[pr5992]

Today at the Richmond Rod and Gun Club I got my Introduction to competition through a safety class.

Meet the instructors, USPSA Grand Master Alex Ma (and me on the right):

And Brian:

Alex got a little testy with me when I asked questions about things I didn't understand ("Did you just listen to what I said? Are you paying attention? I need you to pay attention!" etc.). That was a bit weird. I always thought there's no such thing as a dumb question and it's better to ask if you are not 100% sure about anything, even if it's been covered before. But who am I.

Anyways, we had fun, all 11 students passed and now we're good to go for practice on the RRGC action range, and we got a card for four competitions.

 

[SixG17s]

Let us know how your first match goes!

 

[Che]

Awesome that is great. Thank you for sharing.

 

[pr5992]

Let us know how your first match goes!

I will!

But I think in terms of priority I first need a lot of practice first.

Accuracy first and foremost.

And then rapid fire on range. Most ranges do not allow you to do that, but now I can practice at the RRGC.

 

[Danzig]

I will!

But I think in terms of priority I first need a lot of practice first.

Accuracy first and foremost.

And then rapid fire on range. Most ranges do not allow you to do that, but now I can practice at the RRGC.

One of the great things about competitions is being able to shoot, move and get to familiarize yourself with your holster and kit. You’ll see what actually works and doesn’t.
Have fun and realize you’re doing it more to learn than to actually compete.

 

[SixG17s]

Accuracy first and foremost.

Actually, speed first. Push as hard as you can. You can always shoot more accurately...

 

[SixG17s]

Alex got a little testy with me when I asked questions about things I didn't understand ("Did you just listen to what I said? Are you paying attention? I need you to pay attention!" etc.).

Without knowing your question, you need to realize that competition shooting is inherently dangerous which means 100% focus for 100% of the time the gun is hot. Take it with a grain of salt, it will make more sense to you after your first match.

 

[Che]

I remember when I did my first match nearly 40 years ago. Everyone is very helpful. For gear I wore the Sam Browne rig that I wore as a Policeman.

Sometimes I shot with my duty handgun, S&W Model 19 and other times it was my off duty pistol a Browning Hi-Power in 9mm.

Good times and great memories.

 

[pr5992]

Without knowing your question, you need to realize that competition shooting is inherently dangerous which means 100% focus for 100% of the time the gun is hot. Take it with a grain of salt, it will make more sense to you after your first match.

This was still in the classroom ... I was confused about the RSO commands and what exactly they meant, and how the setup was (is the gun and ammo on the table or do we carry it in our holster, where exactly do we uncase the gun, etc.). I've been to the Richmond range and other ranges a number of times, the setup for the action range is different. But it's all good.

 

[SixG17s]

Ok, confusion because you were not on the actual range. There are only 2 places where you can handle, the safe area or on the stage at the RO command. USPSA matches have designated safe areas. You can holster up at your car, but leave your gun in a bag until you get to the safe area, then put your gun on. No ammo in the safe area. Once you you leave the safe area, you may put mags in the pouches. The only other time you can handle your gun is when the RO says "Make Ready"

There are only 7 commands for pistol

Make Ready
Are you Ready
Stand by (start signal. 1-4 seconds after verbal)
Stop (if required)
If you are finished, unload and show clear.
If clear, hammer down, holster.
Range is Clear.

And that is the only things an RO can say. If you walk by a target, he can't help you.

Like I said, it will make sense at the actual match.

 

[RIP]

This is why I don’t compete. Safe areas, please. There are no safe areas in war.

 

[SixG17s]

And that's why any range is never safe, only clear.

 

[Silver-Bolt]

There are two thought processes to USPSA/IPSC, Go slow and get you hits or Go fast and you accuracy will catch up. Learning to shoot fast is difficult. Learning to shoot fast accurately in extremely difficult. Speed is more difficult than accuracy.

 

[pr5992]

Ok, confusion because you were not on the actual range. There are only 2 places where you can handle, the safe area or on the stage at the RO command. USPSA matches have designated safe areas. You can holster up at your car, but leave your gun in a bag until you get to the safe area, then put your gun on. No ammo in the safe area. Once you you leave the safe area, you may put mags in the pouches. The only other time you can handle your gun is when the RO says "Make Ready"

There are only 7 commands for pistol

Make Ready
Are you Ready
Stand by (start signal. 1-4 seconds after verbal)
Stop (if required)
If you are finished, unload and show clear.
If clear, hammer down, holster.
Range is Clear.

And that is the only things an RO can say. If you walk by a target, he can't help you.

Like I said, it will make sense at the actual match.

That's terrific, thanks! I'll hire you as my next competition shooting instructor, lol.

As to your other post about fast shooting versus slow and deliberate shooting, earlier this week I had another session with Robin Yang. He's an excellent instructor, and I have done a class with him before. You advised me to get personal instruction, and I did! And it paid off. My accuracy got so much better.

After last week's session, he gave me this advice:

"Hi Peter,

Here's a summary of what we went over:

• Slowly pull the trigger. Take at least three seconds to slowly pull the trigger. Don't jerk the trigger quickly at the end. Slowly pulling the trigger gives you more time to see if you're doing something wrong and fix it. It can be hard to learn how to pull the trigger slowly, but it does help your accuracy. It doesn't matter whether the trigger moves or not, you want to gradually add pressure until the shot goes off.
• You can try slowly counting three seconds while you apply constant, even pressure to the trigger. Do this both dry practice and on the range. You are not trying to make the gun fire exactly at three seconds, but rather it should take at least three seconds.
• Don't jerk the trigger at the last moment. It should be smooth, even pressure the entire time.
• Don't anticipate the shot. The recoil isn't going to shove you ten feet back or anything like that, so let the recoil happen. Trying to anticipate the recoil to control it will hurt your accuracy more than it will help.
• Try randomly loading one dummy round in each of your three magazines. Mix up the magazines so you don't know which is which. That will help you see if you have any bad habits.

If you have any questions about what we went over don't hesitate to ask.

Keep practicing and let me know if you'd like to book another session to either confirm what we've gone over or when you'd like to learn some new techniques.

Regards,

Robin

 

[SixG17s]

Well for action pistol, you want to jerk the shiette out of the trigger without moving the gun.

20 seconds in...

rob leatham don't aim - Google Search

 

[pr5992]

Well for action pistol, you want to jerk the shiette out of the trigger without moving the gun.

20 seconds in...

rob leatham don't aim - Google Search

Winning competitions is not my goal.

Being deadly accurate with the limited ammo I can legally carry in California is my goal.

 

[Danzig]

That's terrific, thanks! I'll hire you as my next competition shooting instructor, lol.

As to your other post about fast shooting versus slow and deliberate shooting, earlier this week I had another session with Robin Yang. He's an excellent instructor, and I have done a class with him before. You advised me to get personal instruction, and I did! And it paid off. My accuracy got so much better.

After last week's session, he gave me this advice:

"Hi Peter,

Here's a summary of what we went over:

• Slowly pull the trigger. Take at least three seconds to slowly pull the trigger. Don't jerk the trigger quickly at the end. Slowly pulling the trigger gives you more time to see if you're doing something wrong and fix it. It can be hard to learn how to pull the trigger slowly, but it does help your accuracy. It doesn't matter whether the trigger moves or not, you want to gradually add pressure until the shot goes off.
• You can try slowly counting three seconds while you apply constant, even pressure to the trigger. Do this both dry practice and on the range. You are not trying to make the gun fire exactly at three seconds, but rather it should take at least three seconds.
• Don't jerk the trigger at the last moment. It should be smooth, even pressure the entire time.
• Don't anticipate the shot. The recoil isn't going to shove you ten feet back or anything like that, so let the recoil happen. Trying to anticipate the recoil to control it will hurt your accuracy more than it will help.
• Try randomly loading one dummy round in each of your three magazines. Mix up the magazines so you don't know which is which. That will help you see if you have any bad habits.

If you have any questions about what we went over don't hesitate to ask.

Keep practicing and let me know if you'd like to book another session to either confirm what we've gone over or when you'd like to learn some new techniques.

Regards,

Robin

I often tell people, you run the gun, don’t let the gun run you.

 

[Silver-Bolt]

That's terrific, thanks! I'll hire you as my next competition shooting instructor, lol.

As to your other post about fast shooting versus slow and deliberate shooting, earlier this week I had another session with Robin Yang. He's an excellent instructor, and I have done a class with him before. You advised me to get personal instruction, and I did! And it paid off. My accuracy got so much better.

After last week's session, he gave me this advice:

"Hi Peter,

Here's a summary of what we went over:

• Slowly pull the trigger. Take at least three seconds to slowly pull the trigger. Don't jerk the trigger quickly at the end. Slowly pulling the trigger gives you more time to see if you're doing something wrong and fix it. It can be hard to learn how to pull the trigger slowly, but it does help your accuracy. It doesn't matter whether the trigger moves or not, you want to gradually add pressure until the shot goes off.
• You can try slowly counting three seconds while you apply constant, even pressure to the trigger. Do this both dry practice and on the range. You are not trying to make the gun fire exactly at three seconds, but rather it should take at least three seconds.
• Don't jerk the trigger at the last moment. It should be smooth, even pressure the entire time.
• Don't anticipate the shot. The recoil isn't going to shove you ten feet back or anything like that, so let the recoil happen. Trying to anticipate the recoil to control it will hurt your accuracy more than it will help.
• Try randomly loading one dummy round in each of your three magazines. Mix up the magazines so you don't know which is which. That will help you see if you have any bad habits.

If you have any questions about what we went over don't hesitate to ask.

Keep practicing and let me know if you'd like to book another session to either confirm what we've gone over or when you'd like to learn some new techniques.

Regards,

Robin

The 3 second trigger pull may work for bullseye shooting, but in action shooting or in a self defense situation it will not work. As Six mentioned, work the trigger without moving the gun. The best way to do that is to have a solid grip. If your grip is good the gun won't move during the manipulation of the trigger. If you train your brain to a 3 second trigger pull, in a high stress situation your brain is going to revert back to your training. 3 seconds is a very long time. When I have been practicing both live and dry fire I can draw, engage three targets with two rounds each in 1.9 seconds. Total of six rounds, three targets from the holster (not concealed). Three seconds for a single shot is a bad habit to learn. I understand what he is trying to convey, but I disagree with that method. Learning to shoot from the reset is a very important skill to have. It cuts the trigger travel by more than half.

You may want to seek out an instructor for self defense/combat training. While some of the action shooting skills will transfer, there is a much different training mindset for SD traiing.

 

[RIP]

If you train your brain to a 3 second trigger pull, in a high stress situation your brain is going to revert back to your training. 3 seconds is a very long time.
You may want to seek out an instructor for self defense/combat training. While some of the action shooting skills will transfer, there is a much different training mindset for SD traiing.

Actual experience?

 

[Silver-Bolt]

Actual experience?

Yes. Old Grunt.