Horrible job today.

[Girlwithagun90]

First off, hello. I'm new here to the forums, but I hope that I'll settle in nicely.
My fiancé and I have been practicing to take our CCW test here in KY. I'm not sure what it is everywhere else but it's 11/20 shots from 20ft. We go practice everyday and we are pretty good. He's been shooting a lot longer than I have. I never even shot a gun before I met him, but recently have been getting really into it. I did awful today when we went to shoot. With only 5/30, opposed to a very proud 17/20 2 days ago, I have no idea what's wrong. It was getting dark, I had a headache, and we were using smaller targets. I DID AWFUL! I really am looking for some tips on how to better my shooting. When I aim I'm spot on! But when I shoot I'm usually too high! I do shoot with my right eye closed (left eye dominant, right handed). Today was extremely frustrating to say the least. Any tips/tricks for a new shooter? We are shooting a Ruger .22 if that matters. And will be taking our test with it. Thanks in advance and sorry for all the rambling.

[Ridge]

Originally Posted by Girlwithagun90

First off, hello. I'm new here to the forums, but I hope that I'll settle in nicely.
My fiancé and I have been practicing to take our CCW test here in KY. I'm not sure what it is everywhere else but it's 11/20 shots from 20ft. We go practice everyday and we are pretty good. He's been shooting a lot longer than I have. I never even shot a gun before I met him, but recently have been getting really into it. I did awful today when we went to shoot. With only 5/30, opposed to a very proud 17/20 2 days ago, I have no idea what's wrong. It was getting dark, I had a headache, and we were using smaller targets. I DID AWFUL! I really am looking for some tips on how to better my shooting. When I aim I'm spot on! But when I shoot I'm usually too high! I do shoot with my right eye closed (left eye dominant, right handed). Today was extremely frustrating to say the least. Any tips/tricks for a new shooter? We are shooting a Ruger .22 if that matters. And will be taking our test with it. Thanks in advance and sorry for all the rambling.

Welcome to the forum. Did you use a new brand of ammo today? .22 is funny like that. I'm sure the headavhe was the biggest part though. We all have good and bad days.

[NETWizz]

Originally Posted by Girlwithagun90

First off, hello. I'm new here to the forums, but I hope that I'll settle in nicely.
My fiancé and I have been practicing to take our CCW test here in KY. I'm not sure what it is everywhere else but it's 11/20 shots from 20ft. We go practice everyday and we are pretty good. He's been shooting a lot longer than I have. I never even shot a gun before I met him, but recently have been getting really into it. I did awful today when we went to shoot. With only 5/30, opposed to a very proud 17/20 2 days ago, I have no idea what's wrong. It was getting dark, I had a headache, and we were using smaller targets. I DID AWFUL! I really am looking for some tips on how to better my shooting. When I aim I'm spot on! But when I shoot I'm usually too high! I do shoot with my right eye closed (left eye dominant, right handed). Today was extremely frustrating to say the least. Any tips/tricks for a new shooter? We are shooting a Ruger .22 if that matters. And will be taking our test with it. Thanks in advance and sorry for all the rambling.

Sure lot's of advice, but as they say, "free advice is seldom cheap":

1. Don't shoot with one eye closed. You will loose depth perception. If you are left-eye dominant, your left eye will automatically focus anyway and the right will simply provide the brain subconscious data you won't be aware about, but it should help.

2. Your trigger pull should NOT move the barrel at all. Put a mountable laser on (or tape a $5 laser pointer on) and point on the gun at a target and hold it perfectly steady. Now, don't even look at the gun sites and just pull the trigger... Does the dot move? You will probably need to pull with your finger tip. Work on this until the dot does not move at all!

3. Work on your grip. You should be overlapped (not interlaced) and have palm support too. The firearm should be an extension of your arm and naturally straight. Your thumbs should be parallel. (look up grip)

4. Remove the silly laser and now start practicing your site picture. You should have the three dots lined up and perfectly level. Now let your target blur and the 2 dots in back blur. Focus on the front site post...

5. Now go shoot. You can buy an entire brick of Blazer for about $17, so go shoot about 1000 rounds in practice cleaning the firearm ever 100 rounds.

6. Get the test and do Mock runs where you do what your state requires.

7. When the actual test comes along, don't rush, get nervous, or anything. Just stay calm, collected, and go about it S-l-o-w-l-y and accurately. I doubt they award points for quick misses, yet I would think they would provide much more than ample time.


8. Unless you plan on carrying that Ruger (or can at least use a different gun besides the one you certified with), consider getting a different pistol...one you might actually use to save your life one day and practice and take the test with it.

[Girlwithagun90]

Those were really good points. And no, no new ammo today. I also do not plan on concealing the Ruger. It's the only gun we have that's affordable and somewhat accurate (we only have the .22, a 350 judge, and an AR) we planned on getting wither .40 or .45.

[chameleon]

Welcome! It could also partially be frustration setting in. It's easy to start shooting bad and just get worse because you are getting frustrated with how you are shooting. The training can very easily go out the window and next thing you know you can't hit the broad side of a barn. That's speaking personally from a lot of bad range days haha.

[Chalm]

How is your stance? Are you shuffling your feet and changing how you stand every shot? Are you also just holding the gun up the whole time and shoulders getting tired?

Find that stance/base and replicate it every time! Its like building a house, you need a solid foundation first.

Next rest your arms if you're getting tired. I don't know if the CCW test lets you place your firearm at alert in between shots. But at least during practice build up that muscle memory and strength.

Most importantly, enjoy your range time I know goign there when you feel like crap makes it not a great time. So go there excited and ready to hone your skills. I LOVE RANGE DAYS!! You should too.

[Girlwithagun90]

I LOVE going to shoot. I wait ALL day for my fiancé to get off so we can go. Infact I can't wait till tomorrow. Im taking all this new information and trial/erroring it. I hope some of it works. I also just learned in class we will use a b27 target. It a lot bigger than the targets we are using now so that kinda makes me a little relieved.

[Girlwithagun90]

This may sound stupid but what in the world is a 'brick of blazer' is this ammo?

[AwPhuch]

Originally Posted by Girlwithagun90

This may sound stupid but what in the world is a 'brick of blazer' is this ammo?

.22 ammo comes in 50 count boxes...and since the ammo is so small compared to some larger calibers...it comes in large boxes of 500+, lovingly called a brick

This is a box (50 rounds...notice its not very large)




This is a "brick"


I highly recommend this site for you http://www.corneredcat.com/Contents/ its a website designed by a woman for women on the ins and outs of shooting and carrying a firearm for defense.

[TSiWRX]

The best thing to do is to look to your LOCAL shooting and/or concealed-carry community - ask around and see if there are instructors/schools that are recommended by its members.

Go for a semi-private (low enrollment, low instructor-to-student ratio) class or even book a private class altogether. Also consider taking the class *separate* from your mate-to-be, so that you can truly focus on the task (and also so that he doesn't feel that he has to step in, too ).

It's really, really, really hard to learn how to shoot by "reading." Not that you can't do it - it's definitely possible - but the learning curve is steep, and it is also both time-consuming and expensive (range-time and ammo).

Some dollars invested up-front, with a live lesson or two (or three ), pays off huge, downstream.