April Pistol Range Report

I went to the range last week. Indoor Pistol at OnTarget's range. And I stunk up the joint. I seemed to forget everything I learned.

To correct for a possible flinch problem, I went in with double ears. Plugs and 'headphone' cans. It did seem to help. Much less feelings of anxiety from random booms at neighbor lanes. That was the last thing I did right for a little while.

The first thing I noticed wrong was that I was focusing on the target, not the rear sight. My usual impatience made me want to skip a step and instead of shoot, then look where you hit, then shoot, I was trying to do both at once, and that is not good. I corrected that flaw by the second target sheet. I was also testing two mags of hollowpoint by PNC for the bottom right hand corner of this first target sheet, as you can see, and I still notice a drop in accuracy in comparison with ball ammo. I wonder why that is?

As you can see I still go low and right, and there are a few more fliers than even I am used to.

I've noticed that Corky and Chuckles have already lapped me in skill, and I was the one that pushed them down the slope of recent firearm interest. They had previous training, but little with handguns. So I have mixed feelings. I just have to work harder and compete with myself. Not that I worry about them that much.

A thought occurred to me. When Chuckles takes his time he has VERY tight groups right on the bull. So to confirm that my problem is me, and not my 1911, I had him shoot my pistol at the top right hand corner of the following.




Well look at that! It pulled for Chuckles, low and right. Just a little, but he is very accurate. Hmmm. Before I go nuts I'm gonna sacrifice some more ammo and have him try it again next time. Corky too. I'd be very happy if it was the gun, but what are the chances? I always figured it HAD to be the n00b shooter. Me, in other words. If I adjusted the sight and it only shot my usual groups, but centered and a little low I'd be ecstatic.

Corky rememberd a tip from self defense pioneer Massad Ayoob, who recommended squeezing the grip hard until it trembled, then back off the pressure a little bit. I tried that before too and it seemed to work, so I tried that again. Results were worse and I shot the group that is low and spread on the top left here:

I gave up on super grip squeeze.

While doing that, I realized I was bending my shooting elbow. So I had the wrong stance the whole time. Wrong for me. I locked the left elbow, bent the right elbow, and shot the much better group at the same target, everything inside the circle. But I was already getting tired. 100 rounds is a lot. I think I'll stick to 75 a session from now on. After that last decent group my fatigue was affecting my accuracy from then on out.

My speed is good, but it also part of my problem. I should be more patient and deliberative while trying to improve. Relax and enjoy.

I tried out the new Lula Universal loader and it works well and saved my finger tip from cuts from the magazine.

So, for next time, remember:Front sight. Patience. Lock the left elbow. Try again.

One last thing. I tried Corky's new Sig Mosquito .22 and here are the results:

Notice that there are no holes in the lower right? Now what the heck? Come to think of it, every .22 I shoot shoots to the left of center for me.

Dangit!