New (soon to be owner) looking for training advice

T

Tj1627

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Hi all,

I've been reading around here and other forums for a few months doing research on purchasing my first handgun. I live in Illinois and am waiting for my FOID card to arrive to make a purchase. I'm still debating between guns to purchase - but that's a topic for another post. What I'm more interested in practice techniques.

I've read a lot on stances, grips, sight picture, etc. and am trying to incorporate it in my practice when I go to the range with a friend. At the range I'm mostly trying as many rental guns as I can to find one that "feels right".

Once I settle on one and begin to practice to get better, what should I be doing? I. E. how many shots should I put on each target before switching to a clean one? What distance should I begin practicing at? How do I know when to move further? Are there any drills or practice techniques I should be using while at the range (assuming the range allows it)?

Thanks for the help all. I look forward to getting proficient with a handgun and having an effective means of SD at home (maybe everywhere if IL gets ccw anytime in my lifetime...)
 
You've asked some questions that may need a book length answer. In fact, their are plenty of books on the subject, but I'll mention just a a few things. I'm sure others will add useful tips. One thing I've found helpful is a tip someone gave me years ago. It can be used for slow, precise shooting or faster self defense type drills. Start at a short distance at which you can easily put a certain number of rounds (let's say 3) into a circle whose size is up to you. For discussion purposes let's say a 4" diameter circle. Then move the target back a few feet or so and do it again. When you get to a distance where you do not put all 3 rounds into the circle go back to the beginning and start all over at the initial distance. I found this works very well. After a while your accuracy should improve to a point where your starting distance for a given range session will be at a point considerably greater than when you first began the drill. I do this at an indoor range where I can control the distance to the target at will.

As for when to switch targets it's a matter of choice. I often tape an 8.5" by 11" paper with a dark circle on it on a larger target that I've already used. When I get a few shots that do not fall within the circle at a given distance, I'll replace the paper and start over. It's a cheap, effective method.
 
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Ming has given you a very good drill to use. However, you will probably be best served by being sure you are fully trained in shooting basics, front and rear sight alinement and sight picture on target, always the same grip on pistol (grip to tight or loose and a difference in thumb pressure will change point of impact), trigger control for smooth let off(no trigger jerk). Also learn you pistol (whatever you get). By this I mean learn it's controls (slide release, safety, decock, whatever it has) till you can operated them with out thinking or looking almost like making it a part of you. Once the basics are learned start the drills, you will be able to give your full attention to them. Progress should be fun and faster than it would be otherwise.
 
On the target I think it depends what you are doing. When i work on my trigger pull specifically I might fire 100 rounds of 22lr into a single target. Maybe more. Same with when I am doing malfunction drills. I might just shoot a popcan or two around the berm also. If I am trying to shoot slow fire and put it all together I won't shoot more than ten shots without at least covering them up with a pasty thing and usually less. The time to change/repair the target is the point at which you can't tell which hole is from the shot you just took(binoculars/monocular are important for effective range sessions if you are at range beyond your sight).

What kind of shooting are you going to be doing? silhouette will be a lot different than for something more like IDPA.

Ming's drill would not be allowed at any public/club range I attend if there is anyone else there and there usually is. Where will you be shooting? If you have private land it opens up a lot.

I like malfunction drills with dummy round/snap caps mixed in. To run this drill you must be somewhere that you are allowed to clear misfires without waiting as you can not be sure it is a snap cap. You also need a friend to load for it to work really well, although I load my own as often as not.

If you are shooting to improve your chances of survival I highly recommend shooting from odd positions. shoot pistol prone every once in a while. Build a barrier out of ply wood cut some holes in it and shoot around the edges, as if out a window, from below a car, etc. You can't do this at just any range though. At my club range by myself I have used benches, trash cans, random scrap from projects, my car, or whatever. Sometimes sitting on your butt with you legs in front of you is the best position. Don't blow your toes off :) I wouldn't race into these positions either.
 
Thanks for the info so far. To give more information, most of my shooting will be at public ranges. The few in my area (west and northwest of Chicago) have minimum distances of 25'. I haven't been able to go to some of the "better" ranges since my friend and I do not own guns. He has received his FOID, but the better ranges require a FOID to rent and shoot. So he can go, I have a week or two to wait till mine arrives. Once I do I'm sure I'll have more specifics on my "permanent" range. I don't have any private land that I can use more than once or twice a year (friends property in wisconsin - this is about how often our timing lines up).

The guns I'm looking at vary, but are primarily in the .40 s&w caliber. The gun that ive liked the most so far was a sig out of my price range, but a glock g23 is the runner up. I want to shoot a few more before I commit to buying a specific gun.

I've been shooting mostly silhouettes, but am open to shooting most anything.

The malfunction drill you mentioned - most public ranges won't let you do that?
 
Get good equipment. Don't skimp on your hearing protection and eye protection. The cheap stuff can really impact the quality of your practice time--and probably won't provide the same level of protection either. I wish I had learned this lesson earlier.

Get a good range bag, one that can easily hold everything you'll need for a range trip and keep it reasonably well organized.
...how many shots should I put on each target before switching to a clean one?
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Keep the number of shots low enough that you can score your drill results properly and easily. At the least, switch targets every time you switch to s different type of drill. You may want to look at the targets when you get home to do a more thorough analysis of your performance and you won't want to have to guess about the scoring.

Add a felt-tip marker or two to your range bag so you can clearly and easily label your targets for later reference. It's very irritating to get home with targets that you want to analyze but be stymied by the inability to properly categorize them.
What distance should I begin practicing at? How do I know when to move further?
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Start close--5-7 yards and increase the distance when you are consistently achieving satisfactory accuracy shooting at satisfactory speed at a given distance. It's hard to be more specific than that because different applications/competitions require very different skill sets.

For self-defense, the sheet of typing paper is a decent target. You want to be able to score 100% hits on the paper at the practice range while shooting at a good pace--a couple of shots a second, at least. When you can do that, move the target farther away and start again.

You may find that your range won't allow rapid fire. If it doesn't, you may be hampered in your ability to practice rapid follow-up shots.
Are there any drills or practice techniques I should be using while at the range (assuming the range allows it)?
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Here are a number of different handgun drills.

http://www.handgunlaw.us/documents/HandgunDrills.pdf
http://www.handgunlaw.us/documents/HandgunDrills2.pdf

Keep it simple.

If your goal is self-defense, I'd focus on starting from a "ready" position rather than spending a lot of time getting everything lined up and then slowly squeezing off a shot. Getting used to bringing the gun up rapidly and firing that first accurate shot is a valuable skill.

Don't TRY to go fast. Concentrate on doing things right and the speed will come. Getting impatient and trying to go fast will teach you bad habits.

Finally, some folks are great at self-teaching. Some aren't. If you aren't, get some professional help--it will really provide a significant advantage over someone who tries to work it all out on his own. If you are great at self-teaching, self-teach for awhile and then get some professional help. My bet is that you'll still see a significant benefit and it will be all the more valuable to you because it will come with the realization that a good trainer can really save you a lot of time and effort no matter how good you are at self-teaching.
 
See if there is an NRA Basic Pistol class in your area. They tend to be the best deal, and it is a very well rounded program. You'll learn safety, all of the common action types and so forth, but you spend most of the time shooting. And you'll have the fundamentals down by the time you're done. To me it's better to learn proper grip, stance, sight alignment, sight picture, trigger pull etc. the right way from the start, rater than having to unlearn bad habits that are so easy to pick up when you are starting out.
 
Thanks all. I've signed up for a basic pistol class this weekend to learn more. I'll post back and let you know how it goes!
 
why are you looking at the 40 SW? Have you fired it much? I recommend you get identical guns in 9mm and 40sw, such as glock 19 and 23, and see the difference. Then look at ammo prices, then look at the high quality of the modern 9mm hollow point ammo.
 
I'm looking at the 40 sw because I feel it's a nice middle ground between 9mm and .45

I've shot the .45 and found it pretty difficult to hold groups together. Couple that with high ammo costs (compared to 9 and 40).

The 9mm is easy to fire, but I can fire the 40 just as easily (ymmv). With a negligible cost between 9 and 40, I'd rather have the extra power behind the 40 for SD. I know it may just be an irrational reasoning by me (and yes, I've seen the endless 40 vs 9 threads everywhere), but that's which way I'm leaning right now.

My opinion may change before I commit to purchase, but that's why I'm trying to get range time on my "short list" of potential guns (40s and 9s are on this list). Ill be looking for advice on that short list soon in another thread.

Right now I just want to make sure my time at the range is being productive. And I'm doing "effective" things with my range and ammo $$$
 
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