Rapid Fire Training
First things first, the disclaimer. This is a work in progress,
it's by no means the definitive training guide to end all training
guides. This is just what has worked for me and what I have
discovered to help me along the way. It might not work for you,
read this at your own risk, if your scores drop, your gun breaks or
your ice cream goes melty it's not my fault.
I was consistently shooting good B grade scores in Standard and Center Fire before I even touch a Rapid Fire match, so I allready knew the basics of shooting. I believe this helped in coming so far so quickly. My first ever Rapid Fire score was 551, most people have never done that with .22lr.
Also, in my opinion, most people are not Rapid Fire shooters, they are more suited to precision shooting. My I cant shoot a slow fire match to save myself. My highest free pistol score is about 492, and my Dueling scores are always better than precision in Center Fire. I often find my 10 and 20 second scores are better than my 150 second scores in Standard.
Stance
It is important to get a good stance. One that is comfortable and easy to rotate your body accross the targets. You also want a stance that will bring you inline with the first target automatically. I finda side on aproch best, with a short stance, feet no wider than shoulder width. If I spread my feet too far apart I find it harder to pan across the targets, the ease in movement outweighs the minor addition in stability. I also turn my forward foot towards the target, why? Just because I feel more ready to go that way. I take my position, close my eyes, bring the gun up, and check where I point on the first target, then adjust my back foot as necessary.
Grip
I find if I dont get a perfect grip that feels the same every time, I start squeezing the trigger with my whole hand. First all my figers relax when I let the trigger out, presumable my hand it trying to readjust to the awful feel it has on the grip. Then when I squeeze the trigger my whole hand tightens and the shots lashe out in every direction.
The Minute
It takes about 30 seconds to take 5 rounds out of the box, load them into the magazine, get my grip and load the magazine. Drop the slide now, dont do what some people do and wait until the last second, I have seen people forget compleatly and end up blowing the whole series. In the remaining 30 seconds I will get my stance, and take a dry run or two, passing through the targets imagining the 5 seperate shots. Then with 6 seconds to spare, I will take a final line up and move to the ready position.
Attention
At the ready position I focus on my first shot, I imagine the target turning, I imagine bringing the gun up and seeing that perfect sight allignment, and I imagine watching what the sights do after the shot goes off. Notice I do not imagine pulling the trigger. More on this later.
The Series
You may have heard people say that in precission shooting each shot is a match in itself, meaning only focus on the present shot, after its done, forget about it and now your on the next match (the second shot). Rapid fire is no different. You must compleate each shot before even thinking about the next shot. Your not shooting a string of 5 shots, your shooting 5 individual shots, each one needing to be compleated perfectly on its own.
I think only of the sights during a series. I have trained my figure to take care of the trigger pull and the timeing all by itself. My finger knows exactly how to squeeze the trigger and at what time interval, all I need to do is line my sights up on the target, wait till I hear a bang, watch what happens to the sights and move them to the next target before the next shot is released. This will come with lots of practice, but more on that later.
After the fifth shot, the series is still not over, I fire an imaginary 6th shot and an imaginary 6th target. This ensure my rythem and movement continue on past the last shot just as they did for the first four. So not only do you follow through with each trigger squeeze but follow through with each shot as well.
Training
Now to get all that flowing nicely. Some good timing excercises. One is to grab a stop watch, I have 5 targets, scaled down and stuck to the wall so that when I stand 3 meters back, its perspectivly the same size as the real targets. I take the stop watch in my shooting hand, hit the start button, raise my arm, fire the 5 shots and on the final shot hit the stop button. Check how you went, then repeat, over and over and over and over.
Another need skill is knowing exactly how far to move accross onto each target, remember, your looking at the sights, not the target to see if your lined up. So again with the same images on the wall, perspectivly spaced out, do some dry fireing. You can try using the sound files on a loop that are available from this site. Again repeat this over and over.
First shot timing. Its importand to get that first shot off quickly. Its also important to make sure its a good one. To practice this one of the methods I used is on the range I set the targets up for dueling (3 second exposures) and start by fireing one shot in the 3 seconds available. When that looks good, move to fireing on the first 2 targets in the 3 seconds available. After that, try firing the first 3 targets in the 3 seconds available. Your doing better than I if you can get 4 targets shot properly in less than 3 seconds. Dont be dishearted if you can not get the single shots perfect. I have trouble dueling 10's in the standard time, but when I fire the first two targets I will rarely miss the 10 ring.
Some other tips
Remember, its not a race. Take your time. You will be surprised how long 4 seconds really is when you relax and space your shots out to use 3.8 seconds.
There is so much more I could write, and will eventually, so keep an eye out for updates.
Last updated: 28/01/07
I was consistently shooting good B grade scores in Standard and Center Fire before I even touch a Rapid Fire match, so I allready knew the basics of shooting. I believe this helped in coming so far so quickly. My first ever Rapid Fire score was 551, most people have never done that with .22lr.
Also, in my opinion, most people are not Rapid Fire shooters, they are more suited to precision shooting. My I cant shoot a slow fire match to save myself. My highest free pistol score is about 492, and my Dueling scores are always better than precision in Center Fire. I often find my 10 and 20 second scores are better than my 150 second scores in Standard.
Stance
It is important to get a good stance. One that is comfortable and easy to rotate your body accross the targets. You also want a stance that will bring you inline with the first target automatically. I finda side on aproch best, with a short stance, feet no wider than shoulder width. If I spread my feet too far apart I find it harder to pan across the targets, the ease in movement outweighs the minor addition in stability. I also turn my forward foot towards the target, why? Just because I feel more ready to go that way. I take my position, close my eyes, bring the gun up, and check where I point on the first target, then adjust my back foot as necessary.
Grip
I find if I dont get a perfect grip that feels the same every time, I start squeezing the trigger with my whole hand. First all my figers relax when I let the trigger out, presumable my hand it trying to readjust to the awful feel it has on the grip. Then when I squeeze the trigger my whole hand tightens and the shots lashe out in every direction.
The Minute
It takes about 30 seconds to take 5 rounds out of the box, load them into the magazine, get my grip and load the magazine. Drop the slide now, dont do what some people do and wait until the last second, I have seen people forget compleatly and end up blowing the whole series. In the remaining 30 seconds I will get my stance, and take a dry run or two, passing through the targets imagining the 5 seperate shots. Then with 6 seconds to spare, I will take a final line up and move to the ready position.
Attention
At the ready position I focus on my first shot, I imagine the target turning, I imagine bringing the gun up and seeing that perfect sight allignment, and I imagine watching what the sights do after the shot goes off. Notice I do not imagine pulling the trigger. More on this later.
The Series
You may have heard people say that in precission shooting each shot is a match in itself, meaning only focus on the present shot, after its done, forget about it and now your on the next match (the second shot). Rapid fire is no different. You must compleate each shot before even thinking about the next shot. Your not shooting a string of 5 shots, your shooting 5 individual shots, each one needing to be compleated perfectly on its own.
I think only of the sights during a series. I have trained my figure to take care of the trigger pull and the timeing all by itself. My finger knows exactly how to squeeze the trigger and at what time interval, all I need to do is line my sights up on the target, wait till I hear a bang, watch what happens to the sights and move them to the next target before the next shot is released. This will come with lots of practice, but more on that later.
After the fifth shot, the series is still not over, I fire an imaginary 6th shot and an imaginary 6th target. This ensure my rythem and movement continue on past the last shot just as they did for the first four. So not only do you follow through with each trigger squeeze but follow through with each shot as well.
Training
Now to get all that flowing nicely. Some good timing excercises. One is to grab a stop watch, I have 5 targets, scaled down and stuck to the wall so that when I stand 3 meters back, its perspectivly the same size as the real targets. I take the stop watch in my shooting hand, hit the start button, raise my arm, fire the 5 shots and on the final shot hit the stop button. Check how you went, then repeat, over and over and over and over.
Another need skill is knowing exactly how far to move accross onto each target, remember, your looking at the sights, not the target to see if your lined up. So again with the same images on the wall, perspectivly spaced out, do some dry fireing. You can try using the sound files on a loop that are available from this site. Again repeat this over and over.
First shot timing. Its importand to get that first shot off quickly. Its also important to make sure its a good one. To practice this one of the methods I used is on the range I set the targets up for dueling (3 second exposures) and start by fireing one shot in the 3 seconds available. When that looks good, move to fireing on the first 2 targets in the 3 seconds available. After that, try firing the first 3 targets in the 3 seconds available. Your doing better than I if you can get 4 targets shot properly in less than 3 seconds. Dont be dishearted if you can not get the single shots perfect. I have trouble dueling 10's in the standard time, but when I fire the first two targets I will rarely miss the 10 ring.
Some other tips
Remember, its not a race. Take your time. You will be surprised how long 4 seconds really is when you relax and space your shots out to use 3.8 seconds.
There is so much more I could write, and will eventually, so keep an eye out for updates.
Last updated: 28/01/07
