1) I was starting to notice a lot of "misfires" when practicing recently: thought it was the different brand of pellets I was using. THEN I noticed what it was!
As I'd raise the pistol to take a practice sighting (I'm talking about my Smith C02), I was unconsciously pulling slightly in the trigger: "indexing" (is that the right word?) it, so that after a couple times it would rotate out of position so that my intended first shot (of the six I'd loaded) would really be the 2nd round, maybe even the 3rd, in the cylinder!
Be careful!
2) My method of practicing for the Police shoot has been to put the pistol aside after the comp, then dig it out a few days before the next comp and practice - all 3 stages at a piece - for a couple days.
This is silly! I'm going to try to practice a little, every day. The comp breaks down into 3 stages: why not practice every day, but just one stage each day? Devote most of your time to the stage you shoot the worst. Then, put it all together at the comp!
Cheers,
Jim