NEW TO TARGET PISTOL SHOOTING.

[Joe B]

As the title says new to the frustrating art of pistol shooting.
Have used a riffle quite a bit and happy with the knowledge I have using a rifle BUT pulling my hair out using the club pistols.
I must say in defence of the pistol it's bloody addictive even when your crap at it.
So any help/tips would be appreciated.

 

[GarethMD]

I can understand the slight frustration with pistol shooting, I have a Mito, yes consistent and simple to use, but the sights are too "broad" for me to sue, currently looking to get some or find some better sights that are not " standard on the Mito" but will fit and not silly prices. Yes a red dot will work but my interest is in open sights. Any thoughts?

 

[Target Popper]

Watched many airgun & firearm videos on this subject, best place to start.

 

[joe average]

Practice, practice and then practice some more

 

[Harvey]

I can understand the slight frustration with pistol shooting, I have a Mito, yes consistent and simple to use, but the sights are too "broad" for me to sue, currently looking to get some or find some better sights that are not " standard on the Mito" but will fit and not silly prices. Yes a red dot will work but my interest is in open sights. Any thoughts?

I fitted a set of these Gareth, they work really well.
https://ebay.us/m/xq5tJF

 

[GarethMD]

Many thanks yes I have looked at that type, they are a potential option for me - thanks

 

[Joe B]

I can understand the slight frustration with pistol shooting, I have a Mito, yes consistent and simple to use, but the sights are too "broad" for me to sue, currently looking to get some or find some better sights that are not " standard on the Mito" but will fit and not silly prices. Yes a red dot will work but my interest is in open sights. Any thoughts?

Yes I agree with you and really want to master the art of using iron sights.( roll on that day)lol

 

[Joe B]

Watched many airgun & firearm videos on this subject, best place to start.

Yes definitely sounds like a great idea. Many thanks.

 

[Joe B]

Practice, practice and then practice some more

Sounds just like great advice. Many thanks

 

[DLockett]

I’m in the same boat.. just switched from rifle. lots of input from senior members at my club, always a great place to start if you have some friendly members. Also as above I spend a lot of time watching old Olympic 10m videos etc to pick up tips.

 

[Bazzatron]

As the title says new to the frustrating art of pistol shooting.
Have used a riffle quite a bit and happy with the knowledge I have using a rifle BUT pulling my hair out using the club pistols.
I must say in defence of the pistol it's bloody addictive even when your crap at it.
So any help/tips would be appreciated.

What are you shooting, what are you shooting at?

If you are doing target shooting, then you're going to want to make sure you're using the proper sighting technique.
Here are three sight pictures that you don't want to be using:


The issue with these three sight pictures is that it makes it very hard to be really accurate because it's hard to see a black sight on a black target. Even with 6 O'clock hold, the difference between having your front sight level with the pictured 8 ring, and slightly too high, is impreceptible.

Introducing the "sub 6 hold":


Focus on your front blade, the rear sight will go a little out of focus, the target will be out of focus. Level the front and rear sights so that the tops are all flush, then position the sight so that you have an equal band of white all around the front blade.

The left/right adjustment should not be adjusted by rolling your wrist side to side. Hold your pistol, close your eyes, and aim at the target. Open your eyes and see how badly aimed you were. Adjust the pistol in your hand to remove the left/right error. This is why pistol shooters do not release the pistol between shots, because rebuilding this grip takes time.

Work on what breathing works for you, but your shot should look like this...

1 - ready position, breathe a few times deeply, through your nose.
2 - deep slow breath in and raise above your target.
3 - exhale slowly and drop straight down onto your mark.
4 - at the bottom of your exhale, stop breathing for just a couple of seconds and apply constant pressure to the trigger until the shot breaks.

If you start to feel oxygen hunger because you're not breathing - abandon the shot. return to 1, and repeat.

5 - after the shot breaks, count 2 before lowering and repeat. Keep looking at your sight picture the whole time. Following through like this is surprisingly important.

This has been the prescribed process I've read in ISSF focused training manuals, and it has worked for me. It might not work for you, but try it and then deviate. Moritz Minder shot like this in 1978 due to an injury, nobody is going to teach you to shoot like this, but he shot a record-breaking 577/600, which stood for two years:



Sounds to me like you're experiencing exactly what drew me towards pistol shooting. I can hit the black pretty consistently with the rifle, but starting out with the pistol I was awful, so it encouraged me to train.

Other than this, practice, practice, practice! It's muscle memory and strength. If your pistol allows you to dry-fire, I recommend doing some imaginary target practice aiming at a spot on the wall, even if just to get used to holding the pistol out at arms length, and triggering.

 

[Ade McC]

Some really useful stuff there @Bazzatron - I'm just starting out myself and didn't know about adjusting left/right adjustment via the grip rather than via the wrist. I'm also working on my breathing so I'll take this all on board

 

[Right Cant]

I thought you adjusted left/right by moving your back leg?

 

[Ade McC]

I thought you adjusted left/right by moving your back leg?

I initially thought that but the text above is specifically relating to the gaps to the left and right of the front blade.

 

[Bazzatron]

I thought you adjusted left/right by moving your back leg?

You're right - and really this is just me not being able to cram a book into a comment.
Moving your foot will move your center of aim, but is more used to manage your sway.

If you had access to something like a bore laser or even SCATT, and you found that the center of your motion is to any particular direction of the bull, then you can adjust your feet to bring the center of aiming sway towards the middle. There's only so much you can hope to achieve by fixing your grip alone - but the concept stands that ideally you shouldn't be making the adjustments in your joints, it's all about the core setup.



But again there are limits to what you can do with your feet, because moving your feet to account for poor grip might move your shoulder outside of the "comfort zone" where you'll fatigue faster and have poorer control



Given that most humans are built the same, the recommended pose is side-on, the impacts go well beyond fatigue and muscle control - but some cater towards 22RF guns and how they jump, which might not apply here.

Of course, there are always athletes that are the exception. Experiment and see what works for you, the rule of thumb seems to be that comfort is king.

These images are all from the book Pistol Shooting: The Olympic Disciplines, by Heinz Reinkemeier - which I cannot recommend highly enough. As he does far more justice to the topic than I really can here.

 

[Bazzatron]

I initially thought that but the text above is specifically relating to the gaps to the left and right of the front blade.

and here I am writing out a long reply when you nailed it in a couple of words. Bravo.

 

[idle]

Thank you for great couple of posts @Bazzatron . I'm looking for the book atm, I already followed his videos on youtube.

 

[Bazzatron]

Thank you for great couple of posts @Bazzatron . I'm looking for the book atm, I already followed his videos on youtube.

Two copies left on Intershoot.

 

[Joe B]

What are you shooting, what are you shooting at?

If you are doing target shooting, then you're going to want to make sure you're using the proper sighting technique.
Here are three sight pictures that you don't want to be using:
View attachment 900365

The issue with these three sight pictures is that it makes it very hard to be really accurate because it's hard to see a black sight on a black target. Even with 6 O'clock hold, the difference between having your front sight level with the pictured 8 ring, and slightly too high, is impreceptible.

Introducing the "sub 6 hold":
View attachment 900380

Focus on your front blade, the rear sight will go a little out of focus, the target will be out of focus. Level the front and rear sights so that the tops are all flush, then position the sight so that you have an equal band of white all around the front blade.

The left/right adjustment should not be adjusted by rolling your wrist side to side. Hold your pistol, close your eyes, and aim at the target. Open your eyes and see how badly aimed you were. Adjust the pistol in your hand to remove the left/right error. This is why pistol shooters do not release the pistol between shots, because rebuilding this grip takes time.

Work on what breathing works for you, but your shot should look like this...
View attachment 900393
1 - ready position, breathe a few times deeply, through your nose.
2 - deep slow breath in and raise above your target.
3 - exhale slowly and drop straight down onto your mark.
4 - at the bottom of your exhale, stop breathing for just a couple of seconds and apply constant pressure to the trigger until the shot breaks.

If you start to feel oxygen hunger because you're not breathing - abandon the shot. return to 1, and repeat.

5 - after the shot breaks, count 2 before lowering and repeat. Keep looking at your sight picture the whole time. Following through like this is surprisingly important.

This has been the prescribed process I've read in ISSF focused training manuals, and it has worked for me. It might not work for you, but try it and then deviate. Moritz Minder shot like this in 1978 due to an injury, nobody is going to teach you to shoot like this, but he shot a record-breaking 577/600, which stood for two years:
View attachment 900396


Sounds to me like you're experiencing exactly what drew me towards pistol shooting. I can hit the black pretty consistently with the rifle, but starting out with the pistol I was awful, so it encouraged me to train.

Other than this, practice, practice, practice! It's muscle memory and strength. If your pistol allows you to dry-fire, I recommend doing some imaginary target practice aiming at a spot on the wall, even if just to get used to holding the pistol out at arms length, and triggering.

That looks and sounds great can't wait to try. THANK YOU.and everyone who has offered me help.

 

[Joe B]

That looks and sounds great can't wait to try. THANK YOU.and everyone who has offered me help.