is best seen and learned in person. Ernest currently teaches with a compact DA/SA Beretta so you'd be able to see him do this on nearly identical gun.

I'd love to, but I currently have neither the time nor the money. After graduation, I'll look into it pretty hard. And if I go downrange with an M9, which won't happen for a few years, I'll definitely get some OEM mags.

Todd and others have given me feedback on my press-out in this thread - very helpful, just wish I could get some instruction in person.

[YVK]

You could see if there are F.A.S.T Wall of Fame folks in your area you could get together with, although this is not a true substitution for a professional training. Otherwise, the advice you received in that thread is good. One thing I do when I feel my press out is off is to press out into a berm or large neutral target, without trying to hit anything. I concentrate on picking up the sight early (I sometimes scratch my nose with my strong hand thumb which I keep out until I get support hand on), seeing them as I extend and pressing the trigger simultaneously with extension. Taking the target out of equation helps concentrating on developing commensurate speeds for trigger press and arm extension for me.

[Failure2Stop]

I have used, carrier, competed with, instructed, and maintained M9s for quite a while.
While it is not on my "Top 5" list of pistols I would choose to go kill people with, it is a capable platform once you learn its quirks.
Most of them have decent double action pulls, and I have noever had one in servicable condition that didn't have an acceptable single-action.
The biggest single downfall to the M9 is the slide mounted safety/decocker. It is susceptable to not being swept to fire during presentations (especially one-handed), and onto safe during manipulations that require racking the slide.

The best way to get better at double-action shooting is to. . . shoot double action.
The Dot Torture is good for it, as are pastie drills.
About half of my students would shoot smaller double-action groups than single action (not counting those that are shooting patterns), after a day's worth of DA work.

Press-drills are not rocket science.
Work on going from a compressed ready or alert to full presentation while pressing the trigger with proper regard to target size.
The goal is not to make the gun go off just because your arms are fully extended, but rather because your trigger control and sight management during the press permit you to hit.