Black Badge Practice/Study Info?

Slug870

Slug870

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I was wondering if anyone could point me to a source for info on skills, knowledge etc which might assist me in preparing for a Black Badge course. I am looking to make the most of my range time with my new pistol, and rather than simply blasting hundreds of rounds of, I would like to be practicing actual drills/skills which I will have to use on the course.

I would like to be as prepared as possible when I take the course, so any info from the experienced IPSC shooters would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
 
Here's what I recommend to new BB Students.

Go to the range, set up a target at 20m that is no bigger than 12" by 12".
Practice shooting it - make sure EVERY shot you fire is on the paper.

Once you have that, put a mark in the middle of the target and start shooting a group on that mark. The tighter the better.
"Aim small - Miss small" (Paraphrasing Mel Gibson..) really is important.

If your gun shoots DA first shot, make sure you do a lot of this Double Action.

Familiarize yourself with your gun's controls; the mag release & the safeties. Activating them with your strong hand and releasing them with your strong hand. Practice Activating the slide lock with your strong thumb while holding the gun with the strong hand.

Make sure your gun, it's magazines and the ammo you intend to use for the course is 100% reliable. Practice with the same stuff.

Do not practice draws or Mag changes - you can develop bad habits that the instructors will take even more time to remove from you.

Sight alignment and trigger prep / squeeze - get the basics down and the instructor will take you the rest of the way.

Good luck on your course and welcome to the game!
 
^^ Great advice. If 20m is too challenging, use a smaller target at close range. At 3-5yd, a 2" circle drawn on paper is a great place to start, 3x5" index cards or post-it notes are cheap small targets. Once you can land 10 or more hits touching a small, close target, move it further away and make the target a wee bit larger. Don't bother with speed, accuracy and safe handling are the best places to start.
 
Good information here, i was going to start a thread asking the exact same thing.
How do you guys practice when dryfiring? In the basement sighting a target?
 
MartyK2500 said:
Good information here, i was going to start a thread asking the exact same thing.
How do you guys practice when dryfiring? In the basement sighting a target?
Click to expand...

You really need an experienced instructor to show you and set a proper techniques or in worst case you better watch some instructional videos or DVDs. DAA has online theater with some good ones.
 
Just grab your gun and related kit and go take the course.

Listen, and have fun. Maybe even make some new friends.

And learn to ignore the "higher than thou, my schize doesn't stink" attitude you will eventually run into once you start playing the game (yes, that's right, IPSC is only a game, but with guns, which makes it so cool).

And practice, practice, practice the skills you learn on the course.

Most of all, have fun. Fun with guns.

CS45
 
And learn to ignore the "higher than thou, my schize doesn't stink" attitude you will eventually run into once you start playing the game (yes, that's right, IPSC is only a game, but with guns, which makes it so cool).
Click to expand...

Seriously, I didn't encounter any of that in my qualifier. All the veterans were overflowing with their advice and helpfulness.
 
MartyK2500 said:
How do you guys practice when dryfiring? In the basement sighting a target?
Click to expand...
Dry fire is a fantastic learning tool. It removes the distractions of recoil and noise and lets you focus exclusively on technique. And yes, all you need is an aiming point and a safe area to practice...like a basement. A target patch or even a clean sheet of paper with a dot on it will work fine.

Just focus on aligning the sights with the spot on the target you want to hit, building pressure on the trigger until the hammer falls. What you're goal is here is to try and get the hammer to fall without disturbing the sights either before, during or after the trigger press (follow-through). Your visual attention should be heavily biased to the front sight. Observe everything it does as you manipulate the trigger and use these observations as bio-feedback to adjust your technique towards the desired outcome. The sights will tell you what you need to do.

Note that it is also important to practice this skill constantly, even after you've had your Black Badge. Accuracy is a perishable skill and if you don't use it, you loose it.

Use dry practice in conjunction with some range time and as noted above, the instructor will take you the rest of the way.

Good luck and welcome to the family.
 
Learn your gun's trigger. Dry fire until you get to the point of being able to have a hollow point round placed on top of your front sight not be disturber by your trigger pull.

At the range, don't practice any techniques yet. Fire slowly. Do the drills illustrated above, but at the end of each trigger pull, keep the trigger all the way back. Slowly relax pressure until you feel the rest click before your next shot.
 
I just took the BB course and to be honest it's more about safety and proper technique than anything. Keep your finger off the trigger at the appropriate times and keep the gun pointed in a safe direction at all times.

As far as not wasting ammo, you can't get by this. It takes practice.

My instructor was absolutely awesome and every little thing he said had a huge impact on how you shot, so make sure you pay attention to your instructor even on things that sound like minor details. They are teaching the course for a reason, they've got a lot of knowledge you can tap into. If you have any questions or concerns, make sure you ask. You payed for the course, get your money's worth.

It's better to go there with a blank slate than to have improper technique. I'd save the practice until after the course.

If you have any questions just give me a PM.
 
Thank you all for being so helpfull. You guys brought up a good point, bad practice is worst than no practice. Having had 20h private issf coaching, i will dry fire 1 hand issf style for the moment. As it wont get me learnind bad stance habits.

At least it will get me learning my trigger pressure. In coaching follow thru was covered. Anyone know of an Ottawa ipsc coach?
 
This issue seems to come up quite often, where people are worried about completing the BB Course. Is there a blurb on the IPSC Canada/Provinces websites directing people what is expected of them before the course? Maybe there is, I haven't taken the time to look, lol!
 
7.62mm said:
This issue seems to come up quite often, where people are worried about completing the BB Course. Is there a blurb on the IPSC Canada/Provinces websites directing people what is expected of them before the course? Maybe there is, I haven't taken the time to look, lol!
Click to expand...

Not only this one... At least one of the mods here used to be an IPSC shooter and some would expect a few sticky topic on IPSC gear and getting started. :stirthepot2:
 
When I did my BB we got three booklets, one was the Red IPSC rulebook, another one was House Rules (blue?) and the third was a helpful training handbook (photocopied) for the course. Between all of them and the instructor I think all of my questions were answered.

Before I signed up there was the IPSC BC page in Black Badge
http://www.ipscbc.com/index.php/introduction-to-ipsc/ipsc-training-course

the whole Introduction section is pretty good http://www.ipscbc.com/index.php/introduction-to-ipsc
 
euxx said:
Not only this one... At least one of the mods here used to be an IPSC shooter and some would expect a few sticky topic on IPSC gear and getting started. :stirthepot2:
Click to expand...

I knew I shouldn't have quit drinking alcohol....I seem to be hallucinating.....I am sure you were the guy that always refers people to the IPSC Ontario/Canada Website for info. I guess I am losing it...oh well...it will be a fun ride!
 
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