today's target practice pics

[Howland937]

Used to go back on some of those strip jobs and do some plinking. First time I ever saw an elk was back on one of them. Came down a couple times and fished in some all night tournament at Carr Fork. You probably drive right past the Killer B too? If it's still called that... I still have a 10/22 that belonged to my buddy down there.

 

[.38 Special]

Mods/admins, in all frankness, i really do not know where some of my threads/postings should be going to which board, so i know that you will move (it or them) to the appropriate location.

that being said, as i have mentioned, i have only been doing this now since Feb 22nd.

i try to go 2 times per week if i can, sometimes if i get lucky (or the wife goes to bingo), i get to go an extra day..

here are 2 pics of todays practice. i had my Glock 17 (4th gen) and my CZ 75 B.

today, and i don't know why, i had a bit of a problem with the recoil on the Glock.

i also had 2 targets per gun, and these that i am posting,. are the "better" targets for today.

I'll have a question (or 2) at the bottom of the last pic.

this is the Glock 17, and i circled the errant shot, in the bar code. apparently, i did not like the price i paid for the target..lol (i circled the errant shot

View attachment 899545


this is the CZ 75 B, and here too, i circled the errant shots..

View attachment 899546

i know i need to work on my grouping, and you may not believe this, but when i had the rental guns, i blew out the red centers for the glock rental and cz rental. i just do not know why i am not grouping them better.

here is the follow up question, i mentioned above that the Glock's recoil seems to be a bit of a problem. well the Glock store sells a tungsten slide spring, which does weigh more than the factory one. do you feel that it will improve my handling of the recoil better?

also, ammo used was 124 gr, Blazer and Sellier and Belloit

as always, thanks in advance.

Your groups are fairly round, which is good. They are bigger than they ought to be, at seven yards. I think you have two main issues: sights and trigger.

Your coach gave you good advice about looking at the front sight. It is normal, while doing that, for the rear sight and target to be blurry. That is not important, and in fact, a common training technique for precision shooting is to fire at a blank target, like a piece of copy paper. This helps ensure that you are not sneaking peeks at the target. You really do have to focus hard on the front sight blade, ensuring that it stays level with the top of the rear notch and that the same amount of light appears on either side of it. This is critical. You will not shoot well if you do not do it. Now, the sights will wander around a bit on the target. They do for everyone. It is not important - as long as the sights stay aligned with each other.

The real trick is keeping that alignment while pulling the trigger. As has been noted, the guns you are using are handicapping you. They recoil, and they have long, heavy triggers. Ideally, you would be using a good .22. Too many people look at those guns as toys but in fact they are the best teachers you can find. They allow the shooter to focus on sights and trigger without adding in the complication of recoil. Flinch (I like the term "recoil anticipation" as it takes the "unmanly" connotations out of the conversation!) can be insidious and almost completely hidden. Target .22s also tend to come with decent triggers. Good shooting can be done with "service type" triggers, but again, they complicate things. In your shoes, I would beg, borrow, or buy something like a Ruger .22 semi-auto.

Regardless, I would begin dry-firing daily. At first I would just use a blank wall or similar, making sure the gun is not loaded and that nothing on or behind the wall is terribly important to you. Focus on the sights, again making sure that you see the front blade perfectly and keep it perfectly aligned with the rear notch. Again, I cannot overstate the importance of this. Good shooting simply will not happen until you master it. Once you are comfortable maintaining this alignment, even while the gun itself is moving around in your "wobble zone", then it is time to approach the trigger. The trigger needs to be pulled directly rearward with even pressure until it snaps. You should not be "willing" the gun to fire at a certain point, but rather applying pressure until it surprises you. While this is going on, you are applying all your concentration to sight alignment. The goal is to keep those sights perfectly aligned all the way through the firing sequence. This is where triggers really show themselves - it is not terribly difficult to keep the sights aligned during the hammer fall when using a single action trigger on an older S&W revolver, for example. It is a little harder with a heavy, creepy Glock trigger, and very difficult indeed with any sort of a service-grade double action trigger. Regardless, that is the goal, and when you've become decent at it, then it is time to try it at the range. If at any time while using live ammo you find that you are looking at your target or even thinking about recoil, it is time to unload, get out that blank piece of paper, and do some more dry-firing.

Short version: sights and trigger. Master them, and you will outshoot everyone at the range.

<edit> And buy more targets! Ten holes per target is about enough. You can buy boxes of a hundred cheaply enough, or you can print them out from online sources, or you can simply draw little black circles on scratch paper with a Sharpie. The point is that you need to know where each shot went, which is tough when there are dozens of holes!

 

[redneck2]

Flinch (I like the term "recoil anticipation" as it takes the "unmanly" connotations out of the conversation!) can be insidious and almost completely hidden. They also tend to come with decent triggers. Good shooting can be done with "service type" triggers, but again, they complicate things. In your shoes, I would beg, borrow, or buy something like a Ruger .22 semi-auto.

Yeah. For a time I was shooting heavy recoiling revolvers. I dropped the hammer on a dead round and saw how bad I was grabbing the grip as I fired. It was bad.

I use a .22 Buckmark for practice

 

[.38 Special]

Yeah. For a time I was shooting heavy recoiling revolvers. I dropped the hammer on a dead round and saw how bad I was grabbing the grip as I fired. It was bad.

I use a .22 Buckmark for practice

I am fortunate to still have an S&W Model 41 from my competition days. Any time I start having trouble with my groups (I love the big bores too!) I get that gun out of the safe and go back to the basics.

 

[Mauser lover]

First time I ever saw an elk was back on one of them. Came down a couple times and fished in some all night tournament at Carr Fork. You probably drive right past the Killer B too? If it's still called that...

Hope I'm not drifting the thread too much...
1. There don't seem to be as many elk as there were a few years ago. I think KY sold some of them to some other state that was trying to get a decent herd going.
2. Does anybody catch anything at Carr Fork??? Or was that why the tournament was all night long, trying to catch a fish?
3. Yes, it is still the Killer B. The address I have for them is a PO Box, so I don't know where they actually are. My commute is from beyond Hindman on 160 South, to 550 in Hindman, to Camp Nathanael via 550. So... do I pass them? Don't know. Probably, if you mention it!

Now... actually talking about shooting again...
Is there any chance you could rent a gun at this range? If so, try renting a Browning Buckmark or a Ruger .22 pistol and having a go with a target that has a smaller aiming point. Pay attention to your front sight, and just squeeze that trigger nice and slowly.

And of course, renting a 1911 would cure you of your affinity for Glocks right away Where's that "evil" emoji?
Just so you know, there are double stack 9mm 1911s if that's your thing.

Now, when you are shooting at a smaller aiming point, don't just shoot all fifty rounds in your box, maybe shoot five groups of ten rounds. If you are noticeably opening up after thirty rounds, maybe fatigue is beginning to bother you. I might go up to the range this weekend and see what my fifty round groups look like, just so I can compare apples to apples. Normally I think my groups are a little smaller than yours, but after fifty rounds? Maybe they'll look pretty close. What ammo are you using? If I have it in stock I might try the same ammo just to add to the similarity.

The more I think about it, the more I think it's going to look pretty close.