Need tactical/practical shooting advice

[m1match]

I have taken many classes from Bill Murphy of Firearms Training Associates. I have found the quality of their instruction to be excellent and they are conveniently located at the Rauhage's range in Norco. Bill is a Huntington Beach SWAT officer and Gunsite instructor.

https://www.ftatv.com

[locosway]

I have taken many classes from Bill Murphy of Firearms Training Associates. I have found the quality of their instruction to be excellent and they are conveniently located at the Rauhage's range in Norco. Bill is a Huntington Beach SWAT officer and Gunsite instructor.

www.ftatv.com

Price seems good for what you get it seems. Maybe I will have to check this out.

For the tactical it says not available to all students, anyone know what this means?

[M47_Dragon]

For the tactical it says not available to all students, anyone know what this means?

I see that for the Live Fire Entry course. It probably just means "No Newbies." They probably only accept students with at least some training and/or experience under their belts. They probably offer a course they would want you to take before the LFE course.

[SCMA-1]

You don't need classes. Chances are, you are trying to shoot faster then you are capable of at the moment. Just start going to club matches twice a month or so. When you are there, don't try to mimic the performance of experienced match shooters. Concentrate on yourself and your own performance. Walk before you can run; literally. Walk through the course and don't worry about the time. Get 2- alphas for every cardboard target and a solid center hit for every steel. Go only as fast as you can do this. The more you do it, the faster you will be able to shoot eventually. By all means, make friends with other shooters and ask other experienced members in your squad to critique you.

Don't discount indoor range practice either. Get yourself some IPSC targets and only shoot at them at the very back of the range. Get to where you can keep all your shots on the head of the IPSC target on rapid fire (1 round per second) at the very back of the range. Forget trying to punch silly ragged holes at 5 or 7 yards like most people try to do to impress others. Put your target all the way back at 25 yards and be able to routinely put all your rounds on the head of the target on rapid fire. If you can't do this then you don't have the basics down and need to backup and focus on basic marksmanship. Games like IPSC and IDPA are for those who have pretty much mastered basic marksmanship first.

SCMA-1

[Lucky Scott]

Sounds like good advice. Where would I get a IDPA target?

[Lucky Scott]

Opps, IPSC targets.

[SCMA-1]

Opps, IPSC targets.

I used to buy mine from Alco Target in SoCal. I don't know if they are still around. Let me poke around on the net to see if I can dig up their contact info.

[SuperSet]

Lucky Scott, I have more than a few to spare so drop me a PM if you want them.

[SCMA-1]

Opps, IPSC targets.

Found them! They are still in Duarte; you can pick them up in person; don't have to order them.

http://alcotarget.com/index.cfm

[HCz]

Maybe when I'm working again I'll consider a class. For the time being I'd rather get used to shooting again and learn my handgun.

Not to be a jerk, but if you can afford $100 or so, then the classes will improve your knowledge and skills further than you can think of.

Here are two groups I could recommend
All safe defense

http://www.allsafedefense.com/schedule.htm

Either Intermediate handgun or skill builder. My vote goes to skill builder

Greg Block

http://www.firearmstraining.com/class_shed.html

[SCMA-1]

One other thing; use masking tape to tape up your holes on your IPSC targets to extend their practice life. I got some where the heads are almost entirely masking tape now. I know, I'm a cheapskate.

[SCMA-1]

If you are a good learner, you can gain much from these instructionals which cover some of the basic skills you'll need to participate in action matches:

[SCMA-1]

More suggestions......

When you go to the indoor range, don't be content to just shoot groups two handed. Practice strong hand only shooting, and then practice weak hand only shooting. Do this until you can put all your shots on the head of that IPSC target at 25 yards. As you can see, there are lots of things you can do to improve your skills, even at an indoor range.

SCMA-1

[M47_Dragon]

Also note that IDPA and IPSC targets differ a little bit with respect to the scoring zones:


IDPA target -



IPSC target -

[locosway]

You don't need classes. Chances are, you are trying to shoot faster then you are capable of at the moment. Just start going to club matches twice a month or so. When you are there, don't try to mimic the performance of experienced match shooters. Concentrate on yourself and your own performance. Walk before you can run; literally. Walk through the course and don't worry about the time. Get 2- alphas for every cardboard target and a solid center hit for every steel. Go only as fast as you can do this. The more you do it, the faster you will be able to shoot eventually. By all means, make friends with other shooters and ask other experienced members in your squad to critique you.

Don't discount indoor range practice either. Get yourself some IPSC targets and only shoot at them at the very back of the range. Get to where you can keep all your shots on the head of the IPSC target on rapid fire (1 round per second) at the very back of the range. Forget trying to punch silly ragged holes at 5 or 7 yards like most people try to do to impress others. Put your target all the way back at 25 yards and be able to routinely put all your rounds on the head of the target on rapid fire. If you can't do this then you don't have the basics down and need to backup and focus on basic marksmanship. Games like IPSC and IDPA are for those who have pretty much mastered basic marksmanship first.

SCMA-1

Thanks for the info...

I think I was having issues with my grip. When I hold the gun the way I like, which is with my support hand index finger on the trigger guard I shoot well.

When I try and shoot with my fingers all under the guard, I don't shoot well. I don't know if I should modify my grip, or just keep going the way that works best for me.