Went to the range for my first time tonight!

Went to the local range and took a beginners handgun course. Course covered the very basics of handgun ownership, most importantly safety, then moved to cleaning and storing techniques and finally to the fundamentals of shooting.

Shot though a box of 9mm, 7 yards, then 10 yards, here's what I did:





And my first and only gun:





Initial reactions were scattered. I wasn't quite ready for the amount of feedback I got from the gun, it was a bit unsettling. But, after the first magazine full I settled in and I improved a bit. Post range reactions are: I'm hooked. Can't wait to go back and fire some more!!

So, for a first time shooter, comments? I know I hit a few low. I noticed during my second mag that I wasn't breathing :X So I forced myself to take a few deep breaths and relaxed my arms a bit too much on the exhale, during the trigger pull which lead to a few low shots. Overall though, I'm pretty excited for my first time out!

~Joey

 

good job! aim for the head, cause a smart criminal would wear body armor!

 

Nice shooting. Awesome that you went and got some basic training.

 

Center mass, it's all good. Have fun and protect your ears--double up on the ear protection. Plugs and ear muffs. The person next to you will inevitably bring a .45. If you really get hooked, look at IPSC (Internatnl Pistol Shooters) they do some pretty cool competetive stuff.
Holding breath is good, but that is only sustainable for about 8-10 seconds and then O2 depletion will cause erratic hits. Just work the basics for now. Have fun at it so you have the motivation to go back and do it again.

 

I guarantee that wont be your last gun either. Now, you just need to get a decent shotgun and a couple of friends and go skeet shooting, followed up with your first Ar-15 and so on and so on.

 

Good times and good shooting. Remember the center mass is geared towards spin hits. The higher up you go the better. And welcome to the club!

 

Recoil is 80% in your head. Triple check that your gun is unloaded, and there is no ammo in your area, then dry fire to practice trigger control. The hammer drop should be a surprise. Trigger pull should be a smooth press. Your front sight should be your focus point, not the target. Your sight should not move from the target. You should know from your sight where the bullet would have gone.
Once you get the hang of dry firing, you'll be surprised at how much better you shoot. Just make sure you keep track of how much you dry fire and include it into the count of rounds on the firing pin. Keep all your counts (rounds and dry fire) on a index card in your range bag. This will keep you from guessing if your springs need replacing.

Remember: Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast!

Check out the forum in my sig. These guys know their stuff!

 

^^ what skytower said. All good stuff. Trigger control and sight alignment FTW!
Recoil is subjective. My S&W 1911 45ACP has less than my M&P 40c. Every gun is different.

 

Nice shootin! I went to one of those basic pistol courses too at our conservation department. Actually, I took it twice. Once by myself and then once with my wife. It was a lot of fun and like you, I was hooked. Took a basic shotgun and trap course as well, that was even more fun!

 

^^^ This is really helpful; I do it for every new pistol I get because every trigger squeeze is a little bit different. I have Crimson Trace laser grips on my 1911 and found that they augment this exercise real nicely. The laser on the wall lets you know if you jerk the shot as you pull the trigger. If you practice taking aim as Skytower explained, and keeping a consistent trigger pull (i.e. keeping the laser in the same spot on the wall - I usually put something up to aim at) you can drastically improve your shooting.

The gun range that my father and I go to only has 25 and 50 yard pistol targets (quite a long shot), so I had to do this drill a lot to be consistent at 25 yards (and even hit paper at first). But now that I'm used to shooting consistently at this range, when I shoot at 15-25 FEET with my buddies, I can put a magazine on top one another.

Keep practicing and keep enjoying yourself - it's a great sport.

 

When you shoot them in the head they don't get back up and shoot you in the back when you move forward to clear the next area. With shots to the body they do.

 

Just keep going to the range to practice. For a beginner that's not bad. Magpul puts out some great videos check them out when you get the chance.

 

I used to shoot a lot growing up, before my dad left. I've only recently began to shoot again now, and I never knew you could dry fire a weapon. I was always told it could damage the firing pin. I did a little search after reading this post, and it turns out you're completely right. Thanks for ending an apparently very common myth for me! I learned something new today.

 

another good way to get over the recoil jump or trigger jump...whatever you wanna call it is to get a few dummy rounds and have some one else load the mag and put dummy rounds in randoms spots. this will help you notice when your flinching and it also helps with jam drills and so on.

 

I know people who have been shooting for 10 plus years that can't make a group like that (depending on range)!

Good job!

 

Good for you man. I'm an NRA basic pistol instructor and it's really fun to see folks who have never shot a handgun gain confidence as the course progresses.

 

Rimfire weapons cannot be dryfired. You were partially correct Check with your owner's manual to be sure. Never trust one internet wiseguy!

 

Don't give me benefit of the doubt, my assumptions were for rimfire AND centerfire

I did read the part about not dry-firing a rimfire online when I looked up your post, though. A very old .22 is the only rimfire weapon I have, though.

 

This...We do this as a common practice for the Amry Marksmanship Unit here at Virginia Tech. It is amazing how much instinctual reaction you get from an action, actual or anticipated.

 

x2 its a great excerise