For the New Revolver Shooter

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Kleanbore

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I carry a single column semi auto, but many new shooters are selecting revolvers for self defense. And there are increasing numbers of new shooters these days.

Annoying circumstances have conspired to keep me away from the range too much, but when I was gong shooting more often, I noticed many new shooters struggling with handgun shooting.

Without generalizing too much, I have noted a few rather common problems:
  • Shooting more slowly than a real SD encounter would likely allow
  • Worrying too much about group size
  • Shooting single action in an attempt to improve precision
Those of us with a bit of training experience know that several rapid "center of mass" hits should be the objective of the defensive shooter. And we know that double action revolver shooting has been considered preferable for quite a number of years now, for more than one reason.

If you know anyone who has recently acquired a revolver for protection, I'm sure you are quite willing to spend a little time helping them to get up to speed.

Here's a good video with Grant Cunningham and Rob Pincus discussing and demonstrating double action revolver shooting. Watching it with your new shooter friends will not replace practice and live fire, but it may well help create a good beginning mind-set.

Good luck!






 
Worth noting. All good points. We must share this knowledge. What's ironic is that I find myself guilty of doing these very same things when I take my revolvers to the range (obsessing about group size, shooting at a snail's pace, doing too much single action work) ...
 
Im a firm believer that if you bother to take a little bit of time and effort (it doesnt take much either) to become a good DAO revolver shooter, you can shoot pretty much anything without a problem, and if you have "trigger phobia", youll see it just melt away.

Those skills translate to all types of guns, and not just revolvers.
 
I admire Grant Cunningham and his teachings.
His books are very good.

One point he made was allowing the trigger
finger to slide while pressing the trigger back.
Good luck with that on the older revolvers and
I'm thinking in particular the Smith & Wessons
up until the early to mid 1980s.

Those pre-80s Smiths have serrated/ridged triggers and
the finger really won't budge as you stroke the
trigger. The style really harkens to the days when
a lot of revolvers shooters only shot single action.

Skeeter Skelton counseled back in the 1970s to
smooth (Dremel) away the ridges. I've done it.
But nowadays I like to keep the Smiths in
original trim so I shoot with the ridges which can
be quite sharp (read possibly uncomfortable to
painful).

Interestingly, speed demon DA shooter Jerry Miculek
prefers the older style triggers. He says they give
him more feel and control.
 
I have S&W's with triggers of both types and dont have a problem shooting either.

To be honest, I couldnt tell you what kind a trigger the gun had while shooting it, if I didnt look.
 
I bought a now discontinued SIG P250 for the smooth DAO to remedy many of the issues mentioned above.

It's a great training gun, and with some practice, just a great pistol overall
 
Good points. DA trigger shooting is all part of learning your revolver. I usually like to shoot one or two cylinders slow-fire to get a good sight picture for POA and trigger finger placement for the revolver I'm shooting, then I shoot one or two cylinders rapid-fire DA, then one or two cylinders rapid-fire SA, then repeat the cycle one-handed. What I still need to bring into the repetition is the the same cycle single-handed with non-dominant hand. Oh, well, maybe when I'm not too concerned about expending ammo.
 
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It takes a lot more practice to master a double action trigger pull than it does for most semi auto trigger pulls. The bright side though is once you master it, you will shoot semi autos better too. A correct grip, the ability to move your trigger finger without moving the rest of the hand and keeping the sights aligned through the trigger stroke, and then doing all 3 at once require muscle memory which doesn't happen over night
 
The ultimate Revolver game is NRA PPC. I don't recall seeing anyone shooting single action. In fact most are DAO!
These are 150 round matches involving 7,15, 25 and 50 yards strong side and weak side!
As a defensive firearms instructor I almost always start new shooters out with D/A revolver shooting for the reasons noted above. It teaches proper grip, sight alignment and trigger press is essential for scoring hits on target!

I makes the transition to semi-auto center mass accuracy a little quicker!

Smiles,
 
Pat Riot said:
New shooters need to learn to walk before they run.
Click to expand...

True, but many shooters no matter how long they own a gun will do the same thing time after time and it does not matter if revolver or semi. I think one of the reasons, is they just do not shoot often enough. Many do not even shoot once a month.

Glad to see a good thread on DAO. . I practice a lot with the Ruger LCR 22. A whole lot of ammo has been fired from that gun and it is interesting how well you can master this short barrel and DOA trigger. For myself it is to the point that I do not want another trigger. All my Semi carry guns are DAO. A good DAO is deliberate, controlled and smooth all the way through. I love them.

I taught my son own to shoot first with a Single action, then other semi autos, then bought him a LCR 22. I told him to learn the short barrel very well, learn the trigger very well, learn to shoot fast and shoot it often. Once learned, you will be able to shoot any gun just fine. On top of that I had him take a number of defense classes.
He now can do wonders with that little revolver. He also now shoots DAO semi's which he prefers.
 
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I'm a new shooter. To go from being a non-shooter, to being someone who is never more than 2 seconds away from delivering an accurate shot, requires learning a huge number of new habits.

Three months in, and I'm still working on the basic part of the basics. Just buying guns didn't put me much closer to the goal.

Right now, I'm dealing with having watched a retention shooting video and wondering if my whole revolver thing needs to go out the window (due to cylinder - gap burn issues).
 
pairof44sp said:
I'm a new shooter. To go from being a non-shooter, to being someone who is never more than 2 seconds away from delivering an accurate shot, requires learning a huge number of new habits.

Three months in, and I'm still working on the basic part of the basics. Just buying guns didn't put me much closer to the goal.

Right now, I'm dealing with having watched a retention shooting video and wondering if my whole revolver thing needs to go out the window (due to cylinder - gap burn issues).
Click to expand...

I would suggest you take a class if possible. Remember shooting a firearm with competence is a slow train coming. It takes time and you have to make a investment in time just like any sport. I am sure you will have some frustrations along the way, that is natural. But you will start to have great days as well. Make it enjoyable. Learn to relax.
 
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UncleEd said:
Those pre-80s Smiths have serrated/ridged triggers and
the finger really won't budge as you stroke the
trigger.

Skeeter Skelton counseled back in the 1970s to
smooth (Dremel) away the ridges. I've done it.
But nowadays I like to keep the Smiths in
original trim so I shoot with the ridges which can
be quite sharp (read possibly uncomfortable to
painful).
Click to expand...

During annual requalifications, shooting 100 rounds of +P .38Spl. in a S&W 36 during timed fire, the serrated trigger would eat your trigger finger up painfully.

I eventually changed to a smooth trigger. Even so, a couple of boxes of +P in that light gun was not fun.

Not a good combination for a new shooter.
 
I feel like your assuming everyone has the same goals in mind for their shooting. Ive been shooting for years and I am more concerned about tight groups than shooting fast and shooting single action is advantageous to that.
Self defense is about %5 of the reason I shoot. So spending 95% of my time training for those scenarios doesn’t pencil out for me.
 
pairof44sp said:
I'm a new shooter. To go from being a non-shooter, to being someone who is never more than 2 seconds away from delivering an accurate shot, requires learning a huge number of new habits.
Three months in, and I'm still working on the basic part of the basics. Just buying guns didn't put me much closer to the goal.
Click to expand...
Keep at it and don't be discouraged. Many people stop improving simply because they're satisfied with reaching only halfway to their goal. I see in a statement like this a person who isn't satisfied with how far they've come and strives to continue and go further. That's a good trait to have. I think for me it was more like a year before things started to gel. But I'm an old dog and already was when I started and we don't learn new stuff all that easily. Best wishes and good luck!!
 
Barbaroja said:
I feel like your assuming everyone has the same goals in mind for their shooting. Ive been shooting for years and I am more concerned about tight groups than shooting fast and shooting single action is advantageous to that.
Self defense is about %5 of the reason I shoot. So spending 95% of my time training for those scenarios doesn’t pencil out for me.
Click to expand...
Once I learned to shoot DAO, my DA groups have pretty much always been tighter than my SA groups, no matter how I was trying to shoot.

Ive rarely thumb cocked a DA revolver in decades. Those types of guns are meant to be shot that way, and once you learn to shoot that way, you see it is "the way".

I think many, if not most, arent taught to shoot DA/DAO and just dont know what they dont yet know.

Once you figure out the trigger isnt really the big deal in things here, and stop worrying on it, and direct your focus on what you need to (the sights) to put the rounds where you want them to go, it all comes together.

Shooting DAO builds and maintains the muscle tone needed to let you shoot well, and that crosses over to all the guns you shoot. It helps you to learn to keep focus on the sights as you are doing everything else necessary to make the gun fire. And while all that other stuff is going on, your focus is always on the sights/target.
 
beag_nut said:
One thing I rarely see mentioned, is that a revolver leaves no spent cases lying around; those cases can be linked to a specific firearm.
Click to expand...
Unless, of course, you dump them on the ground like the shooter in the video. Which, in a defensive shooting scenario, is exactly what you should do, to rapidly clear the cylinder for the reload. If I'm practicing defensive DAO shooting, I do just what the video shows, slap the ejector and dump them, but if I'm taking my time at the range, trying to punch a little hole, I generally dump them in my hand or on the table, so I don't have to do a lot of bending to pick them up.

When I take my revolvers to the range, I practice both SA and DA. I also practice single loading and speed loading. Using a revolver as a defensive weapon has some obvious differences from a semiauto, mostly in the reloading sequence. In the semi, hit the button, eject mag, insert new, release slide into battery and continue. For most of us, that's a lot faster than releasing the cylinder latch, swinging the cylinder out, tilting the revolver up, ejecting spent cases, reloading, closing the cylinder and returning to shooting. Use of a speed loader, IMO, is a critical skill for defensive shooting, or for a timed-fire competitive event that requires a reload. Single loading can become fairly quick with practice, but requires a dexterity that arthritic fingers may lack.
 
I shoot my 38spl SA with one hand, use the thumb to pull back the hammer. My carry gun is a DA no hammer 357, obviously I shoot it DA with one hand. I'm not sure in a self defense situation I'll have the luxury of using both hands.
 
Ernie Bass said:
True, but many shooters no matter how long they own a gun will do the same thing time after time and it does not matter if revolver or semi. I think one of the reasons, is they just do not shoot often enough. Many do not even shoot once a month.

Glad to see a good thread on DAO. . I practice a lot with the Ruger LCR 22. A whole lot of ammo has been fired from that gun and it is interesting how well you can master this short barrel and DOA trigger. For myself it is to the point that I do not want another trigger. All my Semi carry guns are DAO. A good DAO is deliberate, controlled and smooth all the way through. I love them.

I taught my son own to shoot first with a Single action, then other semi autos, then bought him a LCR 22. I told him to learn the short barrel very well, learn the trigger very well, learn to shoot fast and shoot it often. Once learned, you will be able to shoot any gun just fine. On top of that I had him take a number of defense classes.
He now can do wonders with that little revolver. He also now shoots DAO semi's which he prefers.
Click to expand...

Bravo! Shooting DAO is hard to master but worth the effort and pays big dividends!
In our instant gratification world "lack of effort" seems to be a by product of "participation" trophies!

Smiles,
 
Barbaroja said:
I feel like your assuming everyone has the same goals in mind for their shooting. Ive been shooting for years and I am more concerned about tight groups than shooting fast and shooting single action is advantageous to that.
Self defense is about %5 of the reason I shoot. So spending 95% of my time training for those scenarios doesn’t pencil out for me.
Click to expand...

NRA-PPC is THE double action revolver precision game! At the top level at state, regional and national level, championships are won or lost by X-count. The NRA B-27 target X is smaller than your "hand span"! The difference between Expert, Master and High Master is usually less than 20 points in a 150 round course of fire. I don't know anyone at that level that shoots slow-single action. There are 6 stages, dropping two points in these stages (12 points) will take the shooter off the podium! The last 6 rounds are at 25 yards, 6 rounds from the holster in 12 seconds!

Double action allows the shooter the time to "steer" the front sight during trigger press!

Single action cocking disturbs the sight picture and wastes time needed to reacquire that perfect sight picture!

Smiles,
 
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pairof44sp said:
I'm a new shooter. To go from being a non-shooter, to being someone who is never more than 2 seconds away from delivering an accurate shot, requires learning a huge number of new habits.

Three months in, and I'm still working on the basic part of the basics. Just buying guns didn't put me much closer to the goal.

Right now, I'm dealing with having watched a retention shooting video and wondering if my whole revolver thing needs to go out the window (due to cylinder - gap burn issues).
Click to expand...
Shooting a gun is easy; point it and pull the trigger, right? Well, maybe at the most primitive and basic level, right.

Shooting a gun quickly and accurately, though, is a practiced art, like driving a car , riding a bicycle, or even throwing a Frisbee where you want it to go. You start out with basics, and as you add to the basics, muscle memory and repetition makes many of the moves automatic. And, you can't "learn how" and then put that away for future use, it must be continually practiced. You must learn the similarities as well as the differences in every type firearm you shoot. You don't handle a rifle like you do a shotgun, just like you don't handle a semiauto like you do a revolver, after the primitive basics.

Shooting requires a focus more extreme than most other skills, but with constant practice becomes more natural, and that focus can be applied to other skills.
 
Lol, I like to think of shooting a firearm like shooting Pool. Most good pool shooters have a preference to their stick and not many go to the table the first time and run the table. Takes a lot of practice and training. Why do you think I skipped school so often? Just to goof around?
 
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