Range Report: S&W M&P 40

[bogus]

First I should note that I have been shooting pistols very long. I know without a doubt that I need some formal training. My wife and son are planning to pay for me to take the NRA Basic Pistol class for Father's Day. Hopefully that will be a good start. I'm looking forward to increasing my knowledge and skills. I also look forward to your constructive criticism.

The target is one of the free downloads from Targetz on 8.5x11 paper with 3inch circles. Ammo was 180 gr. .40 cal Blazer.

I went to Atterbury yesterday to tryout the isosceles stance. I have have been using the Weaver stance since I started less than a year ago. I must say I liked it very well. I shot the upper left with the first mag. Then the upper right. The lower left followed by the lower right. I should also note that I drilled several extra shots into the lower left waiting for the cease fire. I noticed that I seem to fatigue rather quickly. You can see this in the pic above. Both the uppers are okay (by me), then go totally to crap in the lowers. I don't consider myself weak by any means, but I could feel quite a bit of stress and fatigue in my shoulders by the middle of the 3rd mag. My MP40 holds 15 in the mag. I believe that I should possibly reduce the number of rounds per mag to 10 until I become better conditioned. Not so much for the weight, more to force myself to take more breaks. Hopefully this will improve with more practice.

Not exactly great shooting but I had a great time doing it!

[bogus]

Anyone care to comment?

[2ADMNLOVER]

Originally Posted by bogus

You can see this in the pic above. Both the uppers are okay (by me), then go totally to crap in the lowers. .

I agree

[clt46910]

I would say either your hands or arms are getting tired holding up the gun, or the noise was starting to bother you.

Might practice at home holding some weight out in front of you or get a better pair of ear muffs.

[bogus]

Originally Posted by clt46910

I would say either your hands or arms are getting tired holding up the gun, or the noise was starting to bother you.

Might practice at home holding some weight out in front of you or get a better pair of ear muffs.

I had not really thought about sound affecting me. I don't recall flinching from sound. I will definitely check it out next time I'm at the range. Thanks for the response.

[Indy_Guy_77]

I have this problem too...

"fatigue" from shooting 13-15 rounds in a row, fairly quickly. It was especially fatiguing with .40S&W out of a lightweight single-stack polymer framed pistol.

Are you left handed?

There doesn't seem to be much of a "trend" to your shots... Trends can be used to trouble-shoot a shooter's technique. IE: flinching in anticipation of recoil tends to push shots low; for a right-handed shooter, jerking the trigger tends to push things low and left, etc etc.

I suggest mucho dry-fire practice.

Make sure there isn't any ammo in the room with you. Check it again.

Clear your weapon. Be sure it's empty.

Clear the room of ammo. Again. And again.

Clear your weapon again. And again.

Then put a dime on top of the muzzle (After you rack the slide, that is). Practice holding a sight picture while you squeeze the trigger smoothly. Keep it up until the dime doesn't move.

Rinse, lather, repeat.

-J-

[bogus]

Originally Posted by Indy_Guy_77

I have this problem too...

"fatigue" from shooting 13-15 rounds in a row, fairly quickly. It was especially fatiguing with .40S&W out of a lightweight single-stack polymer framed pistol.

Are you left handed?

There doesn't seem to be much of a "trend" to your shots... Trends can be used to trouble-shoot a shooter's technique. IE: flinching in anticipation of recoil tends to push shots low; for a right-handed shooter, jerking the trigger tends to push things low and left, etc etc.

I suggest mucho dry-fire practice.


Then put a dime on top of the muzzle (After you rack the slide, that is). Practice holding a sight picture while you squeeze the trigger smoothly. Keep it up until the dime doesn't move.

Rinse, lather, repeat.

-J-

I'm right handed. I will try the drill you described. Sounds interesting. I have practiced the wall drill some. Honestly I thought I was decent at it when I was doing it.

A clearer picture starting to come together for me though from the posts. I've noticed that my first few shots when I first start or after an extended break are pretty close to where I want them go. When I practice the wall drill, it goes pretty good as well. I haven't practiced the wall drill with more than say 5 or 6 pulls in a row. I'm going to run through 10+ in succession and see how quickly I start to fatigue. May also need to do some weight conditioning as clt46910 posted. I appreciate your help!

[U.S. Patriot]

What was your distance? Those targets look pretty good. Just a suggestion to try next time. If you are slow firing, bring your hands down in front of your stomach. With the muzzle pointing down range, and your finger outside the trigger guard. Then when you are ready you can, bring the gun back up to eye level and fire. I also find at least for me, the longer I focus on target the harder it is on my steadiness and my eyes. That's just me, and because of my training.

[bogus]

Originally Posted by U.S. Patriot

...I also find at least for me, the longer I focus on target the harder it is on my steadiness and my eyes. That's just me, and because of my training.

I definitely notice this as well. I was on the 7 yard range. Thanks for the suggestion. That would be another excellent way for me to slow things down and relax. I think it just comes down to me needing a lot more practice and training. It will come.

[U.S. Patriot]

I work a wierd schedule, but maybe we can get together sometime and go shooting.