The Gun thread

LeVeL;n3552980 said:
Shot my .45 ACP pistol out to 100 yards this weekend :D
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Man, you must have a strong arm. :p :lol:
 
Damn son!

On a related note, I finally corrected my flinch on the FNP45 and HK45 this weekend! One of the RSOs stopped by to chat and taught me a new trigger drill... which solved a lot of the problem. Now, I need to work on getting better groupings.... but seriously, that took ages to correct.
 
Nice work, woohoo!

What’s the trigger drill?

My local shooting competition got rained out tonight sadly.
 
Oh yeah, sorry, I meant to post the drill!

So, the drill that worked for me this weekend starts out as a dry fire practice. You basically squeeze the trigger and count down from 5 to 1 as you squeeze. When the pistol discharges, you can check where the barrel is facing and correct your position ... *and* you can really catch your flinch. After you do this a few times, you can proceed do the same thing with a loaded firearm.

It's kinda the same concept as the drill when you fill your mags with a mix of ammo and snap caps... but the 5-to-1 drill allows for more practice when you're not at the range and gets in more repetition for muscle memory.

Also, the other thing that helped me (taught by another instructor) was hand/finger positions ... where you get your thumbs in the right place that supports the pistol. So, for example, when I shoot right handed, my left thumb presses against the pistol to make sure it's pointed straight, and I have the pistol seated securely between my thumb and forefinger. The position helped a lot with tightening my groupings.

On a moto related note, the 5-to-1 drill came at a good time, because this weekend, we were also practicing trail braking in a track training course where you're applying 10-20-40-60-80-100% pressure on the brake lever... same concept.

Hope it helps though - I've yet to take a full on pistol course (it's on the books for next year), so these are various drills I've picked up from shooting events and random conversations with other shooters and helpful RSOs etc. :)
 
It all comes down to having solid fundamentals. Most people can figure out stance (you should default to isosceles but obviously circumstances can dictate something else) and sight alignment. A lot of people don't have the right grip though and I would say most don't have decent trigger control. Drills and practice are great but only if you're practicing the right things - committing the wrong things to your subconscious will just take that much more time to undo. Beyond that, dry fire is an incredibly useful tool - it lets you practice stance, sight alignment, grip, trigger control, reloads, draw, etc, and you can do it hundreds of times at home for free.

The hardest part might be figuring out which ex-spurts actually know what they're talking about. I've been in classes where the idiot in front of the class repeatedly flagged the students while describing how great the Weaver stance is - I can only hope that everyone there had just enough experience to see the BS. Competition is a great venue for getting solid tips because you can see the person apply their own advice and you get to see their targets afterwards.
 
I want to do my Black Badge course and try IPSC shooting, but my club only give the course 2 or 3 times a year, and so far I'm always away when they do :(

Cannot shoot from a holster until I've passed the course.
 
Oh, interesting that certain movements are restricted before course completion.

LeVeL;n3553118 said:
ex-spurts
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This... so much! Sooo many people offer unsolicited advice (whether at the track or at the range)... and usually, I'm game to try whatever to see if it helps me. Other times, I just shake my head.

Oh speaking of trigger controls, I once met an instructor who wanted me to practice pulling my trigger finger straight back (w/o curling) for several reps per day... and though I can see the usefulness, I remember thinking, dude, I'm just a recreational shooter ... I'm not aiming to participate on the national team. :lol:
 
Kiki;n3553147 said:
Oh, interesting that certain movements are restricted before course completion.
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You have to understand that since carrying is not really an option in Canada, holster use is seen as really only a competition thing (except for LEO and armed security personnel).

The rules at my club are very severe. Here are a few ones:

- 1 gun per shooting stall at a time
- You have to take the gun out of its carrying case at the stall itself. Same for putting it back in.
- If you want to switch lanes, you need to re-crate your gun before moving it from one lane to another. Only a RSO can move it if it's not in a case.
- No pictures.
 
Kiki;n3553147 said:
Oh, interesting that certain movements are restricted before course completion.



This... so much! Sooo many people offer unsolicited advice (whether at the track or at the range)... and usually, I'm game to try whatever to see if it helps me. Other times, I just shake my head.

Oh speaking of trigger controls, I once met an instructor who wanted me to practice pulling my trigger finger straight back (w/o curling) for several reps per day... and though I can see the usefulness, I remember thinking, dude, I'm just a recreational shooter ... I'm not aiming to participate on the national team. :lol:
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I've never been big on trigger finger placement. I say do what works for you. It also varies from one gun to the next... The important thing is moving the trigger back without moving the sights - doesn't matter if you're using your toe to do it!



RdKetchup;n3553150 said:
You have to understand that since carrying is not really an option in Canada, holster use is seen as really only a competition thing (except for LEO and armed security personnel).

The rules at my club are very severe. Here are a few ones:

- 1 gun per shooting stall at a time
- You have to take the gun out of its carrying case at the stall itself. Same for putting it back in.
- If you want to switch lanes, you need to re-crate your gun before moving it from one lane to another. Only a RSO can move it if it's not in a case.
- No pictures.
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Most of those rules aren't that bad. There are many ranges in the US that are even stricter than that. I went to one in Michigan where it was forbidden to take your gun out of the hoster even at the firing line - instead they made me unload in the parking lot and then bring my carry gun into the range in a box. Luckily for me, MA has a ton of different ranges and I joined the one with the fewest rules. The club I belong to says no holster work on the regular ranges but we also have action pits specifically for competitions and practice where holster work is absolutely allowed. Commercial indoor ranges will always have very strict rules because they're expecting the lowest common denominator to walk in, so I understand why your range has those rules. Anyways, I'd highly recommend dry fire to you - do your holster draws and reloads to your heart's content every night!
 
LeVeL;n3553152 said:
Anyways, I'd highly recommend dry fire to you - do your holster draws and reloads to your heart's content every night!
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That's the plan. Just need to order a holster, a belt and 2 dual mag pouches, and then play pew-pew in the house with an unloaded gun until such time where I can take the course.
 
Ahh, I see. Wow, though most of the rules do make sense. My favorite range requires the same thing re: the firearm be uncased at the bench. We're pretty fortunate here in UT in that for the action heavy drills, we can practice in the desert.

Besides working on groupings and then pushing out yardage for the pistols, my next goal is to smooth out reloads for the carbine (AK47). I'm thinking flared magwell is a must for that. I did finally pick up some PMAGs, which make life so much easier than the old mil-spec.
 
So jelly of that BLM land y’all have. Fortunately I have a range where I can practice drawing from a holster and one right next to my house where the pistol competitions are held, although you’re not allowed to draw from a holster there during non-competition days.

Re: improving AK reloads: practice slav squatting and wear more Adidas track suits :p
 
You must only fire an AK from the Afghani Shitter (ISIS modified) stance.

https://i.imgur.com/Cq16iSg.mp4



[IMG2=JSON]{"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","src":"https:\/\/i.imgur.com\/Cq16iSg.mp4"}[/IMG2]
 
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I think the Slav Squat should be acceptable as well.
 
Speaking of AK, this could have gone very bad, very fast...

 
Apparently my father in law won a .357 Henry, his first gun. Now yours truly is tasked with figuring out how a New Yorker can take possession of it (there's more to this story and it should actually be very straightforward but it depends on how skittish the shop is that currently has the gun).
 
If he doesn't want it, see if the shop will allow him to gift it to someone who does.
 
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