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Questions and Answers for week ending:
January 28th, 2005
| Submitted By: |
Kipp Greicar of Lake Charles, Louisiana |
| Category: |
Training / Practice |
| Question: |
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I am new to shooting handguns. I purchased a Glock 21 in 2002 and
fell in love with the sport. I have begun shooting USPSA matches
at a local gun club and have been reading and listening as much as I
possibly can both about the fundamentals of shooting and guns
themselves. In the 2 years I have been shooting, I have fired 10 -
12K rounds through my Glock. Over the last three months I've fired
about 800 per month. I have become a decent shot. My
question is concerning an article on gun grip by Matt Burkett on the
USPSA web site. I have been practicing with this grip for
about 2 months. I find that my accuracy at the range has decreased
(standing, slow fire 15 yards). I also find the cant of the weak hand while trying to maintain hand to hand contact at the rear to
be very unnatural for me and seem to tense up my whole upper body.
Is this due to the wide grip on the Glock 21? Can you give me
advice on proper grip? I shoot well but everything I have
seen, heard and read over the last two years (and especially the last 2
months) has finally confused the hell out of me. |
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Rob's Answer: |
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I am not familiar with this article, but can tell you I have been
experimenting with various grips for 25 years and am still discovering
new things about what I do that differ from my previous understanding.
In a nutshell, a two handed grip is nothing more than a one handed
stance with the support arm involved to stop lateral movement of the
strong arm in relation to the body. The support hand's job is to
aid in returning the gun from muzzle flip and to steady the gun by
triangulating the gun to the body by creating an immoveable joint.
This is very simplified, but I am just now understanding what is
actually happening. Just remember, whatever gets you the best
results is the best way to do something, but understand that you may
also find something better, no matter how much you like the current
state of affairs. Good Luck! RL |
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| Submitted By: |
Michael Weiss of Moline, Illinois |
| Category: |
Training / Practice |
| Question: |
I have just gotten back into shooting after being away from it for
several years, (the kids grew up and moved away). My wife had
never shot a handgun until we purchased a Ruger P94 which we kept for a
short time. She liked shooting so much that she wanted her own.
We purchased the Springfield XD Tactical in .40 caliber. We sent
it back to Springfield to have the Dawson fiber optic front sight put on
and had them do a trigger job on it as well. (We know a lot of the
people from Springfield and Debbie Else did an exceptional job.) Now she
out shoots me quite often. Her accuracy is unbelievable, but
she needs to get faster at her sight alignment. How does she do
this?
I shoot the Springfield 1911A1 fully loaded model in the .45. I
also have had the Dawson front sight and trigger job done. Joe
Nimrick helped put my gun together and it is unbelievably accurate.
I am an average shooter and would like to get a whole lot better.
What would you suggest to help me. I try to hit the range at
least once a week, but what should I be doing to improve?
My goal is to do well at the Single Stack Classic in Barry Illinois this
coming April. I am looking forward to seeing you shoot in person,
I have watched the video from Springfield several times trying to pick
up some pointers. Keep on shooting straight! |
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Rob's Answer: |
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Sounds like you have helped pay my salary, Thanks! What you both
really need is a day at the range with the best shooter you can find.
Go to your local club and find out who the best USPSA/IPSC shooter is
and offer to buy them dinner for a couple of hours of shooting.
Buy his/her ammo too and you will probably make a friend for life.
A good shooter will know what helped them and the same things will
probably help you and your wife. Do not let it be a match. That is
the wrong atmosphere. Make it an informal session with no time
restraints so you can focus on simple issues without interruption.
Best of luck and I'll see you at the 1911 SSC!
RL |
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| Submitted By: |
Ira Weiny of Livermore, California |
| Category: |
Match Performance |
| Question: |
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I am a new shooter to IPSC who found my PPC scores suffered after
shooting my first few IPSC matches. I did well at the IPSC matches
with mostly A's and a few C's. I even won a stage because others
rushed and got a lot of penalties where I did not. With the use of
snap caps, I found I have developed a slight flinch. I was able to
correct for this at my last PPC match but am afraid that IPSC will throw
me off again. What can I do to keep IPSC from destroying my
accuracy. I don't think I am rushing too much but ... |
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Rob's Answer: |
If by flinching you mean pushing the muzzle down and forward after the
shot is fired, then flinching is am important part of recovery for ultra
fast shooting. I only do it when going reasonably fast. For slower
courses of fire, like those in PPC, I need no fast muzzle flip return
and therefore do not push the gun. Different techniques for
different needs. If you are always defaulting to a push mode, then you
are probably struggling with getting the timing correct as to when the
push occurs. The push is not bad when shooting slow, as long as the
bullet is on the way to the target when it happens. This is also true of
fast shooting. The trick here is that it is not necessary to push
on the gun
to fire it, just to return the gun from recoil and muzzle flip, and then
only when firing very fast shots in succession. Teaching yourself to
not push requires you to let the gun fly freely in recoil.
If you are dealing with the sudden jerking of the trigger, then this is
also a necessary technique for fast shooting. It is hard to keep the gun
motionless during the firing sequence if anything is done suddenly and
violently. Move the trigger and nothing else in a smooth manner with no
sudden increase in pressure to the trigger and you will have no trigger
jerk. RL |
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| Submitted By: |
Dave Plumier of Indianapolis, Indiana |
| Category: |
Equipment |
| Question: |
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Why do you choose to use Aimpoint and what dot size do you prefer for
IPSC shooting? |
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Rob's Answer: |
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Aimpoint scopes are the most durable and reliable of the red dot type
sights. I have guns with Aimpoint scopes on them that I have shot for
nearly ten years without problems! Dot size is kind of unimportant
as long as you can easily find it. I use the larger ones (7-10 min.) for
IPSC and the smaller (3-7 min.) for steel challenge and the smallest
(1-3 min) on carbines and shotguns. RL |
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| Submitted By: |
Randall Randolph of Little Rock, Arkansas |
| Category: |
Guns |
| Question: |
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I am looking to have a "Race Gun" built for myself this year and I would
like to know, if you were going to have a "Race Gun" built what
caliber would you have it in? |
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Rob's Answer: |
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My open guns are now all 9x19 and my limited/ standard gun is a .40
caliber. If you count L-10, I am still shooting .45 ACP.
Best of luck! RL |
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| Submitted By: |
Juke of Orem, Utah |
| Category: |
Training / Practice |
| Question: |
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Hi Rob, I am a 15 year old shooter. I have been
shooting since I was 5 and shooting IDPA and IPSC since I was 8. I
was just wondering if you had any special advice or tips you can give
me to become a better shooter? |
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Rob's Answer: |
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Practice all you can!!! When I was your age all I
wanted to do was go shooting. I was lucky enough to have parents
that felt the same way and supported me all the way until I was a Pro.
The best tip I have is to mind your parents so they will want to help
you. Remember, you need ammo to practice so do whatever you can to
get ammo. I was always loading or casting bullets ... whatever it
took so I could shoot on the weekend. You can dry fire all you
want but you have to shoot to make improvements. Just don't get
too good, or at least wait until I retire. See you at a match
someday, hopefully! RL |
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| Submitted By: |
Joe Hajik of Hampton, Virginia |
| Category: |
Ammunition |
| Question: |
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Thanks for the inspiration! My question will be
brief. I shoot IDPA regularly. I haven't the time to reload
my own ammo (active duty Air Force 18 years). I used to have a
dear friend reload for me with a great load and bullet (3.5 unique, 230
gr. lead round nose with a touch of nickel in the bullet to reduce the
leading). I haven't found such ammo on the market and I have been
using some off the shelf stuff. Obviously a lighter load and lighter
bullet will assist me in reaction times. In your professional
opinion, who would you go to (factory ammo) for such ammo? My weapon;
Early P-14 LIMITED .45 ACP. I appreciate your assistance and
love the website!!! |
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Rob's Answer: |
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My favorite .45 load is the Winchester 185 grain white
box. This stuff is light recoil and very accurate. Thanks for the
question. RL |
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| Submitted By: |
Jake Di Vita of Fenton, Michigan |
| Category: |
Match Preparation |
| Question: |
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Do you have any specific things you do in order to
prepare yourself for a match? If so, does that change from say a
state level match to an area or national match? It seems to me
that classifying matches in order of importance could be a trap, but I'd
really appreciate your perspective on this. |
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Rob's Answer: |
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I consider every match that I shoot important. The
only things that change from a big match to a little one preparation
wise is the amount of time spent training and the level of refinement.
For an all around match like USPSA/IPSC, I am shooting every type of
drill I can think of. For a carnival-type match like the Steel
Challenge or Bianchi, I practice the exact course of fire. RL |
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| Submitted By: |
Joe Klopotek of Auburn, California |
| Category: |
Trigger Manipulation |
| Question: |
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Do you use the same trigger control on XD or Glock type
trigger's as the 1911's? |
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Rob's Answer: |
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There are subtle differences in triggers: there are
differing levels of weight in the various parts of the trigger pull, but
in general I make no changes in my manipulation between the Glock, XD or
1911 trigger. RL |
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