I cannot shoot tiny wheel guns.

Tucci454

Tucci454

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So, if the barrel on a revolver is less than 5" or so, I'm completely useless. Might as well be throwing rocks.

Any tips to help me suck less with my short barrel shenanigans?
 
Try staging if using a double action. Or, Practice dry fire with snap caps.
 
Catfish said:
Dry fire practice until you can drop the hammer with a penny balanced on the front sight.
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Been trying this for an hour and can’t get it. Is there a trick for keeping the penny on while you clear leather?
 
JimB said:
Been trying this for an hour and can’t get it. Is there a trick for keeping the penny on while you clear leather?
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Yepp.. before you draw you flip the coin in the air with your strong hand, draw, and catch it on the front sight. It’s easier if you start with quarters and work down.
 
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JimB said:
Been trying this for an hour and can’t get it. Is there a trick for keeping the penny on while you clear leather?
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This has always worked perfectly for me.

loctite-super-glue-2301847-64_1000.jpg
 
The key to accuracy with any pistol is trigger press (not pull) and follow through. Finger placement figures in as well.

Unfortunately, the smaller barrel amplifies errors. If you "slap" the trigger on a full size gun, the muzzle movement on the micro gun is greater.
 
fieldgrade said:
This is a Hackathorn drill with semi autos as well.
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Basic training at Ft. Benning in 1992, they would place a nickle on the barrel of our M16-A2 and had to dry fire x amount of times without coin sliding off. Somewhat nerve racking since it had to be removed and replaced every time so we could charge the rifle. Pretty easy as long as the guy replacing the coin did his job. Seemed like we were prone. Hadn't thought about that in a long time.
 
Snub nose revolvers are my thing. Shoot them better than Glocks, 1911s, or anything else. A firm and high grip is helpful. It keeps the barrel in line with your wrist and forearm to to control recoil. Also, focus on being a stable platform for the revolver. I like to imagine the hammer falling and pushing the round downrange...like a pool cue hitting a ball. A smooth straight back trigger pull is essential. Really, it's just solid fundamentals. Snubs are less forgiving.
 
thrillhill said:
Basic training at Ft. Benning in 1992, they would place a nickle on the barrel of our M16-A2 and had to dry fire x amount of times without coin sliding off. Somewhat nerve racking since it had to be removed and replaced every time so we could charge the rifle. Pretty easy as long as the guy replacing the coin did his job. Seemed like we were prone. Hadn't thought about that in a long time.
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I remember doing something like that at Fort Sill in 1994.
 
So, you can't make the coin work? Try an empty shell case over the front sight. Remember this is dry fire practice.

Work on aim later.
 
On thing that helps me is being able to see the front sight. I don't do the coin trick, but I do watch the front sight very carefully to see what is happening to it. The key, at least for me, is to maintain that sight picture throughout the trigger press. If you've got a plain front sight, go ahead and get some orange sight paint and put some on it.

Personally, I like to shoot at steel plates with my 642 as fast as I can. What really helped me was grasping the concept of the trigger press AND the release. What I mean by that is what Grant Cunningham (dude that literally wrote a book on revolver shooting) calls rowing the boat. When you are rowing a boat, your bidirectional stroke is important. When you're shooting a semi-auto, you can get away with quite a bit on your trigger reset. Not true when it comes to a revolver.

So I like to imagine I'm rowing a boat. Might sound a little odd but it works for me.

Dry fire practice is great, but shooting at 8" steel plates really keeps you honest. When I practice I'll shoot a cylinder or two for group, just to make sure I'm doing what I should. Then I'll actually put myself on a shot timer.

One other thing that I found out. Some snub nose revolvers, like my 642, won't shoot light weight bullets worth a flip. I tried some Hornady 110 grain bullets and couldn't hit much with them. Switched to 158 grain and voila, one hole groups with no problem. Six inch plate offhand at 30 yards? No problem. Make sure you're shooting a load that your gun likes. Learned that one the hard way.

Granted, I'm not the best shooter in the world so take my humble suggestions for what they might be worth.
 
You should try shooting skeet with a snubbie. Now that is a lot of fun!
 
I say the hell with it.

In contact distance 10yds and under you will be single hand, running like hell too or from. And screaming like a b!tch.

"This is my idea on my reaction"

Practice reality, single hand draw and bang it away . Focus on target only. Hits on paper work, then get better and have hits on the aim point.
 
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JBoyette said:
I say the hell with it.

In contact distance 10yds and under you will be single hand, running like hell too or from. And screaming like a b!tch.

"This is my idea on my reaction"

Practice reality, single hand draw and bang it away . Focus on target only. Hits on paper work, then get better and have hits on the aim point.
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In all seriousness, in practice I remind myself front sight, front sight, front sight, but I expect that in a real encounter that I will be focused on the threat and shooting pretty much without reference to the sights. Not quite sure how to practice this, running around and screaming at the range is probably discouraged.
 
JimB said:
In all seriousness, in practice I remind myself front sight, front sight, front sight, but I expect that in a real encounter that I will be focused on the threat and shooting pretty much without reference to the sights. Not quite sure how to practice this, running around and screaming at the range is probably discouraged.
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Not the running around part, that should be ok. On focus part, buy IDPA cardboard targets, hang different shirts on them .Focus on the details of the shirt and bang ut out.
 
Yong Lee is a very good shooter and LEO trainer who teaches target focus. There are videos of his thoughts on target focus if you look around.
 
I learned alot about trigger control shooting a S&W 642 with Crimson Trace Laser grips installed. I bought it for my wife but of course had to shoot it too. The first time I aimed it at the target and pulled the trigger it looked like a laser light show down range. I was all over the place. Hundreds of rounds down range and hours of dry fire practice with that gun made me a much better marksmen with every DA handgun I own, including snubbies. As others have already posted, keeping the gun still during trigger pull and reset is the key to accuracy.
 
JimB said:
In all seriousness, in practice I remind myself front sight, front sight, front sight, but I expect that in a real encounter that I will be focused on the threat and shooting pretty much without reference to the sights. Not quite sure how to practice this, running around and screaming at the range is probably discouraged.
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It's called "3 Gun".
 
I hate to admit this, but I have the opposite problem.

I can shoot snubbies and up to 3 inch revolvers really well.

I start nose-diving around 4 inches, you know, that sweet spot where most folks get significantly more accurate! LOL!

I believe what is happening in my case, is that I shoot one frame size really well because of the shape of my hands.
When I get to the bigger frames I feel obligated to move my grip "down" the handles. The "high ride" works well for me.

I suspect if I had access to 4 inch barreled J-frames I could prove this to myself!
 
thrillhill said:
I hate to admit this, but I have the opposite problem.

I can shoot snubbies and up to 3 inch revolvers really well.

I start nose-diving around 4 inches, you know, that sweet spot where most folks get significantly more accurate! LOL!

I believe what is happening in my case, is that I shoot one frame size really well because of the shape of my hands.
When I get to the bigger frames I feel obligated to move my grip "down" the handles. The "high ride" works well for me.

I suspect if I had access to 4 inch barreled J-frames I could prove this to myself!
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Try a 4" Ruger SP101?
 
Tim said:
Try a 4" Ruger SP101?
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I need to.

Never had one.

Had a GP100 and I shot it fairly well.

Even with the Smiths I shoot the stubbier "combat grips" better than I do any others on my 686 and even the 66.

SP101 grip looks short enough that it may suit me. And still handle my heavy loads better than the J-frames maybe.
 
I got a 3" SP101 chambered in .357 magnum. The factory hard plastic boot-style grips sucked. Pachmyer fixed that with a set of Diamond Pros. Now I put them on all my tiny wheelguns.
 
With snubs, I generally assume its going to be a short range "clear leather and shoot" kinda gun. I usually practice 10 yards from the target, pull from the pocket holster and shoot one handed, looking only at the front sight. If you can keep all your shots on a paper plate at 10 yards that way, you're doing good enough with a snubby, IMHO.
 
JimB said:
In all seriousness, in practice I remind myself front sight, front sight, front sight, but I expect that in a real encounter that I will be focused on the threat and shooting pretty much without reference to the sights. Not quite sure how to practice this, running around and screaming at the range is probably discouraged.
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You can scream all you want here....we appreciate all forms of entertainment. As to the other part of your post, you are way closer to right than wrong. It's hard to beat a million years of hard wiring. You WILL look at that sabre toothed tiger when he is in mid air headed your way. I wish I could report differently, and I am sure we all understand that we should seek our front sight, but from what I understand from people that have actually shot people, it rarely happens. I see it a lot here and this shore ain't a dangerous place. At least for the good guys.
 
thrillhill said:
I need to.

SP101 grip looks short enough that it may suit me. And still handle my heavy loads better than the J-frames maybe.
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I have small hands and the SP101 is my go-to snubbie. I have J-frames and I like them, but the SP101 fits best and I shoot it best. I use the rubber Hogue grip and it's perfect for me.
 
Anybody have experience with the SP101 in 9mm? I like the idea of being able to maximize my ammo stash.
 
Tucci454 said:
So, if the barrel on a revolver is less than 5" or so, I'm completely useless. Might as well be throwing rocks.

Any tips to help me suck less with my short barrel shenanigans?
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Do you happen to get Shooting Illustrated?

Just looked through the April '18 issue and saw this:

IMG_3908.JPG
 
Jeppo said:
Anybody have experience with the SP101 in 9mm? I like the idea of being able to maximize my ammo stash.
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I have a Charter Arms Pitbull in 9mm (and .40 & .45). Bought them solely to have another platform to shoot the anmo I already had.

IMG_3909.JPG
 
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The most important change you Need to make, is Stop telling yourself I can’t do this. Then start working on the basics, such as dryfiring and actual shooting.

Best of luck and let us know what happens.
 
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