[BlindOldMan]

So... after my hiatus, I've been hitting the range pretty heavily these past few weeks. It's been *all* pistol shooting.

Two schools of thought:
One group of experienced shooters (call them the old schoolers) say that strength training outside of the range (providing you spend at least two hours a week on the range) is not necessary. If your grip is getting fatigued then you're doing it wrong. The pistol is not so much "gripped" as guided.

The other group, also quite experienced (call them the techies), say that wrist/forearm/shoulder exercises outside of the range are really necessary to achieve perfection. Even the lightest full-size pistol will fatigue your arm (try holding it in the iso stance for 30 seconds and your arm can begin to tremble almost imperceptibly, but does tremble).

Both groups are experienced shooters and both shoot way better than I do. Now I think both are correct to a point. Maybe the trigger pull and weight on an "old school" revolver is sufficient that range training is also strength training.

What do you folks think?

[danf_fl]

Isometric exercises can help.
I like to dry-fire (after triple checking the firearm is unloaded) with an old mag that has the weight of a loaded mag.

Those pictures on the wall, the light switches, and bad guys on tv have all been "shot" at one time or another.

I guess I have a combination of the two.

[dunerunner]

Can you hit a target at 30 feet with reliability? You're good to go!

If you're planning on competition shooting, that is another story.

[JTJ]

Pellet guns and a trap. I shoot in my garage. I can also use 22CB caps in a rifle or Super Colibri in a pistol. My Remington pump likes the CB's. My CZ bolt does not.

[BlindOldMan]

Originally Posted by dunerunner

Can you hit a target at 30 feet with reliability? You're good to go!

If you're planning on competition shooting, that is another story.

If the target is barn sized, I have a fair chance. Especially from inside the barn.

Seriously though, I'm not too bad. But want to improve. At 5 yards I can consistently hit inside a playing card sized area.

[Jo da Plumbr]

A little off topic but:

I saw an interview with the ex LA police chief saying that in real life defensive shooting situations trained officers only hit a target with 1 out of 7 shots. That to him is reason to not let "untrained citizens" have guns.

[jrfctx]

Originally Posted by Jo da Plumbr

A little off topic but:

I saw an interview with the ex LA police chief saying that in real life defensive shooting situations trained officers only hit a target with 1 out of 7 shots. That to him is reason to not let "untrained citizens" have guns.

That's a result of poor training for the average LEO. Fighting with a firearm is not just all about marksmanship.

[armsmaster270]

In my 18 years as an officer I was in one shooting using one shot from the hip and made a one shot kill Heart & Lung using a Mod 15 38spl & Federal 110gr+P+

[Lindenwood]

One thing you know for sure, is you aren't going to get any worse by being in better shape :P .


And I pull the trigger on an empty chamber at home about 15 or 20 times as much as I do on a live round at the range. It helped my pistol shooting TREMENDOUSLY.

[ViNoM]

Originally Posted by armsmaster270

In my 18 years as an officer I was in one shooting using one shot from the hip and made a one shot kill Heart & Lung using a Mod 15 38spl & Federal 110gr+P+

While I am certainly not trying to stir the pot... I just have to say "wow," nice real world example of IGETEVEN's insistence in that Governor thread that a smaller caliber round would indeed penetrate far enough to stop a BG in his tracks... Very impressive shot placement.

Of particular note is that the ONE SHOT was obviously from an oblique angle, and NOT from a direct full-frontal attack, because the affected organs were the RIGHT lung and the HEART.

IMHO, I don't see any way (other than a magic bullet ) for a bullet to travel from the right lung into the heart while the BG is in a squared off position to the shooter.

This scenario would make a good "Hollywood movie" scene where one shot drops the BG in his tracks with a smaller caliber handgun.

armsmaster270, kudos on stopping the BG with a single shot!