New to bulseye shooting

Hello;
I am a Benchrest shooter, that recently has gotten the bulseye bug, and would like to try this type of shooting.
On equipment I have a pre 70's series colt Gold Cup National Match, that was shot up at Camp Perry some time ago. I been shooting 185 gr SWC over 4 .2 gr of bulseye. The gun is super accurate at 15 yards.  trigger pull is right at 3 lbs 8 oz. I just bought a Ruger MKIII target pistol, and it is a good shooter. Trigger pull is at 8 lbs. (I have a new sear coming soon.)

My question is this, what is the best way to get into this sport? I try shooting at 50 yards, and honestly I may hit the target 3 or 4 out of 10 shots. How do you get to shooting better? should I keep practicing at 50 yards, or something else. Surprisingly the MKII is a little better  of a shooter at 50 yards, I can usually keep 7 to 10 shots out of 10  on a regulation target. (Still all over the place.) I think it is because the gun is lighter.

What advise can you give me. This is harder than 600 and 1000 yard Benchrest shooting.

82boy==I'm 4 months ahead of you.  Find a match to attend and go sign up.  Before you go, read through the articles at this website:

http://www.bullseyepistol.com/

Practice at 25 yards and get an iphone or mp3 range command app so you can get used to the pace of the timed and rapid fire courses of fire. 

I have gotten some excellent advice from experienced bullseye shooter from this site.  I am sure they will have plenty of advice for you.

I have also asked two experienced local to me shooters to watch and critique what I was doing.  If you have access to some experienced bullseye shooters, they could be a lot of help as well. 

Joe

Dear 82Boy,

Dry fire.  Put a black dot on your wall that looks the same size as the black at the full distance.

You are wondering why you are shooting the .22 better than the .45?  Both of those guns should shoot <3" groups at 50 yards.  You are either over-trying or subconsciously worried about the recoil on the .45.  Read Lanny Bassham's book "With Winning in Mind" and develop a mental program in conjunction with your fundamentals training.

Work through this training book: http://www.brianzins.com/training/

Go to matches as often as possible--even if you think you need to be "better" first.

Have fun!!

You shoot the Ruger better because the crap trigger forces you to have better trigger control. As said above DRY FIRE!

Dave C.

Focus your eye  on the front sight, not the target. Fire the shot within 3 seconds. When you get in your wobble area, start the trigger squeeze   and dont stop. After you get more experence, try only squeezing the trigger when sights are aligned.    Keeping the focus on the front sight is the hardest part, if using iron sights. Get out the weights, start lifting and/or hold out a weight while watching tv. Hope this helps.

Around where I live, the recommendation is that beginners stick to 22LR until they can get a decent group. Centerfire is harder. A 22 is a good, cheap, way to develop the fundamentals.

When I started, I used a 25-yard rapid fire target and shoot it in slow fire at 20 yards. I stuck with this until I could get 10 shots in the 10-ring. Then I switched to using the right targets. It's cheating, but it helped to stay motivated.

I also shot a lot of black circles of various sizes without any rings on it. Consider printing a black circle 5" across, post it at 20 yards and try to keep 10 shots within it. Once you've mastered it, try 3".

Starting at 50 yards with a .45 would have been too much of a challenge for me.

Thank you guys for the tips,  we will start
looking into them and the sites recommended.

Read the Army Marksmanship Unit's Pistol Manual.  PM me if you need a pdf copy.

You might shoot the 22 better because of recoil anticipation.

DeweyHales wrote:You might shoot the 22 better because of recoil anticipation.

Also, the heavier trigger on the 45 makes a big difference.

You really need to test your Gold Cup and ammo at 50 yards. At this point, it doesn't have to be super accurate, but should be able to at least stay in the black. With your background in benchrest, it shouldn't be hard to work up an accurate load, if your present load isn't adequate. I jumped in with both feet when I started and began training by shooting slow fire at 50 yards. I am not easily discouraged. Some folks start out at closer distances until they develop better fundamentals. It doesn't really matter, as long as, you don't let that long line get into your head. If possible, get someone to coach you. As you stated, this is a different animal than BR. One thing that some folks starting out overlook is physical conditioning. Stretching of the hands, arms and shoulders is a good thing. You can do holding exercises with an old milk jug by filling it with water, holding it out and aiming it at a spot on the wall. You can tie a cord to the handle of the milk jug and staple a piece of wooden dowel to the other end and do roll up exercises. You got some great advice on reading material. I'll throw in another, "The Pistol Shooter's Treasury". It is an oldie, but goodie. You can get it here: http://www.larrysguns.com/Products/Pistol-Shooters-Treasury__PST.aspx

I suggest a combo of training and equipment testing.

Like others above, I suggest dry firing with special emphasis on trigger squeeze while maintaining sight picture.  It's likely you have difficulty seeing the front sight of the 45 and maybe jerking/slapping the trigger.
Nothing wrong with starting at 20-25 yards with slow fire training with both guns.  Try to work on making one perfect slow fire shot at 25 yards.  When you can put most of your slow fire shots in black at 25.  Go back to try shooting at 50.  I know as long range rifleman you started at 25 yards or 100 yards not 600.  Do yourself a favor and do the same with pistols.

Sandbag rest that 45.  It likely won't be as accurate as your .22 Ruger.  The Colt may not group well.  Couple a less than accurate firearm with a new shooter and there will be problems with hitting the target at 50.

With right ammo from a rest/bench, All the Rugers MKII and MKIIIs I've owned over the years will keep shots in less than 3-31/2" at 50 yards.  That gun will take you to expert and above.

All of the above but also Find a local match and jump in feet first, everybody starts somewhere. IM0 you should calm down your 45 load, drop to 4.0 of bullseye , you might have to change the recoil spring to a 13 or 14, it will still be very accurate (if your gun is) and it will help when you get to timed and rapid fire. No better way to learn than to just do it.

I agree with DavidR. Jump right in.  My first 2700 match I was green as grass. Got lots of help with scoring, how to mark a score card. Someone even loaned me a pen to score with.  One shooter even loaned me his DR revolver and ammo to shoot the DR match.  Great bunch of folks in bullseye shooting.

My first match, I saw a bunch of guys wearing matching shirts.  There were already 20+ people on the line, so I took a place on the open spot next to them.  I swapped scorecards with Larry Carter.  The matching shirts was Team Ultradot.  I didn't shoot better than 2500, but Larry shot +2600.  It seemed everyone on the team came up to me and said I shot very good for my first match.  Everyone was class act.  Late summer 2010, Clark's match at DPRC in Tar River, NC.

Phil,

I think you mean Haw River, NC.  The Tar River is a river, not a town, that runs into the Pamlico River near Little Washington, NC.

Near Mebane.  I get mixed up.  Thanks.

82boy--

Told you there was lots of great help here! 

I just got home from practicing rapid fire courses of fire only with the 22 and 9mm in a 30 mph wind, using a recorded set of range commands.  90 rounds for each gun.  My scores weren't pretty but I am becoming much more comfortable shooting in adverse conditions and shooting at the same range at the same time of day that we have our matches.  All I was missing was the physical turning of the targets. 

I had a very good training session and my son was with me so we had a great time together.  

Joe

Thank you guys for all the advise.
I had a friend tell me that a old Bulseye shooter told him once to take his 45, and stick a pencil in it and aim at a target on the wall. Pull the trigger and the pencil will fly out and hit the target. I been doing this exercise, and it seams to help as the groups seem to be shrinking. I started out with erratic shots all over the target, and now I am down to putting 5 in a groups that can be covered with a quarter, maybe a dime.  Sounds weird but it seams to work.

Practicing with a pencil in the barrel and target on the wall brings back old memories.  That's how I learned to practice in the Army many eons ago.

What 172snowhawk said +1