Practical accuracy and speed

[FL-NC]

1- You can't miss fast enough 2- Slow is smooth, smooth is fast- they key is learning to be slow in a hurry 3- Speed is fine, but accuracy is final 4- In a gunfight, you have the rest of your life to win.
The real key is repetition through training. Training is best accomplished with a knowledgeable instructor- if you try to "self learn", chances are you will never reach your full potential and develop bad habits.

 

[CopperFouling]

Well, after a few days of dry firing, I shot 100 rounds at my club today and focused on pulling the trigger more slowly. My accuracy improved noticeably.

After I shot around 60 of the rounds, I tried paying closer attention to the reset and found that I had been letting go of the trigger entirely when I didn't need to do that, leading me to slap the trigger and pull my shots. I'm still a long way from proficient, but there has been some progress.

Side note: my handloads seem more accurate than the factory ammunition I was shooting, but the POI dropped about an inch or two at 15 yards. I guess my rounds are slower than the 124-grain NATO rounds that I had been shooting.

 

[9mmepiphany]

the POI dropped about an inch or two at 15 yards. I guess my rounds are slower than the 124-grain NATO rounds that I had been shooting.

Faster, they're leaving the barrel earlier as the muzzle rises...unless you're just jerking the trigger

 

[MTNSTRYDER]

You are right.Speed is important,but first I want the weapon and my form to be as accurate possible.After I’m happy with the performance of myself and the gun then I can work to get faster.
I just need to make one very good shot for hunting or any other reason I have to pull the trigger.

 

[bluejeans]

I can see several paths
.....
1.) Dry fire more and get used to the LEM trigger (I have 950 rounds through the P30 at this point, but maybe that is not enough).

2.) Just keep focused on shooting accurately and don't worry about speed.

3.) Try to identify why I am shooting so poorly when I am shooting quickly and work on that.

4.) Figure that I have wasted enough time and effort on the LEM and switch to a DA/SA (I'm very hesitant to do this).

Any advice is appreciated.

I advise option #2 ; just shoot slowly and correctly and let speed come later. While identifying the problem would be nice it would still lead you back to #2 to overwrite the bad habit by training proper form.

I follow the advice of an instructor who once told me that a fist size group is the goal... if your group opens up: slow down. If you group shrinks smaller than 3”; speed up. Never shoot faster than you can maintain a 4” group. Rule stays the same no matter what the distance. Has worked well for me.
Good luck

 

[rpenmanparker]

I advise option #2 ; just shoot slowly and correctly and let speed come later. While identifying the problem would be nice it would still lead you back to #2 to overwrite the bad habit by training proper form.

I follow the advice of an instructor who once told me that a fist size group is the goal... if your group opens up: slow down. If you group shrinks smaller than 3”; speed up. Never shoot faster than you can maintain a 4” group. Rule stays the same no matter what the distance. Has worked well for me.
Good luck

That 4” group is the self defense standard.

 

[Drail]

Focus entirely on where the front sight is when the gun fires. Stare at that front sight so hard you can see the molecules in it. The target and the rear sight may be slightly out of focus because your eye can't hold a focus on the target, the front sight and the rear sight at the same time - it can focus on only one focal length. So focus on the front sight. You want to see a crisp focused front sight blade perfectly centered on the fuzzy target. Don't even think about speed. Speed will come automatically with practice - you can't stop it. Speed is learned from repetition and elimination of wasted motion. Be smooth. Smooth is fast. Just practice as much as possible and watch that front sight. If you can break the shot and hold the front sight is perfectly still - you will hit your target. Use a consistent and comfortable grip with equal pressure on both sides. If the sight rises straight up and comes straight back down - your grip is good. If it goes up and left or right - you're moving the gun.

 

[CopperFouling]

Focus entirely on where the front sight is when the gun fires. Stare at that front sight so hard you can see the molecules in it. The target and the rear sight may be slightly out of focus because your eye can't hold a focus on the target, the front sight and the rear sight at the same time - it can focus on only one focal length. So focus on the front sight. You want to see a crisp focused front sight blade perfectly centered on the fuzzy target. Don't even think about speed. Speed will come automatically with practice - you can't stop it. Speed is learned from repetition and elimination of wasted motion. Be smooth. Smooth is fast. Just practice as much as possible and watch that front sight. If you can break the shot and hold the front sight is perfectly still - you will hit your target. Use a consistent and comfortable grip with equal pressure on both sides. If the sight rises straight up and comes straight back down - your grip is good. If it goes up and left or right - you're moving the gun.

I used to have issues focusing on the rear sight instead of the front one, but I worked through that several years ago. In this instance, I found that practicing the trigger pull with my eyes closed helped greatly when I opened them.