We all know you can’t improve your pistol shooting without training. However, training is just one tool, to improve your pistol shooting skills. There are tons of pistol training tools on the market, and many tools you don’t need to buy. So which ones work, and which ones don’t?
Get Training
You can buy all the training tools and gear in the world and still not improve your pistol shooting skills without learning the general basics first. This means you’ll want to at least take a basic pistol class. The NRA offers a few pistols classes, and a lot of gun ranges offer classes also. These are great ways to start your pistol training.
Practice a Lot
Training can only take you so far. You much practice what you’ve learned. You never hear about a person who took one class then went out and competed in a firearms match and won. In fact, if you ask most people how they became so good at shooting they will tell you something like I practice a lot or I’ve lost count of how many rounds I’ve shot downrange. Proving you must practice. Of course, there are two ways to practice with a firearm.
Live-Fire Practice
Live-fire practice is just like it sounds you go to a range and shoot. This involves lots of rounds downrange. It also involves the intention of getting better. Just shooting at a target for fun isn’t going to make you better very fast. It takes being intentional about how you practice.
Distance
When you shoot a pistol the distance from the target makes a huge difference at the difficulty. So you’ll have to practice at different distances. Start with close up. 3 yards, 5 yards, 7 yards, something close. Then once you’ve mastered close move out longer distances. 15-21 yards is about max of what you really want to worry about. Although a pistol can shoot further it’s become almost too far for 99% of the practical shooting you’ll ever do. The big thing to remember don’t just shoot 7 yards and think you are good.
Speed
We all know that smooth is fast and fast is smooth. The problem is you have to learn to be smooth first than you can learn to be fast. So starting out you need to take things slow and work up to fast shooting. Get a rhythm down and keep a pace as you shoot. A shot timer helps with this. They will beep to have you start and record how long between shots. This information helps you know how fast you are shooting and if you are getting faster.
Drills
Once you are good at various distances and have worked up to a good speed. You can always start doing different pistol training drills. One of the best-known pistol drills is the Dot Torture drill. This one can be done a few different ways but does require drawing from a holster. So you are at a range you can draw from a holster you may have to modify it.
Dry-Fire Practice
Dry-Fire practice does a lot to help you with trigger control, and the fundamentals. It’s done with either snap caps or an empty chamber without the necessity of a range. The idea is that you pull the trigger watching for the gun to move. This works really well to help you see what you are doing wrong with your trigger pull.
Pistol Training Tools and Aids
For those who trust gear overtraining, or seem to want the latest and greatest gear. There is gear to help you with your pistol training. There’s actually lots of gear to help you with dry fire training. Along with some that helps with both dry fire and live-fire training.
Mantis X
The Mantis X is one of the best pistol training tools you can buy. It tracks exactly what you do with every pull of the trigger. Whether its dry fire or live fire it will record the movement of the gun as you pull the trigger. Then it will give you hints as to what you did wrong. For just under $160, the Mantis X is the best all-around training tool you can buy.
Laser Training Devices
Other than the Mantis X there is another great device that helps you with your dry fire practice. It’s a laser training tool. There are a couple different ones you can choose from. The concept is that you put a little laser pointer shaped in the size of a bullet in your gun. When you pull the trigger of your gun the hammer turns the laser on for a split second. Then your target or a camera picks up on the laser dot and records where you hit. This helps you learn how you are aiming and pulling the trigger at the same time. The only problem is some of these can get-go for the same price or more than a Mantis X.
Grip Strength Helpers
I know it sounds cheesy to think you need to exercise your hands to shoot a pistol better. However, your grip strength plays a big roll in how well you hold your pistol. We’ve all seen that one person who limp wrists a gun and it causes all sorts of problems. We’ve also seen more than one person that shoots great groups for the first 100 rounds then they start going all over the place. This is all due to your grip strength.
This means buying a grip strength training tool with go a long way to avoid these problems. The stronger your grip strength is the easier it will be to get a good strong grip on your gun. The best part, this is something you can do while watching TV, or whenever you have a few minutes that you aren’t using your hands.
Video Camera
This may sound like crazy but record your shooting practice. You can’t always have someone else watching you telling you what you are doing. However, everyone has a camera on their cell phones nowadays. Prop it up on the shooting bench and record your shooting. It’s easier to see if you are anticipating the recoil, jerking the trigger, lacking follow-through, and whatnot.
Targets
If you are the kind of person who just wants to shoot until practice makes perfect there are even special targets that will help you. These targets, of course, assume that you are aiming correctly. You miss aiming aside these targets will give you a visual idea if you are pushing your gun, too much trigger and all the other common mistakes people make.
Dummy Rounds
Dummy rounds or better known at snap caps are something most people don’t consider a pistol training tool, but they are one of the best ones. When you randomly load a couple of snaps caps in your pistol magazine if gives you a great chance to see if you are anticipating recoil. You start shooting normally then when the snap cap hits you’ll see if you move the gun while pulling the trigger. It’s amazing how fast a snap cap can you what you are doing.
Conclusion
There are lots of different pistol training tools you can use to help improve your pistol shooting. From formal training to different aids. Improving your pistol shooting really comes down to learning the standard pistol fundamentals and doing lots of practice. Dry fire practice will save you money in ammo, and range fees. Tools like the Mantis X and special targets help you figure out what you need to work on to get better faster.