10M pistol home practicing

[Garry]

What sort of practice can I do at home without firing pellets? I can find a 6 yard space in the flat, but not 10 metres. I have a Gamo Compact, so can dry fire.

Thanks a lot
Garry

[Blurboy]

Do you want to fire or not? I personally would get some 6 yard targets and shoot. To train I would get a wrist weight and go through a dry-firing routine that way. If my memory serves me well, you used to be able to get scaled-down 10 metre targets for use at 6 yards but don't quote me on that.

[Garry]

Do you have to adjust the sights for scaled down targets at six yards, or would they be at the same setting as for 10m full size targets?

[The Doctor]

dry fire and trigger techniques can be practiced at length without having to fire a real shot - breathing and raising can also be done without using a target, just find yourself a nice, quite part of the house with a reference point on the wall and practice your raise - it has helped me no end,

Lee

[jonyb]

good advise from the doctor.
if you are going to shoot live then practise obtaining a good group instead of worring about the target.
concentrate on obtaining the correct sight picture,this is paramount.
your aiming mark at 6yds will be the same as for any distance, i.e. at six o clock below the black. how far below will depend on you.
your sights will have to altered slightly to compensate for different light etc.
check out www.bullseyepistol.com
plenty , if not too much advise on there.
good luck.

[jonyb]

i see your from brum.
pop along to aldersley on the 23/24 jan to see what its all about. a popular event for pistol and rifle shooters at 10m.

[stargate1]

I had an idea of an A4 size piece of board with a 5mm hole in centre, then attach a laser sight on pistol and practice aiming into the hole at arms length (in shooting postion) at a given distance or 6 yards in your case, and see how long I could hold it there!

Helped to build up steadiness . You could also dry fire whilst doing this

[Garry]

Thanks for the replies.
I've sorted out some scaled down 10m targets, so I'm all set for when the missus is out of the way.
What's happening at Adersley? Is it a competition?

Cheers
Garry

[silversurfer]

I used to practice shooting groups by cutting the black (7 ring) out of a 6yd pistol target with a scalpel and trying to get all shots through the hole, then progress to the 8 ring and finally the 9 ring. That way you are not shooting for a score.
Another training aid is a red dot laser mounted on the pistol, and try to keep the red dot in the 7,8,9,ring etc.

[psf32]

I would do as Lee said dry fiire, I normaly do this 2 to 3 times a week min.

I would never put an red dot on my pistol as you are then not looking at your sights, the tagert dose not move so why look at it, all the top pistol shooters do not look at the target but the sights.

One of worlds best shooters (Rangar Skanaker) said it dose not matter how you hold the gun pull the trigger as long as the sights are line.

[RobF]

dry fire and trigger techniques can be practiced at length without having to fire a real shot - breathing and raising can also be done without using a target, just find yourself a nice, quite part of the house with a reference point on the wall and practice your raise - it has helped me no end,

Lee

yeh, but you're a windowlicker, so staring at a blank wall for hours on end is progress

[silversurfer]

I would do as Lee said dry fiire, I normaly do this 2 to 3 times a week min.

I would never put an red dot on my pistol as you are then not looking at your sights, the tagert dose not move so why look at it, all the top pistol shooters do not look at the target but the sights.

One of worlds best shooters (Rangar Skanaker) said it dose not matter how you hold the gun pull the trigger as long as the sights are line.

The red dot laser training technique is used to improve your hold and it is possible to see the dot without focusing on the target, in the same way that you normally focus on your front sight but can still see the black of the target (slighty out of focus).

Dry fire is an excellent way to improve trigger technique.
In my humble opinion (and 25 years of pistol shooting) you need to vary your training and make it interesting.

Try to get a copy of Dr Laslo Antal's book " Competitive Pistol Shooting"
it has an excellent chapter on training and covers both the psychology and physiology aspects of the sport. I believe it is out of print but try Abebooks online.

[RobinC]

Dry firing is probably the best home practice that you can do, it is best to have a training objective such as concentration on sight picture, trigger release, and combining the two into an unconsious release.
If you do shoot at home, use a blank card, range is irrelavent and concentrate on the above.
A good book is "Successfull Pistol Shooting" by Frank and Paul Leatherdale, we don't need the book, Frank is a regular at our club!
Best regards and good shooting,
Robin

[The Doctor]

The red dot laser training technique is used to improve your hold and it is possible to see the dot without focusing on the target, in the same way that you normally focus on your front sight but can still see the black of the target (slighty out of focus).

Dry fire is an excellent way to improve trigger technique.
In my humble opinion (and 25 years of pistol shooting) you need to vary your training and make it interesting.

Try to get a copy of Dr Laslo Antal's book " Competitive Pistol Shooting"
it has an excellent chapter on training and covers both the psychology and physiology aspects of the sport. I believe it is out of print but try Abebooks online.

Trust me, I am sure psf32 knows what he is talking about - the red dot technique is a lovely idea, but it teaches the shooter to focus less on the sights and more on where the red dot is, which is less than perfect. Step and interval training are far more effective training techniques, an offer variation without infringing on the actual basis of correct shot composure and focus.

Dr Antal's book is good, but about 30 years out of date and the psychology discussed is very basic (and a little misleading) at best - and that is my professional opinion.

Lee

[silversurfer]

Trust me, I am sure psf32 knows what he is talking about - the red dot technique is a lovely idea, but it teaches the shooter to focus less on the sights and more on where the red dot is, which is less than perfect. Step and interval training are far more effective training techniques, an offer variation without infringing on the actual basis of correct shot composure and focus.

Dr Antal's book is good, but about 30 years out of date and the psychology discussed is very basic (and a little misleading) at best - and that is my professional opinion.

Lee

I admit I may be a bit out of date as I have had a break from competition shooting for a number of years.

One interesting thing that the laser taught me was that in spite of what appears to be an unsteady hold it is still possible to achieve a respectable score.

I take your point that it is not desireable to encourage a shooter to focus on the target but it can be helpful to break down the various aspects of of pistol shooting to help correct errors.

Getting back to Garry's original question "What sort of practice can I do at home without firing pellets?"

Dry firing in front of a mirror and watching the muzzle to see if it moves at the moment of release and dry firing in a darkened room so that complete concentration is given to trigger technique are a couple of methods suggested by the national squad coaches in the past.

I must say that I found Dr Antal's book most helpful, but would be very grateful if anyone could recommend some more up to date reading on the noble art.

Regards

Nigel