Aster wrote:The following article, originally written for Recoil Magazine, Sydney, has been contributed by forum member Cavok. My thanks to her for the extensive contribution. I hope everyone appreciates her efforts.
Part 1:
Your time has come, you have completed all that is required for you to get your first pistol, your very own, the decision has been made. You are beaming, the money paid, the PTA sent in and the day has arrived to collect that very new, never fired semi you always wanted. Yes you have tried all the club guns, listened to everyone who had ideas that never matched yours, but as the new kid on the block you listened intently and acknowledge all of their wisdom.
The other club members do not share your love of the new Gen 4 Glock, used by the British Army, or the fantastic Beretta 92fs as used by the US army, what could be better than that. Or the stainless steel Kimber, what more could you want. All the money paid, nearly $ 2000 and now is the moment of truth, getting it home and telling the world what you have just purchased, this is you day, no more borrowing the crappy club gun and crappy reload ammunition, your new gun your new loads. You are keen to try your new pistol in the 25 and 50 metre service match, you might even try your hand at other events, IPSC even, but that can wait, ISSF is great for 25 & 50 metre shooting.
So there you are, just cleaned the pistol for the 5th time, tried the magazines, they all fit, the holster works great and you need to get some rounds down range. Finally you have loaded the ammunition using the best copper projectiles, yes they cost more than the clubs, but they are the best, as is your imported powder, you will show them. In the past 6 months your scores have been average, some slight improvement as the months moved along but you know you are better than that, you just need your own pistol. Anyway you aren’t shooting for sheep stations.
You get to the range early, only a few other shooters there and you find a quite range, set up your target at 25 metres and need to get your gun sighted in, you need to be making holes in the paper, you need to be better with your own more expensive pistol than the crappy club guns you have been using for the past year. You load your magazines, load the pistol and fire you’re first shot through you own pistol that has never fired a shot before. A second shot, a third, then more, from various positions, sitting, from right side of post, then the left side. Then it is time to go as it is still quite and see how much better your own new pistol shoots than the old, used crappy pistols from the club.
As you approach your target you begin to see the same pattern of hits using your own pistol as that when using the crappy club guns, you stare in disbelief at the target, but the holes are as you had shot weeks ago at your last session. What has gone wrong, was it your ammunition, you were possibly to excited, not concentrating enough, then the truth dawns upon you, it never was about the gun, no matter what brand you purchased, it was always about you, your skills, your ability. Not the shiny cooper coated projectiles, not the imported powder, plain, and simple the shooters ability.