Define Quality Practice Shooting

[yodogsandman]

Still a beginner pistol shooter and I want to improve my accuracy at longer distances. Last week, I shot the bull out of my 7 yard targets with about 4 magazines each. Shooting at my normal 9" paper plate with a 1" bullseye made with a magic marker. Moving out to 20 yards the next day, most shots were in about the size of a baseball. I've been doing most of my practicing lately at 20 yards. Not bad, but I want to do better.

Now, how do I proceed? Just shoot more? What should I concentrate on?

My goal is to hit stuff consistantly at 50 or 100 yards with my 45ACP Rock Island 1911 clone. No rest, unsupported, maybe a two handed hold. I'm only interested in accuracy building. No tactical stuff or competition in my future.

My practice load seems good enough using mixed headstamps, 4.5 gr ETR7 powder, Win large pistol primers, 200 gr Lyman 452460's sized to .452" and one coat of BLL.

 

[fiver]

I'd sort the brass by head stamp and check it for length.

I got nuthin on better handgun group shooting.
all I learned about it was find the front sight and go center of mass.
shoot again if the mass is still upright.
worked great for the situations I needed it in.

 

[Missionary]

Greetings
Absolute sight picture / alignment. Trigger control. Follow through. So utterly familiar with that 1911 that you see in your mind the projectile on the target spot.
Mike in Peru

 

[RicinYakima]

What Mike said! Lot of dry fire practice, call every shot (!), no more than one shot every 10 seconds on the range, and move target out to 50 yards. FWIW, Ric

 

[Brad]

I'm a handgun plinker most of the time. I don't have the time to spend to get really good with one.

Want to be good? Give up shooting much else and shoot lots at 50 yards. Practice with a purpose, don't just put rounds down range.

 

[Ian]

Spend at minimum 90% of your practice time building the stabilizing muscles that form your grip, perfecting their memory, and dry-firing. Breath control, sight picture, and trigger control are easy to master, but most people don't realize that not dedicating a lot of time to building physical strength directly in the form of holding the pistol on target makes all other training far more difficult and less productive. Do the fundamentals and go to the range once in a while to have fun and remember what the recoil feels like. Live fire puts the rubber to the road but in reality the only thing you are practicing (speaking strictly of marksmanship) that you can't do better and more cheaply in your bathroom or hallway is follow-through.

Get yourself and Airsoft version of your favorite pistol and train your muscles with it. You can shoot it, too, but don't make that the focus except for when you're specifically training your trigger control.

 

[gman]

Ian mentioned breath control and I'll add this as I found it out while shooting at steel from 100 yards with my Blackhawks. Do not forget to breath and by that I mean if you hold your breath for too long you deprive oxygen to the eyes and your vision will blur. So Ian was spot on by saying breath control. A good trigger goes a long way also.

 

[yodogsandman]

You guys never disappoint me! Thanks! Your answers are great and I'll try to incorporate them into the shooting.

What's considered a good trigger on a pistol? I think it's adjustable. Same as a rifle? No creep, no over travel and breaks like a glass rod at the set poundage?

Forgot to mention that I've been trying to shoot at least 100 practice rounds a week and a few magazines full of carry ammo.

 

[Rick]

All good tips but no one has mentioned grip. It's a big part of the whole picture of placing shots at the same point of impact. If your grip varies from shot to shot where the muzzle is at bullet exit will also vary and thus point of impact. Practice consistency while dry firing and shooting until it's completely natural and identical on each shot.

 

[yodogsandman]

What's considered a comfortable, natural grip? With my Rock Island tactical grip, the grip is so fat that I can't reach the slide stop with my thumb. I have huge mitts with long fingers, too. Shouldn't I be able to release it without loosening my grip and all sorts of gyrations?

 

[Rick]

I'll let others with more experience with the semi-autos chime in on that. Perhaps Bill will share his experience. My competition experience is with long range revolver but the goal is the same, vary the grip and vary the point of impact even when your doing everything else correctly.

 

[fiver]

1911 you slide that little tab under the hammer right on top of the web of your hand, and make sure the pistol aligns with your wrist and top [side actually] of your fore-arm.
everything stays straight.
bring the sights upwards from underneath the target, hesitate at the point of aim.
and fire.

 

[9.3X62AL]

No law requires a shooter to operate a slide release with the strong/shooting hand. Try using the left thumb (assuming right-hand shooting here). This gives the left hand something to do besides just going along for the ride. I have Depuyterin's Contracture in both hands, and haven't been able to sweep off a slide stop with my shooting hand for 5+ years. Adapt--improvise--overcome. I don't give a rat's bee hind what some tacticool ninja gun instructor says about what's "right" or "wrong"--as long as a method is safe, reasonable, AND USABLE BY THE SHOOTER--then fine by me. Doctrinaire perfectionists of the sort seen at range sites and shooting schools should be tarred and feathered.

 

[RicinYakima]

Nice to hear that comment, 9.3. I have been shooting the Carl Weaver stance since about 1963 and have never seen a reason to change. All the "tactical gun gurus" I have ever seen want your money more that having you hit the target, IMHO. Not be break anybody's rice bowl, but when I have been using it for 50+ years, trained with it for 50+ years, that is what I am going to do. If I was a 21 year old cop starting out again, it might be something different. Like holsters, the Lawrence #120 (Elmer Keith) or Don Hume River Holster (Bill Jordan) are a practical and fast as anything made. They just aren't plastic and aren't new.

 

[yodogsandman]

I can assure you guys that I'm not influenced by any one other than you guys. I won't watch "you tube" clips and don't trust most at the range for any instruction. I've read some stories long ago in various gun magazines and had some early instruction from my dad. I asked about the grip because I remember I could reach my dad's slide release on his 1911.

As a side note, my dad never let me know that most pistol shooting was done at close range, we started at 50 yards. I saved the cash from my after school job and wanted a 44 magnum. Dirty Harry films were the rage then. He bought it for me, a Ruger Blackhawk with an 8 7/8" barrel. Even got a concealed carry permit at age 17. We'd shoot it at a paper plate at that 50 yard distance and I could keep my shots into about a softball sized groups. He'd keep his shots into about a golf ball size, one handed. The recoil would rip the skin off my trigger finger within about 3 shots! Then rip the band aid off my finger in about 5 more shots. I caught a flinch and sold the gun. Since then I've kept away from any pistol with any more recoil than a 38 special. Bought a Ruger 22/45 4" bull barrel, target pistol a few years ago and found how much fun I'd been missing out on. Trying to retrace my steps a bit now and learn to shoot the 1911 with authority. Getting the itch for another 44 magnum too, maybe a nice S&W this time.

 

[Ian]

All good tips but no one has mentioned grip.

I did, two posts above yours, looks like we both rank it at the top of importance. Grip strength and consistency training is arguably THE most important fundamental.

In the martial arts world you are first taught how to stand. Then how to walk. These techniques are universal, and I found it interesting how well people who were entirely unfamiliar with firearms but proficient in martial fighting techniques could learn to shoot a handgun quickly. Duck to water, so to speak. Plus, those kinds of people have learned very well how to receive instructions and train with great disclipline and exact precise repetition. Fundamental stance, balance, focus, and overall body strength is essential to being effective with a handgun.

So, how to train for a proper grip? My idea on it is train your muscles to a much higher strain level than shooting, but do the same thing as when shooting. Present the handgun to the target as in your normal way. Do it in front of a mirror and if you don't look or feel awkward, you're probably doing it right. I prefer a two-hand hold, but practice how you plan to do your shooting. Nobody says you can't strength-train for one-handed shooting with both hands while you're at it. Now, when in your ready-to-shoot position, crank down on the pistol like you're trying to crush the cartridges in the magazine, as hard as you can. This will involve every muscle in your upper body. You'll quiver, shake, and hurt. Do it for at least a minute, two is better. If you aren't literally huffing and puffing and starting to break a sweat afterwards, you didn't do it right. Relax, stretch your wrists and arms (deliberately, take a few minutes to repeat and really get loose). Do it again just once or twice, and then go do something else for half a day, and do this all again. After a couple of weeks of doing this daily you'll be able to present the gun right to the shooting position and hold it with a "normal" grip more easily than you can hold it improperly because your muscles are locked in on ONE grip position. This is what I mean by muscle memory and strength training. Don't do live fire with the death grip, just train that way and live fire with a normal, firm but not choke-hold grip. During live fire, you won't have to think about grip, just breath, trigger, sight alignment, and the all-important control during follow-through. Follow-through will be easy to master because your trained muscles will automatically resist the recoil force.

A very successful and somewhat famous international competitor came up with this training technique, a friend of mine learned about it and passed it on to me, and though I've shot pistols for years, for a short while competitively, nothing I did came close to the dramatic improvement that simply doing the grip exercises has made in my shooting. I'll also add that recently I found using a handgun with some sort of laser sight for the grip strength training greatly improved my focus and gave me a benchmark by which to measure my improvement....I can now go two full minutes of 100% all-out grip squeeze and keep that laser shimmering around in a quarter-sized circle at 10 feet, something I couldn't do for more than a couple of seconds before with a normal grip. Another thing I also discovered about this technique is it helps when running and gunning too, or doing multiple-target drills like Miculek's "vee drill" and working a plate rack....oddly it forces me to do all my aiming WITH MY LEGS and not my arms. Locking into an isosceles grip and then acquiring the next target with upper body muscles trained to just one position makes the upper body resistant to breaking it's form, so pivoting from the knees like you're supposed to rather than swinging from the shoulders or upper torso is a more natural thing to do.

 

[gman]

I'll have to try that technique myself Ian. Over the last 2 years I've developed arthritis in my right hand (right handed) from getting it broken 30 years ago. When it flares up it makes it hard to get a firm grip. Probably need to see the doc again but that exercise may help to build enough strength in my hand to help.

 

[yodogsandman]

Ian, I can feel the burn! Wow, talk about shaking and quaking! This technique absolutely has to help!

What do you do with your trigger finger? Doesn't seem right to crush it onto the trigger.

 

[Ian]

I had the same question about the trigger finger and I really don't have a good answer. What I do is isolate it and just leave it relaxed, just barely touching the trigger shoe. This may not be good for your hands, and may adversely affect other activities like guitar playing, piano, handwriting, etc., so be cautious. Keep in mind this sort of training is for a professional shooter who is an athlete and conditions his body to one thing at the detriment of everything else if need be. Remember to bring your whole upper body (neck, jaw muscles, eye muscles, stomach muscles, everything) into the grip. This will help you learn to breathe with a tight abdomen and add to your stability, which will in turn keep you from wanting to hold your breath until you turn purple so as not to disturb your sight picture. You have to breathe. Breathe straight down deep into your gut like an opera singer, not high into your upper chest. Pursing your lips as if to whistle and sucking air straight down into your lungs will help, and exhale through your nose. This is what distance runners do.

One problem I have always had with trigger control is my sinewy, bony mechanic's paws don't have any cushion to speak of and flexing my trigger finger always shifted my grip. The problem for me is in my forearm, my index finger muscle contracting is like pulling a knot over a series of other knots and my whole wrist and forearm moves just from pulling the trigger, throwing off my sights. What I noticed from the grip training with relaxed trigger finger is that this is somewhat reduced, but it probably isn't good for my hands. I dunno, if my carpel tunnel syndrome starts acting up again I'll have to reconsider this, but so far it actually seems to help. Don't forget to stretch very thoroughly after each exercise and don't repeat too many times in a day, go on to other things like draw, sight alignment, dry fire, etc.

 

[Pistolero]

On the 1911, dominant hand as high as it will go against the grip safety, and second finger hard up under the trigger
guard. Two schools of though on dominant thumb placement, either on the safety or just pointing straight downrange.
I do the second. Non-dominant hand wraps onto grip, index finger hard up under the trigger guard, thumb pointing
downrange at the target.

Two stances dominate, try both. Stiffen dominant arm, some like elbow locked, I have mine slightly bent, but muscles
tensioned - a push on the gun. Non-dominant arm, elbow low, pulling into the dominant hand. Dominant side foot about
12" back from the dominant foot, which give you the shoulder distance difference to have the non-dominant arm bent, dominant arm
straight or nearly so. Feet a shoulder width apart.

Alternative stance: Square up to the target, feet a shoulder width apart. Grip the same, but both arms out, elbows locked
or nearly so. This is called Isosceles, for the isosceles triangle with equal side lengths. This is particularly recommended when
wearing body armor, square up your armor to the threat.

The first is called Weaver stance, although this is a misnomer, Deputy Weaver used both the first and second at various times
and he said that "The Weaver Stance" was really just the idea of two hands on the gun and gun up at eye level using the
sights in fast, combat type shooting. This was hugely innovative in speed shooting in the
1950s when he proved it was fastest and most accurate. Previous theory was to "point shoot by just looking where you shoot",
which is pretty debunked beyond 2-3 yds.

Dry fire, dry fire, dry fire. Then dry fire some more. No longer than 5 minutes at a stretch, you lose concentration and time is
wasted. You want to see the front sight PERFECTLY crisp. If you cannot, get different glasses or a pinhole device like the
Lyman Hawkeye, which is an AMAZING aid for imperfect vision.

Touch the trigger. Take out the slack. Hold your breath after two or three deep breaths and half exhale. Work up a pattern to
the front sight motion, increase trigger pressure a tiny bit (1/4th of trigger pull wt is a good place to start) as the sights are aligned
perfectly. As they drift off, hold that pressure, freeze trigger finger, then apply a tiny bit more after you get it to line up again. Keep this
up until the shot breaks, which will be at perfect alignment. If you run out of air before it breaks, release pressure, drop the gun down
from target, relax, take a few deep breaths and start again. Let the shot happen, do not MAKE it happen. After the shot, release the pull
just until the trigger resets and start the next pull.

For IPSC, fast combat shooting, do all of this, just very quickly. REALLY.

Ian, my best solution to grip change when pulling the trigger was to pull the bottom two
fingers on the trigger hand as tightly as I could grip. If no more strength left, cannot add
motion by accident, at least that is my theory, worked for me on "milking the grip".

Bill