pistols, accuracyI’ve been shooting Glock 17 for last couple of months on averagy at 100 rounds per week. I am getting about 50% of my shots at 15 yards in 8’’ target. I feel that it’s pretty bad but I have no true reference point. So can someoneone more experienced share their thoughts on accuracy expectation at different distances? I think it can be very useful info for many beginners.
EDIT
To clarify the question. I am looking for some meaningful reference point that can be used to set shooting training goals. Lets assume that we are talking about average mammal in good health and not too young or old who is willing to invest some time and effort into learning how to shoot.
More to the point. From my martial arts training experience, if new person asks ‘when am I going to be a black belt?’ that can’t be answered as it’s very specific to individual abilities and commitment. However, question ‘On average, how long will it take for the regular person who is training reasonably hard to attain black belt level in this group?’ is totally answerable. And the beginner can set the goal of reaching certain level and work toward that goal while measuring progress.
For shooting I just want a recommendation on how to quantify my progress and what my goal should be, for example, in a year.
In my experience, that's pretty reasonable. When I first started pistol shooting it was with a .22 pistol, and my shots were all over the place.
If I was in your position, I would bring the target back to something more like 7 yards and focus on tightening your groups there. It's a lot easier when you get immediate feedback, and can easily see your bullet holes.
Secondly, I would try to read and watch videos about pistol fundamentals, or even get some 1 on 1 instruction. You're probably beyond the Basic Shooting type lessons, and I don't mean anything tactical, just fundamentals like
I wish I could recommend a good book or video, but the sites above should provide useful information.
The measure of accuracy comes down to a few narrow and related conditions:
What are you training/practicing for? Bulls-Eye, IPSC, plinking, self defense? Those reasons will give you guidance if your accuracy is “good enough.”
Start out with a reasonably sized target at 3y. Move it further away as you become more proficient while having a measure of time on each stage. That is the trend you want to build – a measure of how long it takes you to get certain accuracy. 3 rounds touching at 3 yds in 3 seconds is more impressive than 3 rds at 3yds in 30 seconds and is a better measure if when you started, it took you 30 seconds to accomplish the same task that now takes you 3…
Once having the targets and distance squared away with a decent shot timer, work on and develop good habits on the fundamentals:
When you get time for the range, have a goal of not only what you want to accomplish, but how you are going to get there. No sense in wasting ammo and time. To steal the martial arts analogy – using, carrying and training with firearms is a martial art and treat it as such. You are not going to become a black belt in any discipline by just reading about it. You need to seek out competent training from an experienced instructor and train with others as peers.
I found early on, along with Chris’s excellent points, that trigger control is extremely important. I was taught to use an empty shell balanced on the pistol in dry fire exercises. Empty the weapon, point it down range and balance a shell on the front site if possible or the frame if not, and squeeze the trigger until the hammer (or striker or whatnot) falls. There’s a pretty decent article on the drill along with photo’s here on pistol-forum.com
To quantify progress: bring a notebook. After each target, or string of fire if using target transitions, write a few lines on what you did, how you did it, and results. Date entries. If you’re using standard 8” targets, stick the target right in there (or sketch the target) and you’ll be able to look at the targets over time and SEE the differences.
I try keep one target from each session, whichever one I think shows me the most, as a reminder. I’d LIKE to do the whole notebook thing, but I’m just not that organized.
I found this interesting article that describes some accuracy results. Given it is not Glock and the guy is very experienced shooter but it shows some specific results that one may work toward. Myself, over last 8 months I went from getting only small fraction of rounds in 8" target at 15 yards to most of them in. Still way far from described in the article.
That doesn’t sound unreasonable, but the direction of improvement is more important than the rate. The rule of thumb I hear a lot is you should adjust the difficulty of your training so you’re missing 1-2 rounds per magazine. If you miss too often, it’s harder to see when you’re making incremental improvements like tighter groups. If you don’t miss at all, you aren’t expanding the boundaries of your skills.
Now the ideal ratio of speed and distance to achieve that difficulty is a subject that can be debated until the cows come home :-) You’ll have to find a mix of slow/far and fast/close that works for you.
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