What training to take?

JerseyMike · Feb 4, 2020

So I just got into shooting for the first time in my life. Got a 3” Colt King Cobra for my first gun, I’ve been to the range twice and want to make sure my practice productive; right now I am terrible and want to change that! I can read articles and watch youtubes about the fundamentals (stance, grip, trigger control, breathing, sight picture, etc) but I want to make sure that I am actually executing/practicing these properly.

My goal is to just to achieve a very basic proficiency with my revolver and get the fundamentals down so my dry and live practice is actually helping me improve my skills, rather than developing bad habits.

I live in MoCo and the only range I’ve been to is Heritage in Frederick. Seems like a really nice place and they offer training. My question is, what should I look for in a training course? Should I take the NRA basic pistol shooting first? (8hours and $150 @ Heritage). Or am I better served doing private lessons?

The cost is a concern but not as much as the time. It is difficult for me to schedule an 8 hour class, but much easier to do 1-2hour lessons spread out over a few weeks.

Any suggestions for places to go to for this type of basic training in the MoCo/Frederick area? I might even be able to make the trek to the Baltimore area, (about 40min-1hour from my house), but that’s kind of a stretch.

GuitarmanNick · Feb 4, 2020

I am of the opinion that a class would be a good beginning followed by lots of individual practice. Choose some low round drills and focus on accuracy. Shooting a handgun is more difficult for most to master because of the proximity to the muzzle blast. The natural tendency is to avoid loud noises and flames, so practice using live fire is best for training to overcome it and develop good handgun shooting habits.
Use both hands, then shoot some using only one hand alternating between your strong and weak hand.
Shoot your revolver double action and learn the gun's stacking. The cylinder will rotate and lock(stack one), then the hammer falls detonating the primer and firing the round(stack 2). Practice to learn when the cylinder has locked, and then focus on the front sight to fire. Trying to hold on target is difficult and not necessary during the cylinder rotation. It is however, critical just before the hammer falls.
Lots of practice and you should be adequately prepared to use whatever hand or stance the situation warrants. In close quarters, one hand may be otherwise occupied when you must take a shot. Best to train for any possible scenario.
Practice reloading in a timely manner. Some quickly accessible speed loaders are a good idea for a wheel gun that is intended for defense.
Most importantly, have fun as you learn!

JerseyMike · Feb 4, 2020

GuitarmanNick said:
I am of the opinion that a class would be a good beginning followed by lots of individual practice. Choose some low round drills and focus on accuracy. Shooting a handgun is more difficult for most to master because of the proximity to the muzzle blast. The natural tendency is to avoid loud noises and flames, so practice using live fire is best for training to overcome it and develop good handgun shooting habits.
Use both hands, then shoot some using only one hand alternating between your strong and weak hand.
Shoot your revolver double action and learn the gun's stacking. The cylinder will rotate and lock(stack one), then the hammer falls detonating the primer and firing the round(stack 2). Practice to learn when the cylinder has locked, and then focus on the front sight to fire. Trying to hold on target is difficult and not necessary during the cylinder rotation. It is however, critical just before the hammer falls.
Lots of practice and you should be adequately prepared to use whatever hand or stance the situation warrants. In close quarters, one hand may be otherwise occupied when you must take a shot. Best to train for any possible scenario.
Practice reloading in a timely manner. Some quickly accessible speed loaders are a good idea for a wheel gun that is intended for defense.
Most importantly, have fun as you learn!

Thanks for the feedback/suggestions!

Biggfoot44 · Feb 4, 2020

Grounding in Fundimentals first .
95% of " advanced skills " are Fundimentals done well

NRA Basic Pistol will expose you to the Fundimentals .
( There are other paths that * could * do so also , but I'm presuming that if you had access to an experienced mentor knowledgeable in both basic marksmanship , And Revolver fluent , you would have mentioned , if not already partaken .)

Heck , I'm overdue for mentoring a fledgling DA revolver shooter . I'll volunteer , if the timing / distance can be overcome . ( But I am a Revolver Guy , not many of us left .)

danb · Feb 4, 2020

Both Heritage and MGN offer basic classes. Rather than time specifically, I would look for a class where the instructor watches you shoot and diagnoses shooting problems. Spending an hour with an instructor who diagnoses your specific problems is better than 8 hours of theory. MGN has a class like this and I am sure that Heritage does as well.

Also, aside from classes- spend some $ getting a laser trainer and do dry fire practice (LaserAmmo and LaserLyte trainers are good). This will help with trigger control and discipline. Practice drawing from a holster and dry firing as well. There are some good apps and software that will also diagnose shooting.

Squaregrouper · Feb 4, 2020

danb said:
Both Heritage and MGN offer basic classes. Rather than time specifically, I would look for a class where the instructor watches you shoot and diagnoses shooting problems. Spending an hour with an instructor who diagnoses your specific problems is better than 8 hours of theory. MGN has a class like this and I am sure that Heritage does as well.

Also, aside from classes- spend some $ getting a laser trainer and do dry fire practice (LaserAmmo and LaserLyte trainers are good). This will help with trigger control and discipline. Practice drawing from a holster and dry firing as well. There are some good apps and software that will also diagnose shooting.

This.
Hire a 1 on 1 pro for an hour's session and then practice dry firing on your own for a few hours. Once you have the basics down, practice, practice, practice.
I'm not a pro, but would be happy to give you a hand- provided you can supply some Rutgers grease truck food in exchange of my time. My wife is a Jersey Girl (West Windsor- Princeton area)

ETA- Learn the basics with a mild round. You can shoot .38 Special in your King Cobra. I would recommend that over learning with a .357 Magnum.

Skipjacks · Feb 4, 2020

Dry firing is an amazing teacher

But you have to be paying attention to the lessons it is teaching you

Put a dot on the wall and aim at that point. The object is to still be aiming at the exact same point when the hammer falls. You have to be paying attention to the sights after the hammer falls. Did you pull it right, did the muzzle drop, etc

You have to be aware of your mistakes and a timely correct them.

In order to do that you have to know what your mistakes are and what they mean. Such as pulling right meaning you are yanking the trigger. Dropping the muzzle means you are compensating for recoil. Etc etc et

Do this for hours. And hours. And hours.

It will get insanely boring. But if you can focus while it is boring it is good training.

Zorros · Feb 5, 2020

Most Any one who has gone thru the NRA basic pistol course is qualified to give helpful instruction. Be sure it a revolver person, probably an older person, if revolvers are your intention. They can be a little harder to shoot double action than a pistol but if you can master a revolver you can shoot most any hand gun. 3” is tougher than 6” because shorter distance between the sights, and if you can master a 3 inch you can shoot most anything. One training tool i find helpful is the electronic target that lights up when the laser hits it. Can’t remember the brand and its not where i am. I keep one on my bookshelf. mine is 45 acp and i use it in a sig 220. I don’t know why you cant get one in .38 sp and manually rotate the cyl after you fire the laser. As someone wrote, not an easy thing to do...shoot a handgun...but with fundamentals down and practice you can become proficient and you will really like the sport. And i would add you have started off with a very nice revolver.

Sealion · Feb 5, 2020

Zorros said:
Most Any one who has gone thru the NRA basic pistol course is qualified to give helpful instruction. Be sure it a revolver person, probably an older person, if revolvers are your intention. They can be a little harder to shoot double action than a pistol but if you can master a revolver you can shoot most any hand gun. 3” is tougher than 6” because shorter distance between the sights, and if you can master a 3 inch you can shoot most anything. One training tool i find helpful is the electronic target that lights up when the laser hits it. Can’t remember the brand and its not where i am. I keep one on my bookshelf. mine is 45 acp and i use it in a sig 220. I don’t know why you cant get one in .38 sp and manually rotate the cyl after you fire the laser. As someone wrote, not an easy thing to do...shoot a handgun...but with fundamentals down and practice you can become proficient and you will really like the sport. And i would add you have started off with a very nice revolver.

Is it iTarget? I've had great success with mine.

https://www.itargetpro.com/collections/frontpage

Biggfoot44 · Feb 6, 2020

A DA revolver is * Different * , not inherently better or worse .

But yes , ability to shoot. DA well , will substantially carry over to multiple types of firearms .

Barrel length per se is very far down the list of factors in practical accuracy . There are big differences between a small frame revolver ( think J frame) of a given bbl length vs a medium ( or larger) frame revolver of same bbl length .

Shamr0ck · Feb 6, 2020

danb said:
Both Heritage and MGN offer basic classes. Rather than time specifically, I would look for a class where the instructor watches you shoot and diagnoses shooting problems. Spending an hour with an instructor who diagnoses your specific problems is better than 8 hours of theory. MGN has a class like this and I am sure that Heritage does as well.

Also, aside from classes- spend some $ getting a laser trainer and do dry fire practice (LaserAmmo and LaserLyte trainers are good). This will help with trigger control and discipline. Practice drawing from a holster and dry firing as well. There are some good apps and software that will also diagnose shooting.

both Mrs Shamr0ck and I have used 1:1 instructor time at TMGN to our advantage. She worked with one instructor and I chose another given. She wanted to work with a woman as she's been condescended to before by male instructors (that didn't go over well...)

I worked with Ryan - in 1 hr blocks, he assigned homework and drills and then worked through to progress accuracy and increase distance. Lessons are less expensive if you're a member.

onedash · Feb 6, 2020

Focus on the front sight. Nothing will improve your shooting more. Sight alignment, Sight picture, trigger control, natural point of aim respiratory pause and all that jazz is important but if you are focused on the target instead of that front sight you won't do so hot. And also anticipating recoil can really screw up your shooting.

onedash · Feb 6, 2020

Also, figure out your dominant eye and use that one. even if you are right handed and left eye dominant you will probably end up shooting better left handed with the good eye. And like others have said, DRY FIRE a LOT.

JerseyMike · Feb 6, 2020

Sealion said:
Is it iTarget? I've had great success with mine.

https://www.itargetpro.com/collections/frontpage

This looks really cool!

Sealion · Feb 6, 2020

onedash said:
Also, figure out your dominant eye and use that one. even if you are right handed and left eye dominant you will probably end up shooting better left handed with the good eye. And like others have said, DRY FIRE a LOT.

This was huge for me. I’m cross eye dominant and my initial shootings forays were a disaster. I finally figured out why I was missing so badly with help of a NRA instructor. It was a game changer for me.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Biggfoot44 · Feb 6, 2020

Eye dominance can be a major thing in rifles/ shotguns . With pistols it is much more readily dealt with , and a large number of shooters shoot pistol cross dominant very sucuessfully .

And since I strongly advocate developing skills with each hand from the start , it is somewhat moot .

Zorros · Feb 7, 2020

Sealion, mine is a laserlyte.

Sealion · Feb 7, 2020

Biggfoot44 said:
Eye dominance can be a major thing in rifles/ shotguns . With pistols it is much more readily dealt with , and a large number of shooters shoot pistol cross dominant very sucuessfully .

And since I strongly advocate developing skills with each hand from the start , it is somewhat moot .

Precisely right. I started (and stopped) with shotguns several times at the beginning.

Moorvogi · Feb 7, 2020

trigger time. in my opinion, depending on what you're training for.. you may not want to focus on one stance because then it becomes a habit which can become a crutch. I thought i knew how to shoot a rifle, then i took a project appleseed course. I was humbled and improved greatly. my point is, practice, but never quit learning.

if you're new to firearms all together, it might be more rewarding to practice w/ a rifle first to get use to the steps of taking a shot. ( http://appleseedshoot.blogspot.com/2008/03/six-steps-of-firing-shot.html ) This is for rifle, but the core/basics blend into any shooting, except shotgun perhaps.. i dont know. haven't done a lot of that.

fidelity · Feb 7, 2020

In addition to front sight control, if pulling the trigger in double action mode, do it slowly and learn where the trigger breaks. Do it many, many times so you develop an intuitive understanding, at the level of muscle memory of when it is going to happen. It is at this moment where you want to refocus and ensure that there is minimal movement as you take the trigger through the break. You learn it dry firing at home, but also at the range with live rounds. Some people will put in a snap cap (or brass shell or empty cylinder) in the mix to see if they are flinching when they pull through. Either way, learn where your trigger breaks. The Colt King Cobra will have a really smooth pull with some stacking (slightly increased resistance) right before the break. Great trigger to learn with.

Initially try to reduce your group size (and not worry about point of impact). Start as close in as 5 yards. When your groups are small, then start to work on sight picture to influence where the group clusters. Then move out to 7 yards, and then to 10 yards.

Gripping a revolver is distinct from a semiautomatic pistol. But trigger control is fundamental to both platforms, and starting with a double action pull on a quality revolver is going to pay you dividends in the long run.

As mentioned above, stick with 38 Special while training yourself.

What training to take?

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