Practice and accuracy

[Alexx1401]

I really don't need to be a good shot anymore, as I am 64 with eyesight starting to go south. I am working on my acting skills trying to get bg's to come close enough to "the feeble old guy" to do a mag dump into their faces.

I will have to work on that one

 

[HaveGun]

I spent so much time focusing on longer range work for GSSF matches doing slow and deliberate shooting that I worried that my SHTF close-in skills were lacking.

I read some threads regarding realistic drills and decided drawing and shooting 5-shots in under 3 seconds at 7 yards, and in a group at under 6" seemed to be pretty adequate. I tried it with my then carry gun, an XDS 40, and was pleased with the results.



Tried it with the current carry gun, a P365, and identified some issues with the holster. Still need to get to the range and do more practice, but I try to practice drawing and presentation with it nearly every time I put it on to make sure no clothes are getting in the way.

 

[EffBee]

I've been shooting handguns for well over 30 years, and always considered myself a reasonably decent shot. I had come to the conclusion over time that 4" groups at 25 yards was quite acceptable, and 3" was really good.

In recent years I've been practicing more, and re-learning some basics about things like sight picture, grip, and trigger control. It's interesting how you improve when you practice, and practice right. 4" at 25 still seems fine for some guns, 3" for most, but I find myself shooting 2" or better with some guns enough to know that it's completely doable. My best was a 10 shot group from a CZ75, of about 1.5" center to center, and the other day 6 rounds from a S&W 586 in 1.5", and 5 of those were about 1". I can't do that every day but I've done it often enough to know it's achievable with practice (all from a rest). I've even been able to keep them in about 3" (@25yds) with my 3" Model 29, a gun that I've never found easy to shoot accurately.

That said, I don't generally get hung up on tiny little groups, It's just something I get into once in a while, usually when working up a new load. I'm primarily a recreational shooter. I don't compete, hunt, or train for combat. I mostly just shoot for fun, and improving accuracy is an enjoyable test of skill. I have been thinking that I need to get faster. I watch these guys (like some of you all) who can shoot fast and accurately. That's pretty impressive.

What's your standard of accuracy, for the average handgun?

What's your standard of accuracy, for the average handgun? On my part, to hold a grouping of 3" at 25 yds with a .44 mag is excellent! Besides, with that large of a round, in a defensive move, all you need is one shot.... then walk away! LOL Like you, I shoot for fun and have NEVER carried a firearm for defensive purposes! I own or have owned every handgun caliber available for over 40 years I have been collecting but I find the 45 ACP and the 22 LR most accurate & fun to shoot! Ergo, for the past 20 years that's all I have collected! I have also reloaded ammo for all my firearms except the rimfires! My ultimate goal for a gun is to find the load that will touch holes at 10 yds or at least give me a "virgin" group at 15 yds - "gooden and tighten!" hahaha No, at 75 YO, I do not really go for speed BUT I still would like to hit what I aim at with an acceptable accuracy! I wish this lockdown is over with, time for the ranges to open. Although I shoot in my back yard most times, I now find more fun to BS with my shooting buddies, after shooting, at your friendly Olive Garden! Shooting is fun!

 

[oremike]

My days of shooting one ragged hole groups are in the rear view mirror. I have a tremor in my left side and that just never goes away. Now days if I can keep all my rounds in a fist sized group at 10 paces I feel that's good enough with a 4" or less barrel. Out at 25 yards I strive to keep all the rounds in a 8" paper plate. I don't bench shoot my handguns though probably should, I shoot standing on my hind legs mostly 2 handed with the occasional strong hand and ever rarer weak hand drills. To the original poster, as an entry point to competitive shooting try a bowling pin match, it's a just plain fun mix of accuracy and speed.

 

[saread]

Wow, none of you all know any bullseye shooters? I know it's a bit of a old guys game, but there's still a fairly robust community out there. If you want to reduce your groups, find a local bullseye league, drag out your Mark II, or whatever .22 you've got, and go shoot. Most groups will let you shoot 2-handed if you want, but you won't want to for very long. Once you quit being intimidated, the one handed thing comes pretty easily. The initial learning curve is pretty steep though - you will be humbled by those guys/girls. But, they will help you, and you will improve pretty rapidly once you begin to understand. Marksmanship is 2 things - sight alignment and trigger control. What those folks will teach you about those 2 things will transfer to any gun game. You will be a better shooter no matter what it is you really like to do. The other thing they will teach you is that distance is pretty much immaterial. If your sight alignment and trigger control are good, the difference in group size at any distance is merely the mechanical precision of your gun/ammo combination. Distance can magnify bad technique, but all else being equal, it's only a numbers thing.

 

[bbbass]

What's your standard of accuracy, for the average handgun?

I've never shot competitively before; I'm probably just about the least competitive person you'll ever meet.

I shoot "minute of BG" (Bad Guy) out to 25yds and that's good enough for me. Straight target shooting became boring many years ago, so I started USPSA Practical Pistol, then IDPA Defensive Handgun Shooting. Where I shoot is low key and relaxed. And although there are a few "jock" super competitive types, there are also a bunch of beginners, and the largest number of shooters just muddle along in the middle like me. I shoot for the skillz, mostly against my own score, but it's nice to see if I beat Tom, Dick, or Harry.

Diabetes screwed the vision in my right eye, so I don't do much accuracy shooting, cuz I can't see for crap and had to switch to aiming with my left eye. I got used to pushing the gun out into the correct position after awhile, but my scores have really dropped and am not shooting at all right now due to bad arth.

When I found out that I couldn't shoot my Gen 4 Glock 19 accurately at all, I started practicing last year. I can probably go 6" at 15 yards, and that's on a good day. My goal is to be able to do that at 25 yards. Believe it or not, that would be a pretty big win for me. I haven't measured groups, but I was way more accurate with my Kimber Custom Target II. At least I used to be.

That's because Glock triggers pretty much suck and SA triggers pretty much rock. It takes some mod to the Glock trigger, and a LOT of practice to be proficient. The pull, although not as long as a DA revolver, is long compared to a 1911 or 2011 and a stock Glock trigger has some scratchy, jerky, hesitations, etc to it unless some good polish work is done, or it is replaced with a JohnnyGlocks.com trigger. Although it IS good enough for typical carry, I just don't like gritty triggers. And even when the trigger and striker are highly polished, the plastic striker channel liner is still not smooth enough for me.

Point shooting is another skill few really have. I have burned a box car load of ammo trying it. I never did get very good at it. Now I have seen a few who again made it look like magic. Draw and fire and hit with out sights. I can not do it. At least not nearly well enough to want to rely on it if I need to hit something.

IMO, having honed it a lot in IDPA, defensive point shooting is only good out to a few yards. After that, I slow down just enough to look along the top of the dust cover. Then after that, I slow down enough to start using the sights.

One of the things I see a lot on real life incident vids, is defenders trying to make difficult shots, or shots at medium distance or more, w/o slowing down and forcing themselves to use the sights. Not only are they putting their lives in jeopardy, but (as you have said) we are responsible for every bullet that leaves the barrel... where do those misses go??? Most defenders never train under pressure, if at all, and don't get any kind of adrenalin practice at all... big mistake!!!

 

[Stomper]

I really don't need to be a good shot anymore, as I am 64 with eyesight starting to go south. I am working on my acting skills trying to get bg's to come close enough to "the feeble old guy" to do a mag dump into their faces.

Ahhhh.... the old "come over here and pull my finger" ploy, eh?

 

[bbbass]

I was fairly impressed with the folks shooting .22lr steel silhouette pistol competition. Open sights at 100yds, oh my!!!

 

[gunrnr]

I have a ruger mk2 pistol with a red dot sight, from a rest it will shoot a 10 round group at 50 yards under 2 inches.
I also shoot a 629 with moderate loads, and an AMT long slide that was tricked out by detonics, a really sweet shooter.
I shoot the .22 the most and I noticed after shooting the red dot sight for a while I was much better with the open sight guns.
When you can see how much you wobble with the red dot sight you can learn how to hold more steady.
I am right handed and have found I can point shoot better left handed.
I don't go to a gun range very often or punch paper very often, but any shooting is more fun than none.
Most of the competition shooting I have done has been done against my brother at impromptu targets of opportunity at unknown distances. He is very good and I have to have a good day to outshoot him.
Most of the friends I shoot with think I am a guru. I think I do pretty good, I think if I were to go up against some of these competition shooters I would be humbled.
I do enjoy this forum, and all you people and your posts

 

[VancMike]

I really don't need to be a good shot anymore, as I am 64 with eyesight starting to go south. I am working on my acting skills trying to get bg's to come close enough to "the feeble old guy" to do a mag dump into their faces.

Alas, I don't need to pretend about being feeble....

 

[Stomper]

Alas, I don't need to pretend about being feeble....

NOBODY gets out alive, but remember... you've gotten old and feeble for a reason... experienced treachery is a STRONG counter to physical feebleness.

 

[sobo]

you've gotten old and feeble for a reason...

 

[EffBee]

My days of shooting one ragged hole groups are in the rear view mirror. I have a tremor in my left side and that just never goes away. Now days if I can keep all my rounds in a fist sized group at 10 paces I feel that's good enough with a 4" or less barrel. Out at 25 yards I strive to keep all the rounds in a 8" paper plate. I don't bench shoot my handguns though probably should, I shoot standing on my hind legs mostly 2 handed with the occasional strong hand and ever rarer weak hand drills. To the original poster, as an entry point to competitive shooting try a bowling pin match, it's a just plain fun mix of accuracy and speed.

Ever try using red dot sights? I do with all my 22's! BTW, I only use Standard Velocty ammo, preferably SK or CCI brands!

 

[oremike]

Ever try using red dot sights? I do with all my 22's! BTW, I only use Standard Velocty ammo, preferably SK or CCI brands!

I have tried Red Dots and don't care for them I focus on the dot not the target and trying to time my shots to the dancing dot is very frustrating. See my previous post about the never going away tremor.

 

[coop44]

Alas, I don't need to pretend about being feeble....

A method actor

 

[Silver Hand]

I've been shooting handguns for well over 30 years, and always considered myself a reasonably decent shot. I had come to the conclusion over time that 4" groups at 25 yards was quite acceptable, and 3" was really good.

In recent years I've been practicing more, and re-learning some basics about things like sight picture, grip, and trigger control. It's interesting how you improve when you practice, and practice right. 4" at 25 still seems fine for some guns, 3" for most, but I find myself shooting 2" or better with some guns enough to know that it's completely doable. My best was a 10 shot group from a CZ75, of about 1.5" center to center, and the other day 6 rounds from a S&W 586 in 1.5", and 5 of those were about 1". I can't do that every day but I've done it often enough to know it's achievable with practice (all from a rest). I've even been able to keep them in about 3" (@25yds) with my 3" Model 29, a gun that I've never found easy to shoot accurately.

That said, I don't generally get hung up on tiny little groups, It's just something I get into once in a while, usually when working up a new load. I'm primarily a recreational shooter. I don't compete, hunt, or train for combat. I mostly just shoot for fun, and improving accuracy is an enjoyable test of skill. I have been thinking that I need to get faster. I watch these guys (like some of you all) who can shoot fast and accurately. That's pretty impressive.

What's your standard of accuracy, for the average handgun?

+When I was in my prime and shooting in a league. I scored 299 of 300 in a slow fire match. A nickle or less at 25 yards and one quarter or less outside that to count as a nine but almost a ten.
Never rest a hand gun. Don't do it means nothing.

 

[HaveGun]

Never rest a hand gun. Don't do it means nothing.

Not sure if joking...

 

[Silver Hand]

Not sure if joking...

When I was shooting match the best teachers would not even let me sight my pistol in on a rest at 25 yards.
You learn how to hit what you are aiming at much faster this way.

 

[Koda]

Im not happy until Im either accurate or precise.

 

[a6m5]

That's because Glock triggers pretty much suck and SA triggers pretty much rock. It takes some mod to the Glock trigger, and a LOT of practice to be proficient. The pull, although not as long as a DA revolver, is long compared to a 1911 or 2011 and a stock Glock trigger has some scratchy, jerky, hesitations, etc to it unless some good polish work is done, or it is replaced with a JohnnyGlocks.com trigger. Although it IS good enough for typical carry, I just don't like gritty triggers. And even when the trigger and striker are highly polished, the plastic striker channel liner is still not smooth enough for me.

I share your sentiments on the feel & the pull of the Glock triggers, but 1) I want to keep my Glock stock & 2) I read all the time about people who can accurately shoot these guns(stock), so I accept it as a challenge I need to overcome with more practice. Not gonna lie, I like the 1911 triggers, too!

P.S. My next handgun will have to have red dot. I find the stock front sights too big when shooting from longer distance + I love how quick red dot sights are on rifles.