I shot again this evening. My first target of the night was not a great start: 74. The very first shot was way out in the white, and I had a few more by the time my first ten shots were up. The string felt reckless. I took shots I should not have taken, and the second target, though better, had some similar aspects.

In both cases, the very first shot of the string was a flier. I seem to remember that same phenomenon happening on a few targets. On one target, the first shot was in the white, but then the next four were tens.

So, I will try to counter that first shot problem by not taking the first shot. Instead, I will dry fire the first shot on Slow Fire targets until I see a clean shot break. Then I will move to live rounds.

Another thought that occurred to me while I was shooting was a memory from a Small Arms Firing School I attended at Camp Perry a number of years ago. One of the shooters giving a talk proposed this: Many of you want to hear us spill the secrets of great shooting. Well, there is no secret. The difference between a great shooter and an average shooter is just this: A great shooter doesn’t fire the bad shots.

So, underlying that idea is this: It is my decision to fire or not to fire. If I bring the gun up and something in the process indicates that the shot is questionable, there is no reason to take the shot, during Slow Fire. I should lower the gun, take a breath, and start the cycle over.

So, with those in mind, I finally did shoot a decent Slow Fire target. It was a 93, with all the shots in the 8-ring or higher (X, 10, 10, 10, 10, 9, 9, 9, 8, 8).

It is good to end on a good target, but, wow, what a spread from 74 to 93. That’s a really big spread. Part of the game is consistency, and that first target was very telling. I need a little more focus.

Since I’m shooting a little more often now, I’ll start recording some scores and some goals, especially for Slow Fire, which is my weakest stage of fire.

Here’s some background for those who haven’t done this sort of shooting. The style of shooting is called “conventional bullseye pistol” shooting. Competitors must shoot from a standing position, one-handed, unsupported. Some matches are .22 caliber only, others are .22, center-fire, and .45 caliber. Many people shoot a .45 for both the center-fire and the .45 match.

There are three courses of fire: Slow Fire, Timed Fire, and Rapid Fire. Each Slow Fire target consists of ten shots in ten minutes. Each Timed Fire target consists of two separate strings of five shots, each in twenty seconds. Rapid Fire is two strings of five shots, with each string fired in ten seconds. Outdoors, Slow Fire is typically shot at fifty yards, while Timed and Rapid Fire are shot at twenty five yards.

Alright, so as far as my own goals go, I’m not too worried about Timed and Rapid Fire. My scores aren’t perfect, but I don’t typically lose all that many points on them. On a normal day, I probably average around 96 or 97 points per Timed and Rapid Fire target.

Now, compare that to a Slow Fire target and you’ll see why I’m going to focus on Slow Fire. Typically, my Slow Fire targets are in the mid-80s. Today, for instance, I shot an 87-0X and a 88-1X in Slow Fire, and I don’t feel bad about those scores. (The X refers to the “X-ring,” which is a bullseye.) So, I’m losing far more points in Slow Fire than in Timed and Rapid Fire.

Thus, my goal for Slow Fires is in two parts:
1. Every shot must be in the 8-ring, at minimum.
2. My scores need to be 90 and above.

Today, I didn’t make it. Here are the scores for my Slow Fire targets.