How to use a basic .22 LR pistol to improve your handgun shooting skills
BY CHRIS MUDGETT MAY 19, 2021
Given the ongoing ammo crunch we’ve all suffered over the last year or so, there aren’t too many of us willing to expend our precious centerfire pistol ammunition to keep the ole pistol skills sharp. While many casual and newer shooters weren’t ready for an ammunition shortage, those of us who’ve been around for the last decade or so learned this lesson the hard way when it came to the availability of .22 LR ammunition and, accordingly, spent the last 10 years stocking up. Shooting season is here, and now is the time to blow the dust off that .22 LR ammo get to practicing again before the next crisis hits.
There are a ton of marksmanship and manipulation drills that can be built upon with a .22 trainer, such as the Taurus TX22 Competition, or Ruger SR 22. A trainer is an excellent tool for learning the footwork required to efficiently shoot on the move, move laterally while shooting and for practicing positional shooting techniques. It’s also a great tool for improving the mechanics of your draw, marksmanship at 25 yards and beyond, as well as target-to-target transitions and other movement skills. Essentially any drills and skills that do not require recoil management, such as rapid-fire strings, can be done with a .22 LR trainer and will effectively carry over to your centerfire carry pistol. Below are some of my favorites for quick range sessions to help build and maintain my pistol skills.
10-Shot Accuracy
With a .22 LR trainer, I like to work on accuracy at 25 yards. I prefer to shoot at 5.5-inch NRA B8 repair center bullseye targets instead of silhouette targets, because of the ease of scoring. If you’re being careful with your cash, a cost savings option is a simple paper plate or blank sheet of printer paper. Use a Sharpie marker and give yourself a refined aiming point, which is my preference, as I like to put new targets up often to better hold myself accountable. If you don’t think your marksmanship is up to snuff at 25 yards yet, then start at fifteen yards and work your way out—but do yourself a favor and don’t move closer than that when you’re focusing on accuracy. Distance magnifies issues and staying at least 15 yards from the target will help you identify marksmanship problems. If you stand at the 5-yard line, you aren’t accomplishing anything other than feeling good about yourself, which leads to a false sense of ability. Once you’ve built your confidence at 25 yards, hang an IPSC target at 50 yards with the goal of keeping all of your rounds within the A-Zone of the torso.
Deliberate Draw, At Speed
After firing 10-shot slow-fire accuracy drills, I move onto more difficult pistol manipulations. If you are carrying your pistol in a holster at the range, part of your accuracy standards can be coming out of the holster for each shot. I like to practice my draws with 10-shots for accuracy. This is a great way to work on your draw without sacrificing accuracy. I move my hand to my pistol as fast as possible, acquire the perfect shooting grip, then slowly and methodically move through the rest of the draw culminating in a slow, deliberate shot. The distance to the target should not dictate how fast you draw your pistol. At 25 yards, I can still move fast, draw and deliberately fire. Take the time to get a perfect shot; a smooth draw followed by a perfect shot is what you should be looking for.