Tuttle8 said:
When I hear people say they just bought a handgun and claims to shoot in the "X" ring as you state, I observe two key items. What gun is it specifically? What sights are installed? If it's something like a long barreled revolver with sights designed for targets at that distance I give the benefit of the doubt. If it's a Kimber Ultra Carry II with stock sights, I bite my tongue (and fingers for that matter) quite hard to resist the giant urge to post "Malarky!". I don't buy it one single bit.
Most people today are focused on the 7-10 yard shooting for personal defense. This has somehow become
the gospel for shooting standards. Figure a typical traffic lane is 11-ft wide. A pair of them is 22-ft or just about 7.5 yards. Add 5-6 feet for gutters & curbs and guess what? You're at 30-ft or 10 yards. Shouldn't you be able to shoot accurately across the street? A 4-lane road will be about 16-18 yards curb-to-curb. Add 21 feet (7 yards) from curb to front door and you have 25 yards.
And people complain that the cops can't shoot! What was the average distance in the Hollywood shootout? About 50 yards roughly. There's an old adage about those who live in glass houses...
The 25 yard shooting skills were required when I went through both L.E. college classes and at the police academy. I even had the sights marked for the 148gr HBWC loads and my 125g JHP loads.
No... I couldn't make 1" groups at 25 yards. Best I did was 1-5/8" at 25 yards, prone, one day when I just didn't allow myself to feel pressured. (Shooting prone with glasses is a good way to strain your neck BTW).
But one student challenged the instructor who said all shots should be in the x-ring of the B-27 at 25 yards. He proceeded to shoot three targets, standing, kneeling and prone. All three had six shot groups that measured about 1-inch...right on top of the x-ring. His S&W Model 28 was a six-inch versus the 4-inch specimen I was using at the time.
At 25 yards, if your standing two-handed groups are under 2-inches, that's good shooting. If you keep them under 1.75 inches, that's very good shooting. Anything under 1.5" is excellent shooting by almost any standard.
When we shot PPC years ago, several companies marketed replacement centers for the B-27 silhoutte target. It was often easier than pasting the huge hole in the middle of the target.
PPC consisted of a 60-round course of fire:
Stage 1: 7 yard line: 12 rounds in 20 seconds w/reload.
Stage 2: 25 yard line: 90 seconds to complete:
............................... 6 Rounds kneeling
............................... 6 Rounds strong hand/barricade position.
............................... 6 Rounds weak hand/barricade position.
Stage 3: 25 yard line: 6 rounds in 12 seconds
Stage 4: 50/75 yards line*: 24 rounds/165 seconds:
................................ 6 rounds from seated position
................................ 6 rounds from prone position
................................ 6 rounds weak hand barricade
................................ 6 rounds strong hand barricade
All but stage 4 had to be fired double-action. Stage 4 could be fired double or single action. Guns were loaded, holstered and retention devices snapped.
The modified PPC for short ranges (50 yards) allowed for a new stage at 15 yards - 12 rounds/30 seconds with reload. In exchange, the long range barricade postions were eliminated to keep the round-count to 60 rounds.
If you're using a semi-auto, load only six rounds and try to pace your shots so you have ~3 seconds to reload. At 7 and 15 yards,
all of your shots should easily be within the 9-ring. Focus on the sights...the sights...the sights. At 25 yards give yourself five seconds per shot. Focus on the sights and squeeeeze the trigger. Don't rush it. Plenty of time. After working on it, you'll be amazed at how accurate you
can be.
I shot in the low 590's (out of 600) and was not competitive with the serious shooters. That's shooting at the 96-97% level and placing somewhere around 16th!
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