Thoughts after binge watching Hickok45 on YouTube while away from home

First topic message reminder :

I don't know where to post this, and I suppose this is as good (or bad) a place as any.  Having worked on learning the fundamentals for maybe a decade now and trying to do what's right, I turn on my computer and watch this "Hickok45" guy pick up just about any gun, hold his arm(s) out straight, take a few seconds (sometimes) and usually blow away whatever he was aiming at - with right hand, left hand, or both hands.

He'll take an expensive 1911 and blast away at several targets - then pick up a plastic Glock and do the same thing.  Revolver, pistol, sub-compact, whatever - it never seems to matter to him.  I know he used to be into competitive shooting, but now he's this huge YouTube personality - and I sit at home, wondering how he does it.

With a tiny Walther PPK/S or the most powerful gun he has in front of him, he can hit "the Gong" which I think is 80 yards away.  He can seemingly shoot as fast as he wants, too.



He and Jerry Miculek make the same impression on me - how'd he DO THAT!!!!!!


I know "it's the shooter, not the gun", but when I see him take a multi-thousand dollar 1911, then do the same thing with an inexpensive bargain 1911, I think he's trying to tell me something, even if I'm resistant to listening.  

Even if it's difficult to accept, I understand it is HIM, and not HIS GUN.  .......and if that is true, that leads to the question "how can I learn to be like him??"

(I've wanted to post this for a very long time, and while it's not exactly Bullseye related, maybe it's worth discussing anyway.....)

Personally, I quit watching his videos some time ago.. he was more entertaining back when he killed watermelons with a S&W 500 Magnum.

mikemyers wrote:...
But, starting tomorrow, I'll take off my Hickok45 cap, and put my Bullseye cap back on...

Well, don't just do that on our account. Shoot the way you want to shoot, for whatever reasons give you satisfaction.

I think some of these discussions tend to break down because this forum is specifically about Bullseye. I don't see how it makes much difference whether or not Hickok45 can ring the gong with any of a couple dozen handguns. No doubt that kind of shooting is fun.

But most of us come to this forum for the Bullseye. In a game of mental focus, other topics simply tend to be distractions.

SonOfAGun wrote:.........But most of us come to this forum for the Bullseye. In a game of mental focus, other topics simply tend to be distractions.

From that point of view, I ought to do what I want when and where I want to do it, but keep my posts in this forum more "on topic".  I'll still learn everything I'm already learning, by reading, but it will be less "distracting" to others.

I see this forum more as a "club-house" where bullseye enthusiasts gather.  That's my perception.  Discussing things here feels like sitting down at the picnic table at my range, with lots of club members coming and going.  Funny thing though, they talk about anything and everything EXCEPT about shooting better.       

I wish there was an "off-topic" forum here.

CR10X wrote:............The fact that you think there is an appreciable difference in either of those examples shows that you still haven't actually learned and don't believe a thing you've been told here (over and over).  Everything of any importance happens at the gun and the gun is one of the lessor components in the equation. ..........One can shoot rounds forever, but if they're still doing the same thing over and over without a significant improvement in the results,  all they're going to get is a more consistent level of mediocrity.......

More serious questions I want to ask.  Actually, I have learned that, I think, and accept it as 100% true.  Everything happens at the gun.

But, the gun is an inanimate object, and is unlikely to do anything on its own - it is ME that can get the gun to perform better, or worser.  :-)   I'm no longer trying to buy a "better gun", as I no longer expect the results would change.  I do try to do everything I have learned in The Pistol Shooter's Treasury, from numerous readings, and the advice you and others have given me in this forum.  My results are certainly still improving year to year, which I can verify by looking at my old targets and scores.

My biggest weakness - my body.  Glasses can give me 20:20 eyesight.  I've learned how to stand, how to grip (better), and from hours of practice, how to apply the trigger smoothly.  With one exception, everything on my list has improved.  That exception is I'm still the "98 pound weakling" from the old Charles Atlas ads.  I struggle attempting to hold my gun properly and steadily for one-hand shooting.  I'm better, but not "better enough".  When I first bought my Les Baer 1911, holding it up in front of me with my right hand was simply not possible.  Now I can do it, but not very well.

I go to the range for lots of reasons - now that I think I know "what to do", I need to be "doing" it long enough for it to become part of me.  I also go to the range just to enjoy shooting.  I may "suck" at Bullseye shooting, but most of the people at my range can't shoot as well as I do - which is irrelevant really.  

I miss the on-line matches we used to have here.  Those were an enjoyable challenge.  I wish we were still doing it. The only matches I get to are those at my local club, and most of the club members want to shoot at 15 and 25 yards, not 25 and 50.  We also use standard B-8 targets, which gives me nice high scores, which are meaningless as the targets are not the appropriate slow-fire targets.  I bought a couple of hundred of the proper targets, but my going-home-smile is wider when I use the B-8 like I have for ten years or so.


Anyway, very much thanks to you, I think I've learned a lot.  Not nearly enough, but more than what I knew before. So even if I'm responsible for raising your blood pressure when I post, what you have already taught me is VERY much appreciated.

mikemyers wrote:
.....
I wish there was an "off-topic" forum here.

There is Mike. Right at the top it clearly states: General Discussion....and then....off topic. I can't understand how you could confuse this. Nothing about this hickok45 stuff should be in the fundamentals section. 

Maybe taking a second to read the section topics a little better would make Cecil less aggravated with your ramblings.

Obviously, in retrospect, that was a mistake. 
I will try to get this topic moved.

Jim, thanks for the relocation of this thread.


In addition to all the stuff I wrote up above, Hickok45 is very effective at making me realize there are so many guns I didn't know I wanted until after watching his videos.  This is especially true for revolvers.  It's good for me that I prefer to wait a month of so, before actively looking for something.

Lately I've been watching the following video, over and over, until I think I understand it:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ujyLn3lHBc   I'd like to memorize it before doing this again to my Model 28 Highway Patrolman.  

Hickok45 I can watch and enjoy, without having to think.  This other video takes a lot of thinking, and playing parts over and over again several times.

OMG!
Why did I click on this thread?

I’m waiting for a video from Jason, Hendo or that Bickar guy…

At best a 7 at 6 o'clock....  .
I can do that if you standby with a stretcher and an ambulance!