Street to Fleet: A Noob's Journey

First topic message reminder :

As mentioned in my introductory post, I'm a Service Rifle shooter.  In planning my rifle EIC schedule for 2017, I discovered that I'll be at events that allow me to shoot my maximum of four pistol EICs, one a combat match and three that are National Match Course EICs.  Rather just toss lead downrange, I wanted to make a serious, planned effort in these matches, but have absolutely no experience with one-handed bullseye shooting.  Based on some of the feedback already provided, I decided to take my almost-mint 1987-era Ruger Mark II Target and start to work through the USMC Pistol Team Workbook before transitioning to my Springfield Range Officer.


My first real test will be the Navy East Fleet match in May, hence the title of this topic.  I don't expect miracles in such a short time, but thought this thread might be useful for collecting additional feedback, suggestions for training, and provide a roadmap for other new shooters (or learn from my mistakes).





Today was my first day at the range.  I'm shooting CCI Standard Velocity 40-grain Lead Round Nose (LRN).  I started with a two-handed grip to zero the pistol, but only adjusted windage slightly.  From there, I jumped into the deep end and placed my L-9 target at 25 yards and attempted the goal of 20 rounds in the circle.  As you can see, all ten shots were on paper, but were all over the place.





I then made a slight adjustment to elevation, but turned the screw the wrong way.




Coming back down, I had a centered group, but it still looked like a shotgun.



Albert Einstein is credited with saying, "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results," so I tried something different.  I moved the target to 25 feet with the intent of graduating to longer distances.  I found this distance to be pretty easy and the line of white on either side of the rear sight helped with sight picture, almost like a frame hold in service rifle.  But as you can see, one shot was noticeable outside the group, showing an inconsistent trigger pull.



From there, I moved the target to 50 feet.  My first attempt had 8 in the circle.



My second attempt (on a clean target) also had 8.



Third attempt had 9.  Getting better...



Fourth attempt had 7.  Getting tired?



Since this stage has no time limit, with my fifth and last attempt at 50 feet, I made a deliberate action to rest between each shot.  I got 9 in the circle and 6 seem to show a bit of a group.



With that, my hour and 100 rounds were gone, so I called it a day.  I'm going to try to get to the range each Thursday to validate this training plan.  In between, I'll be doing dry fire practice with my SCATT to train on fundamentals.

And in case anyone is interested, I had one stovepipe / failure to eject with this ammo.

Jorha, it sounds like I was in the same place you are, 10 months ago. One of the things that really has helped me is specific exercises for my right arm (I am 68).  I use a 4 lb weight and roll it up on a wooden dowel with my hands stretched out, and also hold  a 2 lb weight (heavy hands designed for walking) in my right hand in firing position for 2 min at a time, a few times a day, (a bottle of wine also works since i have to grip it so it doesn't slip out of my hand). 

These exercises have helped me hold the pistol steady for extended periods, and also lets me shoot substantially more practice rounds without my arm/shoulder killing me.

Greg,

I do the same.  I keep a weight on my desk and do holding drill while I'm on conference calls.

As home, I use my SCATT.  I turn on the feature called, "Sound generator for blind shooters" (yes, it's really called that ), which emits different frequency tones for different scoring rings.  Right now I have it enabled for the 6 ring and up and I hold the pistol for 10 seconds of continuous tone before I take a shot.



Here's the resultant trace from a test shot, which shows my hold is mostly 8-ring and up at 25 yards.  It also shows my shot was way late.  The blue part of the trace is the 0.2 seconds before I pulled the trigger.  In that time, my hold transitioned all the way across the aiming black, from 4 o'clock to 9 o'clock, immediately before the shot.  From there, it gets worse.  The red line shows the trace after I pulled the trigger.  If I did it right, the shot should appear on a smooth line.  In this case, the abrupt jerk to the right shows either my trigger pull or follow-through needs work.

Deleted.

Just a minor update to say I haven't abandoned this thread.  The US Army Small Arms Championships are a month away and bullseye pistol is on-hold while I train for that.

Is registration open for Fleets?  I didn't see it on the competition tracker. 

Good luck at Benning, OP.