Is better than a great day at work. And I proved that today.
I learned a valuable lesson today. I suck. I suck bad. I need to really practice a lot more. In fact, I'd venture to say I was near the worst shooter here.
It turns out, shooting at static targets using the weaver stance at the indoor range doesn't translate well into the kinds of shooting I did today. I didn't do too bad when I moved and shot, in fact I did well in that phase, but I couldn't hit the Earth shooting at 25 yards.
Todd Jarrett was very patient with me. The man is a machine and a great teacher. I used to use a weaver stance, but I've seen the light. Isosceles (a word which my spell check tried to correct as Missiles Assholes Disposables Snowshoes) is how I roll from now on.
And the man had a magic marker - two sets of marks on our hands to show how to hold the pistol and where to grip it. And the shit worked like a charm. Unfortunately, it wasn't a natural feel, and the tendons in my hands and arms are paying the price for my lack of vision, but it was amazing how quickly your front sight popped back on your target.
I also learned that 'riding the trigger' hurts you more than it helps. On the Glock, I've been trying to release the trigger just right until I felt the detent release. Not gonna do that any more.
Finally, I have to admit that I need to pay a hell of a lot less attention to the trigger and focus on my front sight. When I listened to everything Todd told me and let the trigger break without me knowing it, I hit exactly where the sight was. This is also why I did better shooting on the move - I didn't have time to pay attention to the trigger.
I made one hell of a mistake this morning. I pointed my muzzle completely to my left, and got an earful from Mr. Jarrett. It took me a while to forgive myself for such a stupid mistake, but eventually I did. Firearms safety is something I take very seriously and to make such a monumental goof was embarrassing. Luckily, it was nothing more than an empty pistol, but luck isn't something you can rely on to keep everyone safe.
Today wasn't a day of great shooting. But it was a great day of shooting for sure. I learned a lot, realized I'm not as good of a shooter outside of my comfortable little indoor range, and that it's time to do more competitive shooting to get better.
In fact, today, even as I sit here sore of muscles and blistered of hands, I would easily go through it all again. I learned more today in how to shoot a gun than probably the whole of my life teaching myself.
And I've pulled a muscle smiling from it.