Not having been a frequent visitor to Lucky Gunner, I was unaware that they don’t just sell ammo — and in case there are others like me, allow me to introduce you to their excellent shooting-for-beginners series, Shooting 101. Then look at the next series (which is equally good): Start Shooting Better.
And the website is chock full of such articles. Prepare to spend quite some time getting through all of them.
There’s a German idiom “Immer werder lernen“, which roughly translated means “There always something to learn”. Such is the case with the two Lucky Gunner series — I’m kicking myself at discovering a couple of bad habits I’ve picked up over the years — and in this age of smaller “pocket” pistols, their “How To Shoot Small Pistols Better” is an absolute gem.
And Chris Baker gets off some memorable lines, e.g. when talking about shooting revolvers:
“What it comes down to is that the long double action trigger press forces the shooter to maintain correct technique 100% of the time in order to not completely suck.”
Here’s a gratuitous picture of a beautiful gun, just because. It’s a S&W Model 24 “Heritage”, chambered in .44 Special.
And now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to the range… to work on eliminating some of those bad habits I discovered. And to make sure that I don’t completely suck.
Thanks for publicizing the Lucky Gunner articles. Been following them for a little while now and I’ve found them invaluable for those of us who’ve recently come back to WfP (weapons for protection); in addition to some lessons with off-duty LEOs.
Chris’ experience dovetails precisely with mine regarding using a revolver to become a better semi-auto shooter, something I discovered by accident. The trouble is, though, I found revolvers much more satisfying to shoot than any bottom feeder; now I shoot revolvers ALMOST exclusively. Plus, I shoot them the manly way, double action only. Oh, how I cringe when I see revolvers intended for self defense fired single action, other than for load development or sight adjustment. And yes, I’m sure that knowing I have a relatively low number of rounds available has some bearing on my accuracy, as Chris discussed.
People who pooh-pooh revolvers as relics of the past, or who will not give them a fair shake, such as my son (where did I go wrong?!), have no idea what they’re missing. Oh well, that means more nice, pre-lock S&Ws with the firing pin on their hammers for me. Hmmm, those police trade-in S&W Model 64s on Gunbroker look mighty tempting…
The Son&Heir covets my 1911, big time. That said, if I’d offered him the choice between my 1911 and my Colt Python (back when I still owned one), I think his head would have exploded.
I’m seriously pondering a S&W Model 25 in .45 LC for my 45th birthday- in blued steel with a 4″ barrel and some sort of fancy wood grips.