10m airpistol training techniques

[GwyneddATC]

A very useful practice technique for me has been standing close, say 10ft, and shooting a pellet at center of blank target, then trying to shoot 5 or 10 shots into the same hole (or a small group). Then further away a ft or two, but don't move back until consistent groups are achieved. If its not a good group, you stay at that distance until it is! This is one and two handed. I'm still struggling to do this back to 6yds ATB. Pete.

I agree there Pete, I'm an Instructor, all be it a bit rusty and to hold the trigger in place for a 2 count once fired is a good technique. Also, the middle and ring finger gripping with thumb and little finger relaxed is good. I would recommend individuals to try their own way too. I use the blank target so much and when using a normal target it depends on the gun as to where you aim. Some competition pistols require you to aim at the lower 5,6,7 on a target whereas some require aiming dead centre on the bull.
Good luck either way all.

J

[peteswright]

I agree there Pete, I'm an Instructor, all be it a bit rusty and to hold the trigger in place for a 2 count once fired is a good technique. Also, the middle and ring finger gripping with thumb and little finger relaxed is good. I would recommend individuals to try their own way too. I use the blank target so much and when using a normal target it depends on the gun as to where you aim. Some competition pistols require you to aim at the lower 5,6,7 on a target whereas some require aiming dead centre on the bull.
Good luck either way all.

J

My biggest problem is getting independant trigger finger movement. Can't decide exactly what counteracts the rearward pressure of the trigger finger. Whats your take on this please. ATB. Pete.

[markwarren]

One practice I use for trying to embed a good follow through (keeping the sight picture for a count of 2 after the shot has gone) is to call shots.

When you have taken your shot, if you have followed through well and kept your focus on the foresight/sight picture, you should be able to say where the shot has gone. Initially, calling the direction i.e. 9 o'clock, 7 o'clock is good enough. After a while you can start to call which ring the shot has also landed in with quite surprising accuracy.

Follow through is one of my failings and this is a practice I am using more and more now.

And as other have said - dry firing is all important. I am lucky enough to live a 3 minute drive from my range but I still dry fire at home. Why, because it conditions the brain to focus on the foresight and sight picture without the distraction of the target.

As people have also mentioned, it is amazing how your group size can shrink when shooting at the back of a card - it's because you don't have the black of the target to distract your focus away from the all important front sight and sight picture. If your group size shrinks it is a good indicator that you get distracted by the target causing shots to stray.

Just my 2p worth.

Mark

[BigEars]

Do most pull trigger all the way back and hold till pellet has hit, or pull just to the point of let off. Reason I ask is, Im finding my trigger action different for different triggers and think maybe I should have the same technique for all guns. ATB. Pete.

I find it useful to try to get the tip of my finger on the tip of the trigger. This means the minimum force being appied to release the trigger. Also I've found it useful if possible to have the lower edge of my trigger finger make light contact wit the trigger guard. It works for me (well as much as anything does ).

[peteswright]

When you are shooting at a blank target to achieve groups, how are you getting a constant sight picture?

You shoot a pellet into the center of the target hopefully, then aim at the same hole using your normal sighting technique. ATB. Pete.

[peteswright]

So I need to change my sights from a 6 o'clock hold on a 10m target to one where the POI is on the top of the post?

Thats how I set my sights. yes. I don't do 10mtr bullseye. I just shoot as a fun hobby at all kinds of targets and always try to get poi just on top of post, but am aware of the 6 o'clock hold where you hold just below the black. So I suppose you would have to adjust the sights for this practice technique. ATB. Pete. PS. If you're already doing bullseye, you probably don't need this kind of practice.

[Eidem]

So I need to change my sights from a 6 o'clock hold on a 10m target to one where the POI is on the top of the post?

I have tried various aiming points, but I find for 10m air pistol targets that aiming at the bulls eye is
very hard. It is hard to see if the point of aim shifts. It is also hard to see the center as of poor
contrast. And my groupings became terrible.

An aim point to close to the black or just at the bottom of it is also hard as I find the sight to warp
the visual of the black that also affected my groups negatively.

An aim point at about 6 is just about as close to the black I can have my sights without it distorting
the circle. I can see if I put "pressure" on it and I can see if I "stretch" it.

Even if I am used to to focus at the front sight after a long period of working with my grip and just
shooting a few shots as a test every now and then, I noticed my groups had become quite bad.
It took me awhile to realize that my eyes had started their own habit. I had gotten used to shift focus
between target, front sight and rear sight without noticing it.

After a few days of only training at focusing at the front sight I am starting to get a grip again.
I was surprised that it was so easy to acquire that bad habit without noticing it.

I also know that to hit at the top of the front sight I have to adjust the sight 22 clicks down and I
use that for general shooting.

[peteswright]

I have tried various aiming points, but I find for 10m air pistol targets that aiming at the bulls eye is
very hard. It is hard to see if the point of aim shifts. It is also hard to see the center as of poor
contrast. And my groupings became terrible.

An aim point to close to the black or just at the bottom of it is also hard as I find the sight to warp
the visual of the black that also affected my groups negatively.

An aim point at about 6 is just about as close to the black I can have my sights without it distorting
the circle. I can see if I put "pressure" on it and I can see if I "stretch" it.

Even if I am used to to focus at the front sight after a long period of working with my grip and just
shooting a few shots as a test every now and then, I noticed my groups had become quite bad.
It took me awhile to realize that my eyes had started their own habit. I had gotten used to shift focus
between target, front sight and rear sight without noticing it.

After a few days of only training at focusing at the front sight I am starting to get a grip again.
I was surprised that it was so easy to acquire that bad habit without noticing it.

I also know that to hit at the top of the front sight I have to adjust the sight 22 clicks down and I
use that for general shooting.

All good points in this post. That flicking back and forth between front post and target is a nasty trap. It has to be done to an extent early in the acquisition process but once sight picture is obtained, front post must be concentrated on to maintain sight alignment. I also count the number of clicks to adjust for half and full power on my HW45 as they both have different zero's. Maybe the answer for blank target group practice would be to mark the target with black dot and aim at that sitting on the front post, although the groups will be higher up its the same principal. ATB. Pete.

[Eidem]

Some interesting ideas on here. Thanks all.

Yeah, I think we are starting to collect some good information here!
Thanks to everyone for contributing!

Cheers!

[PKFusion]

Pistol techniques
I have coached junior shooters for years and the following is the basics of what I believe you need. Sorry but this is quite difficult to describe and much easier to show but I will try!

Position - Repeatability is the key. When the pistol fires it needs to react through your body the same each time.

Hold – Hold the pistol, don’t grip it. If any of your fingers or particularly your thumb goes white, you are holding it far too hard.

Breathing – Remember to breath. Remember to stop for a few seconds. Remember to start again!

Trigger – Squeeze the trigger slowly such that it is a surprise when the pistol fires

Follow through – Stay on aim after the shot

Position
Feet shoulder width apart (usually wider than you think) at 45 degrees to the target. Get a stick, put it on the ground 45 degrees to the target and put your toes against it. Stand straight with arms at side and head forward (in relation to your body). Turn your head to face the target. Bring the pistol up onto aim. Don’t duck your head. Try to have the pistol underneath the target and come straight up.

Hold
Take the pistol in the left hand holding from above. Open your right hand ready to take the pistol by the grip. Line up the barrel with your fore arm and take hold of the pistol in your right hand. It is particular important not to grip too hard. (If you do you are likely to get a left right spread in your shots.)

Trigger
Don’t stab at the trigger! Take up the first stage then squeeze the second stage slowly with ever more pressure until it fires. As I said, almost a surprise. Keep the trigger squeezed during the follow through (Not doing this is possible the most common fault I see and makes a big difference). I will say this again. Stabbing at the trigger to try a ‘catch’ a good sight picture will cause a worse shot than good trigger technique with a wobbly sight picture. Honestly!

Breathing
Breathe normally, when on aim the pistol will rise when you breathe in and lower when you breathe out. After a full (normal, not strained) breath exhale normally about ¼ to 1/3 and hold. You now have about two to three seconds to squeeze the trigger.

Follow through
Everyone says it, few do it. Stay in position, on aim, trigger still pulled like the pistol has yet to fire. Initially this should be at least two to three seconds. As you get better you do not need to do it for as long but it is always vital to do it for long enough!

So the mantra is;
Position feet, stand straight and in line, turn head to target, lift pistol to sightline, take up first stage, hold breath, squeeze trigger and hold during follow through, lower pistol and make safe.

And the rule is:
If you feel that the sight picture is not good enough to fire, then don’t. Lower the pistol ( IT’S LOADED be careful) and repeat above from lift pistol to sightline... Do not stand there for 5, 10 or 15 seconds on aim holding your breath trying to aim!

Sight picture
You can aim where and how you like. If the sights are set up for you then as long as you have the same sight picture for every shot you will be fine.
However, some sight pictures are a lot easier to repeat than others! Easiest one is indeed top of foresight level with top of rear site. The same gap each side of the foresight between it and the slot in the rear sight. Use this same gap between the top of the sights and the bottom of the black. Don’t make these gaps too small or too big (where you can adjust them)

Practice
Use a mirror!!!!
Practice your position. Pick something up about the correct weight and aim at yourself in the mirror. Even a toothbrush will do. Do it ten times each night as part of your ablutions.
If you can dry fire your pistol then doing so into a mirror is invaluable. Aim at the end of the barrel in the mirror, squeeze the trigger and hold. Do it 1000s of times until the barrel does not move when you do it.

[Eidem]

PKFusion

Thanks for that detailed write up!

Cheers.


I have found that the gap from the front sight to the target need to be larger as the front
sight tend to warp the image of the target, making it hard to get an accurate and repeatable
sight picture.

But I have found it easier to me, the smaller of a gap I have between the front sight and rear sight.
Originally I had a 4.3mm wide front sight, but as it was to low (filed down) I had to set the rear
sight so low, I kept seeing the top of the "receiver" in the bottom of the gap. I bought a new
front sight, but the widest I could get was 3.8mm wide.

I have adjusted the width of the rear sight gap as narrow as it goes.
Am I teaching my self bad habits doing so?

When I buy my next pistol, I will have the option of having the sight set up I want. You must have had
Experience with most setups. Is it better then with narrow front sight- wide rear sight,
Wide front sight- Wider rear sight.

Would you be as kind as to share some of that experience?

Cheers!

[PKFusion]

If you are shooting 'at' something and the something is variable then I tend to favour a narrow front sight.

In your case, doing a standard discipline of 10m, you use the same target size each time. A lot of shooters choose a front sight that is the same width as the black when viewed whilst shooting. The different blade sizes being used for different arm lengths! this gives you another help to getting the sight picture the same each time.

I personally then adjust the rear gap to give me the smallest gap I can WITH CRISP EDGES. usually the gap looks about 1/4 the width of the foresight when aiming.

If you get two objects too close the light appears to 'bend' to fill the gap. Touch the ends of your two index fingers lightly together about 12" (30cm) in front of your face with a bright light source behind your fingers. The sky will do. Move your fingers slowly 5mm apart and back again whilst looking through one eye. You will see the 'gap' suddenly jump shut, almost like the tips of your fingers reach out to each other! That trick of light when going through a small gap is why you need a big enough gap between the foresight and rear sight and from the top of both of them to the target. If the gap is too small the light is fuzzy and the sight picture is not repeatable.

One last thing. We can't focus on the rear sight, the front site and the target all at the same time. Don't hunt your focus between then. Absolute rule, foresight should be sharp and in focus.

Hope that helps a little. Good luck with your shooting!

[shawnpurslow]

So I'm a relatively new shooter (started last July) but I've shot 570+ in practice and done pretty well in postal comps this year.

I tend to concentrate on two things for my practice. One is trigger control. Each night I fire around 100 shots dry at a white wall. The entire focus is upon the front sight staying still and zero wobble on pulling the trigger. This for me is just the important aspect. Knowing that each shot will go where I expect it to.

The second aspect is hold. I attach wrist weights of 1.5kg to my wrist and then execute 30 shots with full follow through on a target at ten metres. This is really hard work and takes a bit of getting used to. I then spend 15 mins stretching afterwards to aid balance and recovery.

Finally I suggest you consider mental imagery. My undergraduate research was on concomitant neurological signals and imagery so I'm confident it can aid building motor skills and aid repeat ability.

Hope that helps.

[peteswright]

So I'm a relatively new shooter (started last July) but I've shot 570+ in practice and done pretty well in postal comps this year.

I tend to concentrate on two things for my practice. One is trigger control. Each night I fire around 100 shots dry at a white wall. The entire focus is upon the front sight staying still and zero wobble on pulling the trigger. This for me is just the important aspect. Knowing that each shot will go where I expect it to.

The second aspect is hold. I attach wrist weights of 1.5kg to my wrist and then execute 30 shots with full follow through on a target at ten metres. This is really hard work and takes a bit of getting used to. I then spend 15 mins stretching afterwards to aid balance and recovery.

Finally I suggest you consider mental imagery. My undergraduate research was on concomitant neurological signals and imagery so I'm confident it can aid building motor skills and aid repeat ability.

Hope that helps.

The problem I have with dry fire practice, is that I do very well with a cocked unloaded gun, but once loaded, the difference in pressure can cause movement of the sights. I dont know if this is psychological or if there really is a difference in the weight of the trigger. I just practice live firing now, but do still struggle with getting independance of trigger finger movement. Maybe I have a weak wrist and should follow your ideas. What I would also like to know is how to "lock the wrist". Whats involved to achieve this? ATB. Pete.

[Eidem]

Thanks again for all the input, most appreciated!

Managed to get my average up to 555-560 so far.
Still always around 3 8'ths pr 20 shot that I am struggling to get rid of. From 6-10 tens in average
and the groups have gotten smaller, all in all the shooting has gotten much more consistent.
Where I was at a 186 to 187 average pr 20 shoot at my best before I could not manage that for
three card straight.

Also working working a little on the grip has helped, I feel my hand is more relaxed and the grip is
less grip sensitive now. Also the added support from a snug grip is helping.

Release/ trigger control is improved and more consistent, I have started, (at least trying to) paying
more attention to the moment after the shot.

I am paying more attention to my stance, making sure my head is straight while aiming, While hand is
naturally centered and relaxed.

My main focus for a little will no be that I can notice how my my body starts moving a little if I do not
pay attention. My legs start swaying a little and I start compensating by working with my arm trying
to maintain my sight picture.

I need to practice some "foot control" so I get a more consistent stand. Sometimes it feels like my legs
are in in an almost locked position and they will not move at all. It is hard to repeat that position on demand.
It is annoying when I sometimes are focusing so hard on my feet that it draws attention from the aim.

Getting my legs under control, while still practicing and maintaining the rest of the techniques will hopefully
help me loose those last 3 8'ths pr card.

Cheers!