A real eye opener

[3030guy]

I've never been a real consistent shooter with snub nosed revolvers. I do alot of dry fire practice and can shoot double action and keep the sights pretty still. Today at the range it looked like it was going to be a rough day, my shots were all over the place. So I decided to try an experiment of sorts. Without looking I loaded two rounds into the cylinder, gave it a little spin and closed. The first pull of the trigger fell on an empty chamber, and it became obvious that I had developed quite a flinch. I repeated the exercise, varying the number of rounds I would load, but always leaving at least one chamber empty. It was remarkable how quickly my groups shrank.
This is method is not my idea, I've read about it before and hopefully it can help someone else. Just wanted to pass it along!

[jimster]

I used to do the same thing with revolvers when I was young to try to catch myself flinching,  and this works well training new shooters too. 
I found out a while back that not shooting revolvers as much greatly adds to the possibility of developing a flinch, there was a while I slacked off with revolvers and developed some bad habits, had to go back to the method you describe to clear some things up.  It works pretty well.
Thanks for posting the tip, it's a good one.

[gcrank1]

We all hate to admit it, too......
FWIW, I read years back that the 'British' way of shooting double action (Webleys, etc. which are heavy triggers) is to extend the arm and 'briskly stroke' the trigger back, not slowly pulling and anticipating the let off as is often the style used. They were formidable in the rapid fire stages of the matches, too.

[bilmac]

Shooting DA is not like shooting your rifle. You have to accept the fact that your sights are going to wander as you pull the trigger. You ignore that and just try to keep your pull as smooth as possible.
 
If you try to stage the trigger, pull it until you know it is ready to go off, and then settle the sights, you will never be able to shoot timed fire well, and timed fire is what DA shooting is all about.
 
Even if you intend to never shoot competatively, the reason to shoot DA is to get off quick shots. You have to accept the fact that it is less accurate. Let your sights wander as you get a smooth pull and your shots will land within that circle your sights are wandering in. Now the trick is to teach yourself to make the circle your sights are making get smaller and smaller as you improve your shooting.

[ole 5 hole group]

bilmac - we called that timing and it came with years of daily/weekly shooting.  Never did get it perfected!!

[gcrank1]

In NRA Bullseye it's slow fire, timed fire, and rapid fire.
In shooting for score and fun slow (at your leisure) and timed fire (a steady cadence) are fine. In 'the world' ,rapid fire, controlled and pretty durn quick, is what you want. Practical Pistol exercises are better if you perceive that you may ever need to use your arm in anything other than sport.
If you dont practice it you wont have it.
Read William Henry (Bill) Jordan's book 'No Second Place Winner'.

[bilmac]

That's the beauty of the DA gun. If you want accuracy you can cock it. If you have a need for speed you can do that too.
 
 All my years in LE, the instructors insisted on double action shooting, It wasn't until my last few years when most everybody had changed to autos that they quit paying so much attention to us holdout 6 shooter guys. Then I would sneak in some single action shooting and I think some eyes were opened

[R.W.Dale]

I tried the leave one chamber empty trick yesterday and I must admit as a seasoned shooter the results surprised me.

By the end of the session I was shooting better myself

[Tom C.]

I did that with an HK 45 for a guy who appeared to be jerking the trigger. I loaded an empty case then loaded a couple of rounds. The rounds were fired and the empty case fed fine. He then jerked the trigger as I expected him to. I then worked with him to not jerk the trigger when the sights were near the center of the bullseye. He got much better very quickly.

[Goldstar225]

The "ball & dummy" drill definitely helps to illustrate a problem for a struggling shooter.  I still use it on myself occasionally to keep myself honest.  For the semi-auto shooters I work with I load inert practice rounds randomly in the magazine.