Pistol Coaching Via Email

[Peregrino]

Okay guys - This is a "cut & paste from a PM, sent to me by one of our "neophytes". He didn't feel that his "problem" warranted the attention of the general populace. I (naturally) disagree for a number of reasons:

1. I am a competent shooter and a capable shooting instuctor. I am not God's gift to pistoleros nor am I the "great guru". There are a lot of people (especially in here) who are equally competent - or better - who might be able to explain things with their own twist so that you grasp it better than if I were to attempt it. Denying them the opportunity to participate is depriving yourself of an invaluable resource.

Edited to add: And the rest of us a lot of fun!

2. Quality learning is a synergistic experience. The more input, the greater the benefit. It's like a chain reaction. Of course not everything you get will be valuable - some of it may be pure BS. However, with sufficient input from enough different qualified experts, the true BS is exposed and you are not led (too far) astray. And no matter where you go for learning, you are still responsible for what you learn and incorporate into your own technique. Life and learning is like an "a la carte" menu - smorgasbords are my definition of heaven. Single sourcing may be convenient, but it's very limiting.

3. I have no intention of posting the marksmanship training manual it sounds like you need/want. I can't remember everything off the top of my head, and I hate typing/writing. If we get enough participation, I won't have to and you will get the benefit of everybody's wisdom.

4. There is such a thing as dumb questions. All of us ask a lot of them in the course of a lifetime. I'm (mostly) a nice guy - I deleted your name to save a little embarassment. Say thank you and don't do it again. The questions you ask are fairly common. The answers will benefit more than just you. Sometimes you have to take one for the team. Next time suck it up and lay it on the line. (After you've checked to make sure your question has not been answered elsewhere!)

Nuff said. I will give my answers to your questions in a subsequent post. I'm tossing this out to let the rest of the guys chew it over while I answer - I type like pond water moves. Not very fast. FWIW - Peregrino




Peregrino,

I hope you don't mind me bothering you but I have a couple of shooting / handgun questions that have been troubling me for a few weeks. I am writing you a PM because I do not know if they warrant beginning a thread dedicated to my problems.

Here goes:
I shot every Tuesday almost exclusively indoors all winter. By May I pretty consistently shot a dead center 3 inch group at 25 feet. I had shot outdoors three or four times to see how I would do with cold hands, wind, etc. My groups always fell apart while outside and I attributed it to the temp. Once the weather broke I began shooting outdoors and I am horrible. If I avoid the outdoor range, and shoot indoors two or three times in a row my groups tighten up to where they should be.

This has me perplexed. It is disappointing to see myself shoot so inconsistently. I don't know what to do. I bought 1000 rds and plan on trying to shoot myself through the problem, but at the same time I don't want to spend 1000 rds doing the same things wrong. Is there something different about shooting outdoors?

Secondly, to expand on the problem, because it is never so easy as to be a single problem, I purchased a new handgun.

To be clear the first problem occurs with and is exclusive to me shooting my Glock 19 and occurred consistently before the new gun purchase.

I recently purchased a HK USP 45, not in small part to the rave reviews provided by TS. I suck with it. Plain and simple. The week before I bought it I shot hole in hole with a stranger's gold cup on an indoor range. I pick up the USP and almost all of my shots fall about 4 inches below where I am aiming and couldn't stick together it the teacher made them hold hands. After three or four magazines my hand got fatigued and it was down hill from there.

So I thought I knew the drill, I buy some snap caps and practice dry fire three nights a week, for two or three hours, for about three weeks in addition to a small amount of range time. Poof I step up on my next serious range day and shoot respectable groups with the HK. The problem is that it took almost 100 rds to get back to shooting tight groups with the Glock.

What can I do to reconcile the problems I am experiencing so that I can shoot both respectably with zero modifications to the firearms?

Put the two of these together on a bright sunny day after an entire winter of shooting accurately and consistently, and I am happy that no one is around to see me shoot. It is really a pathetic sight to witness.

What can I practice to correct my problems?

I hesitate posting this in public because a) the Indoor / Outdoor problem seems kind of flukey to me. Mainly because I am a novice compared to you and the other members and feel like a real super idiot saying that two months ago I was putting 15 rds in a three inch hole and now because of some sort of "vampirism" sunlight takes away my "super powers". b) TS's answer to my Glock HK resolution question would be to throw away my Glock. While that may still be a viable solution I was shooting the glock very consistently and never had problems shooting 1911 Kimber or Colt, Walther, M-9's, etc.

Thanks in advance for your time and any light you may be able to shed on my situation. If I am over reacting or over thinking the problems please tell me. For all I know I may just be in a slump or having shitty month and just need more range time.

Thanks again,