New Guy - where to start?

[DWB]

Hey, guys, thanks for the input. Sorry I haven't been back, I wasn't getting email notifications of replies.

I am in SoCal, on the Mexican and AZ borders....middle of nowhere!

[Badfish25]

While I total agree that a basic class will help you the most there are some things you can do to improve by yourself.

First you want to make sure the things you are practicing are right, so you don't develop bad habits that you latter have to break. I would recommend this book http://www.vikingtactics.com/books_stayinfight.html The price seems steep, but you will get a lot more out of this book than two boxes of ammo. There are also a lot of good DVD's out there.

Once I learned basic gun handling skills I would start a "dry fire" program of draws, reloads, and trigger presses. Do this a couple times a week and you will see lots of gains.

[DWB]

I discovered something last night. My shots had been tending left. I realized that when reloading, I'm twisting the gun left in my strong hand to get to the mag release, and not getting it tweaked all the way back around to the right, ending up with my thumb to far forward on the safety and trigger finger a bit short on the trigger. Think I should see about a slightly extended mag release.

I'd also been trying to get my 25yd shots to stay in the B-27 10 ring, and realized from some reading that's a pretty high goal, like borderline BE high.

Any tips for aiming at the center of a target that is too far to see a specific aiming point?

I'm going to start practicing shooting blank 8 x 11s or so on my target stands I think.

Thanks

[David S.]

DWB

Watch your sights longer. No matter what jacked up grip you may have after a reload, that's where your shots will end up. You are missing left because you sights were pointed left when the gun went off. A messed up grip may account for that, but, ultimately, the reason your shot went left is because your gun was pointed left.

WRT 25yd. I'd start accuracy work from a bench if possible. Start close and work your way out. Start at 7 yards (or 3, or whatever). Get hits within the acceptable target area (10 ring). Move the target back 1 yard at a time. Baby steps. Slowly working your way out will allow you to learn what YOU need to see. Create confidence. After you become comfortable with accuracy from the bench, start over again freestyle. Then strong hand only. Then weak hand only.


Personally, I use the super cheap, generic paper plates or some sort of card stock (3x5 card).

ETA: I'll pass this along too. ToddG-for-Beginners. The 25yd comment was basically the "Walkback Drill."

[DWB]

Excellent stuff, thanks.

I was going through my targets and found some playing cards from an online shooting competition at one of the Ruger forums from a year or two ago. I kept 4 out of 5 shots on a couple out of a few cards at 25 yards, I think one was even 5 for 5....with my 6" Single Six...now if I could just do it with my .45 I shoot either my Six or Blackhawk considerably better than my .45 1911, although since I've started reloading and can do lighter and more accurate loads, it has improved.

Re: the bench...I have shot from the bench a couple different ways considerably, also Elmer Keith position, doesn't do much for my groups, at least not at 25.

I have done similar to the walkback, I've played with close yardages, need to do it more. I wanted to see how much of the lack of accuracy was me, and how much was the gun/ammo, so I started shooting Dots in Circles aka 1" bulls http://www.mytargets.com/ at 5 or 7 yards...I can occasionally get a one hole group, average is maybe 1.5". I'm sure that isn't good enough for consistently tight goups at 25, so I should probably stick close until I can one-hole consistently and then move back.

[Ian]

I have to agree with the suggestion to get some good training - I've been shooting since I was a child, and recently took a VSM course. I learned more and did more in that course than I had in the previous 5 years, on top of that I now have a good direction in which to steer my solo training. Well worth every penny spent, in fact I probably saved money in the long run since I won't be wasting ammo in training myself to do things that are inefficient, or cause more problems than they solve. The only thing that could be a problem is that taking shooting courses from good instructors, with a bunch of good guys, can be quite habit forming, I'm already looking for more!

[DWB]

I printed out all the drills to take to the range. One I came up with is to load all mags with 2 rounds each, practice acquiring sight picture, sight tracking double taps, reloading. Made a big difference.

Re: my current ability, I'll have vids for you guys to laugh at in a week or two, I usually get third a few points behind 2 guys who are a few years older than I, have been shooting competition for years, and are LE...shooting 9mm, so I feel I do pretty good, I'd just like to beat 'em more often. Right now, I do only if I have a good day and they a bad one.

One thing I got to thinking about is I need to decide how good I really want or need to be, how much time and money do I want to invest in ammo, training, and equipment. Right now, out to 25 yards, the Bad Guy is toast...I'm just looking to pick up more 10 rings. I want to train myself for awhile and see where I get and then consider the pro training. I probably oughta quit this thread and go start a journal.