This report covers:
- Fighting pistol recoil
- Spend the money
- Use good target paper!
- Well rested
- The point
Today’s report was brought on by things I have seen while shooting. Let’s get started.
Fighting pistol recoil
A couple months ago in the report titled Holding a handgun I showed you a picture of someone holding a semiautomatic pistol in an odd way. Here is that photo.
When this pistol fires the slide will either come back and cut the shooter’s hand or it won’t be able to cycle at all. Probably both!
That came from a training session for my church security team. It was hosted by our local police department. They train security teams from all sorts of organizations.
A couple weeks ago I was invited back to another session of the same training and I saw a shooter jerking the muzzle of his pistol violently downward on each shot. He was compensating for the recoil of the firearm, but since he was shooting a laser-firing training pistol, there was no recoil. Everyone in the class saw what he was doing and I had seen it before on Army pistol familiarization courses.
I have seen men shoot the 1911 pistol at a target 25 yards away with the bullseye as high as their heads, yet their bullets struck the ground six feet in front of them. For this reason we had a safety officer with every shooter on the firing line.
The FBI went through a number of different pistol calibers, wanting a handgun that is more powerful than 9mm but also one firing a cartridge that has less recoil than the .45 ACP. They finally settled on the .40 S&W caliber several years ago. That was then. They are now back to 9mm, having missed the point entirely. It’s not the caliber or recoil of the handgun people shoot; it’s the training or lack of training each shooter has!
The cop in charge of the church training told this shooter to dry-fire his pistol with a nickel laying atop the slide. Nice thought except this guy shoots a snubnosed revolver. And dry-firing doesn’t train you to deal with handgun recoil anyway. Shooting live ammo is the only training that will work. What that means is most people will not be able to shoot a handgun well — just like most people won’t be able to play a grand piano unless they have practiced.
I practice. I practice a lot! Not to brag, but I am fairly good with a handgun. Let’s look at my qualifying target for a concealed carry permit.
My wife Edith called this my Blue Man Group. It’s 50 shots from a .45 ACP 1911A1 at a silhouette target at varying distances under varying conditions. I shot it to qualify for my concealed carry permit. Colonel Bonsall would be proud!
Spend the money
This next one has to do with what’s important. I’m at the rifle range and see a young man with 3 very fine rifles. One has been custom made for him, and the other 2 are factory models that each have some add-ons such as aftermarket triggers. He mentioned that he had just gotten rid of a .257 Weatherby Magnum from which he was unable to get good groups.
Each of his rifles had a Leupold Vari-X III scope, which is now obsolete but was not cheap. A couple thousand dollars worth of fine firearms and sights lay on his bench. But every 10 minutes or so, he asks if the range can go cold so he can walk down to the 100-yard target holder and look at his targets. That’s right, sports fans, he hasn’t got a spotting scope!
I set up my spotting scope; and when he saw it, he immediately launched into a spiel, “I really need to get one of those!” He told me he was using targets with red bulls because he couldn’t see his .25-caliber holes on black bulls through his rifle scopes at 100 yards. I invited him to look through the scope and he was amazed that he could clearly see all his holes on the target. How much easier his shooting life would be if he only had a spotting scope!
A good spotting scope makes everything easier on the rifle range.
Use good target paper!
Same day I’m down at the 100-yard berm, looking at my targets. The holes made by my bullets are sharp and distinct. They can tell me a lot — especially when untoward things happen, like bullets tumbling. I glance over at my neighbor’s target. It’s a piece of paper torn from a notepad, with a bull inked-in by a black Sharpie. The holes are more like tears than bullet holes. This is another shooter who also has a very expensive rifle/scope setup.
Mr. thousand-dollar rifle with his five-hundred dollar scope is shooting two-dollar-apiece rounds at a piece of wastepaper he has colored to look like a real target. There’s economy for you!
Let me show you what real target paper can show.
This target showed me that a reload I was testing wasn’t working.
Well rested
Another guy on the line is shooting a Blaser single-shot rifle. They cost anywhere from $2,000 to $4,500, by themselves. And, guess what he’s resting it on? A 6-inch by 6-inch wood block with a pillow cushion on top. What — he can’t find an ironing board like everyone else?
I shot for many years using a plastic MTM Case Guard Predator rifle rest. I found it stable and accurate. Maybe it’s not as fancy as other rests, but for the cost of 2 boxes of rifle ammo, it’s still pretty good.
The MTM Case-Guard rifle rest served me well for many years.
The point
Today has been a plea to those guys who are being penny-wise and pound-foolish. Shooting equipment, other than firearms or airguns, is not sexy but it can make a huge difference in your level of enjoyment. This is the stuff you buy begrudgingly today, then celebrate your good decision for the rest of your life. And it’s more than just the few things mentioned here. It’s also good gun cases, nice holsters, handy range bags and boxes — in fact anything that helps you enjoy your time afield in any way.
This isn’t the stuff that dreams are made of, but having it does allow you to dream. And here’s how you will recognize it. When you look at your equipment, pick out the things that have been with you the longest. The things that are worn shiny by handling. The things you would miss sorely if they weren’t there. You probably grumbled when you bought them, but today you couldn’t imagine going shooting without them. They aren’t the experience by themselves, but they make the experience possible.
Yep, good equipment makes things much easier. But it’s a hard lesson to learn.
BB,
I would have to agree with you so much. I am not allowed to shoot inside the house, except to rid ourselves of some varmint that has managed to come inside.
Over the years I have managed to put together my shooting collection without spending very much money. I have shared photos of my shooting bench and the platform upon which it sets. I bought the frame for $10 and gathered up the slabs when and where I could.
Some time back, I made some shooting bags. I used the legs of some old jeans, hand stitched the ends and filled them with plastic pellets I obtained from work. I still have and use those bags after almost twenty years.
A chronograph is an important piece of equipment. No, you do not need one of those expensive radar thingys that some have. I guess if airgun companies were sending me airguns to do videos to help their sales, I might break down and get one. I have a cheap Caldwell that does just fine. I try to be careful to not shoot it. I picked up the tripod for it at a yard sale for $5 dollars. It is probably worth about $100 or more if you were to buy it new today.
Range finder? That would likely be something nice to throw into the range bag. I will have to keep my eyes open for one that will do the job but not break the bank. Search the yard sales and have a little imagination when you do it. I missed a range finder by ten seconds last year.
I guess what I am trying to say is, you can put together the stuff you need without breaking the bank when you do it. I am an Appalachian-American of Scottish descent. 😉
Almost every day I have an opportunity to explain to someone the difference between being cheap and being frugal.
In my old club we shot Three position Smallbore and Service Rifle we used targets made from heavy card stock. The card stock targets are expensive but easy to score which equaled fewer grown men arguing over trifling matters. At home on the backyard range I like to use all manner of targets. Yesterday I used the front of a family sized Rice Krispies box, lots of aiming points on that.
Lately I’ve been making shooting bags with heavy winter socks filled with rice. I buy cheap no name big bags of rice for this purpose. Just like the rice my wife and I cook I freeze the rice in the deep freezer before sacking it, kills weevil eggs. I have also been using rice to fill the void in synthetic rifle stocks.
ssc,
Whatever works. I have to admit I am less likely to use the rice because we are more likely to eat it, but as I had all the plastic pellets I wanted and could not eat those, I filled my shooting bags with them. The jeans, well I had to do something with them. The knees were worn away many years ago. So was the bottoms of the legs. Mrs. RR was all for throwing them out as they were, but the Scotsman in me kicked into full gear and could not possibly allow that. 😉
In my old age, I haven’t worn away the knees in ANY of my pants. It seems, however, the waists all seem to shrink.
Fred formerly of the Demokratik Peeples Republik of NJ now happily in GA
Fred,
I know what you mean. My washer has been shrinking my clothes for years. Now even the Dry Cleaner is doing it!
BB
I think I would find a new Dry Cleaner. 😉
Shortly after I got married,
I would wear shorts & T-shirts all summer, switching into jeans for late fall & winter. After my first summer of not living/eating like a bachelor, I complained to my wife that my jeans must have shrunk while stored in the drawer. That was the first time that I actually heard her eyes roll (and, unfortunately, not the last).
Keep smiling.
Bill
Fred,
I just wear my jeans a little lower. That is why there is such a thing as “plumber’s crack”.
RidgeRunner of the Demokratik Peeples Republik of VA
Yup, 10,000 hours it is……
-Y
BB,
You may remember back a bit when I was trying to find a shortcut to finding out just how accurate a break barrel air rifle was from the manufacturer, before I spent hours or days trying to find the best hold and pellet.
What’s the point if the rifle never shot straight in the first place?
So, I picked up the MTM Case Guard Predator Rifle / Pistol Rest and MTM Folding Shooting Bench and figured I would simply secure it in place it in the rifle rest and shoot it enough to find a point of impact and group size with a few respectable average weight pellets. This would remove me from the shooting.
Boy, did I learn fast.
You can’t keep the rifle in the same exact position for every shot. You need to remove it, cock and reload it, and stocks are not flat all over, so you hope you return it to the exact position to keep things consistent or, start all over positioning it to aim at the target every time.
Then there is ‘Cant’, OK a bubble level. In hind sight, some masking tape with an alignment line on it applied to the rifle and rest would solve that problem.
Then I looked at your picture here with the Carbine resting in the notch just behind the grip, very convenient for constant placement, with that particular rifle anyway.
Then I got to thinking, how would a two-position rest placement affect a springers recoil, let alone resting in a notch. Do I lock it in place somehow or let it recoil as it wants. Remember I’m not holding it, just sort of keeping it in place. Or should I shoulder it, while still on the rest front and rear and let it play out as an artillery hold? No easy way out.
Any suggestions as to how to best shoot a springer using a two-point rest other than just using the front rest as a bipod or padded rest to make it easy on the old arm?
Bob M,
Good luck with that. Let me know what you find out.
What you are likely going to learn is that every one of those things is different. Even if they are the same model, they will be different.
Bob M.
You’re asking me? You think I know?
I always allow the spring piston rifles to move as much as they want. Is that best? I don’t know yet. See me in 50 years.
Springers in rifle rests are a different animal and not easily tamed.
BB
BB,
“Served me well for many years”
Thought you may have formed some sort of opinion, but your answer as well as Ridge Runners makes it perfectly clear. There is no set in stone answer. Too many variables.
Bob M,
The spotting scope is a cheapy that I got rid of because it wasn’t clear. I now use a Meopta 20-60X80 and I can see .22 bullet holes in black paper at 100 yards.
https://www.pyramydair.com/blog/2016/08/meopro-80-hd-spotting-scope-part-4/
I used to use 10-power binocs but they can’t do that.
BB
Thanks for the excellent report BB!
According to Dennis Adler’s review on Pyramyd’s website: “The [Walther] CP99 was initially intended to be a training gun for German police as well as a sport shooting pellet gun with the panache of a legitimate Walther pistol.”
The pellet gun version doesn’t have the same amount of recoil as the firearm version. But it does seem to have enough similarities to the firearm to be of significant value for training purposes. I couldn’t resist the double sale discounts and recently managed to snag one of the last CP99s that Pyramyd had in stock. (More CP99s are apparently due to be in stock by next May.) It is a lot of fun. Part of that fun is the challenge of learning how to improve my shooting results with it. Jim Owens (the champion USMC shooting team member) tells us in his book that he isn’t a very good shot with a pistol. I guess he spent most of his time practicing with a rifle. A large part of the challenge shooting the CP99 is using the sights. The pistol that I have shoots a little low at 10-meters with the various pellets I have tried so far. The sights do not have an elevation adjustment. So, when shooting at a bullseye the front sight blocks the view of the target and it is difficult to have a good aiming point. Between that issue and my old eyes, I have decided to try a laser designator with this pistol. Santa has it on his list.
Yes, Duck Hunter,
Shooting a pistol well is hard!
-Y
I also still have my target from the CHL proficiency test that was required at the time. It is currently hanging in my garage. My biggest concern then was the men and women in the class who had to rent a firearm for the test because they didn’t own one and had probably never actually fired one. Kind of scary.
Now that the elections are over, all the political signs will end up in the landfill. I learned a long time ago to grab some of these plastic signs AFTER the election and cut them into smaller pieces. Then I staple my paper target to this backing and they are not only reusable, but hold the target very firmly. Plus, I am recycling.
Well, you all may not find FM’s shooting rig elegant but it works for him. Call FM “El Cheapo Shooto” if you like. Of course, he must shoot from a standing position though, as some have said, “even when he is standing, it seems he is sitting down.”
FM,
When I started shooting my Gamo CFX, I would stand and shoot across the back of my pick’em up truck. Now, I was in fact laying across the back with the air rifle laying on the bags, but I was technically standing.
I would use my binocs, but my scopes are usually more powerful than they are. Since I only have one bench on my shooting range, I can call a cold range any time I feel like taking a little walk.
As for spotting tools, FM finds his Tasco 7X35 binoculars suitable; these were a gift from his parents back in Christmas ’71.
BB,
Your Blue Man Group is fantastic!
tomek,
I think he cheated. He was probably the one holding the 1911 like in the first picture. Where do you think that picture came from? 😉
RR,
Very interesting! 🙂 But it seems to work 😛
BB, could you tell us about that spotting scope mount? I need something like that one.
David Enoch
David,
The articulated arm is for photography. Look on eBay for that. And the straight pipe is just a gas pipe with a clamp on one end.
BB
DavidEnoch,
Check out these folks:
https://arkon.com
Buy from these folks: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1623648-REG/arkon_dslptabmg5_dlsr_camera_mount.html/qa
The one thing to always check for is the Load Rating of the mount.
I have the Arkon mounted to my DOA Shooting Bench. It is stable even in some strong winds and works for heavy cameras with long lenses, spotting scopes, and big Vortex binoculars.
Cry once, yes, but only buy once and be satisfied.
shootski