Getting the most out of my money

[gunnut12]

I'm relatively new to handguns and on a relatively tight budget. I've got money to spend on guns/ammo/training and do shoot somewhat reguarly just low volume as I have quite the wishlist of guns I wish to acquire sooner opposed to the uncertainty of tomorrow. Anyways, I am a decent shot with a pistol. Not "good" by a long shot but I can generally get my shots on target and think I am doing pretty well considering how little experience with pistols I have. I do wish to improve my pistol skills, and I want to get the most out of my money as far as training/ammo goes.

I've watched a bit of youtube videos and they are helpful but they only do so much. Anyways, I was wondering if I'd be better off taking a 2 day training course sooner rather than later (so I could have a better idea of what I need to improve on and have good training drills to practice when I do go shoot), or if I would be better off holding off on the course and honing my skills a bit more before I actually go take the course (I might get more out of it this way)?

Just wanted to hear everyone's thoughts.

Also, I have land and some AR500 targets set up so no range rules to follow, if anyone has some good drills that don't use a ton of ammo I'd love to hear them.

[FlyingHunter]

It's possible you may honing skills that are actually bad habits. I vote for a good 1-2 day course with a reputable trainer. Following the course, you will have a great foundation to leverage your land, targets, and future pistol drills. You'll be amazed at what you will learn.

A great place to find a treasure trove of drills is:https://pistol-forum.com

Good Luck and welcome to M4C.

[Tzook]

I think that the vast majority of the skills you will build you're going to do on your own. I would look into taking a course locally or something that has solid instructors passing on solid info. After that, get yourself a shot timer, get some friends to shoot with who will push you go get better and faster, and find good drills to constantly practice.

Standing around and shooting paper on a flat range without moving isn't going to make you any better. The stress of the timer helps a lot, as well as give you a standard to measure your progress by.

Additionally, pistol training.com has some great drills to help you out

[ResIpsa]

It's possible you may honing skills that are actually bad habits. I vote for a good 1-2 day course with a reputable trainer. Following the course, you will have a great foundation to leverage your land, targets, and future pistol drills. You'll be amazed at what you will learn.

A great place to find a treasure trove of drills is:https://pistol-forum.com

Good Luck and welcome to M4C.

I fully agree on taking a good course early on. I've been shooting for a while, but had hit a plateau a few years ago. Two years ago I took a carbine/pistol class with a mediocre instructor and didn't walk away any better. A few months ago I took a class with LAV and walked away substantially better due to several "ah ha" moments during the class: general finger placement on the trigger based on the size of my hands/fingers relative to my handgun, when to load the trigger while presenting the gun, and a description of why wobble doesn't really affect shot placement. I don't think it would be impossible, but it would be hard to gain some of these insights on your own. After the substantial improvement in my shooting, I wish that I had taken this class years ago.

[nate89]

I also recommend a class as soon as possible. You will get more out of the class learning-wise than if you simply spent the money on ammo and tried to figure it out yourself. On several occasions during classes I have had 'lightbulb moments' that taught me more than if I would have had a case of ammo and tried to learn on my own. A class with any decent instructor will get you squared away, and teach you plenty of things to work on during your own time after the class.

[C4IGrant]

I'm relatively new to handguns and on a relatively tight budget. I've got money to spend on guns/ammo/training and do shoot somewhat reguarly just low volume as I have quite the wishlist of guns I wish to acquire sooner opposed to the uncertainty of tomorrow. Anyways, I am a decent shot with a pistol. Not "good" by a long shot but I can generally get my shots on target and think I am doing pretty well considering how little experience with pistols I have. I do wish to improve my pistol skills, and I want to get the most out of my money as far as training/ammo goes.

I've watched a bit of youtube videos and they are helpful but they only do so much. Anyways, I was wondering if I'd be better off taking a 2 day training course sooner rather than later (so I could have a better idea of what I need to improve on and have good training drills to practice when I do go shoot), or if I would be better off holding off on the course and honing my skills a bit more before I actually go take the course (I might get more out of it this way)?

Just wanted to hear everyone's thoughts.

Also, I have land and some AR500 targets set up so no range rules to follow, if anyone has some good drills that don't use a ton of ammo I'd love to hear them.

If I was king for a day, I would not allow people to buy ANYTHING till AFTER they have attended a basic pistol class (to include the firearm). The other "rule" I would impose is to NOT allow people to "practice" their bad habits (which just ingrains them). So I would highly suggest getting into a pure fundamentals pistol class from an instructor that can actually diagnose what you are doing wrong and give real solutions (vs telling you to drift your sights or ask you why you are hitting where you are on the target).

If you want names of instructors that can do this, let me know.


C4

[Standby]

Find a good training company and take a class. Not all instructors are equal, so do your research. Training is "learning", practice is "repeating" the skills you learnt CORRECTLY from training. Repeating a bad habit will simply be making you really good at doing something incorrectly. So YES, spend the money on good training before wasting it on ammo down range in bad practice.

[tower59]

Take a course, and be sure to bring a notepad and pencil to take notes. That way, you can go back to your home range and review and practice what you learned. Good luck!

[Ron3]

Yes take a good course!

THEN continue honing those skills/techniques on your own.