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Or you could try the real thing. This outfit is short on carnival games and cop wannabe garbage. But you will become a rifleman. You'll also meet some great people.
For handguns stick to bullseye shooting. If you can hit a little black bullseye at twenty-five yards using one hand, rest assured that you'll be able to hit a watermelon at seven yards using two hands.
Don't worry; you can still have fun. I regularly plink with a variety of guns and a variety of silly targets. Dirt clods, pine cones, and dried horse droppings can make the sun shine.
Appleseed is ...interesting. It has the virtue of treating both seasoned shooters and total beginners as equals thus taking the intimidation factor out of the equation. My first go with Appleseed was...humbling. I've never heard or seen LFI described as a 'carnival game' or a hangout for 'wannabes' though. Ayoob is a rather respected member of the shooting/defensive weapon craft community. Oh well, so say we all........
Appleseed is ...interesting. It has the virtue of treating both seasoned shooters and total beginners as equals thus taking the intimidation factor out of the equation. My first go with Appleseed was...humbling. I've never heard or seen LFI described as a 'carnival game' or a hangout for 'wannabes' though. Ayoob is a rather respected member of the shooting/defensive weapon craft community. Oh well, so say we all........
I'll have to look into this one as well.
Keeping the atypical CA bashing to a minimum, I've found it easier to go to out-of-state ranges to try out different weapons than the "gun clubs" that exist throughout CA.
That said, I was merely "aiming for the head" due to the recent influx of the zombie-genre into my diet.
I'll admit it's a bad thing to admit, but I had to try it at least once, or twice.
But since I know I'm already capable of somewhat pulling the headshot off to a degree, I'll definitely be putting in more practice with the handgun and those bullseye targets.
Not to mention the fact that 9mm ammo is cheaper to roll through than that 5.56mm!!!
A rifle hides a multitude of sins, particularly when it comes to trigger pull. Perfect your trigger pull and every thing else soon follows.
One exercise that I frequent use when I have a crap day at the range, is to go home and work on my trigger pull. I do that by dry firing my pistol while using only the web of my thumb and my middle finger (I've actually done this on occasion with live rounds, controlling recoil is a *****, but hey!). If you can compress the trigger without the pistol moving when it breaks the sear, you have established a proper trigger pull. One thing you should notice, it that when the trigger does break it comes unexpectedly, which is a good thing because when you anticipate the trigger breaking you will find that you have a high rate of flinching and that will consistently lead to shooting low and outside.
First things first. If you are going to be proficient with a pistol, you must first learn how to shoot one. There is more to it than just pointing at the target a pulling the trigger. One poster said to practice, practice, practice, but all of that practice does no good whatsoever if you don't know what you are doing in the first place. A rifle is easier to shoot accurately for most people because the sighting radius is longer, so a small error is not as great with a longer barrel (greater distance between front sight and rear sight) as it is with a shorter barrel. With a pistol you must keep your eyes on the sights so alignment will be perfect with the target, before you pull the trigger.
I finally went shooting for the first time since '06 at this range in Albuquerque.
Tried out an H&K SP-30/9mm and blew through 200 rounds on a set of zombie targets.
Sticking with the Z-folklore, I was aiming for the head, but only nailed it 10-12 times.
The M4 assault rifle with the full/semi-auto was a different story.
Along with the sight-device on the weapon, the shoulder-stability through the extendable stock made headshots on the second Zombie target a cakewalk and aside from feeling like a cannon, I felt like I was on top of my game.
With that said, is there any possible room for improvement in the handgun department, or should I just stick with something I found I'm rather good with?
I suggest going to a range and trying open siites on a M1 on a 600 yard range where you have to judge windage.
There is also plenty of pretty accurate and reasonably priced pellet guns that are great for learning to shoot.I have a pump up Remington Airmaster 77 that is actually plenty accurate to shoot. There are some pretty goiod shooting CO2 BB pistols that, while not made for long range, can give you something you can usually practice with in the back yard and get the basics of sight alignment , trigger pull, breath control, etc. And you don't have to wipe out a whole day to get some shooting in. The Remington can usually be bought new for about $80, and a decent CO2 BB pistol for $40-$80.
Here's an inexpensive CO2 pistol that I have and is fun to shoot:
There is also plenty of pretty accurate and reasonably priced pellet guns that are great for learning to shoot.I have a pump up Remington Airmaster 77 that is actually plenty accurate to shoot. There are some pretty goiod shooting CO2 BB pistols that, while not made for long range, can give you something you can usually practice with in the back yard and get the basics of sight alignment , trigger pull, breath control, etc. And you don't have to wipe out a whole day to get some shooting in. The Remington can usually be bought new for about $80, and a decent CO2 BB pistol for $40-$80.
Here's an inexpensive CO2 pistol that I have and is fun to shoot:
Get rid of the crappy scope. This rifle deserves a better quality scope. Mine is fun to shoot and is quite accurate to, say, 20 yards.
Just an idea.
Jon
I've used those off and on in the past due to the obvious headaches of obtaining an actual firearm in CA and seeing as ammo-costs usually stretch you out, these wouldn't be that bad as a semi-regular thing as well.
Also, I've mentioned I drive a semi and if I get stuck in an off-beat area that has jack-for-s--t, this would be an okay alternative for getting some steady aiming in and not drawing the ire of authoritaaaay!!
On another note, the primary reason I'm drawn to wanting to practice more with an actual firearm is the "explosive recoil" and noise one must get used to.
I find even with ear muffs/plugs, the sound is still quite noticeable and often wonder why media would portray gunfights as something a shooter would be easily able to walk away from.
On the other coin, the servicemen and law-enforcement who tend to their weapons quite often.
They obviously don't wear hearing protection when engaging an aggressor and they seem perfectly normal when not performing anything rigorous.
A rifle hides a multitude of sins, particularly when it comes to trigger pull. Perfect your trigger pull and every thing else soon follows.
One exercise that I frequent use when I have a crap day at the range, is to go home and work on my trigger pull. I do that by dry firing my pistol while using only the web of my thumb and my middle finger (I've actually done this on occasion with live rounds, controlling recoil is a *****, but hey!). If you can compress the trigger without the pistol moving when it breaks the sear, you have established a proper trigger pull. One thing you should notice, it that when the trigger does break it comes unexpectedly, which is a good thing because when you anticipate the trigger breaking you will find that you have a high rate of flinching and that will consistently lead to shooting low and outside.
I await being screamed at
Screamed at? Fer what? Dry firing? LMAO, me aforementioned sainted Pappy made me dry fire for hours on end for weeks before he took me out with live ammo. This amongst many other , shall we say,...character building...exercises designed to strenghten grip and built sight alignment and trigger skill. I still find it an invaluable tool and harp on me own lad just as hard as my Dad did on me about the unglamorous but prerequisite skill building. Yes sir, learning to shoot well often requires one to 'lower'() ones self to the menial.
I finally went shooting for the first time since '06 at this range in Albuquerque.
Tried out an H&K SP-30/9mm and blew through 200 rounds on a set of zombie targets.
Sticking with the Z-folklore, I was aiming for the head, but only nailed it 10-12 times.
The M4 assault rifle with the full/semi-auto was a different story.
Along with the sight-device on the weapon, the shoulder-stability through the extendable stock made headshots on the second Zombie target a cakewalk and aside from feeling like a cannon, I felt like I was on top of my game.
With that said, is there any possible room for improvement in the handgun department, or should I just stick with something I found I'm rather good with?
There is always room for improvement. Get some formal training and/or join a action shooting club in your area affiliated with IDPA or IPSC.
Head shots require front sight focus and trigger control. You need to brush up on your fundamental skills until you are making your shots consistently. If you've never learned the fundamentals properly you may never progress, thus my suggestion for formal training.
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. I've never heard or seen LFI described as a 'carnival game' or a hangout for 'wannabes' though.
Ayoob is a rather respected member of the shooting/defensive weapon craft community. Oh well, so say we all........
) ones self to the menial.
