New to Air Pistol and I have tons of questions...

[DWood]

Getting to an actual shooting range has gotten to be a lot harder lately, so I bought a Hammerli AP20 so I can shoot at home. I’m new to 10m air pistol, but not to shooting in general. I shot smallbore silhouette for many years, so I am pretty familiar with the shot process and focus and so on. What I need help with is more of the technical things that are different in air pistol vs rifle disciplines.

If anyone could point me in the direction of videos or topics or websites that teach AP from the ground up, I would be greatly appreciative. I don’t want to get into any bad habits.

One of the big questions I have straight off is the sight picture. It seems that most here use a 6 o’clock hold on the target. I’ve always preferred the center hold. I would stick to the center hold, but the adjustment on the AP20 is bottomed out with a center hold. Now I’m trying the sub 6 hold. Why is one better than the other?

At what point in the shot process do you place your finger on the trigger?

What score should be my first goal? I thought I would just try to keep my shots in the black, but that isn’t very difficult.

Thanks for helping a new guy out.

[spektr]

Accessories.....

Get the catalog and look at what there is..... https://www.haemmerli.info/en/products/ ... _ap20.html

there are sights, balance weights and so on..... buy them before them are out of production, it gives you more tuning options

[Tangohammerli]

Look for this book:
"Pistol Shooting The Olympic Disciplines"

[McMadCow]

I'll see if I can respond to a few...

One of the big questions I have straight off is the sight picture. It seems that most here use a 6 o’clock hold on the target. I’ve always preferred the center hold. I would stick to the center hold, but the adjustment on the AP20 is bottomed out with a center hold. Now I’m trying the sub 6 hold. Why is one better than the other?

I don't know why one is necessarily "better", but for me the benefit of the 6 o'clock hold is that I get to see the target in a repeatable fashion. If the black is sitting on top of my front sight, then I'm going to (hopefully) put it in the 10 when the shot breaks. Even if you're not specifically covering the point of impact, it's much more of a sure thing than the black rings wandering around somewhere behind your front post.

At what point in the shot process do you place your finger on the trigger?

Pretty much the moment I raise the gun. I have a mantra that I repeat when I shoot. At some point in there I have a step where I confirm that my gun grip is firm-ish and my trigger finger is relaxed and placed correctly. I know you're probably used to the 4 rules, but look at international shooters. They're on the trigger the entire time. The direction of the target is safe, I wouldn't worry about it.

What score should be my first goal? I thought I would just try to keep my shots in the black, but that isn’t very difficult.

My goal from the start was always keep everything in the 9 and 10. I didn't quite understand how hard that was at first, but it was a goal that kept me working. Like you I had also done other disciplines and assumed I'd just knock that out in no time. Long story short, I manage that about once a week, all this time later. I don't know what kind of score you should be looking for because I really never kept full 60 shot scores for myself until a few months back when I started doing the AP league here on TT. Someone made the point in one of those past threads that people shooting in the 560s and -70s are doing well. So aim for that, I guess!

[DWood]

Pretty much the moment I raise the gun.

This is what I would prefer, but I just wanted to check with others. I’m pretty comfortable with light triggers and 500 grams isn’t exactly light in my book. I wouldn’t be worried about firing off target as much as I am concerned about grip shifting when moving the trigger finger from the frame to the trigger.

I’ll set my goals higher and work on keeping all shots in the 9 ring.

[TargetPistolGuy]

I’ve been doing a lot of Air Pistol stuff over on my YT channel. Check it out.

https://www.youtube.com/c/TargetPistolGuy

Shot Process
https://youtu.be/ZB1qin9l-uA

[McMadCow]

I wouldn’t be worried about firing off target as much as I am concerned about grip shifting when moving the trigger finger from the frame to the trigger.

That's my thought exactly. When I'm on target I don't want to make any sort of adjustments. The only thing I want to do is break the shot when I see my sight picture.

I’ve been doing a lot of Air Pistol stuff over on my YT channel. Check it out.

https://www.youtube.com/c/TargetPistolGuy

Shot Process
https://youtu.be/ZB1qin9l-uA

Thanks for linking these, I just subscribed to your channel. Looking forward to browsing your videos!

[JonPersson]

Take a look at some online tutorials and then start shooting. Try to get a feel for the fundamentals and make that your first goal.

Then see where you’re at score-wise. Take it from there.
If you shoot 6’s the goal should be to keep it in the black. When you shoot 7’s the goal should be shoot within the 8th ring and so on. Goals should feel like they are within reach.

You would be surprised to see how few amateur shooters that reliably shoot above 560 5 real competitions in a row.
To shoot 5 competitions in a row at 570+ is rare...
I’m saying this because air pistol is hard and although there are natural talents that get there quickly, the majority has to work for it step by step. It’s far from impossible but harder than one may think. Setting you goals accordingly will make the journey there much more pleasant.

And dry fire....a lot....

[william]

Where do you live? Is there a club nearby where AP is shot? How about a local school or college team?

It's hard to overstate the benefits of having a face-to-face coach. Somebody who can observe your shooting in person in real time and talk with you while all the memories are fresh. If that means after every shot, who cares? You didn't get into 10M to be in a hurry, did you?

[DWood]

Thanks everyone for the advice so far.

I’ve been reading and watching videos as much as I can. I always try to absorb as much information as possible whenever I start anything new.

I’ve finally found some good info on the sub 6 hold and I’ve started practicing that. It seems to have tightened my groups up, but there were several other changes made at the same time. Only time will tell.

I am in South Carolina near that GA border, and I don’t know of any air pistol matches or coaches in this area. I’ll be looking, but if you know of any, please let me know.

My main goal with AP is to be able to continue to get trigger time as much as possible. The secondary goal is to shoot it competitively, even if just online postal matches. The third goal is to no go overboard and buy a couple of new guns that I don’t really need.

One more question; Pellets... where can I get a sleeve at a decent price? What weight do you recommend and should I bother testing different pellets at this point?

[Gwhite]

Don't bother testing. For all but the most elite Olympic shooters, it's a waste of time.

Contact Neal Stepp at International Shooters Service (best bet is to telephone him), and order some RWS Basics.

http://www.iss-internationalshootersservice.com/

They are light (which works well in most pistols), inexpensive, and quite accurate. Note: Neal sells tins of 500 he imports direct from RWS. If you buy RWS Basics in the US from anyone else, you get the same sized tins, but with only 300 pellets. In addition to paying more per pellet, they are free to rattle around & get damaged in shipping.

[Azmodan]

a good set of videos for beginners is the free basic module here: https://www.foresightshooting.com/

[Ramon OP]

To find a coach, try here: https://www.olympicpistol.com/coaches/

My favorite pistol book so far is "Master Competitive Pistol Shooting" by Ragnar Skanåker: https://www.facebook.com/pistolshooting/

More book recommendations and notes here: https://www.olympicpistol.com/shooting-books/

I am sharing a lot of training plans here that I get from coaches: https://www.olympicpistol.com/category/training/ There are two public ones that should be the oldest. They can give you ideas on how to train.

For the objectives, what my coaches have told me is to set an average goal for a season, not to focus on a competition.

Hope this helps.

[robjob]

One more question; Pellets... where can I get a sleeve at a decent price? What weight do you recommend and should I bother testing different pellets at this point?

I've found that heavier pellets typically perform better in the guns I've shot them in. Ive tested pardini k10/k12 and walther lp 400/500. While all held 10 ring, heavier pellets held the x ring on nra targets.

I shoot HN final match heavy as this is what seems to shoot best in my gun.

https://www.pyramydair.com/s/p/H_N_Fina ... 500ct/1366

[william]

To find a coach, try here: https://www.olympicpistol.com/coaches/

A credentialed coach is not necessary, although certainly a good thing.

Are you a USAShooting member? They have all sorts of resources and, if I recall correctly, listings of clubs where AP among other disciplines is shot.

[DWood]

Thanks for the links to the training. I will be checking those out.

Heavy pellets Vs light pellets... I’ve gotten caught up in testing with .22 ammo and I don’t want to go down that road. Is there a “general consensus” on the best average pellet? I have a good feeling that the RWS Basics will do well for me until I reach a higher level of proficiency, but I’m sure the experts here can weigh in with their experience.

Are you a USAShooting member? They have all sorts of resources and, if I recall correctly, listings of clubs where AP among other disciplines is shot.

I am not. Or at least I haven’t been for years. I tried the website, but couldn’t find anything within 500 miles of here.

[Rover]

"RWS Basics will do well..."

Yup!

But you can be damn sure that pellets will be the least of your problems.

[Ramon OP]

A credentialed coach is not necessary, although certainly a good thing.

The directory is not only for coaches with a formal credential or title. You also have some that just rely on their experience and what they learn by themselves. I created this directory to help people find a coach for their discipline, which is way too hard, or at least it was before I started publishing the coaches list and their contact details.

[B Lafferty]

Basic, but good, is Training: Shooting Sports Rifle and Pistol by Barth and Dreilich. It's available from Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Training-Shootin ... oks&sr=1-1

[CR10X]

The Citadel used to have open air pistol matches. Contact Robert Patton (pistol@citadel.edu) to see if they are having matches in the future.

CR