I decided I needed a new hobby, so I started target shooting. It’s suprisingly relaxing, and I’m improving every week with practice.
Right now i’m renting, but will probably get myself a Ruger Mark III eventually. Later on, if it still interests me, maybe a thompson contender.
Anyone have any advice on improving my accuracy or experience with the ruger or thompson?
Well, starting with the basics, smoothly SQUEEZE the trigger in one smooth motion. Don’t jerk or your shots will go high. Don’t anticipate the BANG, just let it happen.
What caliber are you shooting, and what are you shooting? 100 yards onto paper?
Practice practice practice.
Military types will remember the following from BRM. Pay attention to:
Breathing: Look down your sights and breathe normally. You’ll notice that as you breathe the target will move up and down in your sight picture. Stop breathing for a couple seconds before you shoot. This will allow you to acquire your target and focus on your shot. If you haven’t taken your shot before you start wanting to breathe, take a few breaths and start over.
Relax: Look down your sights and squeeze the rifle with your trigger hand. You’ll notice the target moving diagonally in your sight picture. Pay attention to keeping a firm but constant grip on the rifle, but don’t try to squeeze blood out of it.
Aim: Always aim for the exact same spot on your target no matter where your shots end up. A dime-sized group 4 inches away from the bullseye tells you that you’re shooting well but your rifle sights are not adjusted properly. Get a good group and adjust the sights until the rifle shoots what you’re pointing it at.
Squeeze: Don’t jerk the trigger. Squeeze it gently and let yourself be surprised when the shot is fired. Shots that are at the right elevation but which stray to the right if you’re right-handed) are evidence of trigger jerk.
ETA: when you get a good sight picture, take the shot. Your accuracy will not improve if you hold the target in your sights for a long time. There is a reason “Pulling the trigger” is synonymous with making a quick, executive decision.
For target shooting, once you have all the safety stuff down, we teach a couple of things for accuracy. Or at least we used to when I was a pistol instructor at our range. We had a bulls-eye emphasis (bulls-eye targets at 20 yards) so the following may not be always applicable if you are shooting two handed or are shooting IPSC or similar disciplines.
Natural point of aim. If you are shooting one handed, bulls-eye-style, you should stand so that when you raise your hand with your eyes closed, you will naturally point at the target. You may need to adjust your feet to accomplish this.
Proper grip and trigger finger position. Your grip on the pistol should be firm and balanced. You should not try to deform the pistol with your grip and you should have blood flow through your knuckles. You should adjust your grip so that you can easily reach the trigger and be able to squeeze it straight back. For many people the best position for the finger on the trigger with the center of the pad of the end segment of your index finger flat on the face of the trigger. If you use the crease of the first joint you may find that you will be pulling or pushing the pistol to the side as you squeeze the trigger. Your wrist joint should be firm, shooting with a limp wrist leads to malfunctions.
Sight picture and proper focus. Unless you are shooting with an artificial aperture or optical sights, you will not be able to focus on the target and your sights at the same time. Chances are you will not be able to see both your rear and front sights sharply at the same time. Your main point of focus should be your front sight, accepting that the target and rear sights will be a bit fuzzy.
Accept the movement you see in your sight picture. You will never have an absolutely still sight picture. What you want is a small arc over the target. If you have correct sight alignment then as long as your arc stays in the black, so will your shots. Tensing your muscles to tighten down the arc will have the opposite effect.
Squeeze, don’t jerk the trigger. When you are on target, apply and increase pressure on the trigger until the shot breaks. Ride out the recoil, allowing the pistol to settle back on target–follow through is as important here as it is in golf or baseball. If you are resting between shots you can lower the pistol at this point.
Concentrate on each shot as it happens. You check your results after the entire string is shot.
Conditioning. Target shooting is a sport and will benefit from a well functioning cardiovascular system. The best rifle shots will shoot between heartbeats and I have seen my pulse affecting my pistol sight picture. You may also be holding your breath as you take your shot. An aerobically fit person will have a lower resting heart rate and deeper oxygen reserves to accomplish these. You can also train your arm muscles for holding up the gun (it can get really heavy during a full length bulls-eye match). A large soup can lifted and held up with an extended arm while you are watching T.V. can build up endurance.
Pistol Choice. You want a gun that will fit your hand comfortably, and will point naturally for you. All things being equal, a heavier pistol with a lighter trigger will be more forgiving than vice-versa, simply because the inertia will help you stay on target through the shot.
My club thinks highly of the High Standard pistols, although some people enjoy the Ruger Mk I/II. The magazine safety in the Mk III makes the trigger a little obnoxious. Walther P22s are fun little pistols but are light and have obnoxiously heavy and gritty triggers (at least in the two examples I shot with) and I would not use them for serious target shooting. If you want to get really spendy, a Pardini SP or Hammerli are Olympic class target pistols and the Pardini is especially delightful to shoot.
-DF
Most of the .22 calibre Ruger pistols are well-thought of for smallbore handgun target shooting, and I see quite a few Browning Buckmarks at the range too. Rimfire revolvers have also come a long way and are also gaining in popularity, too. The important thing is to find a gun that fits well in your hand, naturally aims well, and is comfortable to shoot.
Otherwise, Dancer_Flight’s advice is spot-on.
Avoid the Walther P22 and the SIG Mosquito. They are known for being very hit or miss in terms of quality, they are very finicky about ammunition, the SIG is expensive for a little .22, and the Walther has a history of slide breakage.
For .22 automatics you can’t beat the Ruger Mark I/II/III series or the Browning Buckmark.
Another vote for the Ruger, but a Mk II rather than a Mk III if you can find one. As mentioned the stock trigger is better on the Mk II. And add a Volquartson trigger kit and their “exact edge” extractor. Maybe a set of Hogue or Volquartson grips as well. I have both and prefer the Hogues.
I have a 20 something year old High Standard, and it’s a fine shooter. I’ve heard that the newer ones are not so hot.
If you’re not looking for anything too fancy, the Ruger 22/45 is a solid, reliable .22 autoloader. It has the same grip angle as the M1911A1 (hence the name)
Another piece of advice: Don’t buy anything in a “weird” calibre until you’re comfortably established as a shooter. Stick to .22, 9mm Parabellum, .38 Special, .357 Magnum (which can also fire .38 Special), .32ACP, or (if you want to shoot something big and solid), .45ACP.
Also, if you’re looking for a good, affordable centrefire handgun, Taurus make excellent copies of the S&W revolvers and Beretta semi-auto designs.
The upper on the 22/45 is the same as the Ruger Mk III, but the frame design precludes changing the grips for something more hand filling, if desired, and the magazines are unique to that model. But realistically the magazines for the Mk III are unique to that model also. :smack:
Volquartsen does not make trigger parts for the 22/45 either, if that matters to you. But it greatly improved the trigger on my Mk II.
Completely useless trivia for you to share at the range with your new shooting friends:
The Ruger “Standard” range (Mk I, II, III, 22/45 etc) of .22 pistols are all based on the WWII Japanese Nambu service handgun. The Nambu itself was nothing special and fired an underpowered 8mm cartridge, but- as William Ruger discovered- the design was perfect for an affordable, reliable, accurate .22 calibre semi-auto handgun.
I agree to go with a Ruger Mark II if you can find one. I had a Mark II many years ago but sold it. I got a Mark III last year.
With the Mark II, I could flip the lever open, pop the barrel off, disassemble and reassemble in a few minutes.
With the Mark III there are several added steps involving inserting and removing an empty magazine for some reason, probably safety. Very annoying. And the wisdom of inserting a magazine into a weapon during disassembly or assembly really escapes me, empty or not.
But don’t get me wrong I do like my Mark III, I am just irked by the extra ‘features’ that seem to serve no purpose.
Personally, I liked the Smith & Wesson Model 41 more than the Rugers, but I think it’s more expensive.
The Contender is nice, good accuracy and and good trigger, and the interchangeable barrels make it a good value. It’s like a rifle, but more portable. You shoot it differently than most pistols, usually using a braced two-handed position, or at least that’s what you do if you’re using a scope like I did. They even have kits to change them into a rifle, but I think those are illegal in some areas because you could use the shoulder stock and pistol-barrel to make a short-barrelled rifle.