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Re: First ever pistol target from a rifle shooter
Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2022 4:54 am
by lithiumiioxide
Today marks 1 month of pistol shooting, and today I finally learnt an important lesson: a good, consistent trigger release leads to a good shot, most of the time. I saw more 8s and 9s which is a good sign of progress and next time I go to the range, ill definitely emphasize on smoother trigger pull so that I won't disturb the sights at shot release. Ill upload the targets later when I get the chance to. :)
I also noticed a group at 10 o clock which is quite evident of trigger jerk (im left handed); are there any drills I can do to improve trigger pull outside the range, when I dont have my gun with me?
Re: First ever pistol target from a rifle shooter
Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2022 9:29 am
by lithiumiioxide
Re: First ever pistol target from a rifle shooter
Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2022 11:03 am
by Gwhite
10:00 shots for a lefty are most likely to be from tensing your grip in anticipation of the shot. Your last target has a VERY narrow horizontal spread, but a lot of vertical variation. That means your grip is getting more consistent, but there's something going on with your sighting. Questions:
1) Are you using a sub-six hold?
2) Do you have shooting glasses?
The recommended sight picture is discussed in several past threads. Here's one:
http://www.targettalk.org/viewtopic.php ... re#p312547
Re: First ever pistol target from a rifle shooter
Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2022 5:00 pm
by lithiumiioxide
Gwhite wrote: ↑Sun Jan 02, 2022 11:03 am
10:00 shots for a lefty are most likely to be from tensing your grip in anticipation of the shot. Your last target has a VERY narrow horizontal spread, but a lot of vertical variation. That means your grip is getting more consistent, but there's something going on with your sighting. Questions:
1) Are you using a sub-six hold?
2) Do you have shooting glasses?
The recommended sight picture is discussed in several past threads. Here's one:
http://www.targettalk.org/viewtopic.php ... re#p312547
1.) Yes, I'm using a sub-6 hold, and I try to let my sights hover one or two rings below the black; I just changed to using this sight picture recently though, as previously I was aiming for a thin band of light between the sights and the black.
2.) Nope I don't have a pair.
Re: First ever pistol target from a rifle shooter
Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2022 6:29 pm
by Gwhite
You don't need fancy shooting glasses, but adding roughly +0.75 Diopters to your vision will help you stay focused on the front sight over the course of a match. Depending on your vision situation, there are safety glasses & clip-on lenses that you can use to get started without going all out for dedicated shooting glasses.
Re: First ever pistol target from a rifle shooter
Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2022 7:49 pm
by lithiumiioxide
Gwhite wrote: ↑Sun Jan 02, 2022 6:29 pm
You don't need fancy shooting glasses, but adding roughly +0.75 Diopters to your vision will help you stay focused on the front sight over the course of a match. Depending on your vision situation, there are safety glasses & clip-on lenses that you can use to get started without going all out for dedicated shooting glasses.
I'll need to purchase a new pair of prescription glasses soon, so ill ask the optician on adding 0.75 diopters to them.
I read on the thread you shared that a sub-6 hold may result in vertical groupings for average/new shooters. Any reason to why that could happen?
Re: First ever pistol target from a rifle shooter
Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2022 9:52 pm
by Gwhite
One problem is that people worry about how far below the black to hold, and instead of picking something and getting consistent at it, they "hunt around" and keep looking at the target.
If you think about it, varying your point of aim by +/- a ring should still put all your shots inside the 9 ring IF your sights are aligned. It's far more likely that you are losing focus on your front sight and losing vertical alignment. Side to side, everything is nice & symmetrical, and you've got the hang of keeping things lined up that way. That's another reason why the equal distance sight picture helps. It has lots of symmetry.
As soon as you start thinking in terms of how many rings you are holding below the black, you've already fallen into a trap. You will tend to look at the target, and that is doom to your scores. Sub-six is also called "area hold". Nobody can hold precisely at the bottom of the black, or two rings below it. Accept your wobble area, and make sure you get a good release.
While you are waiting to get your eyes checked, put a small orange chalk mark on your front sight. If every grain of it isn't in focus when the shot breaks, there's your problem.
Re: First ever pistol target from a rifle shooter
Posted: Tue Jan 04, 2022 11:01 am
by lithiumiioxide
Gwhite wrote: ↑Sun Jan 02, 2022 9:52 pm
One problem is that people worry about how far below the black to hold, and instead of picking something and getting consistent at it, they "hunt around" and keep looking at the target.
If you think about it, varying your point of aim by +/- a ring should still put all your shots inside the 9 ring IF your sights are aligned. It's far more likely that you are losing focus on your front sight and losing vertical alignment. Side to side, everything is nice & symmetrical, and you've got the hang of keeping things lined up that way. That's another reason why the equal distance sight picture helps. It has lots of symmetry.
As soon as you start thinking in terms of how many rings you are holding below the black, you've already fallen into a trap. You will tend to look at the target, and that is doom to your scores. Sub-six is also called "area hold". Nobody can hold precisely at the bottom of the black, or two rings below it. Accept your wobble area, and make sure you get a good release.
While you are waiting to get your eyes checked, put a small orange chalk mark on your front sight. If every grain of it isn't in focus when the shot breaks, there's your problem.
The chalk helped, as for todays session at the range, when I released the shot the chalk mark was sharp and in focus, but not all the time. I was definitely still switching my focus between the target and front sight. It doesn't help that my mind can think of the most random things while settling into my aiming area- a bad habit I gotta get rid of!
Anyways, I did 60 shots today, and im glad to say that only 3 hit the white, while the rest are in the black. I seem to be scoring more 7s though, so reducing them will be my next goal.
Here are some of the targets I'm happy of:
I'm satisfied with the small grouping at the 10 ring, but the two 7s at 5:00 were most likely due to trigger jerk. I felt that the sights were aligned, but I pulled the trigger once I saw a sight picture I liked.
Not really sure about this, but the grouping seemed alright
Re: First ever pistol target from a rifle shooter
Posted: Tue Jan 04, 2022 2:45 pm
by Gwhite
The advantage of shooting glasses with a +0.75 diopter boost is that you CAN'T focus on the target. If you wear glasses normally, consider getting one of these while you wait to get your eyes checked for custom lenses:
https://shootingsight.com/product/clip-on-flip-lens/
If you wear contacts, try these:
https://shootingsight.com/product/safet ... g-glasses/
Re: First ever pistol target from a rifle shooter
Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2022 3:44 am
by lithiumiioxide
I got some new glasses on the way, one for my current prescription and the other with a +0.50 diopter boost (the optician did not recommend +0.75 for me)
In the meantime, I had a great practice session on Saturday- only had 2 6s out of the 70 shots I did. I felt more focused on the front sight and my groupings were much better for some targets. I hope this isn't a one off thing!
Im also glad that my fliers are now in the 7s, and reducing them will be the next goal
Re: First ever pistol target from a rifle shooter
Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2022 9:18 am
by Gwhite
Don't dwell on the bad shots. Figure out what adjustment to your shot process could eliminate them, and then move on. Concentrate on the good shots. When you get a good shot, go over EVERY little detail of your shot in your head to reinforce what works well for you. How many breaths did you take and when? How fast did you lift the pistol & how high? How fast did you lower into your aiming area? When did you start your trigger squeeze & how fast? What did the sights look like? etc.
The goal is to refine your shot process until it will reliably deliver 10's, and then execute it until it becomes habit.
