Focusing strongly on one pistol

[rojocorsa]

How many of you tend to focus strongly on shooting a specific type of pistol for 6-12months?

I've found out that some people do this.

What I actually want to know is:

a) What kind of stuff do you learn by doing that, and b) most importantly, can a shooter get to the point where his fundamentals are so strong that he shoots basically any pistol the same?


Thanks

[Duelist]

I find the easiest way to do that is to only own one, or one type. Otherwise, I want to shoot the others, too.

[okie john]

How many of you tend to focus strongly on shooting a specific type of pistol for 6-12months?

I've found out that some people do this.

What I actually want to know is:

a) What kind of stuff do you learn by doing that, and b) most importantly, can a shooter get to the point where his fundamentals are so strong that he shoots basically any pistol the same?

I ran a 1911 for decades, then switched to Glocks in 2010. Despite fiddling with a few other makes, I have focused on Glocks ever since.

Question A: You learn how to use it without thinking about it, which frees you up to think about winning the fight rather than on shooting.

Question B: In theory, yes. But you need to learn a lot of different action types to do this well, and you need to spend a lot of time on the range.


Okie John

[GJM]

Sincere answer, if you have to ask the question, just stick with one.

[Kyle Reese]

How many of you tend to focus strongly on shooting a specific type of pistol for 6-12months?

I've found out that some people do this.

What I actually want to know is:

a) What kind of stuff do you learn by doing that, and b) most importantly, can a shooter get to the point where his fundamentals are so strong that he shoots basically any pistol the same?


Thanks

I've found that when I reached a performance plateau with the Glock, I'd switch to a SIG P226 or Beretta 92 for six months to a year. The transition to a TDA handgun would later pay dividends when transitioning back to the Glock, and with the appropriate focus and application of the fundamentals, one can absolutely master multiple handgun types and platforms.

This is a personal anecdote only, and by no means should be taken as anything but my humble opinion.

[Mr_White]

How many of you tend to focus strongly on shooting a specific type of pistol for 6-12months?

I've focused on the same type of pistol for six years (G34.) If you considered it to be the same as the G17 I was using before that, then maybe eight or nine years or something like that. If you considered those to be the same as the G21 I used before that, then I've spent ten years or so with the same gun type. Wait, add the G22/23 before that, so maybe 11-12 years with very similar guns. Six years with the G34 though, strictly speaking.

I'm pretty extreme on the 'one gun' side, but I think that's mostly just a personality thing. It's not the way it has to be done.

a) What kind of stuff do you learn by doing that

I think what you get is the deepest familiarity with that gun - the handling, the sights, the trigger. It's like when you were a kid and you had a BB gun or .22 maybe that you shot All The Time, and you knew exactly where the projectile was going and could basically put it wherever you wanted. That's powerful.

That said, different guns require different aspects of shooting skill to be noticed, or developed, by the shooter.

I think building high levels of skill with different guns can be done, but probably requires serial immersion for some time, while a high level of skill is built with at least one of them. That probably shortens the path to higher levels of skill with other ones.

b) most importantly, can a shooter get to the point where his fundamentals are so strong that he shoots basically any pistol the same?

That kind of thing gets said frequently. I think it's very true that a person can get to where they can shoot most reasonable handguns 'well.' The sticking point is always in what is meant by 'well.' I don't think that person is going to shoot all of them at their maximum potential - that is what I think comes from focus on one gun.

There's probably no need to confine oneself to one gun type only for ten years. It's also probably counterproductive to jump to a different gun every month, week, or range session, at least until you become very skilled with at least one of them. Maybe somewhere in between is good. And not everyone has to do things the same way.

[Paul Sharp]

I think I would have progressed faster as a shooter if I stuck with one pistol. It wasn't feasible for me once I began to instruct.

When the boss calls and says, "I need you Monday-Friday to help with the pistol portion of this package. They run xxxx brand pistols so we'll have one waiting on you when you get here." Then that's what you're going to shoot so you start dry firing with that type of pistol as soon as you get off the phone. That's if you like working...

I think shooting pistols from various makers isn't the end of the world if the grip angle is similar. I have issues if I go from doing a lot of work with something like a Glock to trying to pick up and run a Sig. I need an hour of dry fire to groove in the grip angle and all that.


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[rojocorsa]

Anecdotes like TYR's, and Mr Sharp's, and Mr. White's above are what I am looking for.

I started this thread because I want to observe other people's experience and draw conclusions.



As for me, I've been shooting a TDA 92 for most of a whole year now. I'm fairly comfy with it, and it's also what I take to matches if I have time to go. I find that I shoot my G.19 fairly equal to the Beretta, FWIW.

Thank you to those having contributed thus far.

One thing I do besides dry-fire, is that I spend a lot of time just grabbing and holding a pistol in the hand, until my hand gets used to it, if that makes sense. I don't know if there is any real value in this, but I always do it.

[Mr_White]

I guess my anecdote would be that I got a lot better when I didn't care about the guns themselves anymore and got really interested in building skill. Then I didn't have much interest in switching guns or the little performance differences they might have. Those differences are utterly dwarfed by skill-building. The last time I messed around with something else, it was a couple of (barfy) Kimber 1911s. I went running and screaming back to Glocks and haven't given other guns very serious consideration since then.

[JohnO]

How many of you tend to focus strongly on shooting a specific type of pistol for 6-12months?

I've found out that some people do this.

What I actually want to know is:

a) What kind of stuff do you learn by doing that, and b) most importantly, can a shooter get to the point where his fundamentals are so strong that he shoots basically any pistol the same?


Thanks

Clint Smith said, "Beware the man who only has one gun. He probably knows how to use it!"

What does one learn by concentrating on one platform? See above. You ought to know how it functions inside and out and be able to operate at a subconscious level. If I pick up a firearm I've never touched before I don't know what the trigger pull weight may be, where the trigger breaks, what the reset is like and POA/POI. With my gun I could discuss those functions in intricate detail.

If your fundamentals are solid and well developed then the launching platform is relatively inconsequential. Given of course that we are talking about properly functioning firearms of good quality.