First time at the range

[ssick92]

Hey everyone,

I finally found time in my day to hit the shooting range for the first time with my first handgun, the Beretta 92A1.

This thing was awesome to shoot. My groupings were a little low left of where I was aiming so I will have to figure out what I am doing wrong, but overall it was a phenomenal experience.

I only had enough time to shoot 250 rounds before they closed, but every single round felt great. The double action is really stiff though so I will REALLY need to work on getting used to that since all my bad shots were usually with the DA trigger pull.

I can tell I am flinching a tiny bit on the DA since I couldn't quite figure out where the firing point is, but on the SA pulls I felt very comfortable and was able to hit within a few inches of my target at 10 yds consistently. On the life size human target, I was able to get all 10 rounds as a headshot at 20 yards, and 7/10 rounds as a headshot at 25 yards.

I also noticed that when I was shooting with both eyes open, my hits were a lot more sporadic, but when I closed my left eye, they were almost dead on. Is there anything wrong with closing an eye to shoot better? I understand that it can strain the eye after shooting a lot at the range, but if there was an intruder in my house, my eye will certainly not get strained from popping a few rounds in him...right?

[trigger945]

Shoot with both eyes open. If there was an intruder and you were looking for him (or her), would you have only one eye open? Train more and you will get the hang of it.

Good luck!

[H K corporate assassin]

Practice and in time flinching will stop.

[Dattebayo]

Those DA triggers are definitely tricky if you aren't use to them. I personally shoot my 1911 the most, but when I switch to the Walter PPK, it certainly takes a little bit of adjustment to get use to the DA.

[ssick92]

Oh I load a dummy round in the magazine and that helped with flinching.

Ya, I heard that is a great tool to help but I totally forgot to do it haha I'll try to remember next time and work on that with the DA trigger

[9mmepiphany]

I can tell I am flinching a tiny bit on the DA since I couldn't quite figure out where the firing point is

Not knowing when the sear will release isn't a negative. Knowing when the shot will break is what leads to jerking the trigger through anticipation.

but on the SA pulls I felt very comfortable and was able to hit within a few inches of my target at 10 yds consistently.

Try to aim at a consistent spot on the target and not to adjust for where the bullets are striking. The goal is to get all your shots to form a group (1-2" @ 10 yards is a reasonable starting goal) and then to adjust your grip to center the whole group

Is there anything wrong with closing an eye to shoot better? I understand that it can strain the eye after shooting a lot at the range, but if there was an intruder in my house, my eye will certainly not get strained from popping a few rounds in him...right?

Besides losing focus due to eye strain, you'll lose situational awareness. Were you really considering going into a defensive shooting situation with only one eye open?

I know some very good shooters who do close one of their eyes just before they fire their shot, but that isn't all that easy to do either. What I would recommend is putting translucent tape over the lens of your shooting glasses to cover the non-dominate eye...that should train the brain which image you want it to focus on

[appagohm]

Snap caps and a lot of dry firing practice will help with the flitch. Also load snap caps between your range loads so you can practice clearing failures and also really tune in the flitch problem.

I am right handed and am left eye dominate, so what I tend to do is start shutting my left eye little by little until my right eye takes over, but I still don't lose the vision of my left eye.

[10mm]

250 rounds? You must be a wealthy man.

[Raider888]

Great job on your first.
Keep it up!

[hossb7]

The goal is not to anticipate when the trigger will break on the DA pull (or any pull), the goal is to be "surprised" by the break.

Keeping the sight allignment and sight picture while slowly applying pressure to the trigger will keep you on target every single time.

[hoarder]

250 rounds? You must be a wealthy man.

First time at the range. He'll see his pocket dwindle... But for your first time. Comgrats and have fun!

[Re1apse]

I shoot my pistol with 1 hand. I also rotate my wrist 90 degrees to the left like the "gangsta's". I can't seem to hit the target, but I'm pretty sure it looks tough.

[JDay]

Shooting low left means you're squeezing your finger tips while pulling the trigger.

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[JDay]

250 rounds? You must be a wealthy man.

Depends on what he paid. I recently acquired 2500 rounds of .45acp for $300 from someone who no longer has a .45. Doubt I'll get that kind of deal ever again though.

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[Dattebayo]

Depends on what he paid. I recently acquired 2500 rounds of .45acp for $300 from someone who no longer has a .45. Doubt I'll get that kind of deal ever again though.

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

Yeah I bought about 10,000 45 acp rounds before Sandy Hook from Freedom Munitions. Think the first time out with my 1911, I put 500 rounds through it in a single session and bruised my hand from the beaver tail safety hump digging into my palm.

If only I had the ammo to do that still . I would shoot till my hands and shoulder were black and blue.