Practise with 9mm vs .22

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Carefactor_Zer0

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I recently bought my first gun, a M&P 9, primarily for target shooting and IDPA. I'm wondering if it would be more productive technique-wise to buy 1000 rounds for the 9mm, or get a 22a and practise that way? Both cost about the same.
 
Everyone needs a .22, I had several centerfires including a .44mag before I got one (Norinco M93), but was glad I got it. Now I have 3 .22's dont really need them all but everyone needs at least one.
 
Whatever you can afford to keep shooting. If you can afford to regularly shoot 9mm I'd choose that over 22LR. 22LR can't replicate the recoil characteristics of the harder recoiling pistols nor to they always replicate handling. It's great for practicing good sight picture and maybe handling.
 
Practice with the M&P 9mm.

While .22 caliber is very much fun to shoot, it is not like firing a 9mm. The recoil is all wrong. However, shooting .22 is a good platform to build fundamental skills for centerfire.
I would spend my dough on 9mm ammo and shoot the M&P as much as possible. That way you will wring out the deficiencies and become familiar with exactly what the M&P will do. BTW, the S&W M&P is a very good gun....
 
Ammo dealers and mfrs will hate me for this.

IMO, a better way to practice costs nothing. Shoot .22 if you want, but it will probably not make you a better shooter. Use a .22 to plink or introduce somebody to the sport, but for serious practice....naaaah!

Dryfire, dryfire and dryfire your 9mm pistol some more. Serious shooters will benefit more from dryfiring, drawing and dryfiring, than shooting .22

But that's just me (a perhaps a few others in this forum).

Depends what you want to accomplish in your shooting career.

Even at the range, dry fire a hundred times before your first live shot. Takes discipline, but this technique works. Will save you money and get your where you want to be sooner.
 
I purchased a .22 AA kit for my glock 34. What it really accomplished for me was trigger control, it dosent teach followup shots as the recoil is next to nothing. I found that i loved shooting 22 for accuracy and slowfire, but i found jumping back to 9mm harder after i shot it in 22 for a while. It is not a good training tool when you are practicing drills for shooting competitions as it dosent produce the recoil you have to get used to. the weight difference was also very noticable, the slide of the 22 kits is extremely light, almost nothing
 
works for training if its the same gun, but mostly for trigger control, sights and transitions (somehow transitions isnt talked about alot with practice) but shoot 100 or so 9mm at the end of your session so your muscles get reminded about recoil

also .22 is a legit steel challenge class, both iron and open.

id never be without my .22(s), sometimes i want to hit the range and just plink away and .22 is perfect for that
 
Practice with the gun, in the caliber that you plan on shooting...especially for IDPA. You said that you have a S&W M&P 9...shoot the hell out of it, dryfire it at home, make it your best friend. If that's what you plan on using, don't worry about practicing with anything else...especially a .22

Just my 2 cents...
 
There's no secret to be a good pistol shooter... you just need to be able to squeeze the trigger while keeping the sights on target.

The hardest part is to do it over and over again, the exact same way.

The best (and pretty much only way) to do this is by practicing... and building muscle memory.
- Dry firing will do it
- shooting with a .22lr will do it
- 9mm will do it.

Personally, I like the 22lr option.
 
Take your money and your pistol and go take a shooting course to learn how to shoot properly. Everyone assumes they know how to shoot, 90% of them are probably doing it wrong. Its like anything, if you're not taught how to do it properly you're probably not doing it properly.

Remember practice does NOT make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect.
 
I will start by confessing that I am a pistol beginner, so take this with a grain on salt...
I think the question of 9mm vs. .22 is not as important as the question of full size vs. .22 size. What I mean is that many straight .22 pistols are much smaller in size than pistols of other calibers, and as a result you end up holding them differently. If you want to practice with .22, consider getting a conversion kit for a full size pistol so that your grip is the same.
 
LloydM said:
If you want to practice with .22, consider getting a conversion kit for a full size pistol so that your grip is the same.
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x2

I have a Sig P226 in .22LR and in 9mm. It's great (and cheap) practice for drawing and firing that double action shot and finding that reset point for the followups. Trigger pull is the same, controls are the same, feel is the same. It helps it to become second nature without breaking the bank.

But you still need to run some 9mm at the end of every practice to get used to the sound and recoil of the bigger round.
 
Carefactor_Zer0 said:
I'm wondering if it would be more productive technique-wise to buy 1000 rounds for the 9mm, or get a 22a and practise that way?
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Home practice & range time with the 9mm.

I had a GSG 22 and some small things were transferable, but those small things could be obtained from home practice.
A large percentage was dependent on me shooting the 9mm, or 45 ACP.......etc

Buy lots of ammo and dry train ;)
 
if it's the same platform as your 9mm, then it will help with trigger control, holster draws etc., but definitely not recoil. it's not going to be the same as shooting 9mm all the time, but will give you more practice time on the same platform while cutting down on expenses. not sure how much you shoot, but cutting back on 150+ 9mm rounds a week keeps $ in your pocket over time :)
i like to think of it as dry firing with hits... I also shoot a 226 in .22 and 9mm, i'll regularly shoot 150 rounds .22 then switch up to 150-200 of 9mm

edit - also not going to help with mag changes - if your planning on shooting competitively i wouldn't recommend shooting the .22 as you near a match.
if it's more for enjoyment, you can't beat the fun per $ of a .22
 
A lot depends on if you seem to develop a flinch that you can't get rid of. When I first started out it was with a 9mm. I shot a lot of ammo with a flinch issue that kept coming back then go away, then come back. I couldn't get rid of it until I started working with a .22 sitting beside the 9mm. I'd shoot a mag of .22 to work on my form and develop a clear sense of detachment from the recoil. Then I'd switch to the 9. I'd be fine for a mag or maybe a bit more then I'd feel the flinch coming back and I'd go back to the .22. About 1000 rounds of .22 and 500'ish of 9mm later I was more or less cured. I still find that .22 helps me to reinforce proper form and practice and detachment from recoil.

Some lucky shooters don't have a problem with flinching with 9mm guns. If you're one of them then you don't really need a .22.

As for a .22 messing up your shooting with your center fire gun this is true. But I enjoy the variety so I shoot semis and revolvers in an everchanging mixture in both center fire and .22. Yes this means I'll never be totally focused on my IPSC gun and that I'm limiting my ability to soar to the top of the scoring list. But I enjoy the variety. But the key is that with such a variety passing through my hands having yet another gun for my .22 isn't a big deal. But if you're the sort that is totally focused on one gun for match shooting then it would pay to get a .22 in as close to the same shape and weight as you can if you think that a .22 will help you out.
 
saskplcguy said:
x2

I have a Sig P226 in .22LR and in 9mm. It's great (and cheap) practice for drawing and firing that double action shot and finding that reset point for the followups. Trigger pull is the same, controls are the same, feel is the same. It helps it to become second nature without breaking the bank.

But you still need to run some 9mm at the end of every practice to get used to the sound and recoil of the bigger round.
Click to expand...

If you're shooting a traditional DA/SA pistol, the 22 conversion makes much more sense. The toughest part of these pistols is the transition from DA to SA, that won't change if it's a 22 or 9 or 45. Beyond that, as noted, you may as well dry fire. Incidently, the M&P22 that is out in the US has been reviewed as being basically nothing like an M&P, except in looks and name. If you want to shoot high volumes, you've got to reload - that way it's always the real thing, and in 9mm you're shooting pretty much all you want, for the price of a few boxes a week.
 
Ultimately you will need both...

The .22lr first, because it's way easier on the wallet when you mag-dump on the target 10m in front of you. It's not so fun with 9mm when you realize you've just peppered a piece of paper for $60 in 5 minutes.

.22lr first gun (or conversion kit for 'whatever' in 9mm)... this is the fun factor toy and time waster for when you set your 9mm down after a mag (the skills development). Trust me on this.

The right decision: Buy 2, or a 9mm w/conversion kit. Thank me later ;)

~Cheers
 
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