So, yeah, I've been away for a bit too long. Like over a year. Those of you who know me, know that I may have too many hobbies and certainly too many interests. I am shooting to post here at elast once a month now. My oh so lofty goal was once a week, but life got in the way, or maybe I saw something shiny, or a squirrel.
In any event, I'd like to make a quick post on shooting. As I sit here listening to folks shooting too close to City Limits and just up the street from me, I am reminded of something I learned when I recently attended a shooting class last year. It's something I try to keep in mind every time I go shooting now. The person said treat going shooting like a work out. You don't generally go to the gym without a plan. Even if it's "I'll spend 30 mins on cardio and 30 mins in the weight room", you have a basic plan.
A couple trips back I set my son Mason up with a plan for his shooting that day. He was shooting my Walther P22 (incidentally a temperamental, though still fun to shoot .22lr pistol. It just likes to be either clean, or really oily.). I had him stand at the shooting line with the gun at rest, finger along slide, gun close to chest with barrel towards the ground. Hard to describe, easy to show ya, though I don't have any pics of that around. At my command he was to press the gun forward to the target, crouch slightly, obtain sight picture and shoot a controlled pair. Then he was to return to starting position, scanning to the left and right by turning his head. Pretty simple.
Like all good instructors, I gave him a scaffold, a drill that he can build off of. This drill is designed to teach him to put at least two rounds in controlled fashion into a target as fast as he can accurately do it, then settle back down and look for another threat. When recalled under fire, the action may not look exactly like what he's been doing, but that's ok. He may shoot one shot, he may shoot three. He may stand up a bit tall. The important thing is the muscle memory. If every time he shoots, he squats a bit, instinctively changing his stance to a good one, handles the gun properly and scans for another threat, then the drill worked.
The cool thing was that this is something I had him do himself. He would load a magazine or two, then go to the firing line and go through all the drill actions until his magazines were empty. Only occasionally did I ever have to go to him and fix a part of his stance. This left me to do something I had planned on doing, namely shooting my 10/22 from prone with the use of my sling.
Before you go out shooting, learn about your weapon. Learn how to take it apart and put it back together. Do so a few times. Make sure it's well oiled. Learn how to operate any safeties, clear jams, or fix malfunctions. Youtube is your friend. That's what I still do from time to time, especially with a new gun.
Then think about the kind of shooting you want to do. If it's new, Put bullets in it and shoot it. BUT, don't just go blasting away. Your time and those bullets cost too much money. Put up a few targets relatively close. I'd say less than 15 feet for pistols, and around 25 yards or so for rifles. Load a couple of magazines and shoot, slowly and accurately. Focus on your front sight, and your sight picture. Those fundamentals are beyond my capabilities as a 'sorta-blogger' so I'd suggest looking into them. Google is your friend this time.
From there, you can practice shooting controlled pairs like above, or maybe you want to practice shooting seated, or prone, or left handed, or 5 shot rapid fire. The options are literally limitless. The main thing is, make a plan. Even if it's just when you get there. Don't blast away.
Oh, and before I go... Try to get off the bench and shoot if allowed by your shooting range (and if it's not, maybe find another range). Very seldom will you be attacked, seated at a Denny's booth with your weapon close at hand. Stand up. Squat. Go prone. Shoot left handed. For most places, walking and shooting are no-nos (though there should be exceptions) but try and shoot that way if you can. Set up multiple targets and transition from one to another on the move, or from standing or a squat. Shooting, especially if you have a gun and the words "Self Defense" ever come out of your mouth when talking about guns, needs training. There is a saying, train like you fight, fight like you train. Very few of the military engagements allow for both sides to be seated at benches.
Thanks for reading, and I promise I'll be back more often.
I think for next time, I'll go through a how-to of some kind. Drop me a line if you want to see something. Otherwise I'll come up with something...
jim
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