Range Today

Did pretty well with the .22 @ 50ft 280-3x....91 slow fire which I'm pretty happy with that for the 50ft targets....I did notice something today...during sustained fire I tend to get rushed and I losen ny grip as well as let my trigger control go right out the window. I could actauly see the dot slap to the left .....So I stopped for a few minutes and thought about it....loaded up 2 mags and did a timed and rapid and just took my time ....I was able to get 20 good shoots all in the black and didnt run out of time.....during this I keep thinkin pull the trigger straight back , dont rush.....and it all worked out....tigger broke as it was supposed to x ring count wasnt great but the grouping fell in the sane place as my slow fire target.....2 clicks on the red dot and I was in there......280 is the best Ive ever shot at 50ft....I hope this is a day that I learned something and my scores stay around 280 or climb......

good job
try pointing and a target at home same highth as range and dry fire

Good job Kieth!
I wish I could put down some decent timed and rapids! I shoot 91's in Slow fire fairly often, but My timed and rapids always suck--high 80's mostly.

Rob,

My slow fire is improving , Ive been keeping the gun and my trigger finger moving . I start just above the black and as I lower the gun I start my sqeeze on the trigger , I find it much easyer to shoot better scores that way . When the gun is lowering my wobble circle is MUCH smaller . During timed and rapid the 2 biggest things that I was doing wrong where I would loosen my grip ( subconsiusly) and snatch the trigger . I could actually see the dot jump left....so now during timed and rapid I have to think about grip and trigger control all the way thru...As long as I do that and my body postion and follow thru are correct its in the black...It may not be a x but its in the black . I guess you can say I stopped trying for perfect sight picture and concentrate more on form ..If the form is good and follow thru is good the shoot will hit somewhere in the black . I also notice that I keep a firm wrist and less tension on my elbow...That way during recoil the movement is more or less striaght up & down (gun wise) ...I kinda have to feel everything being right and it also has to click in my brain ...now I've connected the feel with the motion I think Ive got it.....I hope...I have the same troubles with the .45 but the only thing that suffers is rapid...I hope I can connect what I learned to the .45 as well......the revolver well thats a whole nother animal....slow fire scores run high 80's and I can hold black on timed and have cleaned a few but I havent managed to get a good method for rapid yet...if I try and do it SA I run out of time ..if I go DA I'm all over the paper.....another thing Ive noticed with the .22 is I can go open sights or dot with little change in score if I'm having a good day I can go 275 or so with the dot gun and 268-272 with the open sights....

From what you describe, you are spot on with doing what you have to do. Once you start to get the feel of the constant motion on the trigger and see the the results, you are over the hump. The more you do it, the more you will trust it. You still have to maintain 100% focus on the shot otherwise you will default to grabbing tens and slapping the trigger all over the place. In sustained fire, it is very easy to feel rushed and start forcing the shots, you have to talk yourself out it constantly.

Until recently, I have only been able to call shots that were grossly off (outside the black). Since refining my trigger control, I am able to call shots between 10s and 9s on 50' slow fire targets.

You will also find that the exact same process is true for the 45 - perhaps more so than with the 22.

Chris

Chris,

I had a few shoots yesterday where it all came together perfectly during my last rapid fire session.....shoot #1 was a X ,then shoot number 2 broke just as the dot hit the top of the 10ring ,shoot #3 was a X and I actually saw the bullet punch then shoots 4 & 5 where both 10's dead center almost ontop of each other just at the bottom of the 10 ring . All the while this was happening I wouldnt say I was tryin for perfect sight picture but rather my body was in the correct postion and stance allowed the gun to come back to the black almost without any consious effort on my part....It is actually kind of nuts once you stop tryin to get perfect sight picture and work towards better form everything just falls into place......kind of on it own...but know that Ive seen it for myself it gives me a better idea of the mechanics to follow ....I think most of us know this ..but when we are actually shooting we try so hard to get 10's and X's we spend are time wanting perfect sight picture when we should really be working on better form....Once form is ingrained into you and you master it then sight picture can be worked on in more detail ....then I feel the 9's and 10's will turn into 10's and x's on there own over time...Ive heard this game is more mental than anything else ...well it is...the mental part is getting out of your own way and accepting the fact that you cant shoot 10's and x's till you stop trying to. which is what I did yesterday...proper form , follow thru and trigger control will get you all black . now in time more x's will follow...

Yup, you got it exactly. "Get out of your own way" is the key. It is so counter-intuitive, that it is very hard to just trust it and let it happen, but that is the way it has to be. In sustained fire with the 45 there has been so many times I was doing things right, but the dot was all over the place, and it still ended up being a 10.

It certainly is fun doing it the right way, but letting go of what we think the right way is, is a real bitch to do.

Chris

Other than when dealing with a malfunction during an alibi string, I don't think I've *ever* run out of time in either Timed or Rapid. At the start of the cadence I tell myself, "Plenty of time. Plenty. Let's just do The Plan, locked and straight back five times. Smooooth."

In Rapid, I'm always amused by either how much time I have left over, or that the last shot went so very, very close to when the target turned but all that's just the entertainment *after* the string is done.

eskinner,

about the only time I run out of time is with the wheel gun...I just havent found my form with it yet...but the revolver is more of a toy than anything else...I do struggle with rapid with the .45 . Slow fire I can score high 80's and timed I can hold black a good deal of the time but rapid fire well is just plan ugly .....I suppose it just a mental block that the light has turned on for it yet.....

I'm hopeless with revolvers. There's some magic mantra, voodoo doll or other "trick" that I didn't get in the instruction book.

My goal is to leave revolvers alone until I can shoot the main Bullseye guns (S&w41 and 1911 wadder) for a Master ticket. ...

Not that I won't shoot a nice revolver every now and then - for the "entertainment" value, you know?