Justice's Journey Part 2
For Justice's second time on the range, it was time to find out what he could and could not do. We had been working for several months dry firing draws, reloads, malfunctions, target transitions and getting in and out of positions. I decided to have him shoot the IDPA classifier.
This would give me a good look at just about every aspect of shooting in just one (90) round course of fire. The course of fire includes, body and head shots, varying distances (out to 20 yards), target transitions, strong and support hand only, shooting on the move and shooting from barricades. His results shocked me a little. If he had been a little more disciplined, he would have classified as a Sharp Shooter. His total time was 158. Not bad for his second time on the range.
This would give me a good look at just about every aspect of shooting in just one (90) round course of fire. The course of fire includes, body and head shots, varying distances (out to 20 yards), target transitions, strong and support hand only, shooting on the move and shooting from barricades. His results shocked me a little. If he had been a little more disciplined, he would have classified as a Sharp Shooter. His total time was 158. Not bad for his second time on the range.
I believe strongly in the dry fire manipulations he has been doing. Practicing by "throwing rounds down range"is not practice, being disciplined to practice the right thing until it becomes a habit is what is important. Any "slop" you have in your manipulations can cost time and accuracy. During the Christmas break, I did not pick up a gun for 3 weeks. The first time on the range was bad, really bad. Even at my level, I still need the same discipline to make sure that I am handling the weapon a couple times a week. It does make that much of a difference.
Justice is living proof that its not about how much "range time" you can squeeze into your day, its about 5 to 10 minutes a day of manipulations (draws, reloads, target transitions, and setups) Although we would all like to be able to shoot everyday of the week, that's not really an option for most. Ammunition being so scarce and so expensive right now, can also effect our practice time. My advise for parents looking to get your young adults involved in "action pistol shooting" is to look into Airsoft guns. There are a number of different places to get them on the net and different models to choose from. This way you can get the repetitions in and pull the trigger for pennies on the dollar.
Here are some sites to look at. Go with a full metal, blow back, green gas operated gun.
Great article Brandon. I recently shot a match with Brandon and Justice. It was Justice's first match, which I am sure Brandon will write an article about. Justice did an outstanding job! He was safe, listened to Brandon and stayed focused the whole match. It was a fun watching him shoot. You could definetly tell that the Dry Fire practice was a success. He received many compliments from the RO's as well as other competitors. A tribute to Brandon's work with him.
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