Learning to shoot with webley senior

[Graemevw]

Been down the garage this evening trying out my webley senior.

Damm cold, but good fun.

This is the first time ive shot since i was 12!

Using RWS hobby's, .22

Whats the best way to hold this pistol?
It wants to shoot to the left by 2". I spent a while putting the new pellets through and adjusting the sights. Think ive got it ok now but adjusting the sites didnt seem to help the pull to the left.
I got it under controll in the end i think, but not sure what i was doing LOL.
Im using 2 hands, right to hold and shoot, left cupped under the grip.

At 7m i put 20 pellets into about 3" diameter.

A couple went wayward though.

From what it seems, the pull to the left is due to me, any tips?

I know its no target pistol, but would apreciate any advice for the newbie

[gingernut]

Try one handed.
Light grip and let it recoil.
No promises tho.

[Graemevw]

Ill try.

Im right handed by the way.

It groups quite well though. Sometimes it will be quite accutare to where i aimed but mostly it will group slightly low/left.

Im sure its me though.

Maybe being cold and tense is the issue.

Ill experiment again tomorrow eve and report back.

[inproved]

Hi..

Try to follow this method with off hand shooting (1 handed) without the pistol stand upright stand comfortably with your legs apart;; transfer your weight to your right foot (being right handed) you will be then light on your left leg....pick a spot..any will do focus with both eyes open on the spot you have chosen ;;;close your eyes extend your arm and point your finger at the spot you have chosen ...if you are off slightly..do not move at all transfer your weight to your left heel and move your body with the pivot you have made till you can line up your finger on the spot you have chosen practice this ..then try the same method with your pistol taking a light firm grip not tight then using the tip of your trigger finger apply light pressure breath in taking a breath to oxygenate your blood slowly breath out, releasing the trigger...practice like this till you are shooting groups ...Then adjust your sights...

Regard's

Inproved...Steve...

[Graemevw]

Wow, ok

Ill give that a try.

[inproved]

Hi

I should have added what you are looking for is a sharp shaft of light either side of your foresight lined up with the back sight ...Your back sight should be fuzzy and out of focus..Your foresight will then be in complete focus..The fore sight is the main element in good pistol shooting..Anything else ask...


Regard's

Inproved...

[Abasmajor]

Been down the garage this evening trying out my webley senior.

Damm cold, but good fun.

This is the first time ive shot since i was 12!

Using RWS hobby's, .22

Whats the best way to hold this pistol?
It wants to shoot to the left by 2". I spent a while putting the new pellets through and adjusting the sights. Think ive got it ok now but adjusting the sites didnt seem to help the pull to the left.
I got it under controll in the end i think, but not sure what i was doing LOL.
Im using 2 hands, right to hold and shoot, left cupped under the grip.

At 7m i put 20 pellets into about 3" diameter.

A couple went wayward though.

From what it seems, the pull to the left is due to me, any tips?

I know its no target pistol, but would apreciate any advice for the newbie

Hi,

I fully agree with the basic advice already given regarding shooting the pistol one handed.

One thing I would add, and which I have found particularly important when shooting spring air pistols is "follow through" or holding the pistol on aim after the trigger has been pulled. Spring air pistols take time to go through the firing cycle and although it may seem a bit silly, you do need to hold the pistol on aim for a few seconds after the trigger is released. It's a similar idea to that used by golfers after playing a shot.

I shoot my Webley Premier using Hobby wadcutters and a one handed stance as outlined above and regularly shoot 1.5 / 2 inch groups at 10 metres.

It takes time and practice.

Regards

Brian

[Graemevw]

There has been progress, and more questions

Im getting better but there seems to be quite a few shots that go where they like.
I can get groups in 1.5"-2" at 6 yards but maybe 1 in 4 or 5 will be 3" outside of this.

Ive almost finished my tin of 500 hobby's and am going to try something else. See if the few flyers reduce or not. Any more recomendations? Are there any places that will sell a sellection, maybe 100 each of 5 different types?

I also noticed something i wasnt expecting with my aim.
I printed 20 1" circles onto a piece of A4 paper and tried these at 5 meters.

Didnt do too well with these.
I found my aim points varied alot with the different placements.
Top ones i was close with my aim, but the middle ones i was hitting 2" under and the bottom ones i was hitting 3" under.
I had to aim so the foresight was above the rear sight in order to hit the bottom circles.

I wasnt expecting needing to adjust my aiming so much just because one circle was 6" lower than another.

I guess this is perfectly normal?

[Geezer]

There are many ways of breaking this down, but the key five elements of technique are:

- position control;
- hold control;
- sight control (both sight picture and sight alignment);
- trigger control;
- follow-through/recoil control.

With a pistol, everything has to be consistent. They are unforgiving little things. I hardly shoot just now. I used to be a pretty good pistol shot and a pretty good rifle shot. With lack of practice, I am now at best a mediocre pistol shot but I remain a pretty good rifle shot, because rifles excuse small errors that pistols don't.

It sounds to me like you have an issue with the last two of the five. It's really hard to put controlled pressure straight back on the trigger. I suspect you are slightly pushing it to the side (shots off to left) and you may be subconsciously tensing up when you think you pistol will fire, causing the groups to go low. You may also be chasing sight alignment. The gun "wobbles" about. You suddenly see the sights where they should be. You snatch the trigger. By the time it fires it has wobbled offf alignment and you've rushed the shot and tensed up and moved the pistol, probably by squeezing it with your right thumb. The knack of good pistol (and rifle) shooting is a consistent small "wobble" that you learn not to care about or react to. The knack only comes with practice. Practce makes the wobble smaller.

Advice:

- slow everything down. Take time. Only start to speed up when you are consistently shooting groups in the same place;
- focus; make every shot count; if anything feels slightly "off", stop and start again from scratch; lower the gun, breathe, check position, and so on all the way to firing the shot;
- try shooting at the centre of a plain piece of paper, not a conventional target; your eyes will naturally find the centre, without a bullseye or scoring rings. Only bring the formal target back into use when you are shooting tight groups on plain paper;
- until you are consistently shooting groups in the same place, do not adjust the sights, or modify the gun, or change ammo. 90% of the time, the issue is a software (ie human) issue, not a hardware one.

Back when I used to instruct, this was a multi-hour lesson in class and on the range. I hope this potted summary is useful. In sum: do eveything exactly the same, all the time. And take your time. But it's easier said than done.

[Graemevw]

Advice noted, im sure it will help.

But i dont think the aim adjustment is due to me.

If im sooting with the pistol level i will get within 1-1.5" of my aim point.
If i then aim slightly down to hit a circle 10" lower my shot goes lower than expected.

Now i know this i can adjust my aim and get back on target.

Your advice will certainly help me, i am deffinately missing due to my trigger action (although i seem to push the pistol left rather than pull it right)

I just wasnt expecting to have to adjust my aim when i shoot lower.

If i crouch a little to shoot the lower circles so the pistol is now level again then i can use my same aim points as usual.

The odd flyer may be me, not sure. If i push the gun when i fire it tends to go 1.5" left and slightly up. This is always the same, but some shots i can see the pellets trajectory curl as it flies to the target.

I need to pay more attention to the recoil too, i dont notice any recoil, this seems bad, i probably should notice it and know that i am aware of it.

[Lakey]

Consistent sight picture is required when pistol shooting. Bear in mind that when offhand shooting you are bringing the pistol UP to eye level, maybe when you are shooting at lower targets the pistol/eye relationship changes and moves the point of impact on the target.

Ideally, the sight picture you want is top of forsight level with top or rearsight, and the same amount of light showing either side of the foresight. Then you need the target circle looking like it is balanced on the tip of the foresight. Get used to this sight picture and shoot a number of groups with this sight picture ( at this point it doesnt matter where the shots fall as long as they fall in the same area as a group).

Once you are getting all the shots together in a group AND the group is always in the same place in relation to the target, then adjust your sights so that the group moves into the centre of the target.

Finally, once all the above is done you will have a pistol that is accurate for a given target size at a given range ( eg, accurate to a four inch target at 7 metres for argumant sake) if you change range or target size you have to start from scratch again

(Another way to put this is that if you are shooting the bullseye on a four inch target, the pellets are landing two inches higher that point of aim - assuming you are sighting 6 oclock low. If you change to a six inch target your shots will land an inch low of bullseye)

Hope that helps

Lakey

I used to shoot powder handguns before they were banned

[inproved]

Hi..

Here is a thought for you see if you can get a copy of "Successful Pistol Shooting" by Frank and Paul Leatherdale..You might pick up some good pointers from this Book..


Regard's

Inproved...

[Graemevw]

Thanks.

For a bit of fun, i seem to be getting way to 'into' this


Just to clarify, are we saying that my sight picture should be the same, even if the targets im aiming at vary in height?

[inproved]

Hi ..

I can see what you mean ...But think of the street credd!!!knowing how to shoot an Air Pistol..And to wring the best out of yourself and your ability.!!!!!



Regard's

Inproved....

[Graemevw]

However, i dont think even olympic standard shooting with a 60 year old springer pistol would impress anyone i know.

Might get a faked impressed 'well done' from the wife, but not much else.