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.