Counterproductive .22 practice?

[LPatterson]

In shooting, no one is "Forced" to shoot a .22 in practice. They choose to shoot a .22 in practice for whatever reason.

When the snow is chest deep to a tall giraffee and you haven't fired a gun in months a .22 is a better reason than leaving 3-400 pieces of 40S&W brass in the snow. Actually any time I can't do what I want I consider that "Forced".

[Supermoto]

There is so much to this sport that has nothing to do with shooting that I think a .22 is a great way to save money while adding more feedback and honesty to your shooting that dry-firing.

Movement, determining what is fastest for you on a timer, is a lot easier to determine with a actual shot to shot than a par time.

Plus the cost saving allows me to practice more often.

[Team Amish 1]

I need to work on quickly reacquiring my sights, so I figured I'd get a Kadet .22 kit for my CZ 75, the logic being that with negligeable recoil I'd be able to focus on my technique and then "work my way up" to 9mm. Thing is, a good deal for a Beretta 87 Target came my way and I nabbed it. I really like it but the "problem" is that since it's such a different gun (much lighter; smaller/narrower grip etc) is practicing on it rather than the CZ going to do more harm than good for me trying to improve with the CZ? Here's a side by side pic to show the difference in size. The Beretta feels WAY smaller in the hand.

I'd be interested to hear any comments anyone might have, 'cause for the moment "buy the Kadet too" isn't an option.

Slim, I think in the long run, the .22 version of your competition gun is the way to go but in the mean time you can still get a lot of value out of your rimfire.

When shooting Production, I usually practiced with a conversion upper which is great because you have the "same" gun, can draw from your regular USPSA holster, you can put the same sights on the .22, etc. Even then, there is a weight difference when drawing, transitioning, the recoil is different, and so on.

What I'm trying to say is, you can still pick out drills and practice techniques that you will benefit from. I am thinking of shooting groups, stronghand - weakhand proficiency, transitions, working on eye speed drills, trigger finger speed drills, and much more once you develop a practice plan. I hope this answers your question somewhat. Have fun.

[GForceLizard]

Its like saying that an F1 driver gets the same amount of quality practice by going to a local GoKart track and renting a Kart a couple of hours.

I don't disagree but my point is different. Many F1 drivers started in karts. People at the top of the shooting field probably don't benefit much or at all from rimfire or airsoft. People at lesser skill levels still have lots to learn. If I can't teach myself to shoot a rack of plates fast with .22lr I have no hope of doing it with a minor load. Working on the draw to 1st shot, picking up the sight for the first shot. etc... When you get to the level that .22lr isn't teaching what you need to learn, you will know.

[Flyin40]

Here is a new article about the 22 and practice.

22 practice

Flyin

[kamicosmos]

I have a Kadet Kit I use specifically for practicing with my CZ-75. Mainly because that way the gun is the 'same': Mags are same size, trigger pull the same, sights the same, etc etc. I even use my same holster, although the kadet slide doesn't quite fit the holster right.

I like it over straight dry fire. Hard to follow the front sight through recoil and transition to targets during recoil when there's no recoil, eh?

Now, I will say, like the others, the .22 kit is just another tool. Dry fire is very important, as I have been learning this winter. The .22 is showing me some things that I 'let slide' during dry fire. It was really cool, as a fairly new 'BE' student, to finally see that front sight lift, call my shot, and the front sight settled right on the splat of the steel. You don't get that staring at your wall in the basement at home. And yeah, I can shoot 300 rounds of .22 for much less than even reloaded 9mm, and I can shoot 300 rounds of 22 and not be anywhere as fatigued as with 9mm. PLUS, being rim fire, you get to handle the occasion jam, FTE, FTF, light strike, etc.

Definitely always put your 9mm back on though at the end of the day and run a few more drills. 9mm feels like a friggin Magnum after a couple hours of .22!

Oh...so my long winded point here is: Definitely get a Kadet kit for your CZ if you're going to do .22 practice. It's silly and counterproductive to use a different .22 if you're shooting a CZ at the match.

[smokshwn]

Yeah, the Go Karts they "Practice" with are not the cheap-o go karts that you an I are willing to pay to rent, or are even able to rent at a local track. I am sure you can rent a high end shifter cart, but you are going to pay big bucks doing it. Even then, if you asked each one of those F1 drivers if they would get the most out of practicing with an F1 car verses a go kart, I think the answer would be obvious.

The point here is that if they had the choice to practice with their real cars, they would. They are simply forced to run the go karts due to their F1 cars not being available.

In shooting, no one is "Forced" to shoot a .22 in practice. They choose to shoot a .22 in practice for whatever reason.

Yeah, the 22's I practice with are not your grandpa's Stevens Single Shot either.

Charlie, The factual examples of people's accomplishments and routines that contradict your opinion are too numerous to list. Tatsuya Sakai comes to mind immediately.

F1 drivers and Moto GP riders actually spend an amazing amount of time on the XBOX and Playstation simply to learn/practice tracks and practice their visualization of racing lines. Ask Ben Spies about it. Much of what these guys do with karts, video games, video, and visualization is about separation of skills.

You would never teach someone how to play basketball by putting them on a court with 9 other players already engaged in a game. You would separate the skills, ball handling, rules, shooting, team movement etc. so that those skills could be put to use cohesively. At the professional level in so many sports they take the pads off, go 50%, etc. etc. to improve and build separate skills. Why would you assume that shooting would not benefit the same way.

Yes recoil may be different from gun to gun and caliber to caliber, but the lack of recoil can be an amazing tool. By removing recoil it allows you allow for a separation of skills that can then be learned/improved independently so that upon reconstruction there is actually more net improvement than if you had tried to include all of the skills in making a shot.

Edited March 19, 2010 by smokshwn

[benos]

Transferring the subtleties I learned when cross training with a .22 (or 410 shotgun) to my main blaster was my goal.

be

[TRNinTX]

Check out BJ's post on training with a .22.

BJ Norris Blog

[hugh]

How about a tune-able recoil enhancer,especially in guns where the weight/trigger are so close(1911/SVI).

Kind of an upside down comp,with reversed ports?Maybe something like a Browning B.O.S.S.

You just twist that sucker 'till your .22 is making major.

[Patrick82]

I am a Glock shooter in USPSA Limited and Production Divisions. I often use a Browning Buckmark in practice sessions to focus on sight picture and trigger control. I have found that it can highlight over-muscling of the gun in recoil and tremendously improves my accuracy with my glocks.

It is important to note that I am not trying to simulate the glock experience in anyway. I am just trying to isolate something that is hidden in the heavier recoil of the .40 and 9mm pistols.

Regards,

Jack

Almost the same here, I use a standard Browning Buckmark for static accuracy training and even though I shoot an open SVI in IPSC there was a noticeable deference in my accuracy. And by shooting more accurate I got more confident on where my shots came and could go faster.

I think you can compare it a bit with driving a car, the basics of each car are the same but they all behave different. But each time you drive a car you get more experience.

For training you just need to look on what you want to learn, the .22 conversion is not fit for all training but certainly can be used.

[Patrick82]

I am a Glock shooter in USPSA Limited and Production Divisions. I often use a Browning Buckmark in practice sessions to focus on sight picture and trigger control. I have found that it can highlight over-muscling of the gun in recoil and tremendously improves my accuracy with my glocks.

It is important to note that I am not trying to simulate the glock experience in anyway. I am just trying to isolate something that is hidden in the heavier recoil of the .40 and 9mm pistols.

Regards,

Jack

Almost the same here, I use a standard Browning Buckmark for static accuracy training and even though I shoot an open SVI in IPSC there was a noticeable deference in my accuracy. And by shooting more accurate I got more confident on where my shots came and could go faster.

I think you can compare it a bit with driving a car, the basics of each car are the same but they all behave different. But each time you drive a car you get more experience.

For training you just need to look on what you want to learn, the .22 conversion is not fit for all training but certainly can be used.