Revolver Training

Another post about revolver selection started me thinking about training for CMP revolver competition. What would be different remaining with a revolver instead of a service pistol. The sustained fire sections would probably be different. My question is how would a service pistol training program differ for revolver competition. 
Rush

Do you want to shoot single vs double action? If you shoot single you need to be able to cock the hammer between shots, can be a bit of a trick in rapid but possible.

I have shot in one match. I shot SA and things worked out pretty well. I got all my shots off in time. The RF shots were rushed but I did have a decent sight picture before breaking the shots. I think I will stick with SA. 

I change my grip for sustained fire to allow my thumb to move and cock the hammer easier.  I need a very firm grip with my fingers to keep the gun from moving when I move my thumb.  In slow fire I grip the pistol in a more normal position and use my thumb more that allows better sight and trigger control. Or something like that. 

Rush

I shoot all strings in SA as well.  As to your training question it is pretty easy to dry fire the revolver just like you would live fire it.  Since you are shooting SA you can dry fire some slow fire shots with your grip adjusted for that.  Then you could dry fire additional shots with your sustained fire grip and do it the time limits as well.

John

Rush223 wrote:Another post about revolver selection started me thinking about training for CMP revolver competition. What would be different remaining with a revolver instead of a service pistol. The sustained fire sections would probably be different. My question is how would a service pistol training program differ for revolver competition. 
Rush

Hell yeah! Maybe I'll see you at Revolver EIC matches! I'm still in the process of ordering a revolver but I'm stoked!

You just need to do it.  I've been shooting revolver most matches since COVID, and I'm usually use the three classic pistols: M41, Model 14, 1911, all metallic sights. 

One nice thing about having a revolver is you can dry fire sustained fire strings.

If you want a challenge, shoot the 22 EIC with a revolver.  Rapid fire is a hoot!

How would a service pistol training program differ for revolver competitions?

It doesn’t really.. not too much. You still need to practice the fundamentals. But the trigger is different. If you shoot single action then you need to learn, train, and rehearse your five shot strings via dry fire and snap caps. If you’d shoot double action then the same applies. Keys things to think about are grip, trigger finger placement, how you manipulate the gun, and follow through. When shooting a revolver all fundamentals still apply but you have to learn your way around a revolver. It’s not like an auto loader at all.

When we train with a 22, SP, or 45, wether it’s a dot or an iron sighted gun, the fundamentals are always being trained. You don’t lose training time because you didn’t practice with the SP or the 22 the day you chose to train with the other guns for example. The revolver however, requires time dedicated to that platform. You have to train a revolver specifically to get good with one.

Rush223 wrote:Another post about revolver selection started me thinking about training for CMP revolver competition. What would be different remaining with a revolver instead of a service pistol. The sustained fire sections would probably be different. My question is how would a service pistol training program differ for revolver competition. 
Rush

Bill McMillan's advice in his famous Marine Corps instructional film was to roll the hand over a little to the right so that the thumb is in a good spot to cock the hammer back easily every time. It should lay almost alongside the hammer. The other thing he recommended was wrapping the stocks/grips with inside out "ordinary adhesive tape." After some experimenting, I found that the best way to accomplish this is to wrap only the right panel with inside out tape so that the act of screwing the stocks together holds the inside out tape from slipping upwards under recoil. This helps significantly in making sure your hand doesn't shift positions when cocking the hammer back during sustained fire. I started practicing for DR only a couple weeks before shooting a match and ended up winning it with a score of 357, which is a fitting score for a K38 in my opinion. Stock gun and no special ammo, just cheap PMC Bronze. Pretty happy!