How am I doing?

thegrandpoohbah

thegrandpoohbah

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This is my 3rd outing ever with a hand gun (and 2nd with this gun). Gun is an Alfa Proj 2251 22LR and I was shooting CCI Subsonics at this point in the evening. This was my best group of the night and is 3", comprised of 27 rounds at 7 yards. I did some groups at 10 yards and they opened up to 4.25". I also tried 15 yards but those weren't really groups anymore... :redface:

So, how am I doing? I would really like to get better at this and eventually take the Black Badge course and do some IPSC competitions. The issue is there is no one to take lessons from up here so I am just winging it.

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I don't know the gun you are using but if you were shooting double action that is pretty good, I get similar groups with single action which after about four years of trying isn't so good. Either way your group is a lot better than my early attempts so keep up the good work.
 
A little too soon to start grading yourself; on the other hand, a raw shooter like you has the luxury of learning proper techniques right from the beginning. Some shooters just kind of wing it for a few years and develop bad habits that are difficult to break.

I suggest you focus on mastering the basics/fundamentals. The are many, many online resources detailing the primary topics of breathing, stance/position/grip, aiming, trigger squeeze, and follow-through/shot-calling. Note that some ideas from one person may contradict those of another; that's fine as long as you experiment with a variety of ideas to find out which work best for you.

In terms of where you're at, an average IPSC shooter has no trouble landing 10/10 double action shots at an 11x8.5" paper set up at 25m. It may sound tough now, but if you're willing to put in the effort, you'll soon find out that 35m targets are no sweat.
 
Crosswind said:
A little too soon to start grading yourself; on the other hand, a raw shooter like you has the luxury of learning proper techniques right from the beginning. Some shooters just kind of wing it for a few years and develop bad habits that are difficult to break.

I suggest you focus on mastering the basics/fundamentals. The are many, many online resources detailing the primary topics of breathing, stance/position/grip, aiming, trigger squeeze, and follow-through/shot-calling. Note that some ideas from one person may contradict those of another; that's fine as long as you experiment with a variety of ideas to find out which work best for you.

In terms of where you're at, an average IPSC shooter has no trouble landing 10/10 double action shots at an 11x8.5" paper set up at 25m. It may sound tough now, but if you're willing to put in the effort, you'll soon find out that 35m targets are no sweat.
Click to expand...

^^ I agree ^^ well said.
 
You're doing fine. Learn the basics and start at lesser ranges. Move the target back as you become more consistent. Too may times people claim they cant shoot well at 20yds. Thats no surprise if you cant shoot well at closer ranges. Trigger time is your best teacher once you master the basics.
dB
 
If the stock mainspring is anything like the one in my own AP revolver then you're not doing badly. Treat yourself to the Rusty Wood reduced power mainspring to reduce the SA and DA trigger pull.

Now to the target. You're getting a group but you have a LONG way to go. I'm a decent but not a great shot and suffer from "old guy eyes" but I can manage to get that same size group at out around 20 yards. And I know a good size group of shooters that can do tighter groups than that. But having said this for your third time out at a new sport and a gun with a heavy trigger pull you're well on your way. So check those you tube videos for proper grip and arm posture as suggested.

On top of this hold the gun firmly but not in a death grip. And when you pull the trigger don't so much pull it as build pressure smoothly and let the trigger move when it wants. You want to do it this way to avoid a snatch at the trigger that results in the gun jumping to the side or up and down. And don't forget the follow through. Don't just pull until it goes BANG! Pull through to the end of the trigger travel and HOLD it there until after the gun kicks and settles. Then release it and set up for the next shot.

And remember that your eye can only focus on one distance at a time. You've got three things to look at, the target, the front sight and the rear sight. The front sight is the one you want to be focused sharply on and let the target and rear sight be a little fuzzy.
 
The only way to really gauge your own performance is to either enter competition or keep records and watch your improvement.

Competition is a lot of fun and in some games you can also work against your own historical scores.

Keeping records is boring and nerdy, but also pretty fulfilling over the long run and gives you concrete motivation to practice. It doesn't have to be complicated; I just brought a cheap day planner some company gave me (a lot of companies seem to give these away for whatever reason) and a tape measure to the range. After a session, I shoot a few 'score' targets and measure them, recording my group size and the distance, ammo used, and firearm. Later on, instead of group size, I started using Post-It notes as a 'scoring zone' with a set number of shots, and just recorded hits, progressively pushing the target back when I was consistently hitting with all my scored shots.

As warned, it isn't ###y, but it's a good motivator and provides concrete data to work with on your path to improving. It made a tremendous difference in my own shooting.
 
Thanks for the input, definitely some good advice here. I am going to look into the spring kit from Rusty Wood but thought I would shoot it as is first. I definitely need some more practice but first I have to source some more 22LR.
 
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