Better than I was

Practice makes perfect.

- Anonymous -

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I completely disagree with this statement. I do not believe that perfection is attainable or that it's healthy to constantly drive at it. In my opinion seeking perfection opens one up to disappointment and can be demotivating when it doesn't come.

Imagine seeking perfection, investing mammoth amounts of effort, emotion and time in taking the actions that are supposed to take one to a state of perfection only to find out one fell marginally short. If one is seeking perfection, committed to it, how can anything less be acceptable? And so one opens oneself up to the opportunity for demotivation, loss of positive attitude and possibly even depression. Not a good way to be.

I used to be a perfectionist and whilst I attained great results they never seemed enough; I'd gain a great result but not see it as such, just look somewhere else for better, the perfect result; that cycle went over and over. It was limiting to my progression but fortunately I managed to break the habit many years ago and now, instead of seeking perfection, I look for continual improvement. It means I feel contented more often, happy with my results when I see development or improvement and I don't waste time beating myself up over not being perfect at something. I'm also better placed to evaluate performance and make changes.

This translates to most things I do in life and certainly my shooting activities which I have taken very seriously over the last thirty-plus years.

I was talking to someone yesterday who made the comment that I must shoot a lot to keep my skills at a high level. Yes I do, was my answer however it's not all about sending rounds down range; much of the shooting happens at home.

Dry fire

I dry fire my handguns and rifles at home almost daily. The idea behind it is I can train myself to do certain things through the repetitive action; my trigger-pull for instance. I've had many people suggest there's little value in it however I disagree completely.

It saves ammunition and is so easily achieved. All I have to do is strap on my holster rig, make sure the firearm is empty and train - No driving to the range, no loading of magazines and no wastage of ammunition.

I use it a lot for my handgun training, holster draw and target acquisition mainly but other things also like fast magazine changes and my load and unload process.

When practicing I stick several black dots on walls, doors, the fridge light shades and so on. I then find a spot in the room and simply draw, acquire the target and pull the trigger twice on each of the dots moving around as I go, double-tapping each dot. I holster in between each as it allows me to work on my draw.

I use a shot timer to start me off although it's not sensitive enough to register the fall of the hammer each time so doesn't give me splits. I don't do it to be quick though, I work on trigger-pull, making it the same every time and making sure the target stays in the sites because if it doesn't, well that's a miss. Acquiring the target is also part of the training.

I do this for no more than twenty minutes a day and then pack up and move on to something else. It keeps me sharp and accurate and ensures my muscle memory is repeatable and practiced.

Live fire

When I go to the range I practice also. I actually see the dry fire as training and live fire as practice; putting the training into practice.

I load up my magazines and place myself in front of three targets set at various ranges and angles from myself: Centre, left and right. I don't put a dot on the target to aim at as in the real world one doesn't have that luxury. I just set the shot timer, clipped to my shirt pocket, for a random delayed start and and then wait for the beep. When it comes I draw and fire two rounds. That's it.

I repeat this thirty times, sixty rounds in all, and register my times, basically the time from the beep to first shot then the first to second shot. These are recorded in a spreadsheet so I can analyse them later.

I am also looking for accuracy so stop and investigate anything that landed outside of a certain area on the target. Just a note, the targets I use are small-torso-sized and do not carry any numbers. There are three hit zones: A, C and D or Alpha, Charlie, Delta. Anything outside of an alpha is unacceptable as an Alpha is deemed a kill shot. Mine don't always land there, but most do. In competition the points decline with one's accuracy so I'm always looking for double alpha's.

From there I load up another set of magazines and do the same thing but start with my hands over my head. Then I load up another sixty rounds and start with my back to the targets which force me to turn before I draw. After that I shoot six rounds in a row, two on each of the three targets. I record the times and accuracy also. I always shoot from the holster which is generally what happens in the field as well.

I practice as above at least three times a month and compete once a month where running between targets, opening doors, running and pop-up targets, building complexes and all sorts of scenarios are added. It's a lot of fun, pretty intense and exciting...But it all starts with that dry-fire training in my house. It makes every live round I send down range more effective and more valuable.

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My continuous improvement ethos is one I apply to many aspects of life with mixed results but with shooting it makes me a better operator for sure.

I know people who talk about guns as if having one is the ultimate solution but in truth most simply don't have a clue. It's not at all like on the movies, TV shows and computer games, not even close. I know that most people, uninstructed, would likely hit a grand total of nothing with a firearm if asked to. I work hard, continually seeking to improve, to hone my skills, shave time and build muscle memory so I feel a lot of confidence. Am I the greatest shooter in the world? No I am not. Am I better than most? Probably. But importantly...

Am I better than I was before the last time I practiced? Yes, I totally am!