Howdy folks,

So today was the day I was going to go shooting for the first time in my life and in this post, I discuss my experience in-depth. The only time I'd ever shot something was a gas-powered BB out of a pistol in the shape of a 92F (with a safety and everything). About a year ago, I was taken AirSoft Paintball Shooting but there's nothing like real shooting.

This was an NRA "First Steps" training course, what I learned was the abridged (3-hour) version of their 8-hour Basic Pistol course, which I hadn't realized until today. Our NRA-certified instructor informed us that they're allowed to teach it and call it that through May of this year because the NRA may be discontinuing this program for reasons that weren't explained. More importantly to me, though, is whether I want to go on and take the 8-hour course or not. If it's more of the same, then probably not. If it's more practical experience "behind the wheel," then DEFINITELY.

I can tell you at the end of the day, I felt 25 again. As in, I found myself knowing enough to know that I don't really know anything. Yes, I hit the target right in the bulls eye 96% of the time. But you gotta get used to some things, first.

Experienced shooters around here might find my impressions hilarious or maybe reminiscent of their first time shooting. I feel it would have been great to had learned how to do this growing up rather than as a 35-year old man, because when I think of my other skills (playing guitar, driving a car, typing)... You can feel the 15, 20, 25 years of experience at play. Everything you're doing, in spite of its complexity, is so simple and effortless because of constant, repetition. Thousands of hours behind the wheel, the neck or keyboard just doing what you've been taught to do at very early ages. Six, 13, 17... But better late than never. And I'm writing this now in case someone else would like to read about an account of what it's like to learn how to shoot with a .40 cal S&W semi-automatic handgun.

The 3-Dimensional Experience

#1, a .22 and a .40 have ZERO in common when it comes to the sights, sounds and level of acoustic percussion. The training pistols provided were bolt-action .22s with some students that brought 9x19s (one guy brought his .45ACP). Right away, you notice that the sound of gunfire is so intense, you feel it. In your face (your sinus cavities), your chest, even your teeth. The good news is, you get used to that right away. But when you actually go to shoot, the first couple of things that you will find literally breathtaking is the sight of Fire (yes they are firearms). It happens in Less than a blink of an eye, but you will see a fire ball (the muzzle flash) surrounded by black smoke when you pull the trigger.

That **** is serious. What came over me right away, though, was the feeling of loving it, hehe. You are impressed by the awesome power of this thing and right away, you begin to respect fire power for exactly what it is. All the safety rules drummed into your mind suddenly "bake in" as you become supremely aware of things like what your muzzle is covering.

Then there's the Feeling. This thing in your hands literally feels like it is going to explode. After my first shot, I couldn't resist the Urge to look at my hands and ensure all of my fingers were still there. You feel the push, and the rush of air as in fractions of a fraction of a second, all this stuff has happened... The projectile leaving the barrel, the casing being ejected out of the chamber, the slide flying back and, of course, the shot itself exploding out of the gun. It's powerful.

Where I struggled

Maintaining your basic, fundamentals of leaning in, what to do with your support hand and breathing broke down for me only after a few rounds. My shoulders gave up before I emptied my magazine.

In dealing with all of this, I felt I was very fortunate because my first time stepping up to the counter, the co-instructor (a retired 29-year veteran of the Port of Los Angeles Police, a non-LAPD law enforcement agency of the Port of Los Angeles) did an excellent job of making sure I knew what I was doing. His confidence gave me confidence and press through my discouragement. I was not pleased with myself, at my reactions to opening fire but we both saw I was putting holes in the targets with great accuracy and so there was no reason not to keep going.

I was happy with my tendency to take my finger off the trigger when I was not prepared to fire, so I'm developing good habits already. Remembering Not to do that when I intended to fire again immediately after having fired once proved much more difficult. I hope with time I get over that because in a defensive situation, that does not yield a tactical advantage.

Perhaps the biggest problem, and why I tired myself out so much was that I was literally Strangling the grip. My left hand was choking it and I began to slap the trigger once fatigue set in from doing that. My instructor kept telling me to ease up, and trust my support hand to push back on my shooting hand in order to maintain control. But I could never quite get myself to loosen my grip. I am aware of the fact that I need to concentrate on keeping a Straight wrist and not a strong grip in order to maintain control and re-aim sooner.

The biggest part I haven't figured out yet and I need to learn how to do is not letting the recoil break my concentration. The SD40VE cycles with Remarkable reliability. It fires and then when I check in with my body, the Thing is fine. I'm the one surprised to find it's just sitting there in my hand, ready and waiting for me. But because it's pushed me back like a hammer driving a nail through wood, my brain goes "maintain control!" and everything else that I'm Supposed to be thinking about goes out the window. I'm still doing things like re-checking my grip, remembering to breath, learning how long it takes to pull the trigger until it blasts, etc.

Final thought and Next Steps
After shooting the things fifty times, things like reloading and racking the slide got SUPER easy for some reason. But that was it. Like I said, I figured out that I knew enough to know that I don't really know anything (or much, anyway) and that I need to figure out where to put in the time and practice to get better. As it turns out, shooting and hitting your target correctly is the Easy part. It's managing your brain and your body during the process that takes the work.

Pretty soon, I will start to put money down for more instructor-led training (along with a little more time in at the gym, heh) and hope I start to "get it." In the meantime, I'm wondering if there aren't any practice aids or drills/techniques a person can work on while they aren't handling their weapon that helps first timers and beginners through developing that good muscle memory. Again, there's nothing like actually shooting and then trying to apply that, but now that I'm aware of all my faults and flaws, I am eager to correct them. And try to be patient with myself and the process until I am more proficient.

Hope this was neat to read about.

Not sure what your goals are, home protection, fun at the range, or to ultimately conceal carry. And not that I know much of anything, but.

Practice dry fires, maybe get some snap caps.

Repetition, You need to throw thousands of rounds down range to get comfortable.

Buy a 22. caliber version of your forty, shoot 100 rounds of the 22. then try the forty again and you'll notice an improvement with how you handle the forty. The 22. is so mild and quiet it will calm you down when you switch to a hire caliber. Plus the 22.'s are a blast to practice with.

Great point. Home protection is my primary objective. I was concerned about practicing with a different caliber would create issues but if it ends up being a helpful way to get over flinching and other issues, I'm all for it. I appreciate the input.

Nice OP by the way and welcome to the board.

I support what you are doing, but most agree a shotgun is preferred for serious home defense.

And like I say, I'm just schlub self taught shooter. Just throwing out what helped me.

Another thing that helped me was getting a revolver as I was emptying 15 round magazines to fast with the auto, and the revolver had better sights also. The revolver helped me to slow down and the heavier weight of the revolver makes recoil much more comfortable, nicer trigger as turned out for me also.

IMHO multiple guns and caliber should not be a problem for most new shooters. 22.'s are great for training.

I don't know much either I'm a beginner to it went and shot my sd 40 to and had no training at all and I did not do well but I was talking to some people and they were showing me how to grip the gun get a sight picture and how to pull the trigger with the pad of your finger so I've been practicing in the mirror with my gun uploaded and no ammo in the room and hopefully I 2 I'll do better at the rage next week

Dlombard, blowry81--just keep working on your trigger discipline. You guys are doing well, enjoy!

Dry fire practice will help with trigger control and sight picture/sight alignment. Kudos for getting/taking classes from certified instructors; this will help you get started the right way. Concentrate/work on the basics; and don't think that you have to be in a hurry when at the range-slow, steady fire to start, make each shot count. With dry fire practice at home between range visits, you will see steady improvement in your abilities. Have fun and be safe :-)

Thanks for the encouragement man I appreciate it

Yeah it seems like I have really good instincts at least. I figured out solid footing almost immediately (I didn't have to get corrected, and I never felt off balance, which is good). And I had the mental acuity to think in terms of making the shots Count rather than doing it fast. The hard part is balancing taking your time with hesitating and anticipating the shot. When Is started doing that, I was missing *badly*. Once I told myself to stop doing that, and let the shot happen (as the ex-police trainer calmingly said in between my rounds), I was Nailing my target.

All this said, this is a fun experience. I am Eagerly signing up for my next training class today and this time it will be at an outdoor range. I can't wait to see what it's like to shoot outdoors and compare the difference.

Glad to know I'm on the right track overall. They Have .22s so if I feel like I'm struggling too much, I will probably ask to use them to work the kinks out of my basic mechanics.

As for home defense, I've understood that a long gun is best for years. It's just a more "involved" proposition for me at this point, logistically. I didn't want to wait until then to start doing this.

A good training aid I use at home is to use a snap cap and balance a quarter on top of the slide. This will really help with trigger control, also with sight picture practice. It will tell you right away if you are not pulling the trigger correctly because the quarter will fall off.

I really relate to your comment "no ammo in the room". When I am practicing or testing the gun with snapcaps I have to check that all magazines with ammo in them are sitting out in plain sight so I know the one in the gun with my 5 snapcaps is the one in the gun.

It's a strange feeling even when you are sure, you are still not sure. I don't use a mirror, I just look at the sight alignment and aim point when the striker releases.