Author Topic: Suggestions on basic SA skills (Read 1060 times)

Black Jaque Janaviac · « **on:** May 06, 2004, 08:26:33 AM »

OK, now that I've found some good loads for my Ruger Blackhawk, what are some "games" or skills that can (and maybe should) be practiced with a single action?

How fast should I be able to empty a cylinder into how big a target at how far?

How small a group should I be able to make offhand?

I know from shooting muzzle loaders, that the army used to expect soldiers to be able to fire 3 to 4 shots per minute and sustain this for several minutes. This was a sort of expected standard, not what the best could do.

BlkHawk73 · « **Reply #1 on:** May 06, 2004, 01:38:37 PM »

Ahh, the Ruger single action

I'd suggest you look at cowboy action shooting sites or events to see what games they play. Of course, SA's aren't exactly spped demons at the firing line but, in the right hands they can go. Didn't say if you're hunting with this gun or not. If so, I'd work on accuracy at different distances and practice until you're satisfied with your results. twaking the load may come into play then.

Good luck!

crawfish · « **Reply #2 on:** May 06, 2004, 01:39:58 PM »

With my SA revolvers I practice draw and fire two at 7 yards on a standard M9 target or B-21 type. Sometimes I use plates or poppers if Im shooting 15 or more yards and I have someone to reset them for me. I weight more for hits than time. Always figured 1 at the base of the breastbone in 2sec is worth more than 6 in the dirt at 1.8sec.
As I have said before the more I got into Contender handguns the more I moved away from shooting groups. My concern now is with where that first shot out of a clean gun will land. If it goes where it is supposed to you dont need the other 5 or 14.

BlkHawk73 · « **Reply #3 on:** May 06, 2004, 01:42:22 PM »

Quote from: crawfish

My concern now is with where that first shot out of a clean gun will land. If it goes where it is supposed to you don?t need the other 5 or 14.

Very well put! Too bad so many others didn't understand this logic as well.

dakotashooter2 · « **Reply #4 on:** May 06, 2004, 06:22:47 PM »

Obviously you haven't seen Bob Mundon (American Shooter) fire a SA revolver. Talk about full auto firepower. The gunslingers in the movies can't even fan that fast.

crawfish · « **Reply #5 on:** May 06, 2004, 08:56:05 PM »

I have had the privilege to see Mr. Munden twice also Mr. Miculek do his thing with revolvers. These gunners along with Tom Knapp are in a class that 99.99% of us will only stand and look at with that trout look on our faces. They are in a league in their chosen profession at the same level of the Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods of the world. All that most of us can hope to do is become proficient with our chosen firearm to the level we aspire to. For me that means putting that first round out of what ever handgun I happen to be holding to within one caliber of where Im looking. I can do that in a hunting situation. I train daily on my off shift to do that in defense situations. Hopefully if the need ever is there Ill also succeed then. I also hope I never have to test that training.

Lloyd Smale · « **Reply #6 on:** May 06, 2004, 11:37:57 PM »

trigger control trigger control trigger control! Dry fire Dry fire Dry fire. Thats what helped me the most.

Black Jaque Janaviac · « **Reply #7 on:** May 07, 2004, 05:18:48 AM »

Ah-Ha!

I knew it, there's twins posting here. Everytime I'd see that smoking gun avatar, I thought I saw someone elses name associated with it. :grin:

crawfish · « **Reply #8 on:** May 07, 2004, 03:40:09 PM »

BJJ,
Don't remember if I mentioned or not but our ST. Hubert's Game and Seafood Come one Come all dinner was a geart success. When I first started this about 10 years ago there were 7 of us. Last year we served 315 plates. We truley "passed a good time".

tubbythetuba · « **Reply #9 on:** May 08, 2004, 01:05:36 PM »

After getting my Stainless Bisley 5.5" Acu Sport .41, the best money I spent was on a 4 7/8" Single Six. I played with the springs until I got the triggers as close as I could, just a tad over 3lbs and clean. Going out and firing 50 or 100 .41s was expensive and after the first box, the flinch was getting bad. Now, I'll take the Single Six, shoot several cyls then pop just one in the .41 and, I'll be darned, it hits :-) Shooting empty shotgun shells at different distances in soft dirt is useful, you can see where you hit. BTW, maybe I'm the only one that didn't know this, but when you sight in, don't rest your gun on bags or anything, just support your wrist and don't let the gun touch anything......it makes a difference where your POI is. Hold the exact same way everytime. Tucking your little finger under the bottom of the grip seems to control barrel rise and helps you get back on target again. Enjoy!!

Groot Nadine · « **Reply #10 on:** May 15, 2004, 01:41:48 PM »

Quote from: tubbythetuba

Tucking your little finger under the bottom of the grip seems to control barrel rise and helps you get back on target again. Enjoy!!

So! That's where it goes..........

Malamute · « **Reply #11 on:** June 16, 2004, 07:05:58 PM »

I second the comment on the single six as a good practice gun. Makes reloads fast and a matter of habit. I always dump my brass on the ground and hunt it up after I'm done shooting, so as not to get in the habit of holding on to the brass. Bad habit if you're in a hurry.

Using your sixgun for hunting rabbits is a good thing for practice. Shooting some "modern" plate or combat shoots is fun and is good practice, as well as cowboy shoots. Just going out and shooting 500 or a thousand 22's at a time on a nice afternoon is pretty good practice. Long range shooting is also a lot of fun. Even the 22 can do pretty well out to 300 yards if you have dry ground to see your hits. Left handed, one handed, two handed, fast shooting two handed cocking with the left thumb at cans or rocks is good practice.

For games go out with another guy or more and do "follow the leader" with unusual or difficult shots. Dueling trees are good fun. You will have to find your own pace and level, then keep trying to slowly improve it all the time. Just remember, it's easier to get fast AFTER you get GOOD, than it is to get GOOD AFTER you get fast. At a plate shoot, you can beat a LOT of modern shooters if you aim and hit with every shot, instead of trying to be as fast as you can.

If you find a load your gun likes you shouldn't have too much trouble getting a group under 2" at 25 yards, certainly with a rest, and with a lot of practice, offhand reliably.

Old Griz · « **Reply #12 on:** July 09, 2004, 08:53:21 PM »

:cb2: Golf balls. You can have a blast (pun intended) shootin golf balls. Get a partner, throw out a ball a short distance away and take turns shooting at it. It really takes off when ya hit it. And of course, the more solid the hit, the further it goes. A golf ball can take an amazing number of .22 caliber hits before it gives up and falls apart. (You can also use .38s on it, but when you move up to .44s then chunks start disappearing.) All sorts of games you can play.

You can put small eye screws in them and hang them from trees with string or fishing line at different distances. (We shoot in an old hollow surrounded on all four sides plus trees surrounding that, so we aren't worried about bullets going anywhere.) Anyway, when you have them hanging from trees like that there is no mistake when you hit one. However, sometimes you shoot the string and that's no fun. We usually limit ourselfves to about 50 yards. When we get out further than that we miss a whoooooole lot more than we hit and waste too much ammo. But you guys are probably a lot better than us old geizers and can see em better, too.

My first Bisley was the .22, and it's a lot of fun to practice SA shootin with.