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Thread: Trouble hearing steel hits

  1. #11
    Member Peally's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2014
    Location
    Wisconsin, USA
    Been said multiple times already. If you're listening for hits you're really doing it wrong.

    Don't look for impacts and don't listen for hits, both are completely pointless and really slow. Learn to call your shots, you should know where your round is going based on how the sights looked firing the shot.

    Lots of dry and live fire is the answer
    Semper Gumby, Always Flexible

  2. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by taadski View Post
    The short of the matter is if you're looking for hits on the steel itself or listening for a 'ding', you're training yourself to do it wrong. Like nwhpfan mentioned, focus on learning to see the front sight lift the instant the shot breaks. The location it lifts from is where the shot will go. This is different than guaranteeing a hit, but it will allow you to SEE a miss as soon as it happens (and allow you to make it up) without having to wait for the noise on the steel. This is the end game.

    FWIW, shooting steel extensively can actually hinder people's shot calling development when new to the concept b/c it reinforces relying on the noise instead of what they see. Not being able to hear the steel ring could be considered an advantage in this respect. Don't worry too much about the noise but TURN UP the volume of your vision.
    Thanks, I think you have summed up what several of the guys have said. I will quit worrying about being able to hear the hits. I have read a couple of books and the 'turn up your vision' is one of the concepts they promote so I will work on that. Thanks to all of you who contributed.

  3. #13
    Site Supporter JodyH's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Location
    New Mexico
    Quote Originally Posted by CraigS View Post
    Shooting 9mm. I agree seeing the hits would be nice but unless I am one of the first 2-3 shooters at a stage, there are so many hits on the steel already, that is hard to do.
    You can always ask for a repaint.
    On steel challenge we often repaint the steel between shooters so there's visual as well as auditory scoring.
    "For a moment he felt good about this. A moment or two later he felt bad about feeling good about it. Then he felt good about feeling bad about feeling good about it and, satisfied, drove on into the night."
    -- Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy --

  4. #14
    Member
    Join Date
    Feb 2016
    Location
    Louisiana
    I'm another vote in the "call your shot off the sights" camp. I'm about a year into shooting USPSA and am slowly getting this skill. Of late the method of working on this is setting up 3-4 metric targets at 20-25 yards where I can't see the bullet hole. (9mm) I'll shoot 2 on a target and write down where I believe they hit. Then after shooting them all I'll go down and see if I'm correct. Only 2 per target so I know for sure. Multiple targets so I don't have to walk as much! I know I'm talking about paper here, but the skill transfers.

    Overall I think it worth taking an extra 0.05 on a shot to verify the sight picture rather than waiting 0.15-.20 to see/hear the impact.

  5. #15
    Member Zincwarrior's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2016
    Location
    Central Texas
    Quote Originally Posted by Slalom.45 View Post
    I'm another vote in the "call your shot off the sights" camp. I'm about a year into shooting USPSA and am slowly getting this skill. Of late the method of working on this is setting up 3-4 metric targets at 20-25 yards where I can't see the bullet hole. (9mm) I'll shoot 2 on a target and write down where I believe they hit. Then after shooting them all I'll go down and see if I'm correct. Only 2 per target so I know for sure. Multiple targets so I don't have to walk as much! I know I'm talking about paper here, but the skill transfers.

    Overall I think it worth taking an extra 0.05 on a shot to verify the sight picture rather than waiting 0.15-.20 to see/hear the impact.
    Good idea there!

  6. #16
    Shot another SC last weekend. At about the 3rd stage one of the guys was giving me a hard time. We were going to shoot 6 stages so need 150 rnds. He asks if all I brought was 150 rnds and that was why I wasn't missing. Of course, the next string I missed two, and had to go back and shoot them again. Sure glad we drop the worst string. The help I got here really did assist me. I am still slow but I finished 9th of 20 overall and 3rd of 7 in Production so happy w/ that. I noticed that they started us off easy w/ Showdown and Smoke&Hope but the last 2 were Speed Option and Roundabout w/ all those small 10 inch disc plates. Once again I had a blast. Sure wish I had listened to my SIL 5 yrs ago and started this then.

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