Finally joined a clup

skimmer said:
Hey welcome! Good shooting :)

A few tips to help you for in at your new range
1. Make sure you tell everyone about how much you know about guns. This will prevent them from thinking you're a noob.
2. When borrowing someone's gun it's always appreciated if you field strip it and spit lube it for them so they don't have to after you've shot it. The faster you can slam all the parts back together the more impressed they'll be by your knowledge of their firearm.
3. Whenever possible try to ask people where they live. That way you can move to a part of town with lots of fellow firearm enthusiasts.
4. Make sure you occasionally soak your guns in water to keep the metal from drying out.
5. Your clubs range officer will have a great sense of humour

cou:
Click to expand...

Amazing, thanks! Will do! Great advice... I truly love how forthcoming this community is with knowledge and tricks.

..... Recap: strip, spit, slap, keep it wet... Ummmmmm... sounds familiar.
 
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Another evening spent at the range and all I have to say is sweet baby jesus!

Got to try someone else's CZ collection. Shot the SP-01. Here is the target.

Put 10 in the first circle because I was so excited after the first (DA) shot, that I forgot to change circles after my first 5 shots. I tried a couple of those 10's as DA, just to see the difference. It was my first DA/SA experience. Then the guy told me, not to bother with the DA for now, just enjoy the trigger on the SA. I haven't shot many guns so far, but that was a night and day difference between the other polymer guns. He liked my shooting and was so nice, he let me finish my box on that sheet. Some of them still got away from me because I was so surprised by the trigger every time I shot it.

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Then, I got really spoiled and was offered to try the Shadow 2. I should buy a lotto ticket. I am feeling lucky.

WOW!

The weight difference was so noticeable at first, but melted away once I shot it. I couldn't tell a difference in the trigger feel. At least not to my untrained digits.

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Now that I look at it closer, seems like i didn't shoot the Shadow 2 as well. Maybe it floated a little more as I sighted it in.

#8 was a try at quick followup shots... I have a lot to learn still...

For #9 and #10, I went from the Shadow2 to the SP-01 to try to feel a difference.... only noticeable change was the weight and recoil management (i guess). I know I have to work on tightening up my grip to try to stay on target, but it'll come I guess.

Now I want one, but for the $$$ I don't have it and think I could learn more from a more difficult gun to shoot. Had a try at an M&P 9 m2.0 (sorry don't have targets on that one). I liked it. Obviously, now I don't like it as much as the Shadow 2, but it's half the price. I may go with that one.

To date, this is the ranking of what I've shot:
-CZ Shadow 2
-CZ SP-01
-M&P 9 m2.0 (very few rounds)
-Sig P320
-SFP9
-FNS-9
-GLOCK 19 (curious to see if the GEN 5 will make that ranking change)
-GLOCK 17

On my "wish to try" list:
-Walther PPQ M2 (5")
-Sig P226 (maybe this weekend)
-1911 (probably in .45 ACP)
-a reliable .22LR training gun (maybe a clone of whatever I get in 9mm or in a 1911 frame)

I hope i'm not boring you guys with all this. I'm trying to keep these first targets archived in one place (with notes), so I can come back to it after 10'000 rounds.

Hope I improve.

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Settled? You mean you bought the M&P 2.0?

That is sweeeet shootin’!! Your progress as a new handgun shooter is quite amazing!

I think you’re ready for more than static target practice now!
Get holster certified at your range and try IDPA or IPSC. You won’t regret it!
Find a good gun belt, holster and mag carrier and about 2000 rds of ammo for the first year and you’re set!!!!
 
Still alive said:
Settled? You mean you bought the M&P 2.0?

That is sweeeet shootin’!! Your progress as a new handgun shooter is quite amazing!

I think you’re ready for more than static target practice now!
Get holster certified at your range and try IDPA or IPSC. You won’t regret it!
Find a good gun belt, holster and mag carrier and about 2000 rds of ammo for the first year and you’re set!!!!
Click to expand...

Yes exactly!

I bought an NEW m&p 9 m2.0 an extra mag (3 total so far).

I said "settled" because I had plenty to choose from (within my budget), and that was the choice I settled on. Took three business days for the transfer paperwork to arrive by email. Picked it up yesterday, cleaned and lubed it this (according to the manual) morning and shot 200 round so far.

Have to say, I am very pleased. There was one failure to feed. Seems like the round had some difficulty getting out of the mag. Noticed a burr on the plastic follower after ejecting it. Something worth keeping an eye on.

I'd like to mention, about the trigger, it's like it has a "three stage" trigger. I know that's not a thing, but the slight slop (or pre-travel) after the take up is so predictable I could just about expect it everytime. Either way, it works.

Tried a few different things with it.
-Strong hand slow, then faster, then double taps (those weren't pretty)
-Support hand, slow. (Wasn't too bad, I am a lefty after all)
-Different grip size attachments (think medium-large is a good fit for me)
-Different sight picture holds (center mass, 6 o'clock, 12 o'clock) seems to shoot about straight, but 5 yards isn't a good distance to tell for sure. Does seem to shoot left a tad, still probably my trigger control.

Mainly shooting with one eye open though, but I'm know trying to get a good sight picture with one eye, then opening the other to see what I see, to try to figure out the double vision mess. Need to train my brain to focus on the correct images. Work in progress.

@STILL ALIVE, thanks for the compliment. You have been a big motivator to want to go shoot more and improve or at least learn something. If I leave having learnt something, I'm satisfied with my outing.

I actually ordered some snap caps from Amazon and will try to sneak some into my magazines.

"TAP, RACK, BANG" I was told.

*Side note, those S&W mags... 10th round is a nightmare to get in, even with my Maglula. We'll see after another few hundred rounds.

I'm definitely interested in learning to shoot from a holster and shooting to a buzzer. I'll look into it for the new year.

Until next time,
 
I know what you mean about the trigger pull. Quite common with striker fired guns. The 2.0 is suppose to be way better than the Gen1 so you should be good. Nice to see you’re willing to work with the trigger rather than complain about it. When you shoot well with a mediocre trigger, you will excel with a good one! You’ll see when someone lets you try a race tuned 1911!

The mag issue with the 10th round is common to most M&Ps. Even with loading and letting your mags sit, they don’t seem to loosen much. The Maglula is still your best bet.

Keep working on the two eyes thing. Not a big deal with target shooting but it will pay dividends if you shoot run and gun stuff.

Snap caps are great for malfunction drills as well as checking if you’re anticipating or flinching. Best is to have someone else load your mags so you really have no idea.

Cheers! And keep it up.
 
Since I'm using this post to archive my evolution, here is an update.

I have spent a lot of time at the range in the last two weeks. Basically blew through 1000+ rounds and now I have brass saved up, so that if I start to reload I have a good batch to start with. Shopping for possibly a Dillon Square Deal B or maybe save some $$$ and get the Lee anniversary kit for 180$+ dies and supplies.

What have I learned in the last 2 mths of shooting?
1.Duh... this is soo much fun.
2. I thought I was a pretty decent shot from the start, but realized I needed to learn better grip/recoil control, and how to acquire a sight picture with both eyes open.
3. I was progressing well until I got worse. I was doing so well (see previous posts) at 5y, but the fault were magnified at 10m (as expected). I say "worse" because I started to group consistently center, but approx 2-2.5" left @ 10m, then it was a 5" circle, then sometimes it was not working at all. For a while I thought the sights were off, but since the M&P is zeroed at 25m from the factory, I knew it was me. I tried different grip positions, trigger finger positions, strengths ratios for each hand, squeezed crazy hard, changed grip panel sizes, went back to shooting with one eye open, nothing seemed to make a difference. I shot consistently left and within an average of a 3" circle at 10m with the odd flyer. Bought some snap caps and immediately noticed a flinch and a sloppy grip. I developed a flinch and hadn't realized it. I got so stressed out that I was shooting worse and worse, but finally, today, I noticed that I can fell when I have a sloppy grip, and I'm not smooth on the trigger. I can stop myself, some of the time, when I think I may flinch. I talk to myself a lot when I shoot. Thankfully everyone is wearing ear protection and probably can't hear me or they are polite enough not to mention it to me.
4. Slow is smooth and smooth is fast. I try to reset after every shot. Go to a "low ready" position and press out to get the shot.
5. "Aim small, miss small" actually works. Focus on the black at the center and not the whole of the target.
6. and finally don't sweat it. Just try to have fun and stop thinking so much about it.

On to the target (10m x20 shots each):
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These are the last 4 consecutive targets of the day. I tried progressively harder and harder to relax, take my time and be smooth. As you see, even after a day of practice, a low left flinch still made its way in on the last one, but at least now I know where the faults come from and I can work on it.

Have a great day and happy holidays.
 
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