Let me start by saying that I am just about to turn 56, and have been shooting firearms since I was 7. In all that time, and with so many years of experience I have often counted myself as a pretty good shooter... Not the best, but good enough that even other shooters have patted me on the back at various times and at many ranges. I have even posted some of my better groups on this and other forums to show off at times, but those days are now gone for good. Why? Because I just discovered how absolutely mediocre I really am at practical (real life) shooting. you know, the kind of shooting that involves rapid fire while moving.
You see, I have never been a run & gun type shooter at any point of my life. If I had a shooting type or style it would have to be "bulls-eye" shooting. The kind of shooting that involves only a slow pace of fire at a known distance from the target. I have posted online many 10-yard, 15-yard and 25-yard groups to prove my keen eye and shooting prowess, at least on that given day. I have even posted a video showing my ability to shoot a .22 GSG-1911 at 100 yards and keep all the shots on a torso target. But, even with those skills under my belt, I was completely unprepared for a day of professional training with a SWAT team leader from a Northern Indiana city. This 9-hour training covered various shooting skills and tactics that ranged from a couple of standing drills, where I did quite well, to many types of drills that added speed, movement and multiple activities into the string of fire, where I did from average to poorly... I actually felt like I was new to shooting. I knew that adding speed and movement would show my weaknesses, but damn! This was very hard!
All I can say at this point is that most of my training for shooting has to be relearned. I have lost confidence that my bulls-eye style skill will count for much in a real-life self defense emergency. I will not be shooting from a known distance at a static target utilizing my tried and true shooting stance... Everything I thought I knew, just went out the window, and it makes me sad that it took nearly 50 years of shooting to figure it out.
Previous examples of what I once thought made a decent marksman...
14-Yards, but now worthless:
15-Yards, but now worthless:
10-Yards, but now worthless:
I have been truly humbled, but now realize that I must change my shooting skills training if I really want to be able to hold my own if I am in a S###-Storm situation.
You see, I have never been a run & gun type shooter at any point of my life. If I had a shooting type or style it would have to be "bulls-eye" shooting. The kind of shooting that involves only a slow pace of fire at a known distance from the target. I have posted online many 10-yard, 15-yard and 25-yard groups to prove my keen eye and shooting prowess, at least on that given day. I have even posted a video showing my ability to shoot a .22 GSG-1911 at 100 yards and keep all the shots on a torso target. But, even with those skills under my belt, I was completely unprepared for a day of professional training with a SWAT team leader from a Northern Indiana city. This 9-hour training covered various shooting skills and tactics that ranged from a couple of standing drills, where I did quite well, to many types of drills that added speed, movement and multiple activities into the string of fire, where I did from average to poorly... I actually felt like I was new to shooting. I knew that adding speed and movement would show my weaknesses, but damn! This was very hard!
All I can say at this point is that most of my training for shooting has to be relearned. I have lost confidence that my bulls-eye style skill will count for much in a real-life self defense emergency. I will not be shooting from a known distance at a static target utilizing my tried and true shooting stance... Everything I thought I knew, just went out the window, and it makes me sad that it took nearly 50 years of shooting to figure it out.
Previous examples of what I once thought made a decent marksman...
14-Yards, but now worthless:
15-Yards, but now worthless:
10-Yards, but now worthless:
I have been truly humbled, but now realize that I must change my shooting skills training if I really want to be able to hold my own if I am in a S###-Storm situation.
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