Something dawned on me last weekend.

[White Horseradish]

I was at the range, shooting my Makarov. Then I looked at the target and thoght "Dang. I'm not very good at this, am I..."

So. It occurred to me that I am probably making some very common mistakes and I don't really know what they are. Now, I know which end of the pistol points downrange and I can take it apart and clean it with my eyes closed. The burning question is how do I get those holes in the paper closer together.

I realize that much of that is the same as the way to Carnegie Hall - practice, practice, practice. However, it would be nice to practice the right way.

In short, is there some literature/reference material on pistol shooting I should look up? I'd love to take a class, but whenever time meets money, they never invite me.

 

[parados]

Front Sight.... Press... Front Sight... Press.... (repeat)


Try dry firing on a paper target at home (make sure you are unloaded... then make sure again!)

Sorry I can't think of any literature off the top of my head...

 

[ClarkEMyers]

I put Paul Weston at the top but....

I put Paul Weston at the top but there must be newer books that cover things in more detail.

 

[Zundfolge]

Really really try to get time and money together ... a class taught by a good instructor will do you a world of good ... its extremely helpful to have an educated eye watch you fumble around with your gun and point out what you're doing wrong, what you're doing right and how to fix your bad habits. The biggest problem with a book is that it doesn't watch you shoot and point out the problems in your stance/trigger control/breathing etc that you don't notice.


If a class is completely out of the question, I'd suggest you try to befriend some competitive shooters and/or pistol instructors and maybe get a little free advice



The best little bit of advice I can give you right here is to do lots of dry fire practice ... good trigger pull is more then half the battle.

Make sure your gun is unloaded and all the ammo is in another room ... pick a spot on the wall (or TV), aim and squeeze the trigger while focusing on the front site.

If you can get to where you can pull 3-5 perfect pulls in a row (that is where the front sight doesn't move up down left or right) then you're done for the night.

 

[russlate]

Reading Weston, Cooper, Ayoob, even Ed McGivern shouldn't hurt, and just might help.

 

[jed]

Go to www.sportshooter.com. There are topics covered on the website and books and videos.

There are free downloadable targets one will involve corrections and
explain what you are doing wrong. I down load the chart and shoot it
as though it were a target. When the bullet hits the sector that explains
what you are doing wrong several times, you will know what you need to work on.

Also go to www.glockfaq.com. There is a great section on that sight
explaining trigger control and how to achieve it. You need not own a
Glock to benefit from the material.

No doubt there are other websites with useful information. You are limited only by the time you can put into the search!!!

However, the desire to improve is a must and you seem to have it. You can't wish yourself to success, but you can practice your way there.

Finally, handgun shooting looks soooo easy, but experience will show that you must work at it. There are however some very gifted shooters who gain proficiency at an amazing rate!!!

 

[Igloodude]

I've found that competing in Bullseye makes accuracy second-nature. If you're worried about trying to hit within 3" at 25yds, everything less exacting seems easy by comparison.

 

[Ktulu]

Good suggestions so far. I would give much consideration to getting some professional training. Short of that I recommend the Matt Burkett video series especially volumes 1-3. He'll show you how to build your stance, grip the gun, draw from a holster, reload, etc. While the videos are geared toward action shooting I think they can help any novice who wants to shoot better and/or faster.

In theory, shooting is the easiest thing in the world. Line up the sights and press the trigger without disturbing your sight alignment and the bullet will go exactly where you want it every time. Everyone who's ever pulled the trigger knows this is much harder then it first appears but it is really just that simple.

To get better you have to figure out at what point you're messing things up. For example: Do you have a flinch? Lots of dry firing, the point of which is to break perfect shots every time, can help. Double up on hearing protection. Use plugs and muffs. Most people jump because of the blast not the recoil.

Learning about shooting, videos and books, doesn't make you any better of a shot. You need to practice and apply what you have learned and be able to figure out what you're doing wrong. This is were training really starts paying off. You are not only instantly able to practice what you've learned but you have someone there to help point out what you've done wrong and encourage you when you get it right. When you take this home with you you've got a good idea what needs more practice and what ccan use a little less. There are some legendary people who are self taught shooters but they are by far the exception and not the norm.

 

[spacemanspiff]

some days i'm on, most days i'm not.
many times i can feel the flinch even before i take the shot. when i start getting to that point, i'll put the gun down and grab the .22 and run 5 or 6 magazines through. that will settle my flinching down for a few more magazines out of a real gun.

my shooting has evolved, for the better more or less i suppose. back when i was shooting my steyr m9, it seemed my first shot always went where it was supposed to, and the second would go somewhere else.
now with the kimber, its the first shot that goes elsewhere and the other shots go where i want.

for a while i floundered while trying new stances. weavers werent doing it, so i went isocoles. but if i forget to roll my shoulders forward and get my center of gravity a bit forward, i'm back to square one.

 

[Wildalaska]

Beleive it or not Spiff is pretty good with his 45...except:

It Frisbees empties on me (fix that ejector dude)
His Man boobs jiggling in rapid fire is a sight to avoid

WildcallmeAlaska

 

[ralphie98]

I'm in the same boat you are. I still consider myself a newbie so I chalk up some of my issues to inexperience, but I know my biggest problem is flinching. I can dry fire without flinching all day long but when I get to the range, different story. Ktulu's suggestion to double up on hearing protection is a good one that I may hafta try myself. I plan on getting a .22 some day, but it's not in the budget right now. I just bought my Makarov last week so I need to hold off for a while before buying something else.

 

[CZ52GUY]

Firing grip, presentation, sight picture, trigger control, follow-through.

Dry-fire, dry-fire, dry-fire (safely, no ammo' out and about with you, back-stop needs to be able to take a bullet if you make a mistake).

During live-fire, 5-shot groups, then measure. Tape or replace and try again. I've seen so many shooters put 80 shots into a single B-27 and wonder out loud, why am I not improving?

Vary your exercises, after a while stationary consecutive two hand shots will get easier, but presentation from draw, transition from target to target, engaging targets at variable distance...that will challenge your accuracy. Slow-fire vs. rapid-fire, that will influence accuracy.

One handed shooting with both dominant and non-dominant hand can be a good teacher. I found especially with my left hand (I'm a righty), I had to do it right to get hits. I translated that back to two hands strong side and groups began to shrink.

How accurate do you want to be? Silly/disgusting/enviable accurate like the bulls-eye shooters? Combat accurate like the speed shooters (e.g. IPSC, IDPA)? There are trade-offs you'll need to consider.

Stay with it, measure your results, and realize that everyone can have an off day. Your Mak' is a great little gun to practice with. Simple, affordable ammo', not terribly heavy. Know when you are pushing through and when you are just wasting ammo'. It's okay to call it a day sometimes when it just isn't clicking.

Don't get discouraged, you can improve! If you can get into a basic pistol marksmanship class, terrific! Until then, try some of the good advice mentioned and give yourself enough time to see positive results, they will come!

Good luck!

CZ52'

 

[White Horseradish]

One handed shooting with both dominant and non-dominant hand can be a good teacher. I found especially with my left hand (I'm a righty), I had to do it right to get hits. I translated that back to two hands strong side and groups began to shrink.

I actually do better one handed with my strong (right) hand than two handed. Except when I shoot my Nagant (with .32ACP cylinder). Then I do better left-handed.

Maybe I should just shoot both. Nagant from left and Makarov from right.


Seriously, though. Why would I get better results one handed? Wouldn't two hands be more stable?

 

[CZ52GUY]

One handed often results in:

1) Greater concentration...
2) ...leading to bearing down...
3) ...better sight picture...
4) ...better trigger control...
5) ...better follow-through...

I sometimes experience the same strong side when doing IDPA drills.

Take your time, repeat the same routine whether dominant/non-dominant or two hand until it ingrains itself in your subconscious (sp?). Relax, observe results, repeat as is necessary.

Watch your front sight through the recoil and follow-through with the shot. Something I do occasionally is to exaggerate the follow-through by holding the trigger back through the recoil then release to along the side ready position.

Many times issues with accuracy can be tied back to failing to finish one shot by trying to move on to the next one. One shot at a time, then it gets easier.

Good luck!

CZ52'

 

[spacemanspiff]

long ago i tried one handed, and sucked at it.

few months ago i tried it, 4 mags right, 5 mags left (if i was thinking i would have done 5 on each), and at 10 yards, all but 16 were in in one ragged 3 inch hole. the total group for all 72 shots is 5 inches. i did better left than right. my left hand doesnt have the flinch.

one exercise that also seemed to help was dryfiring my walther p22 in double action. that really increased finger strength. but i sold that so now i have no DA....

 

[White Horseradish]

one exercise that also seemed to help was dryfiring my walther p22 in double action. that really increased finger strength.

Hm. I guess I oughta use my Nagant for that. The DA pull on that would be one hell of a workout...

 

[Blueduck]

I'd suggest you save up for some instruction or as suggested befriend some competitive shooters for help. No matter how good a book or video is they cannot be there and see what your doing wrong to correct you.

May find out your form is great and you just need practice or conditioning, might find out your form/technique is off and you've just been turning money into noise when you thought you were "practicing". Doing the same thing wrong thousands of times with great effort really does not do much good. Been there done that

 

[Highland Ranger]

NRA basic pistol class taught the right way as a full day of classroom and range training. May need to unlearn some bad habits, may be flinching, may have an eye dominance problem - they'll run through it all in the class. Not expensive and worth it even for seasoned veterans. I recently retook it with a new shooter - its been ten years at least since I last took it; worth the time.

 

[CZSteve]

Agreed that instruction from a Pro is priceless.

A group of us got together for some training w/ a local PD/SWAT/IPSC/??? and whatever else, he was VERY impressive. Actually had a couple of his partners w/ him, very beneficial.

One thing that helped me drastically:
One of the instructors noticed I was 'slapping' the trigger.
Of course I'm like .
Had me work on trigger control by concentrating on holding the trigger back after the shot and slowly releasing until you can feel the reset.
Fire, repeat.

This, along w/ proper grip, front sight, squeeze, etc, has helped quite a bit.

 

[GigaBuist]

Had me work on trigger control by concentrating on holding the trigger back after the shot and slowly releasing until you can feel the reset.
Fire, repeat.

I started doing that almost a year ago I think after I got saw the suggestion on here. Really helps I think. After doing that with slow fire for a long time it really improved my ability to make rapid shots too since I wasn't releasing the trigger all the way. I've heard that termed "riding the link" somewhere -- not sure if that's a proper term for it or not.

 

[albanian]

I suggest joining a Bullseye league. I shot for many years and only made modest improvments every year after the first peak of the Bell curve wore off. I joined a Bullseye league and learned more in 6 months than I did in six year of just shooting on my own.

Here are the steps I took towards becomming a decent pistol shot.

1. I bought an accurate pellet pist when I was a teenager and shot the heck out of it. This helped me more than all other things I ever did. Pellets are so cheap they are almost free and when you have to pump up a pneumatic Benjamin air pistol 4-10 times, it does teach you to make every shot count. I shot this gun almost every day in my back yard for about 2 years. I loved it and I learned trigger control, sight alingment, grip and stance by doing it. Another thing I learned was muscle control. Shooting almost everyday for a couple of years will fine tune you reflexes and body like nothing else. I have not shot nearly as much since I have gotton older so I am sure my body and muscles are not what they could be.

2. I got a good .22lr pistol. The next step up from the pellet gun. It taught me how to handle a louder gun and some recoil. The repeating action helps teach how to keep your sights on target during rapid fire. I am not good at this but it can be learned with a .22lr just as well as with a larger cal gun.

3. I bought and tried many different handguns. I have had many types and sizes of handguns. I have learned through experience what works for me and what doesn't. This is important because it is an uphill battle to try and get good with a handguns that doesn't fit you or is just not right for you. This is why some people swear by Glocks and some people swear at them, no gun is right for everybody. If you look around and try enough guns, you will find one or two that fits, points and shoots better than other. This will cut some time off getting good, start with something that fits you and you will have an easier time than trying to get used to something that isn't right for you.

4. I joined a Bulleye league and learned from those that learned from others and from experience. If you go to a match and learn 2-3 tips, it will make a huge difference in your shooting. You can do it all yourself but a shortcut is learn from others so it doesn't take you a lifetime just to get to where you could be in a few years.

Reading books is okay as long as you test what is being told to you. I read some books on pistol shooting and some of the tips just didn't work for me. I am not talking about the basics of course, I am talking about some of the finer points such as how much pressure to apply to the non-trigger fingers when you are shooting one handed. In a book I read, it said to squeeze as hard as you can without making the gun shake. In practice, I do better with a more relaxed grip, just enough to steady the gun while I pull the trigger. It is not a light grip but it is far from really squeezing. Just check out for yourself before you adopt a new style.