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1911 target shooting

39ford39ford Member Posts: 93 ✭✭
edited August 2005 in Ask the Experts
I got my first 1911 45 a few months ago and are trying to improve my speed/accuracy to shoot at the local club match.My question for the comp. shooters is this---- HOW?---- this is an incredably though sport not saying that im a bad shot or anything just that its hard to be a good fast shooter.Any tips or tricks and good books will be very helpfull thanks to all in advance

Welcome to america now speak english

Comments

  • rufe-snowrufe-snow Member Posts: 18,649 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    It might be to your advantge to get hold of a 22 Conversion unit for your 45. I believe there (3) different types on the market nowadays.

    It's lot easier as well as economical to do your initial shooting/practicing with a 22, then transition to a 45 as your skill/speed, develops. My 2?.

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  • danski26danski26 Member Posts: 284 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    There are two schools of thoughts. Most people start with slow target work ,get their muscle memory down and after being able to hit what they are aiming at every time, start to speed things up.

    The other school is what you will hear called "hosers". They start shooting fast and let their accuracy catch up to their speed with practice.

    It seems both approaches work. Pick one and start practicing. Any book or articles written by the top shooters are worth reading. If I had to pick one I would say anything by Robbie Leatham is top of the line instruction.

    danski
  • danski26danski26 Member Posts: 284 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Snow

    Good point with the 22conversion....easier to learn speed with little recoil.

    danski
  • mpolansmpolans Member Posts: 1,752 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    To become truly fast and accurate, all the pros will tell you the same thing. You must have the fundamentals down perfect. Aim every shot. As you get accustomed to this, gradually speed things up, but never to the point where you are shooting faster than you can see.

    When you practice, think critically about your technique. Why do you do the things you do? Does changing grip pressure affect how the gun returns? Does your front sight/dot go directly up and down, or does it move at angle? What affect does changing the position of your holster have on your technique? Etc., etc. You should be asking yourself these questions all the time.

    One good book, written by Brian Enos is "Practical Shooting: Beyond Fundamentals" . Here are several:
    http://www.brianenos.com/store/books.html

    Another one not listed there is "Shooting from Within" by J. Michael Plaxco.
  • punchiepunchie Member Posts: 2,792
    edited November -1
    Just a thought. Accuracy is Bullseye competition not IDPA/IPSC/ICORE, etc. If you do 'action' shooting with a 'bullseye' frame of mind you will not excel. It is hard to overcome the 'bullseye' frame of mind and slip into a 'close enough' A zone hit. There are no extra points for one hole groups.

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  • 1911a1-fan1911a1-fan Member Posts: 51,193 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Here is a link for the best competition shooters on the web, all the big name guys and us trying to catch up are on this forum, brain writes a very good book called "practical shooting beyond the fundamentals"

    http://www.brianenos.com/forums/

    as far as the basics you need to learn a lot more than just a quick draw, with hours of practice you can get your sight acquisition faster and faster, a lot of people think that it is about point shooting because they cannot understand that it is possible to acquire your sights that fast, do not believe this, it will hold you back, use your sights, practice slow at 25 yrds, then fast at 5,7, 10 yrds, get a timer, learn your spilt time, and transition time, learning on a .22 will just slow your progress down, no recoil to recover from you will not learn how to acquire the sights when you shoot a competition, dry firing does go a long way, practice reloads, practice reloads, practice reloads, practice your transitions on multiple targets dry firing, it is not rocket science, just ask those who actually compete, even after you learn a bit remember this, {your eyes are the slowest part of speed shooting}
  • mpolansmpolans Member Posts: 1,752 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by punchie
    Just a thought. Accuracy is Bullseye competition not IDPA/IPSC/ICORE, etc. If you do 'action' shooting with a 'bullseye' frame of mind you will not excel. It is hard to overcome the 'bullseye' frame of mind and slip into a 'close enough' A zone hit. There are no extra points for one hole groups.


    I mostly disagree. The fundamentals are essential. To shoot IPSC at the highest levels, you MUST be able to fire an accurate shot. After you have this firm base, you can then speed up the mechanics. If you do not have this firm foundation in the basics of firing an accurate shot, you will pick up bad habits. A common example would be firing two shots off of one sight picture, or none at all. While you might initially be more successful, particularly in stages that favor speed, your progress will be stunted. The top shooters with a long record of success in IPSC have all been fast AND accurate. Need proof? Look at how Rob Leatham, Brian Enos, Todd Jarrett, Doug Koenig, etc. do when they shoot disciplines that put more emphasis on accuracy, like the Bianchi Cup and the Masters matches. In addition, look at the results of some of the major matches and see the increasingly large gap between the Grandmaster/Master class shooters and the A/B class shooters.
  • usmcret1992usmcret1992 Member Posts: 14 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    First learn to shoot the weapon your using. Then comes the part your asking about. You do not have to be a Bullseye shooter of Camp Perry level, but you do have to know how to use the sights. At that point, you can start working on the draw from the holster, empty at first, and slow motion even helps. To learn a flash sight picture, and the trigger press, is going to take alot of dry firing for every range session, approx. ten to one. The draw shold be smooth, and if you practice this in your home (all ammo elsewhere} literally thousands of times, muscle memory will take over. The same goes for magazine changes. Your primary focus when actually shooting should be the front sight, in recoil, and when switching to another target. A timer becomes a help when you have reached a level above theses basic things as prior to that its just a clock whjich adds to the pressure and you will start developing bad habits. The easiest was to learn is to join a Club, shoot a few matches, and try to find a practice pardner, who is more advanced in the game and better. You will be surprized how much you can learn by watching someone better, and having them watch you. Of course there are also the Big Schools, if you can afod them. I'm sure that if you just try the game and shoot your best without worrying about the speed at first, you'll be hooked. Remember, even if you finish last in the first few matches, with practice, there is no where to go but up. Good shooting and enjoy.
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