howardw

I've shot about 10k of Berry's this year, and haven't had any problems. It's about the best regular deal I've found for 9mm 147's. I shoot them through a G34. I shoot IDPA, and find them fine for what I do. Howard

Nik, Interesting. I didn't know people weren't using the extended slide stop. I've been using it for almost two years with no problems. Although I did go through one period where I experienced the slide not locking back during a couple of practice sessions. Seems I let my thumb slip from my normal thumb out of the way grip. I was shooting my work G22 yesterday, which I rarely do, and was having problems with the reloads. Well, not problems, but they were definately slower than with my G34. I'm geographically pretty much limited to IDPA which favors slide lock reloads, so you can see why I favor the extended slide stop. Howard

Ah Hah! Why don't you use the extended slide release? Just curious. Thanks, Howard

Yep, that's pretty much it Flex. My strong hand thumb sits a bit further left on the back of my weak hand though, otherwise I run into problems with the slide stop. Monster, I actually took my gun out and tried to see what you are doing. I see now that if you are gripping the gun the way I think you are gripping the gun it will bash your thumb joint. Practice gripping the gun the way Flex is showing and I assure you that will shoot better and more comfortably. Howard

MoNsTeR, my guess is that you are not gripping the gun high enough. Get the web between your thumb and index finger as high up on the grip as you can. For me, I find the Glock easier on my thumb than 1911's. I broke my thumb years ago and it's a continutal problem for me. And maybe you aren't gripping the gun firmly enough and you are letting it recoil into your hand. Try and keep your grip recoiling with the gun. This may not make sense. Also, If your right thumb is on the thumb rest you cannot get enough of your left palm on the grip of the gun. And that left palm is darned near everything in a two handed grip. Good Luck, Howard

The only thing I would add/change regarding the Leatham lesson on American Shooter is that it says to rest the strong hand thumb on the thumb safety. Since the Glock doesn't have one of these I find that I have to rest my strong hand thumb on the back of my weak hand at the base of the weak hand thumb. I do this because if I don't, the strong had thumb will occasionally hit the slide lock and will prevent the gun from locking open when empty. This way just keeps the thumb off the gun and out of the way. Howard

Good point, Humphrey. I just wish I had facilities like that around here. It's mostly paper for now.

Well, I don't think it's luck cause it happens so much. I guess what is really happening is I have learned how to make hits by approximating where the sights will be in relation to the target by the sight picture I have before the gun fires or I blink, whichever comes first. But sometimes I just don't know. Making certain difficult shots, repeatedly, without knowing exactly how I did it makes me kind of wonder if there isn't something more than luck going on. I guess I'll just keep on shooting and trying to see more and more and take that where it leads me. Thanks for the input everyone. And thanks, Flex, for the link. This is an interesting manual that I haven't seen before. I'll check it out. Howard

I mean it's very rare that my shots go so far astray that they are D shots. I call most of my shots good. But that may just be because most of my shots are good, not because I called them as such. A lot of times I'll call a shot bad, and it will be good. That is another indicator that my sub is doing the shooting, not me...

Flex, I definitively agree that knowing is the key. The problem I'm having is I don't know what "constitutes" knowing in this context? Is it a special seeing or feeling, or is it something that can only be verified after the fact, i.e. during the scoring? Howard

Thanks for the reply Brian. Since viewing your interview on Burkett's DVD I've been trying to work more accuracy work into my training. And it has been paying off. I've also been trying to work on calling my shots. The thing is, shooting is such a strange thing. Learning to call your shots is essential, but is this ability in some ways something that should eventually be transcended? I mean, if you are doing something well in "The Now" with no real recollection of what you've done after you do it, how does calling your shots work into it? Here is the rub: if I can consistently hit at 50 yds then I feel I’m shooting rather accurately. And this is also reflected in closer in shots. I think I can shoot ok. But I still don’t know if I am calling my shots or not. I don’t know if I’m blinking or not. I don’t know if I’m really seeing the front sight lift or not. I have this experience on occasion where I’m shooting and when I sense that my finger is pulling the trigger with the intent of firing the gun I see the sights pointed at the C or D zone. So at the same time I’ll start to move the gun toward the A zone and when I score the target the shot is good. (Is this driving the gun?) The point is I have no recollection of seeing the sights pointed at the A zone. So I must not have been looking at the sights when the gun fired? Do you see what I'm trying to get at? I hope so, because I’m not quite sure I do. Thanks, Howard

I noticed something interesting today at the range. I was shooting at IDPA targets from 25 to 50yds, and was actually shooting quite well, for me anyway. (I’m a low level IDPA SSP Master, Glock 34.) . When shooting at 50yds freestlye I was averaging splits around .7 to .8 of a second, and was keeping the shots pretty consistantly in the A zone or just outside it, but at least one shot of a pair was in the A zone for each string. I don't normally shoot at 50, most of my training being 25 yds and in. Anyway, I'm not sure how I was doing it. My sight picture was so dynamic it was almost like my unconscious was doing the shooting. I decided to shoot groups at the same target freestyle, taking as long as necessary to make each shot, and my groups actually opened up. The gun seemed to move too much, and I couldn't get a good sight picture. The process seemed fraught with indecision. Has anyone ever experienced this before? Any ideas on how to use this observation to improve my shooting?

Hmm... Thanks for the info guys. Kelly, that was just the kind of info I was looking for. But, I was under the impression that the adjustability of the Vtac sling enabled it to be used to stabalize any postion and hence would be great for 3gun. I hadn't intended this to turn into a Vtac sling thread, but I guess I may have been mistaken about the sling? I'm quite happy with it so far, and have had some recommendation for it's use in 3gun. Thanks, Howard (Edited by howardw at 6:00 pm on Jan. 9, 2003)

I’ve been shooting pistol rather seriously for a little over a year now and got an AR in December. I recently got a Viking Tactics sling and have played around with it some. I like the way that it is adjustable to any position. Anyway, I was just wondering, aside from being a way to carry your rifle, what is the theory of the sling as it pertains to actually shooting the rifle in 3 gun type situations? Do people use the sling to steady the sights up close in CQB type stages or is the sling mostly used for steadying the gun for long range shots? And how do you know if you are using the sling correctly and not actually causing harm? Is it purely a subjective thing? I assume only I can answer that question and should do some shooting with and without the sling and compare the results. Anyway, just wanted to get some discussion going on “the sling” and maybe learn something. Thanks, Howard Walker

Marcellus Wallace's soul? I'll buy that one. My only guess was hope for mankind. Either way, I'm pretty sure the same thing is in both cases...

I have the Dawson fiber front sight and am very happy with it. It's mated to a Heinie rear. I've thought about switching to the Dawson adjustable rear sight as well, but the notch doesn't seem to be cut as deep as the Heinie. I guess I need to call them and get the dims of the notch. Howard

What was in the case in Pulp Fiction?

Steve, I too am experiementing and really do feel that relaxed is better. Relaxed and slow does seem to be faster, for me at least... I have a feeling that this should help with tension in matches. I know it sounds funny, but I've been relaxing my abs so that my gut hangs out/loose. Not pretty to look at, but seems to work. Howard

Erik, I hadn't even considered adjusting the stance to the course of fire... I guess we just get so ingrained in thinking there is a all-in-one solution to every problem. Thanks, Howard

I’ve found something that lessens my draw time by approximately a tenth of a second, but I don’t know if I can describe it. I’m going to try and see if anyone else has run across this. Consider two stances. My normal pre-draw stance: Pretty much your basic isometric type, whatever you want to call it. I do try to lean forward a little with my upper body though to push my center of gravity forward. When I do this it takes a little arm and shoulder tension to hold my hands back to where the strong hand is indexed under the grip of the pistol while the pistol is in the holster. (Draw time: 1.0 to 1.03 secs at 7 yds) Faster pre-draw stance: The same stance, but standing more erect so that gravity keeps my arms more or less perpendicular to the ground and properly indexed. They just hang there loosely. (Draw time: .9 to .93 at 7 yards) I assume the faster stance is faster because I am able to keep the arms and shoulders loose so I don’t have to overcome any muscle tension to get them moving. What I haven’t had time to check out is how this more erect stance will affect my recoil control, i.e., will I get pushed back? I know BE states in the book that he uses an upright posture. I used to shoot upright, but after some instruction I developed a more aggressive forward leaning stance, which did seem to help lower my splits. But that was some time ago and my technique has increased quite a bit since then. I guess I just need to experiment. Bill drills would probably be a good way to test which posture it ultimately faster. Anyway, just looking for comments. Oh, and I’m shooting IDPA with a standard Glock 34, no comp from a standard belt holster. Thanks, Howard Walker edited to change "1.0 to 1.3" to "1.0 to 1.03". Should make more sense now... (Edited by howardw at 3:39 pm on Dec. 30, 2002) (Edited by howardw at 3:41 pm on Dec. 30, 2002)

Thanks Kelly. I'll look into these. What I really need to do is take a class. Cooley teaches around here occasionally. I'll definately be training with him when I have the opportunity. Thanks, Howard

Kelly and Kurt, Thanks for the info. I've shot some skeet and understand what you mean about swinging and transitions. I'll play around with this a see how it works. It's interesting the differences between "tactical" and "practical" shooting philosophies. I'm familar with the debates as far as pistol shooting, but I'm just getting into long gun shooting... Thanks, Howard

I've been wondering this same thing. When standing and shooting offhand it feels most natural for me to grab the front of the lower receiver like a vertical foregrip. What's wrong with this. I have so many AR questions...

Steve, I agree completely. I'm not worried with speed so much as getting a good sight picture with speed. I had also forgotten how important staying loose was to a fast draw, and a fast reload for that matter. Howard

Santa finally brought me an AR. I plan on getting into three gunning and want to become proficient with the AR. What books and videos would you recommend that show proper shooting technique and dry fire exercises. Thanks, Howard