thanks for the advise,never thought about using the paper plate for a target which makes perfectly good sense.im thinking i may need to invest in a instructor ,im not much on patience so this is getting frustrating real fast.
First, I was once told that in Defensive shooting it's not very important to shoot a tiny group, what is important is to get good hits on target as rapidly as possible. As the instructor put it, it's likely that spreading hour hits to both lungs and the torso will probably crash your opponents blood pressure faster than 5 hits to the heart. Quite simply, there may be a distinct medical advantage to shooting a 6 inch group instead of a 2 inch group. Just something to consider, what you regard as poor shooting may not be as poor as you think.
That said, there is a distinct advantage in being able to accurately place your shots and we all want to take home targets that are "bragworthy".
The smartest thing that I've done to improve my handgun skills was to purchase a revolver. It took 2 solid months of weekly live fire practice to master using a DA trigger properly but the result was that I had gained a lot in trigger skills. That cut my group sizes with a semi auto in half and I also made big gains in firing rate while maintaining acceptable accuracy. Today I own more revolvers than I do semi's and normally spend about 2/3 of my range time shooting revolvers and I've become rather good with them.
More recently I've started spending time shooting at longer ranges from a benchrest. It started as a matter of curiousity about seeing just how accurate some of my revolvers can be. What I have found is that benchrest shooting is not nearly as easy as it looks. Once you get out to 25 yards and beyond and are shooting for precision, any flaw in your technique is revealed and magnified by flyers. If you've developed a habit of jerking your trigger, you'll see the results as a glaring example of what not to do. If you've started flinching, you'll find that out quickly because the rest will provide a physical barrier to that flinch. Quite simply, it's a great way to isolate on certain specific skills and practice your technique in those skills. It will also train you to become immune to the blasts from other shooters using the range, if you have a "startle reaction" with a loaded and cocked revolver in single action you will soon learn to ignore those blasts from your neighbors. Finally, I find it a very relaxing exercise that requires total focus, it's you, the gun, the sight, and that bullseye so far downrange that you may not even be able to see it. BTW, when I do this I rest my hands on a sandbag, on most revolvers resting the barrel will just trash groupings and by resting your hands you can still practice the same recoil management skills as used when shooting offhand.
my question is whats a good distance to start from?right now im at 10- 12 yards.dont laugh im trying.
