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Improving On Steel? Airsoft? Dryfire Drills?


boo radley

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I'm giving up more than I'd like when shooting arrays of steel -- eg, a cluster of poppers, or plates. This is starting to turn into a real weakness in competition.

Specifically, I find myself taking an extra shot (usually on first target), and keeping each steel target in my conscious: ie., have a running mental commentary ("ahh hit it, great!, missed -- why?? another miss??") in my mind, when I shoot.

I'm not sure it's any one "thing" -- sometimes I know I miss because I didn't have the needed sight picture, and sometimes I'll pull off too early, I guess, because I had the sights freakin' painted dead-center on the plate/popper.

I don't have easy access to a plate-rack, unfortunately, and need to work within the confines of a shooting range with lanes, and dry-fire. I've been stapling 5 or 6 paper dessert plates to a backer, and shooting them at 15y, trying to go one-for-one, and I think this drill is helping, but I'd like other suggestions.

Half-thinking about an airsoft, and making a simple plate rack or steel array, but I'm leery of buying essentially an expensive toy, if it doesn't "really" emulate live-fire.

Thx!

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Arrays with single shots and very little muzzle swings tend to allow the shooter to get away with a target focus. Don't be afraid to use the sights though...they really aren't slower.

I mow small steel down like I'm a giant brush-hog, but lately I have missed a couple of the easy great big poppers. The reason for me is simple...lack of execution.

- Try the aim small, miss small theory on steel. If you shoot it in the center, then you can "miss" by quite a bit and still score a hit.

- Along those same lines...don't shoot at the whole target, pick a "spot" and make that your true target.

- Have the visual patience to allow the gun to settle on the target.

- Have the follow-though to allow you to see what you need to see to call the shot.

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Half-thinking about an airsoft, and making a simple plate rack or steel array, but I'm leery of buying essentially an expensive toy, if it doesn't "really" emulate live-fire.

Thx!

Boo

+1 what Flex said

I just purchased an Airsoft pistol. These things are freaking unbelivable in how accurate and realistic they are. I can use in the house and at 10 feet on 8 inch square paper target I can pratice transitions to each corner section of the paper and get my hits. But, you still have to do what Flex stated or else you will miss. At only about $125 for gun, gas, and pellets. Do a search of this site form addational information on arisoft for pratice.

MDA

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Half-thinking about an airsoft, and making a simple plate rack or steel array, but I'm leery of buying essentially an expensive toy, if it doesn't "really" emulate live-fire.

Thx!

Boo

+1 what Flex said

I just purchased an Airsoft pistol. These things are freaking unbelivable in how accurate and realistic they are. I can use in the house and at 10 feet on 8 inch square paper target I can pratice transitions to each corner section of the paper and get my hits. But, you still have to do what Flex stated or else you will miss. At only about $125 for gun, gas, and pellets. Do a search of this site form addational information on arisoft for pratice.

MDA

Airsoft is a great tool for everything except splits. Draw, presentation, accuracy, transitions are all improved. Follow through is actually harder with an airsoft due to the longer lock time; it will really show if you are oversteering the gun during the trigger pull. If you're shooting S_I, then the Western Arms are top-notch. For everything else, spend 90-130$ on an all-metal replica, and you won't be disappointed. I also recommend getting a propane adaptor so you can use blowtorch tanks to fill at 25% of the cost.

H.

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Airsoft is a great tool for everything except splits. Draw, presentation, accuracy, transitions are all improved....

H.

I'm tempted. I'm just reluctant to accumulate more "stuff," and leery of spending a lot of time in a gun that's not the same as what I shoot (mostly a G35). The airsoft would have a different feel and sights, I'm sure, no?

The biggest single problem I'm having with steel -- and thx Flex, that's good advice on aiming small -- isn't the hit/miss ratio, but spending too much time watching what I've hit. I'll hit the popper, and watch it fall, rather than snapping to the next one. That said, I still have issues with going one-for-one, but I think I can work on that at the range, on a single target.

I want my mind to be as blank shooting an array of poppers as it is with paper. I don't look for holes, I try to call the shot and move on. If I'm shooting well, the shot-calling process doesn't invade my mind as any kind of conscious thought. That is NEVER the case with steel, if that makes sense.

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Well, you certainly seem to have a focused goal, so do whatever seems right. On the side of airsoft, you can shoot thousands of rounds for what a single box of real ammo costs, which is the attraction for me. A cardboard box and a clothes hanger turns into a plate rack, and I also shoot a G35. You'll give up about 1/2 lb in weight, and have a non-authentic trigger, but the guns are very close otherwise.

H.

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