Wife's Christmas gift to herself
 

Handgun wise, my wife is out to embarrass me. She bought this IZH M46 air pistol for herself. At lest I can shoot in the garage on cold days now! (Yeah, I prefer the heat to the cold. ;))

Pat

She's probably got the only in the neighborhood. :D

Well, it was in the neighborhood before she bought it. She bought it from a friend at the shooting club where she coaches. They have monthly competitions that she has joined. She never shot any gun until about 4 years ago.

Pat

It's one of those items that until your post I did not know existed, thanks for sharing.

Now that's a great idea. My wife likes her G43, but really only enjoys shooting because it's something that we can do together. Something to consider...

Air pistol is the most difficult shooting discipline according to Olympic Gold Medalist Lanny Bassham. It exposes how difficult properly pointing a gun, and moving only the trigger straight to the rear is.

While I've only got a few pellets through it so far, what is the follow through?

(Info only: This gun weighs slightly more empty than my HK USPc .45 with 8+1 Mag)

Pat

Follow through is how well you maintain sight alignment/sight picture after pulling the trigger. Air pistol and air rifle accentuate any errors in technique because the lower velocities increase "dwell time" of the pellet in the barrel and magnify the effects of any extraneous movement.

Copy. This is the first single-shot pistol I've done. I'm used to "Bang, maintain focus on target, trigger reset, squeeze, bang"!

I was thinking that I had become unsteady as I aged but, watching some video of world class shooters, I see that their muzzles wiggle as much as mine. My guess is that they learn the rhythm of their heartbeat/breathing and know when to press the trigger. This trigger is so sensitive that a butterfly could sneeze on it and shoot the dog. It's my wife's pistol so I can't change anything to my liking. I'll just do that Kentucky thang. ;)

Pat

Good luck with that "Kentucky thang". It'll help you reach a plateau; but if you're interested in precision shooting, you'll stall out there. Personally, I've become resigned to a lesser standard; my eyes are past their prime. That and the Daisy 777 the wife got me for Christmas a few years ago isn't quite in the same class as your wife's pistol.

Reflecting on Peregrino and Okies's posts, I took a few shots this afternoon.

This card shows all of the shots I've made with this pistol since my wife got it. The blacked out ones were when aiming dead center last week. The marked ones are today. I shot single handed with free hand in pocket both eyes open. The one with the question mark was either the first or second shot but I wasn't focused at the time. This was at least 33' in the garage. My aim point, given the error in the blacked out shots, was bottom dead center of the black area. I think I'm going to have fun! :D

This gun weighs 2.4 lbs vs. my HK USPc .45 with 8+1 mag's 2.1 lbs.

Pat

That thing really punches a tidy hole, you are gonna have a LOT of cheap fun there. Who did your wife get this for? :D

Plus no spent cartridges to police up and the used pellets drop neatly into a box on the floor. ;) (Indoor range pic below. Target is below the red gas cans. ;))

She's new to this shootn' thang. My gun cabinet is a tool box, her's is a toy box. She's re-introduced me to the fun side of trigger pulling.

Pat

That's very nice!

I built a target/bullet trap out of a large box filled with foam for my sons to shoot their BB guns in the basement during the winter. We are using the NRA 5m air rifle target...

My older son struggles with trigger control and follow and I am working with him to maintain sight alignment after the shot. Sometimes it is hard to help him as his hits are all around the black and not in much of a group....

But that is why we practice.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7V-TZtLDmm0

Yep. My coach told me it's "area aiming." Note that the gun never stops wobbling (and will never do with a heart beating behind it). There are times sight picture look absolutely awful and one would be convinced he'd hit the white or miss completely. Obviously the shots are x and 10 instead because:
- Optical illusion. What the eye perceives as total miss is actually a few 9mm width from the center.
- Due to lack of stability, with this type of marksmanship (unlike rifle) your shot calls are in the past. When bang occurs, it's no longer the picture you see.
Thus, trust your hold/wobble zone.



this may sound absolutely utter nonsense. I thought so too when I was first introduced to it but bear with me. Sight alignment and trigger control, which is one is more important? (huh? is this a non sensical question?) Well, the answer is trigger control. Try this exercise with your son. Completely takes sight out of the picture (pun intended) and just have him squeeze the trigger with the gun low and he's not aiming it at all. Then have him close his eyes and feel the tension of the other fingers while the index is flexing. Keep focusing on that smooth, squeeze, uninterrupted, straight to the rear motion. few hundreds of those then back to the sights again. You may be surprised. The way our visual input influences the brain is remarkable. Do you ever see anyone flinch while holding the gun low and not aiming? Me neither. I've changed my coaching approach, introduced trigger long before sights, and got a lady doc shoot 3 rounds touching at 15 yards first time shooting m9! :)


There are tons more zen, jedi mind trick, and mental mantra for those crazy ragged hole at 50 yards, but I would go on and on until I get carpal tunnel from typing. When one gets it right, it looks like the tight 5 x's in a row (with 9mm) and 4 x's (with .45) at 50 yards

Heresy...fortunately I know that you know what you're talking about, and some heresy can be good for the soul.

I might have heard something like this before, but I'd never given it a try.

With you shooting like that, you'd better be picking up that tab this summer.

You've heard the old saying: Bullseye matches are won in the long line, and lost in the short line. If I recreate the short line groups below from last NC Service Pistol Championship, then by God's grace I shall and I will deliver excellence.



PSM, that thing is an absolute tack driver. I shot it first 4 years ago and just couldn't put it down. Just don't let the rubber o-ring gets too dry out. Gasoline soak or air rifle lube will do the trick IIRC. A few that went pfffft at Camp Perry Gary Anderson competition center had that problem. Otherwise, that's a shooter that your children's children will use! Also not surprised your wife does so well. Ladies make better marksmanship student. You tell xyz fundamentals and they do exactly that....versus boys/guys who run it first through "wait, that's not how James Bond/Jason Bourne/Chuck Norris/SEALS in the movies do it" :D

The only negatives as far as skill transferrability to center fire pistol are the different grip angle and position of trigger finger (you use tip of the finger with that hair trigger, right?). Otherwise, it's a solid solid platform to build position, follow through, and most of all, the mental skills.

Good Info
 

Thanks for posting all of this. I forgot how useful this can be in certain environments and something I'll consider for my wife and boys.

Soon after I relocated from Europe back to CONUS, I had a roommate that shot an air pistol religiously. It was an M9 replica and he basically taught himself how to shoot in the basement. After a year, he was one of the best pistol shots I had met, when it came to accuracy.

Now to search for a reasonable pistol for the family.