A Morning at the Range

Written by Walt in Firearms

Range Time - June 18th 2011 - 1Today I climbed out of bed to the sound of birds chirping and the sun shining. With a busy afternoon ahead of me, I took the opportunity to head over to the range and get some trigger time in. I was eager to try a shot timer app that I downloaded for my Droid X (IPSC Shot TimerOpens in a new tab.) and get an idea what kind of time it took for me to shoot and complete a short string of fire.

When testing the app in my living room, it worked great and easily recorded the sound of my hands clapping. On the range, however, it was another story. After a string of three shots, a magazine change, and three more shots, the shot timer app recorded something along the lines of seventeen shots. The results were better with the sensitivity turned way down, but it was still recording far more shots than I was firing. After using the shot timer as a random buzzer for a few strings of fire, I gave up on it completely due to it being a hassle.

On a whim, I decided to bring along my old Flip Cam to record my shooting. The idea was to review the video afterwards and see where my problem areas were and adjust in the future. While shooting I felt like I was moving incredibly slowly, the video playback was even worse. I could have scrapped the shot timer all together and used a sundial at the pace I was shooting.

I didn’t intend to share the video of my shooting, but I think it may be a good way to get some constructive criticism from more experienced shooters. In the video below, I share with you some some strings of fire, then add commentary as to what I see myself doing poorly.

iOS Users Click HereOpens in a new tab.

Care to share some constructive criticism on my shooting?
If so, use the comment section below

Walt

Hi There, My name is Walt White and as the name of this blog suggests, I am a Pennsylvania resident. In addition to having numerous hobbies that I discuss on my blog - I’m also the father of three little girls and a pitbull.

6 thoughts on “A Morning at the Range”

  1. Hi Walt, “long time listener, first time caller”lol… I’m getting back into IPSC myself, which is the most common form of pistol sports here in Canada. I had just began shooting about 8yrs ago, but set it down once my wife and I bought our house. I’m enjoying the journey towards learning the finer points of this art, and I’m glad to see you do the same. Just keep in mind if you start putting real effort into this sport, you’ll lose some hard gotten skill if you put that pistol to bed for the winter months. By the way, those .22’s often have this annoying wax on the bullet, which may be gumming up the breach. Oh, and you were mentioning bringing the pistol right close when replacing your mag…I wouldn’t get too close, because you have that much more distance to cover when re-acquiring the target. Bringing it half way should do, then tilt your pistol until you just see the mag-well opening. Just for that second, divert you eyes from your target to the mag-well as your going to insert the new mag…then immediately bring your eyes back to the target ready to engage. Check out some moves by “Adam Tyc”, who’s a world champ…Too bad we’re not neighbors, I’m always looking for a shoot’in/cigar smok’in friend. Keep the vids coming and thanks. Steve D. (Montreal, QC.)

    1. Steve,
      I wasn’t aware of the wax but it makes sense, the gun gets pretty filthy, fast.

      Thanks for the advice on reloading. I’ll make mental note of that and try doing it nice and slow a few times while at the range. After a few slow reloads, maybe I can get the process burned into my brain so that it becomes second nature.

      I’ll look into Adam Tyc, maybe I can find something on Youtube.

      Thanks for watching and leaving a comment!

      1. Hey Walt,

        Here’s one of the links I was thinking of…

        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrGz1fkl0F4

        …just let that muscle memory work it’s magic.

        TTUL, Steve

        1. Steve,
          I came across that video while I was searching Youtube for Adam Tyc videos. With it being a 5 second clip, I thought it was just someone doing one of his drills and moved on.

          Thanks for the link

  2. Hey Walt

    Good video thats something I could use to see my faults shootiing, as far as your stance I had a guy tell me down at french creek one time, that I need to roll my shoulders forward which will help me lean in and put my opposite foot back, so I shoot left handed so I rolled my shoulders forward and bring my right foot back about 6 inches behind my left puts a slight bend in my left leg and I keep my feet shoulder width apart and it keeps me really solid I have tried this stance and had my wife push on me from all directions and it keeps you pretty balanced. Hope to get to the range soon.

    Corey

    1. Corey,
      Thanks for the advice. I can just imagine the look on my wife’s face when I mimic the stance in the living room and ask her to try pushing me around. Actually, she probably wouldn’t hesitate if given the opportunity… LOL

      With Oley Valley having a guest policy, we could easily meet up there one night. If you are interested in joining, the gate is open on Tuesday nights. Don, who handles membership, is there for Sporting Clays. When I went, it was a matter of renewing my NRA membership (They are a 100% NRA club) and paying the first years dues. I think I wrote a check for $45 total and left with a membership card.

      Maybe we can try and get together next week in the evening (I can’t get free until after 6:00pm)?

      Thanks for watching and leaving a comment.

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