10m Air Pistol Progress

First, I thought I would post a 10m air pistol target and explain a little about the sport. Typically 10m (32.8 feet) air pistol matches are held indoors, using very precise pistols that quietly shoot .177"/4.5mm diameter lead pellets at about 500fps. on average. In a vice, a good 10m pistol will create a hole pretty much the diameter of a pellet, but a little wider is fine too. At 500 fps., these pistols are safe to shoot in many environments without lead risk or extreme backstop needs. A garage works fine!

I train at home on a 5m scaled down target, then go to my local club which has a nice 10m air gun range with targets on pulleys for easy changes. In Europe, even small clubs have fancy-schmancy electronic scoring systems where three audio sensors triangulate the precise impact point of the pellet by listening for its sound as it flies by.

In ISSF competitions, a men's match is 60 shots, for women it's 40. There is usually time for about 90 seconds per shot, working at your own pace. So there is no rush. And because the competition is indoors, wind does not play a factor. In my opinion, 10m air pistol is one of the purest, but also one of the hardest shooting disciplines.

It is also one of the "cheaper" shooting sports. A competitive pistol can be found for about $400 (and hold their value well), and after that pellets run about $7 on average for a tin of 500. A cardboard box with rags inside can do for a trap, or else steel boxes can be found for about $20, or be homemade.

As you can see, the 9 ring on a 10m target is about the size of a quarter. The 10 ring is smaller than a dime, and the X is the size of a pellet. A shot that breaks the ring of the higher point counts, so the target above has two 10s and three 9s. I use cheap target paper and a relatively low velocity pistol, so I tend to get tears in the targets instead of nice clean holes. Good target paper from Germany or a slightly faster gun gives nice clean holes, but hey, who cares!

Today's training session was a little odd. Here was the progression:

10	10	10	9	8	47	0.94
10	9	9	9	8	45	0.90
10	10	9	9	8	46	0.92
10	9	9	9	9	46	0.92
10	10	9	9	9	47	0.94
10	10	9	8	8	45	0.90
9	9	8	7	7	40	0.80

I started gangbusters with a 47, although I wasn't pleased with the 8. I was clipping along nicely at 90%+ for the first 30 shots. I was on a pace to break 540, managing the fatigue in my hands and wrists, and definitely feeling the benefits of the strength training I've been doing for them. But then shots 30-35 came, and suddenly my hands and wrists didn't feel strained anymore...they felt very relaxed. I couldn't get a comfortable grip. The shots were not on call. So I decided the best thing to do was to call it a night and go eat dinner with friends. No sense in practicing bad habits when you are not shooting well. It took me roughly an hour to shoot the 30 shots, as I abandoned a lot of shots. While I was shooting I listened to the weekly Torah portion commentaries on my mp3 player (I like rabbis Silberberg and New).

Overall I'm happy with the progress. When my hand and arm are feeling fresh, I'm popping in 10s and 9s. My hold is improving where the 8's are probably trigger errors as opposed to hold drift...I am getting a good 9 ring hold. I'll stick to the game plan and keep building strength and endurance so I can last the full 60 shots. Before I was tanking after 20 shots, now I'm up to 30...halfway there!

Sometime soon I'll write about Service Rifle training with the SCATT, and how my wife tolerates my AR-15 dry firing in the bedroom every night!