So I go on and on to the anti's about how handgun owners are more responsible than they are and that the only people I really wouldn't want to have their hands on a gun would be them (the anti's) and criminals, and how we practice and train and know what we're talking about. Except I never really did any of that. I just consider myself to be pretty responsible and level-headed, but I'm too broke to really do much practice. So when this opportunity came up I decided it was time to start putting my money where my mouth is. And I took this class.
Held at the Lethbridge Fish and Game Association by David Green. It was a small class, only 5 of us. June 20 in the afternoon. Course was $40 for 5 hours. 1.5 classroom and 3 hours range time with a little break in between. "Action Handgun 101"
Went over some safety stuff and some fundamentals in the class, then out on the range did a bunch of dry runs and then started shooting. Worked on our draw, muzzle direction, reloads and most of all, moving and shooting. There's nothing spectacular here, none of us (especially me) are IPSC champs or anything, but you have to start somewhere right? I have only been shooting pistol for about a year now. Bought my Girsan Compact last July and ran about 400 rounds through it over the year. I sold it to buy my dream gun, a Hi Power, albeit in .40 rather than the 9mm I was looking for. Well I had only been to the range twice to shoot it since buying it about 3 months ago (maybe 80 rounds total) and kind of panicked a bit because I didn't think it would be possible to tame the .40 S&W beast. Much different than the 9mm.
What really struck me was how comfortable I got with my own gun by the end of the day. I stopped agonizing about shot placement and anticipating recoil and getting all sweaty about it. We drilled the fundamentals and then just did the shooting drills. By the end I wasn't thinking twice about pulling the trigger. I lined up my sights, practiced my controlled pairs, fired and held it as steady as I could for a follow up shot. I'm not saying I tamed the beast, but you know. I stopped thinking about the fact that this gun had a lot more punch and snap than my old one did, and just shot the damn thing. I didn't realize it until afterward that was just "running and gunning" without all the stress. The steel target we were shooting was just an "A" zone ipsc target, and by the end of the day I was managing to hit it most of the time from 10 - 12 yards. When at the beginning I missed it every time.
I also realized that you do what you practice. One thing I need to work on is my muzzle direction when I'm working on the gun. The only "instruction" I ever got before this was watching the magpul videos, and those I think are mostly about gunfighting, not shooting sports. So I was constantly raising my muzzle over the berm, because that's how I practiced my reloads at home. He wanted us to point it straight forward like there was a wooden dowel in the barrel. I also fumbled all my tac-reloads. Because we didn't actually practice them, he just told us to do them. At one point shooting from the barricade I switch mags, and then rack the slide, loosing my extra shot, just because I was kind of on auto-pilot and not really thinking. At the end of the video below, I was supposed to retain my mag, and I just dropped it because that's how we had been practicing all day, despite the last thing I clarified with him when he asked me if I understood the course of fire was the fact I wasn't supposed to drop it.
I am very happy I did this, and plan to do it more, hopefully someday soon I can afford to do my black badge, and I might even go to Vegas with a friend this nov/dec to take a defensive course somewhere out there in the desert. We'll see. Money.
I was shooting my '95 Hi Power in .40 S&W with Remington UMC 180gr. ($105 @ WS, thought it was a good deal)
From the youtube description:
00:00 - Walk toward the target and shoot at it twice
00:07 - Same as above, except this time I hit it once
00:16 - Walk toward the steel, shoot twice. Traverse to the other steel, shooting 3 targets twice each, walk around pylons (muzzle direction, reload), walk towards steel, shoot twice, traverse again, shoot 3 targets twice each.
00:58 - Shoot at the steel once from every position at the barricade, except prone
01:37 - Shoot Steel from 3 positions marked in the barricade, 3 hits, Traverse to other barricades, 3 targets 2 hits each, shoot other steel from other barricated from 3 marked positions, 3 hits. Retain magazines.
01:57 - Same drill as above, did a redo since I knocked the steel off it's stand.
Held at the Lethbridge Fish and Game Association by David Green. It was a small class, only 5 of us. June 20 in the afternoon. Course was $40 for 5 hours. 1.5 classroom and 3 hours range time with a little break in between. "Action Handgun 101"
Went over some safety stuff and some fundamentals in the class, then out on the range did a bunch of dry runs and then started shooting. Worked on our draw, muzzle direction, reloads and most of all, moving and shooting. There's nothing spectacular here, none of us (especially me) are IPSC champs or anything, but you have to start somewhere right? I have only been shooting pistol for about a year now. Bought my Girsan Compact last July and ran about 400 rounds through it over the year. I sold it to buy my dream gun, a Hi Power, albeit in .40 rather than the 9mm I was looking for. Well I had only been to the range twice to shoot it since buying it about 3 months ago (maybe 80 rounds total) and kind of panicked a bit because I didn't think it would be possible to tame the .40 S&W beast. Much different than the 9mm.
What really struck me was how comfortable I got with my own gun by the end of the day. I stopped agonizing about shot placement and anticipating recoil and getting all sweaty about it. We drilled the fundamentals and then just did the shooting drills. By the end I wasn't thinking twice about pulling the trigger. I lined up my sights, practiced my controlled pairs, fired and held it as steady as I could for a follow up shot. I'm not saying I tamed the beast, but you know. I stopped thinking about the fact that this gun had a lot more punch and snap than my old one did, and just shot the damn thing. I didn't realize it until afterward that was just "running and gunning" without all the stress. The steel target we were shooting was just an "A" zone ipsc target, and by the end of the day I was managing to hit it most of the time from 10 - 12 yards. When at the beginning I missed it every time.
I also realized that you do what you practice. One thing I need to work on is my muzzle direction when I'm working on the gun. The only "instruction" I ever got before this was watching the magpul videos, and those I think are mostly about gunfighting, not shooting sports. So I was constantly raising my muzzle over the berm, because that's how I practiced my reloads at home. He wanted us to point it straight forward like there was a wooden dowel in the barrel. I also fumbled all my tac-reloads. Because we didn't actually practice them, he just told us to do them. At one point shooting from the barricade I switch mags, and then rack the slide, loosing my extra shot, just because I was kind of on auto-pilot and not really thinking. At the end of the video below, I was supposed to retain my mag, and I just dropped it because that's how we had been practicing all day, despite the last thing I clarified with him when he asked me if I understood the course of fire was the fact I wasn't supposed to drop it.
I am very happy I did this, and plan to do it more, hopefully someday soon I can afford to do my black badge, and I might even go to Vegas with a friend this nov/dec to take a defensive course somewhere out there in the desert. We'll see. Money.
I was shooting my '95 Hi Power in .40 S&W with Remington UMC 180gr. ($105 @ WS, thought it was a good deal)
From the youtube description:
00:00 - Walk toward the target and shoot at it twice
00:07 - Same as above, except this time I hit it once
00:16 - Walk toward the steel, shoot twice. Traverse to the other steel, shooting 3 targets twice each, walk around pylons (muzzle direction, reload), walk towards steel, shoot twice, traverse again, shoot 3 targets twice each.
00:58 - Shoot at the steel once from every position at the barricade, except prone
01:37 - Shoot Steel from 3 positions marked in the barricade, 3 hits, Traverse to other barricades, 3 targets 2 hits each, shoot other steel from other barricated from 3 marked positions, 3 hits. Retain magazines.
01:57 - Same drill as above, did a redo since I knocked the steel off it's stand.
