Air pistol practice

I have got to get more practice in.  My scores are just not improving.  I dread dry fire practice I need that feedback from shooting live rounds.  The club I shoot at is 30 minutes one way from me, so I have to really plan on spending a good 3 hrs which is tough to do more than once a week.  I can shoot an air gun in my backyard and was curious if anyone else uses this method to get more trigger time?

I know that after I did an Internet trigger job on P-17 Beeman air pistol, the practice did wonders for my trigger finger as well as allowing me to focus on some other Fundementals in my overall shot process. I believe there are others here that do so as well.

I shoot my air pistol, ten times more than I shoot at the range.   That said,  an Olympic style air pistol with a 3/4 pound trigger will improve your slow fire with any other light triggered gun, but may give you some bad habits that actually degrade your 45 skills, and your sustained fire skills.  

You can put a lot of pellets downrange without figuring out how to transfer those skills to a Conventional pistol match.  

Dry firing is boring, and a novice shooter needs confirmation that he is dry firing correctly, and should be able to call the shots in live fire before spending a lot of time dry firing.  


I suggest getting an Air Pistol that is roughly the same weight and balance as your 45.   Make sure you can get your finger on the trigger in exactly the same place you put it on your conventional pistol.  If the grip angle is different on the Air pistol, this can cause issues.  If you shoot conventional pistol with a dot, shoot the AP with a dot.  
    I tried practicing with my LP 50, which is a great gun, but the 45 grip adapter was a waste of money.  I cant move the trigger back far enough to get my finger on it, in the correct place unless the original anatomical grips are on the gun.  

The one real training advantage with  an air pistol, is poor follow through is exposed.  If you are triggering correctly, your scores with the 22 and the 45 should be higher than with the Air Pistol, as the AP is a harder gun to shoot, and the ten ring is smaller.  The AP  is also great for one shot drills to simulate the first shot in sustained fire.  
      If you cant get an Air pistol that approximates your 45,  try this:    Dry fire five times with your 45 at the AP target.   Then pick up your AP and shoot one live round, duplicating your dry fire.  This will tell you if you are dry firing correctly.

I practice with the Air Pistol but not to a vast degree.  I have found that it improves your process significantly.  To shoot a good air pistol score, I have to have worked my shot plan very well and stuck with it.  That transfers well into Bullseye.  It also helps with the trigger discipline.  Even though it is a light trigger you have to pull it not baby it or yank it.  Smooth crush of the trigger yields a good shot, anything else on that tiny target and you get bad results.

Good luck.

I have a long background shooting AP and free pistol.  About 10 years ago I started to transition to shooting more BE.  I have gotten to the point where I can shoot HM scores with 22 but struggle to break 800 all of the time with the 45.  In practice I can shoot good groups with the 45 but not in a match.  I have heard of others with my same background also struggle with the 45.  I know I anticipate the shot at times and I know I need to calm down and relax.

I do wonder if a person who has more history with the 45 starts to use an AP might get a benefit in slow fire. When it comes down to it the more you just shoot regardless of what it is you should see a benefit from it.