Need your help with an article.

[tonerguy]

I'd like your help. What shooting tip(s), exercise(s), concept(s) have been the most helpful to you? I'm compiling an article from your input that will be available free when I'm done. I admit it's an experiment of sorts because I don't know what you will contribute.

I started to write an article myself trying to pull together what I'd learned from Jeff Cooper, Ross Seyfried, Chip McCormick in person and from watching Rob Leatham, Brian Enos, Doug Keonig, Todd Jarrett, Gunsite, Front Sight, Thunder Ranch, etc. I was going to compare the earlier training with recent developments.

I realized that while I have a lot of shooting experience in competition from years ago, I'm just not current, and I don't shoot very often anymore.

I'll bet you all have a lot to contribute. When it's done, I'll make it available online for free. We'll just have to see how it turns out, but I'm betting that you all will make it interesting, valuable and worth reading.

So, if you're willing, let me know what you learned, where you learned it, who said so, what it did for your shooting skill and if there's a link we can post for everyone else to find it.

I thank you in advance for your help.

[glock19xdsc]

The most useful advice I've ever received was to practice with a firearm chambered in .22LR in order to reinforce good habits and eliminate bad habits. That came from numerous sources.

IOW, I don't remember where it came from first.

[tonerguy]

Thank you. Can you say some more about the thinking behind that way of practicing? It may be self-evident to you, but not to all. How would you explain that to a newbie?
Rob

[NwG]

Trigger reset.. Not only makes follow up shot faster, but keeps you thinking about correct trigger pull and follow up sight alignment.. That is until you do it in your sleep...

[ElkSlayer6x5]

I was taught with a .22 single shot open sights, then shot gunnin with a 12g then shootin larger scoped rifles
This is what i was told and have passed along to anyone willing to listen
the use of a 22 helps develope skills that last a life time
insuring proper stance, hold, sight picture ,trigger pull etc. also the use of hearing protection is a must
example when a young shooter is exposed to a caliber too big
it can cause them a lot of troble in flinching from too much recoil and or noise this is eveident in older newbies as well case in point ...
my 29 year old future son inlaw,a new shooter, just had to have a 7 mag
can not shoot it, with out jerking the trigger or tryin to pull away from recoil not to mention that he refused ear plugs
Told him to get his hands on a .22 lr and blast away with it after puttin a 1000 rds down range try the mag again with ear plugs, you will see a vast improvement in your skills,has yet to burn up the 1000 but has left the mag alone for now .
example #2 for some reason i got a slight flaw in my rifle shooting
started pullin my head up at the shot looking over the scope not through it after pullin the trigger...the fix put a scope on my 22lr burned few boxes of shells, problum solved
Now for any newbies out there if you start small you,ll finish top of your game and if some where along the line you stumble go back to the basic
good ole .22 lr besides it is cheep to shoot and wont give you any bad habits

[JollyMon]

This isn't technique, but one of the best pieces of advice that I've been given is to keep an open mind whenever I'm in any training class. That is, try any new technique that your instructor is teaching whether you believe in it or not. You can decide later whether or not to commit to it when you practice. I've benefited greatly over the years due to that tidbit.

[rezmedic54]

I and most others have always been told that practice makes perfect well I have come to the conclusion that it doesn't practice really makes permanent. Dry fire exercise (gun checked and rechecked to be unloaded) is sometimes more helpful then live fire depending on what your practicing. Have someone that knows how to shoot watch you and point out what you are doing wrong as opposed to what you think you are doing. Start out slow and deliberate speed comes from repartition as they say smooth is fast. These are things I have read in American Hand gunner, Swat, Guns and Ammo, Guns, and Cops magazines. I try to practice dry fire at least twice a week if I know I won't be able to make it out to the range. And just on my part if this is Rob from tucker gun leather the belt and holster you made me are great. Thanks for your great work on them. Thanks Again, Kurt

[tonerguy]

Kurt, thanks for your input.
Yes, I'm Rob with Tucker Gunleather.
Thanks.

[kozak6]

I have found it useful to shoot in the backyard with air pistols. It helps with trigger control and sight alignment.

I never get to go to the range or anything like that, so it's the only shooting I get for months and months at a time.

[glock19xdsc]

Follow up:

Practice with .22LR has made a big difference for me in eliminating flinching in anticipation of the shot in that recoil is greatly reduced in the lower powered round.

Elimination of the flinch allows one to concentrate more on sight picture, trigger control, and accuracy.

Another benefit is the reduced cost of practicing basics with the less expensive round.

[KC135]

OODA

Ball and dummy

[garryc]

I'd say the most important part of my training is the inclusion of physical stress, at least for SD training. While trigger control, sight picture and Draw are vital, doing these things under stress are another matter. I know many guys who can drill a quarter at 25yrds when relaxed, but can't hit a bull in the arse at point blank range when their heart is beating at 140bpm. So, raise the heart rate to simulate the bodies reaction to stress and shoot drills including weapon failure clearing.

[skeeter1]

I can't find any good links, but my Dad (WWII vet) taught me the "sling hold" many years ago for shooting a rifle. If you're like me (shootiing right-handed), you let the sling out quite a bit, wrap your left arm all the way around it, and grab the fore end with your left hand.

This is probably common knowledge around here, but it's a handy tip.

[U.S.SFC_RET]

Trigger control, sight alignment, breathing control, sight picture, stockweld. These are the easy things to master. It's Confidence you need, confidence with the pistol or rifle that you have. Can and will it shoot at what you shoot at time and time again? What distance can you shoot? Do you know distance and bullet drop? How about holding the wind? Are you good or do you think you are good. Can you hold up to pressure? Is that rifle or pistol second nature to you when you use it. Do you clean the darn thing frequent enough? Or do you shoot it and lay it in the closet for the next season. Do you know anything about a fouling shot? Most of the time you don't get the chance to let a fouling shot loose before hand so always keep the bore cleaned out extremely well and leave just a super thin coat of clp
or equivelant. Fouling shots will mess up your first shot when you want to take that first shot.
Confidence with what you have on hand to shoot with should remove all doubt about misfires, functioning of the weapon, accuracy and performance and this should happen time and time again. when this doesn't happen you need to find out why. What went wrong. Is it my shooting? Is it my skills with a weapon? Is it the weapon? Is it the Ammunition? Is it the right weapon for the job. Just because your Grandfather swore by that rifle or by that pistol doesn't mean it's the right one for you. The grip on a pistol might be too big or too small. That rifle Might be too big of a caliber that you probably developed flinching habits on when you were growing up.
It's not the rifle or pistol or shotgun for that matter. It's the confidence that you can use them when you need to use them.

[armedandsafe]

skeeter1, that is called the "hasty sling." Grasp the rifle by the wrist and hold it muzzle up in front of your nose, with your grasping hand even with your shirt pocket and your elbow about at your nipple. Turn the rifle sideways, so you are looking at the left side of the reciever. Stuff your left arm through the sling as far as it will go and lift that elbow so the sling runs along the outside of your upper arm, through your armpit and across your chest. Rock your left hand and forearm out (to the left) and bring your hand back until the sling comes across the inside of your wrist. Flip your left hand back toward you, tuck it under the sling and grasp the forearm of your rifle.

Many shooters using this sling will rotate the rear or front sling swivel 180 degrees to put the appropriate twist in the sling. This allows the sling to lie flat across your chest, flat across your upper arm, flat across your forearm and flat across the back of your wrist.

Now, when you raise your rifle stock to your shoulder, the sling should be snug across your chest, wrap around your upper arm, pass across the inner elbow, across your forearm and across the back of your hand. Adjust the length of the sling to give good support to the rifle without cutting off your circulation. This is very fast and gives you a solid support when shooting offhand, kneeling or sitting. When shooting prone, this hold tends to cant the rifle.

When mounting sling swivels, make sure the one on the forearm is far enough forward that you don't get bit on the knuckle when using this hold, and that the rear one is not too far back, to where it will bite you in the right armpit.

It takes about 20 times longer to describe this than to teach it by demonstration.

Pops

[revjen45]

2nd to airguns and ball-and dummy. Also dry fire is a big help. Follow thru is important- if necessary have an observer watch for it. Just my $.02, but I think practice with a long gun is helpful too.

[skeeter1]

Armedandsafe--

Thanks, Pops. I do now recall my dad calling that the "hasty sling." My memory sometimes fails me. You're right that it takes more time to describe it than to show someone how to do it.

In any event, it's still useful for steadying a rifle for offhand shooting.

Best regards,

Skeeter