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Thread: What is most efficient way of becoming proficient

  1. #1

    What is most efficient way of becoming proficient

    If I had it all over to do again, and wanted the process to be as efficient as possible, I would:

    First get high quality technical shooting instruction, followed by a class like Gunsite 250 to understand something about tactics. Live fire as much as possible. Dry fire less at first so as not to burn in bad reps. Increase dry fire as you start to understand what you are doing. Compete regularly so you can stress your technique and get a reality check on where you are. Periodically get high level instruction (Leatham, Stoeger, JJ level) to diagnose problems. Study what is available online. Watch videos of yourself and other shooters. Pray for 9mm ammo to come down in price.
    Likes pretty much everything in every caliber.

  2. #2
    I think efficiency depends a lot on how much money vs time you have + how capable someone is when it comes to telling truth from BS when it comes to shooting related info. I don't think it should take as long as many people make it out to be. I think someone who is reasonably smart and dedicated can easily make it to A class or M class within 1 year of starting to shoot.

    For reference I'm now shooting at approximately an A-class level (based on most recent classifier + where I finish in my local match). I've been shooting for 2 years total, training seriously for USPSA for a little over 1 year. The first year of shooting I was seriously constrained in ammo, I shot less than 1k rounds that whole year. This past year I shot just under 9k rounds.

    The things I did efficiently:
    1. Learn as much as possible for cheap (listening to podcasts with top shooters, reading books, taking as much advantage as possible of video subscriptions).
    2. Take time to dryfire
    3. Train certain skills in dryfire and live fire according to need, rather than wasting ammo doing 1 shot reloads

    The things I should have done differently:
    1. Dry-fire more broadly (I neglected a lot of classifier skills like SHO, WHO, and reloads because I wanted to focus on "match performance" and we don't do much of that stuff in matches here)
    2. Just plain dry fire more. There are gains to be made in terms of raw time that I just haven't gotten yet.

    I will also add that I don't think anyone out there conveys everything a shooter needs to know in a 2-day class. In my view there's a lot to be gained from reading the right books about shooting to fill in all the gaps. There is a lot of stuff that is "common knowledge" in the shooting world that I don't think holds up very well. The only way to learn to identify that stuff is to have a very broad knowledge of shooting and be able to pick out what isn't consistent or doesn't make sense, which you can't accomplish with just what you learn in a 2 day class. Out of what I now know about shooting, I think what I learned in my first 2 day class covers maybe 5-10% of that.

  3. #3
    I would dick around changing guns less. Going from TDA autoloaders to 1911s to .40 Glocks to 9mm Glocks was ruinously expensive at the time in my life when I did it. i could have used that money for more classes and ammo.
    I was into 10mm Auto before it sold out and went mainstream, but these days I'm here for the revolver and epidemiology information.

  4. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by Lester Polfus View Post
    I would dick around changing guns less. Going from TDA autoloaders to 1911s to .40 Glocks to 9mm Glocks was ruinously expensive at the time in my life when I did it. i could have used that money for more classes and ammo.
    This 100%. I was young, single, and had a good job when I first got into shooting so I was buying way too many guns of various shapes and sizes. I would take a few classes a year with quality instructors but it didn't do me any good when I went to the range with a P7M8, 1911, wheel gun, P228, Glock, etc. I was a super SIMP (RIP Todd )

    https://pistol-training.com/archives/70

    The single biggest improvement I made in my shooting was selling off the buffet of guns I had, and started to focus on shooting a single platform (9mm Glocks.) Having the single platform to focus on and spending my $ on ammo / training vs more guns was the way to go.

  5. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by Kram View Post
    The single biggest improvement I made in my shooting was selling off the buffet of guns I had, and started to focus on shooting a single platform (9mm Glocks.) Having the single platform to focus on and spending my $ on ammo / training vs more guns was the way to go.
    This.
    #RESIST

  6. #6
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    What I did... I kid I kid...kind of

    Seriously ----I started shooting a Glock on my own because they were "cool" and plentifully cheap to rent at my LGS/range.


    I got lucky and in the fall of 90 or 91 I met somebody who had been to Gunsite in the late 70s and who was "competing" at weekly IPSC matches where he would typically shoot two different guns as "tactically" as possible.

    Seeing him have to deal with multiple sets of everything and the economics of it all kind of scared me off off being serious about multiple platforms. He and his friends were extremely helpful re focusing on Glock (and to a lesser extent -1911) as my primary defensive carry pistol choice (which has remained constant since 1990.) I was also introduced to reloading, the magic of Kydex, the power of Surefire in the early 90's as well. Other mantras such as "one is none and two is one...and three is often better" and "buy quality cry once" were introduced as well.

    I began "competing" where I learned to be safe and unconsciously competent in the manipulation of the gun freeing my mind to solve the tactical/accuracy issues at hand. Most "leagues" are populated by folks who are exceedingly generous with their time/talent/treasure. Our best local IPSC competitor was the first one who really taught me the my greatest lesson re reloading- "find a load that works for your use and move on. In a 1911 style gun, you can save yourself a lot of headache by sticking to a 230 RNL or 230 Plated/FMJ bullet." Given my tactical bend, He proscribed (and others) 5.4 to 5.6 of 231/HP-38 and 16 -18.5 recoil spring in a 5 inch steel gun. Load the ammo to 1.230 to 1.250, lube the gun well and shoot.


    On a bedrock of quality local individualized instruction, I then went to my first "sleep away" class at Thunder Ranch in 2004. The rest is history.

    1. Learn how to be consciously safe with the gun

    2. Compete and learn how to be unconsciously competent in manipulating the gun so you can get your hits

    3. Identify and partake of local quality instruction (formal or informal)

    4. Go to a sleep away school with somebody who can DIAGNOSE/TEACH/SHOOT in that order.

    5. Apply what you have learned such that you are perfectly practicing

    6. Performance track with a timer

    7. Hone your craft and share what you have learned with like minded others.
    Last edited by vcdgrips; 02-09-2021 at 10:19 AM.
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  7. #7
    I forgot to add that having a "can-do" attitude is pretty much a necessity. In my view most people set limitations on themselves by thinking they need to check certain boxes like go to a class or shoot 10000 rounds before they can really shoot well.

    Within a couple months of starting to shoot seriously, I was able to pass "The Test", shoot mid-90s on a 25 yard B8, shoot a 2.28s clean Bill Drill, and shoot El Pres in around 6-8s. Nothing amazing in the grand scheme of things but up to that point I had less than 3k rounds fired in my life and no formal training. Most of these things really aren't that hard for someone who practices regularly.

  8. #8
    Site Supporter miller_man's Avatar
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    I think if I could do it all over again, from the beginning - go ALL in on competition (and go to the red dot way earlier). Get to USPSA A class/M class as fast as possible. Every other thing to do with shooting would be pretty easy/simple I'd think.

    I spent probably almost 3 years not going "full gamer", shooting my G19 (with competition gear) and even 34 from aiwb (competition gun but NOT GAMER GEAR!). All I think I did was slow down/make harder the process of learning to shoot fast + accurate. Get the gear, learn the game, learn the skills, master pistol shooting.


    Nothing wrong with doing those other things and I had fun and enjoyed it. Probably gonna shoot a local match in Open minor soon cause it sounds fun and I want to. But for me, finally getting to be more of the shooter I've wanted to be, has come faster/easier from being ALL in on competition shooting.
    The stupidity of some people never ceases to amaze me.

    Humbly improving with CZ's.

  9. #9
    Member MVS's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Eyesquared View Post
    I forgot to add that having a "can-do" attitude is pretty much a necessity. In my view most people set limitations on themselves by thinking they need to check certain boxes like go to a class or shoot 10000 rounds before they can really shoot well.

    Within a couple months of starting to shoot seriously, I was able to pass "The Test", shoot mid-90s on a 25 yard B8, shoot a 2.28s clean Bill Drill, and shoot El Pres in around 6-8s. Nothing amazing in the grand scheme of things but up to that point I had less than 3k rounds fired in my life and no formal training. Most of these things really aren't that hard for someone who practices regularly.
    Good for you, and I mean that. It simply isn't true across the board. I know plenty of people who will never reach that level even though they have put in far more work. Age, talent, eyesight, there are all kinds of things that make some people naturally more suited for the shooting sports than others. There are many people who will try to make A/Master and never will, but not for lack of trying.

  10. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by MVS View Post
    Good for you, and I mean that. It simply isn't true across the board. I know plenty of people who will never reach that level even though they have put in far more work. Age, talent, eyesight, there are all kinds of things that make some people naturally more suited for the shooting sports than others. There are many people who will try to make A/Master and never will, but not for lack of trying.
    I agree that many people will never make it but I think that has more to do with their understanding of training, their mindset and their motivation than any physical attributes. Most people lack motivation, but the ones who have it often lack an understanding of how to train or simply lack the understanding of shooting needed to fix their shooting issues.

    I have age on my side but I have never considered myself to have natural talent with anything athletic or requiring hand eye coordination. I was one of those "always picked last in PE class" guys when I was a kid and for good reason. I'm not very strong either, I lifted weights very casually in college but wasn't disciplined enough to make any big gains, at best I sort of made up for my lack of physical activity in high school. My eyesight is actually terrible. Myopia worse than -15.00 in each eye (not a typo, without my glasses I have to hold things 2" in front of my face to read), and astigmatism on top of that. I am sure there are people who are more disadvantaged than me in terms of physical attributes but I would consider myself to be well below average in terms of "natural physical talent". I don't intend to be argumentative but I truly believe that natural physical attributes have very little to do with being successful in the action shooting sports.
    Last edited by Eyesquared; 02-09-2021 at 08:47 PM.

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