Aspects of air pistol technique?

[raistrick]

Hi All,

Looking for learning resources online and not getting very far, so thought I'd see what advice people had on here. Apologies if these have been discussed before, I hope over time and with new forum members the answer will be different anyway

So far with Air Pistol all people tend to say to me is "shoot how you feel comfortable", which seems like sound advice but leaves me thinking that to be the best in Air Pistol all you have to do is be the most steady handed person with the best gun/pellets for the job - and surely that's not the case!

I expect that a number of factors must be important:

1. Vision? (e.g. glasses? eye patch? eye adjacent to shooting hand? peaked cap?)
2. Footwear? (e.g. standard sole? flat sole? barefoot? are those expensive shoes worth the money?)
3. Clothing? (e.g. posture support or rigidity?)
4. Grip? (e.g. loose/tight?)
5. Preparation? (e.g. if indoor, fresh air immediately before shoot? muscle warm-up or flexibility?)
6. Stance (e.g. square or perpendicular? legs straight or bent, close or apart?)
7. Aiming (e.g. extend arm and lower pistol? raise pistol?)

Dare say there are other aspects I'm missing from here and each one could probably be a forum post in its own right. I was hoping the experienced out there could run me through what they do for these factors and why.

Currently, for me in my beginners naivety (and not tested competitively):

1. Vision: Don't wear anything, shoot with adjacent eye, closing other eye as it's slightly dominant.
2. Footwear: Whatever I have on, tend to be boots with a bit of a heel (like an inch or so, before anyone suggests otherwise ).
3. Clothing: Whatever I have on, usually a shirt and jeans.
4. Grip: Never really thought about it, starting with my first gun tomorrow, so will find out.
5. Preparation: None.
6. Stance: I like to shoot almost square on, legs straight but not locked at the knee. L-stance, adjacent leg forward, ensuring that my shoulders are relaxed and my poster is upright to support the arm raise (physio once showed me how slouching at my desk changes the strength required to raise your arms). Also try not to reposition my feet between shots, obviously.
7. Aiming: Tend to point upwards at 45 degrees then lower to target, breath all the way out until the barrel drops below the target, breath in until it is on the bull at the top, take in some of the trigger, then repeat once/twice to pull and fire.

Hope we can get some good discussion going

[wsnap]

Try:-
http://www.issf-academy.com/courses/...of-pistol.html

[raistrick]

Try:-
http://www.issf-academy.com/courses/...of-pistol.html

Perfect. How did I not find that?! Thanks!

Still interesting to hear style/quirks from others if they want to!

[adiepie]

Hi All,

Looking for learning resources online and not getting very far, so thought I'd see what advice people had on here. Apologies if these have been discussed before, I hope over time and with new forum members the answer will be different anyway

So far with Air Pistol all people tend to say to me is "shoot how you feel comfortable", which seems like sound advice but leaves me thinking that to be the best in Air Pistol all you have to do is be the most steady handed person with the best gun/pellets for the job - and surely that's not the case!

I expect that a number of factors must be important:

1. Vision? (e.g. glasses? eye patch? eye adjacent to shooting hand? peaked cap?)
2. Footwear? (e.g. standard sole? flat sole? barefoot? are those expensive shoes worth the money?)
3. Clothing? (e.g. posture support or rigidity?)
4. Grip? (e.g. loose/tight?)
5. Preparation? (e.g. if indoor, fresh air immediately before shoot? muscle warm-up or flexibility?)
6. Stance (e.g. square or perpendicular? legs straight or bent, close or apart?)
7. Aiming (e.g. extend arm and lower pistol? raise pistol?)

Dare say there are other aspects I'm missing from here and each one could probably be a forum post in its own right. I was hoping the experienced out there could run me through what they do for these factors and why.

Currently, for me in my beginners naivety (and not tested competitively):

1. Vision: Don't wear anything, shoot with adjacent eye, closing other eye as it's slightly dominant. Don't squint, use an eye patch - a bit of a milk bottle carton is nice and cheap! Don't block out all light, just a slight obscuration will help!
2. Footwear: Whatever I have on, tend to be boots with a bit of a heel (like an inch or so, before anyone suggests otherwise ).Flat soles, preferably not with a rounded toe will help - shooting boots are just SO expensive
3. Clothing: Whatever I have on, usually a shirt and jeans. Use the belt loops to rest your non shooting hand on - it's better than a pocket
4. Grip: Never really thought about it, starting with my first gun tomorrow, so will find out.
5. Preparation: None. Think about what you are going to be doing, not what you have been doing - empty your mind of anything but the target
6. Stance: I like to shoot almost square on, legs straight but not locked at the knee. L-stance, adjacent leg forward, ensuring that my shoulders are relaxed and my poster is upright to support the arm raise (physio once showed me how slouching at my desk changes the strength required to raise your arms). Also try not to reposition my feet between shots, obviously. Stand 45 degrees to the target or more, feet parallel or slightly turned out (or in, whichever feels more comfortable) about shoulder width apart
7. Aiming: Tend to point upwards at 45 degrees then lower to target, breath all the way out until the barrel drops below the target, breath in until it is on the bull at the top, take in some of the trigger, then repeat once/twice to pull and fire. Don't hold your breath, just breathe out slowly!!

Hope we can get some good discussion going

Hope that helps

Adrian

[raistrick]

Thanks for the advice!

Yeah I guess I am more 45 degrees to target than square on... front foot points to target, other points away at a bit less than 90 degrees to the target. I don't hold my breath either :P poor explanation... I just try and time the peak of my inward breath with the trigger pull.

Anyone got advice on eye patches... I had some shooting glasses from when we had to use them for shotgun comps, so anything that clips onto those would be ideal (I guess alternatively I could sand the glasses down on one side ). Are those eye pieces with the spaghetti measure contraption worth the money?!

Why are the belt loops better than a pocket? Is that because of the angle of the arm?

Looking at the ISSF academy positions, I think I'd find the head position really tough given the poor posture of my neck and inflexibility due to muscle build
To get around this does anyone have any hints? Is there anything I could put on my shoulder that would simulate a rifle stock so my head is always in the correct position? Has anyone else even had this issue?

(aware I'm thinking of this way too much for a beginner, but it's nice to make use of a lunch break )

[KNIFEMAN]

One thing that is a must re grip . Never ever hold a pistol tightly with the trigger hand , a tight grip will result in a stiff trigger finger. Even when shooting a full bore pistol two handed the the trigger hand maintains a relaxed hold the other hand provides most of the effort

[Cones]

This book was designed for juniors starting the sport, but it really is one of the better overall guides you can still buy new.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Training-Sho...7372274&sr=8-1

Also you should be concentrating on the front sight and the sight alignment, not on the target. You can influence the first, try influencing the target placement on the wall.

With a good sight picture the target will actually be slightly blurred or fuzzy. The front sight should be nice and clear.

You should also probably not be aiming at the middle of the target. Look at sub six aiming for an explanation.

You need to see the black of the sights against the white of the target. The black center of the target should be a fuzzy blob floating above the front sight, with a bit of white between them.

HTH

Mark

[raistrick]

This book was designed for juniors starting the sport, but it really is one of the better overall guides you can still buy new.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Training-Sho...7372274&sr=8-1

Also you should be concentrating on the front sight and the sight alignment, not on the target. You can influence the first, try influencing the target placement on the wall.

With a good sight picture the target will actually be slightly blurred or fuzzy. The front sight should be nice and clear.

You should also probably not be aiming at the middle of the target. Look at sub six aiming for an explanation.

You need to see the black of the sights against the white of the target. The black center of the target should be a fuzzy blob floating above the front sight, with a bit of white between them.

HTH

Mark

I'm already "lollypopping" as the people here call it. Made that mistake with someone's gun first week when the pellets were rebounding off the gantry and landing at my feet

[p.m.h]

I am far from a top class shooter, or expert, but consistency is everything.

If you find certain clothing comfortable, and practice in it, then wear the same for competitions, etc.

Same goes with shoes, etc.

Kind regards,



Phil

[savantguarde]

The absolute best thing you can do is find a coach and get some initial advice and direction. If like me you are stuck hundreds of miles away from the nearest coach then its up to you. there are many sources of info and really its about what you find makes sense!

http://www.shootingwiki.org/index.ph...l_Fundamentals

These are the important fundementals that most seem to agree on.

Personally I found these two articles very usefull
http://www.pilkguns.com/anatoli.shtml
http://www.pilkguns.com/anatoli2.shtml

It is around these articles I have based my home training around.

[hwtyger]

Dont focus o position; i.e, 45 degrees, straight, whatever. Its nót the same for every shooter anyway! Yr zero position check will bring you into correct position.
Forget shooting clothes. Not necessary at yr level, and thus only maskering (bad)technique/mistakes.
Dunno wether you already have a pistol? If not, buy what suits YOU. Dont let yr neightbour, or nice brandnames lead you! Feel, aim, and choose.
You grip essentially with 2 fingers, yr 2 middle one's. Thumb and pinky dont do much. To much pressure on those, can cause errors.
Indeed, aim at the 6 o clock. Decide for yrself íf and if yes, how much white you take. Taking white ís best, but I dontdo it.
MOST important perhaps about pistolshooting, is holding stiff wrist!
Indeed focus on sights, not target.
Most common errors stance wise, are, zero incorrect and, especially with riflshooting, balance on the toes instead of in the middle.

[raistrick]

MOST important perhaps about pistolshooting, is holding stiff wrist!

...
...
I'll work out some training exercises!

Great advice guys, thanks for the help. Have a FWB103 now, first training today.

[magicniner]

Google US Army Pistol Marksmanship Manual, available online as a PDF & covers all the basics very well, including stance, then determining your natural aim point, which you should be using rather than some irrelevant fixed angle ;-)
ATB,
Nick

[Shooter560]

I found this thread while searching the web for info, the links provided have been very helpful for me, so thanks to the OP for starting the thread and thanks to those who replied

[raistrick]

If I was preparing for the most common 10m air pistol competition format, what should I be shooting?

I've been using the NSRA targets at the club and shooting 5 shots per target for 4 targets. Is this the correct format?
If so, what is a good score? Looking at the numbers, am I right in thinking I can get a top score of 11 per shot?

Thanks!