There is a form of shooting you can do that will teach you as much as rimfire shooting at a lower cost, yet create the confidence you need to get to the next level, with the pistol you already have, and in the comfort of your own home. This means you can get far more practice than if you are restricted to shooting at the range, and improve over a shorter period of time. Dry firing is the answer, lots and lots of dry firing, say 100 repetitions per day, that are slow, deliberate, and technically perfect. The key to getting the full benefit from dry firing is to be absolutely ruthless with your self criticism, so if you're inclined to cheat for personal gain, this isn't for you. In which case, shooting a .22 and actually seeing what happens on paper is then the truth that cannot be ignored.
But lets go through a dry fire drill to give you an idea. Acquire a firm handshake grip on the stock of the gun. Your grip should be as high as you can make it, with the web of your hand tight to the tang or beavertail. The pistol should form as straight a line a possible inline with your forearm, provided you can reach the trigger. Your trigger finger should extend along the frame, but should not yet enter the trigger guard. If you have an empty chamber and rounds in your magazine, woe be to you, it won't be long until there's a hole in the wall and some pointed questions coming your way . . . that might be difficult to hear. All ammo must be in a different room from where the pistol is dry fired. If your pistol has a useless magazine safety, the magazine must be in the gun in order to dry fire it, otherwise it can be in another room as well. Each and every time you dry fire, that is for each shot, get in the habit of easing the slide back and looking into the loading port and chamber to ensure the gun is unloaded. At the range you should do the same thing prior to shooting each string to ensure the gun is in fact loaded. Anyway, back to the shot. You've got a high grip on the stock of the gun, you are holding the gun with a firm handshake grip, and you now wrap your support hand over your shooting hand, keeping the thumbs of both hands pointed vertically. The gun is in the low read position, that is held in front of you, angled slightly forward, about midway between vertical and horizontal. Thus the gun is not pointed at your feet, and nothing obscures your view of the target. Now your specific technique will cause you to proceed a little differently at this stage.
If you shoot isosceles, you face the target squarely with your feet roughly shoulder width apart and your knees unlocked, but not bent in any dramatic fashion which can cause muscle strain and trembling. While looking at the target, you bring the gun up smoothly with both arms fully extended in front of you until the sights enter your vision. If you shoot Weaver, you take a boxer's stance towards the target, again with your feet shoulder width apart and your knees unlocked. Apply opposing pressure between your shooting hand (pushing) and your support hand (pulling), and with the elbow of your support hand forced directly under the gun. Bring the gun up smoothly until the sights enter your vision. Now check your natural point of aim. This means that if you close your eyes and relax, that when you open them the gun should not have swung off target. If it has, adjust your position in small increments until it is correct, and can repeatedly check it without any undue movement off target. Once you gain the feel for your natural point of aim, you will have a great advantage.
If your pistol is a SA, or SA/DA, it should now be cocked, which can be done as the pistol rises to meet your vision. Use the support thumb without disturbing your grip on the gun, just move the thumb to engage the hammer, #### it, then return your thumb to its former position. If your pistol is DA only or a Glock style you might prefer to use the second pad of your trigger finger to engage the trigger to gain greater leverage to overcome the heavier pull weight if your finger is not strong enough to make the long pull. Another option with the Glock is to set the trigger using the long pull, then manually cycle the slide to mimic shooting and dry fire with the trigger set.
Once you have established your sight picture (SA pistol) the first pad, and only the first pad of your trigger finger engages the trigger, and without conscious thought you begin to increase pressure gradually on the trigger until it breaks. When it breaks it should surprise, but not startle you. Your sights are aligned with the center of your target, and the front blade is even with the top of the rear sight, and there is an equal amount of light on each side of the blade, between it and the notch of the rear sight. At this point your focus shifts to the front sight, and you loose focus on the target and the rear sight which begin to blur. If the front sight is serrated, or if it has a colored insert, concentrate until that detail is in sharp focus. You should be breathing normally up to this point, the idea is that you fire at a natural respiratory pause, not with your lungs forced empty, or full, just at the natural pause between inhaling and exhaling. Thus nothing is forced, and you have enough oxygen to ensure that your focus won't blur for the few seconds it takes to make the shot. Be sure to breath for each shot, and not rush through a number of shots on a single breath.
You should be able to break the shot within 5 seconds of contacting the trigger, then with practice, you can decrease the time it takes to do this. If you feel yourself begin to tremble or shake, or gasp for breath, stop and start over. So, you have a solid position, the proper grip on the gun, the gun comes up smoothly, you have a clear sight picture, your lungs are not stressed, your finger contacts the trigger, pressure is gradually applied, and the hammer drops with a click. Now, where is your front sight? Without moving, determine the position of the front sight. The muscle memory developed from this part of the exercise becomes the follow through that is so important to good marksmanship. What the front sight covers when the hammer drops, is where the bullet went had the shot been live fire. If the front sight drops low in the notch of the rear sight, the shot is low, if it raises above the line of the rear sight, it is high, if it jumps left or right, the shot is wide. But with no recoil or blast, you can see your mistake and work to correct it in a careful and methodical manner. If you train yourself to do it wrong, you will never be a competent pistol shot. But if you take it step by step, work slowly and carefully while paying attention to each individual step, and with practice develop a continuous, smooth, firing stroke, you'll be on the right road.
When you go to the range, and shoot live fire, give equal attention to each step, and watch those groups tighten up.
