The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - Name one thing you learned at your last match...

Jeff22 · January 13, 2006, 05:55 AM

(1.) As one who usually carries and competes with an auto pistol, I find it helps me if once a month on one of my range sessions I take a revolver and shoot drills with it for an hour. I'm not sure why this is -- maybe shooting a dis-similar weapons system makes me concentrate on the basics more? My strong hand only & weak hand only shooting has improved (a little) since I started doing those drills with a Smith & Wesson revolver.
(2.) Last weekend I shot in an indoor IPSC special classifier match. I shot smoothly and got good hits, although I wasn't particularly fast. On the last string of the last stage I did get a little quick on the trigger and jerk a shot ever so slightly into a "no shoot". I don't know if my concentration faded or if I was just unconsciously trying to go too fast or what.
(3.) One of my shooting buddies just put Dawson Precision fiber-optic sights on his Glock 34. Shooting outside, even on cloudy and overcast days, he was very pleased with the bright contrast the sights provided. In the sometimes shadowy and weird lighting of the indoor range, his sights were much less visible and sometimes appeared as kind of a blob.
(4.) I saw several shooters have good runs on individual stages ruined because of ammunition related weapons malfunctions. Be sure your ammo works in your gun! (I always use W-W generic ball from Wal-Mart for matches)
(5.) Even when shooting factory ammo, inspect every round you load. Last month a friend opened a fresh box of W-W .45 ball he was issued by his PD and loaded up without paying attention. In that fresh box was one .40 cal round, which, when fired, expanded and split in the chamber. No injury and no harm done, but it was very disconcerting to him . . .

January 13, 2006, 05:55 AM	#86
Jeff22 Senior Member Join Date: September 15, 2004 Location: Madison, Wisconsin Posts: 715	lessons learned, continued . . . (1.) As one who usually carries and competes with an auto pistol, I find it helps me if once a month on one of my range sessions I take a revolver and shoot drills with it for an hour. I'm not sure why this is -- maybe shooting a dis-similar weapons system makes me concentrate on the basics more? My strong hand only & weak hand only shooting has improved (a little) since I started doing those drills with a Smith & Wesson revolver. (2.) Last weekend I shot in an indoor IPSC special classifier match. I shot smoothly and got good hits, although I wasn't particularly fast. On the last string of the last stage I did get a little quick on the trigger and jerk a shot ever so slightly into a "no shoot". I don't know if my concentration faded or if I was just unconsciously trying to go too fast or what. (3.) One of my shooting buddies just put Dawson Precision fiber-optic sights on his Glock 34. Shooting outside, even on cloudy and overcast days, he was very pleased with the bright contrast the sights provided. In the sometimes shadowy and weird lighting of the indoor range, his sights were much less visible and sometimes appeared as kind of a blob. (4.) I saw several shooters have good runs on individual stages ruined because of ammunition related weapons malfunctions. Be sure your ammo works in your gun! (I always use W-W generic ball from Wal-Mart for matches) (5.) Even when shooting factory ammo, inspect every round you load. Last month a friend opened a fresh box of W-W .45 ball he was issued by his PD and loaded up without paying attention. In that fresh box was one .40 cal round, which, when fired, expanded and split in the chamber. No injury and no harm done, but it was very disconcerting to him . . . __________________ You can only learn from experience if you pay attention!