Kadet in the wind at bullseye practice

[Joe L]

Very windy, would have been a disaster for a polymer gun and a challenge with the 97, so I decided to limit range day to the Kadet.  Shot 120 rounds, 12 bullseye targets.  1/3 timed, 1/3 rapid, 1/3 slow.  Too windy for a shooter cam in addition to the target cam, so here is a video of the best 3 targets taken at the target position, with 4 boxes of .45 weighting down the camera tripod. 

It's been 6 weeks since bullseye practice with the Kadet, due to back surgery and receiving that pesky P-10C striker fired pistol.

https://youtu.be/X7i_9ywO5VY 

Even match days are this bad sometimes, so it is good to practice in it instead of self-destructing on a windy match day. 

Joe

[Joe L]

I can say that it didn't take me many shots to get back to where I was on autopilot with the gun.  What took some time was how to handle the wind, which was just to move the trigger deliberately but without jerking it, and accept a little more wobble due to the wind than normal.  The first two rapid fire targets (not shown in the video) were a disaster because I was fighting the wind instead of working with it. 

I saw a video on Youtube this weekend where Rob Leatham acted like he was really ticked off that people don't understand that shooting is FIRST dependent on the shooter learning to pull the trigger without moving the gun, and that nothing else mattered until the shooter mastered that skill.  Shooting fast just meant learning how to pull the trigger faster yet STILL without moving the gun.  I wish I had learned that skill when I first picked up a pistol, instead of a couple of years later. 

Joe

[longgonedaddy]

I saw a video on Youtube this weekend where Rob Leatham acted like he was really ticked off that people don't understand that shooting is FIRST dependent on the shooter learning to pull the trigger without moving the gun, and that nothing else mattered until the shooter mastered that skill.

Joe, that is a very intelligent observation.  Over the past month, I've been testing out my new 97 BE.  One thing that has really frustrated me is the differences in my target results between 10 yds and 25 yds.  I know that I am not doing anything physically different when holding and firing the pistol between those two distances.  Really, the only difference is the distance between the points of aim.  At 10 yds I'm dead on...at 25 yds I'm, sometimes, all over the place.  Makes me want to aim and fire at a 10 yd target with a 25 yd target behind it just to see how the bullet travel changes over the 15 yds between the two targets.  I just can't imagine there is that much trajectory difference for a .45 over 15 yds.  I also just can't imagine my grip and trigger pull are that much different over that 15 yd difference.

[Joe L]

longgonedaddy--Here's what may be happening at 25 yards.  It's all mental, at least it is for me.  At 10 yards, the gun appears to be pretty steady, so I don't force any shots.  At 25, the wobble looks to be greater, so I sometimes tend to try to make the gun go off when the sight alignment is perfect.  In other words, I jerk the trigger.  At 50, it can get even more difficult to settle down and accept the sight movement but still think about a smooth trigger pull instead of timing or forcing the shot. 

Here is something to try.  Put a blank target, like a sheet of letter sized paper, up at 10 yards and just fire a few shots in to the center.  Then, do it again at 25 yards. You might be surprised at how good the group is at 25.  The reason?  with no reference point to aim at, you can just pull the trigger smoothly, even if the gun is moving around some.  I've done this several times with good results, and it showed me that the reason the group grew way larger than it should have was that I was timing or forcing the shots when I had a small target to try to line up with the sights. 

You might try the blank target and see what you think.

Joe

[longgonedaddy]

Your suggestion was helpful...25 yds...10 rds.  practicing...

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

[Boris_LA]

Nice.
With RDS you can try the same with paper plates. A little easier to center the group to the center of the round plate.

[Joe L]

Large plates or you wind up treating it as a bullseye!! 

Those results look very promising, Longgonedaddy.   Just work on accepting the wobble while moving the trigger without moving the gun, and the groups will be good in spite of the wobble. 

I love to tout how good the CZ pistols are, but, without really good trigger control, its impossible to get good results with the best of pistols.  When I'm not having a good day, I can't even shoot the P-09 or Kadet well.  When I am mentally and physically in the groove, most of my pistols look pretty darn good.  All you have to do is line up the sights and pull the trigger without moving the gun.  But, when I cannot pull the trigger without moving the gun, perfect aim doesn't matter one bit.

I tried to shoot the Kadet at bullseye practice on Tuesday afternoon when it was blowing 20-30 mph and 100F and humid and I had had a tough day at the office.  After 20 rounds of very poor slow fire, I thought I could shoot maybe one good timed fire target, but no, not on Tuesday.  I went home.  And I was dragging for an hour after that even.   Mentally and physically, I just couldn't execute the shots.   

Joe 

[longgonedaddy]

I shot 142 rds at blank paper today.  Most interesting to me was being able to make several tight five shot groupings using nothing but muscle memory.  It was me just naturally setting up a shot based on grip, arm position, and sight alignment.  Even with nothing to aim at.  Then smoothly as possible pulling the trigger straight back.  Over and over and over...

[Joe L]

I shot 142 rds at blank paper today.  Most interesting to me was being able to make several tight five shot groupings using nothing but muscle memory.  It was me just naturally setting up a shot based on grip, arm position, and sight alignment.  Even with nothing to aim at.  Then smoothly as possible pulling the trigger straight back.  Over and over and over...

Excellent!
Joe

[Boris_LA]

I shot 142 rds at blank paper today.  Most interesting to me was being able to make several tight five shot groupings using nothing but muscle memory.  It was me just naturally setting up a shot based on grip, arm position, and sight alignment.  Even with nothing to aim at.  Then smoothly as possible pulling the trigger straight back.  Over and over and over...

That's the whole point of this exercise. Keep reinforcing it.