In mid-November, I was looking in on the Bullseye-L forum even though I have no business being there, because I am lousy with two hands, let alone in true offhand stance, and have been a perennial "also-ran" in the LGC Bullseye matches. However, I sometimes am willing to think that I might rein in my many bad habits and improve a little some day, so I found this review interesting.
https://www.bullseyeforum.net/t20122-bo ... science-of
Apparently, he's trying to tailor his approach more to a beginner than someone who's already a fairly accomplished marksman. It sounded like something that might benefit me, so I Paypalled my ten bucks and quickly got my copy from Bruce. Then I ignored it for a week. Finally read the first two thirds or so of it in a couple of session and a few things he said sounded actionable. I did a few dry-fire sessions and thought that his comments about gripping were helping. The section about gripping is a fairly long (half a dozen pages, with some pencil drawings) and not completely focused on one method. One thing I found useful was earlier in the book:
This idea that the trigger finger is part of the gripping action (which I think is what this means) was new to me. Another pithy comment:So how about a light or even a hair trigger to make those shots easier? Nope, maybe in rifle where the mass and inertia are significant relative to the trigger force. One pistol competitor told me “You need something to lean on” In other words, the trigger is actually used to stabilize the pistol.
Basic stuff, but not something I've completely understood. Just thinking about a few of these things in the grip section seems to be giving me better results in dry-fire practice against a blank white wall. Of course, try it with a target and my very wobbly hold, and it all goes to hell as I struggle not to focus on the target or "grab a ten." (or in my case, grabbing a seven would be more like it).The desired grip force is front to back, with most of the pressure coming from the middle finger. Successively less pressure comes from the remaining fingers as you go down to the pinkie. As Coach Vladimir Chichkov reminds me “The middle finger is most important but that does not mean the remaining ones are unimportant”. Excess pinkie pressure frequently dumps shots low from finger force but, the lack of it also allows the gun to roll up from trigger and recoil force.
I did manage to get to the range a week ago for three hours. I tried a few strings of shots at a blank piece of paper at 50', which was interesting. I was still slinging shots all over the target, but *some* of them felt/looked more stable in sight alignment, like my better shots in dry-fire practice, and sure enough those ended up much nearer the center of the paper than those that didn't look/feel as good heading up to the break or even before the trigger pull. This almost feels like progress, although it probably wouldn't look that way to an impartial observer. At the end of the session I moved to the 50 yard lanes and mostly shot my MkII. Still losing MANY shots off the target, but I'm hopeful that much more work on fundamentals will bring back some of them back on paper, and maybe even put a few more shots in the black.
The author notes: "If this book came to you “Free” and you like it, please consider a $10 or any other suitable PayPal donation to me at Kingsarcher2@yahoo.com. If you need an electronic copy, or wish other payment methods, please send me an email.
>>>>>> For PayPal: DO NOT make any notes or comments on the transaction <<<<<<"
So, if you're doubtful whether this is of any use to you and don't want to pay him up front, PM me an email address and I'll send you a copy to preview. If it's not for you, delete it, but if it's of some use to you, send him five or ten bucks. If you do that, don't make any comments about "pistol" or "shooting" in the PayPal or his account could be shut down! Just write "book" and nothing else.
