KatfishKid Posted March 2 Posted March 2 I found a little time to get out this morning to do some live fire practice. I typically dry fire practice every afternoon for 15-30 minutes focusing on rifle and shotgun since I don't have my leathers yet. I borrowed my wife's leather this morning. I don't want to unknowingly develop any bad habits, but I still want to practice. What are some of the things you Duelist shooters focus on when practicing? Here is a video of my first ever live fire string. 22 seconds and some change and possibly a miss, I couldn't tell. 2 Quote
Flanigan Flats Posted March 2 Posted March 2 I don’t really practice. But when I think about shooting and how I can improve I focus on my transitions and how I can keep my hands productively engaged. Such as having my hand reaching for my next gun after the first pistol makes it to leather and my second pistol is coming up. Getting a good functional hold on the long gun as I am shooting the second pistol and getting that long gun up into a useful position as I’m holstering that second pistol. Basically I focus my thought process on keeping my hands busy. The benefit to double duelist other than being super cool is having a hand free to be doing something other than hanging out. 1 Quote
Cowtown Scout, SASS #53540 L Posted March 2 Posted March 2 Shooting double duelist will definately help your times as you progress. I finally tried it for 1-1/2 years but gave up. My left hand is just not coordinated enough to shoot a revolver. 2 1 Quote
Edward R S Canby, SASS#59971 Posted March 2 Posted March 2 Be sure you aim every shot and don’t just focus on gun handling. Otherwise you will be practicing missing quickly. 3 1 Quote
Anvil Al #59168 Posted March 2 Posted March 2 Double Duelist is all about transitions, transitions, transitions. When possible, always have one hand free to be doing something. Practice getting that first pistols holstered so that hand is free to be getting your hand on the next gun. Don't worry about practicing fast right now. Get the movements down first. All of which can be done without firing a shot. 6 Quote
Shooting Bull Posted March 3 Posted March 3 As Anvil Al said, Double Duelist is all about transitions. For that reason you need to be able to do anything and everything equally well with both hands. Because of that I spend most of my pistol practice time, both live and dry fire, working on doing things with my weak hand. Aside from that, I spend a lot of time on first shot drills. Drawing the pistols from leather, getting them up and on target for a fast accurate first shot will save you tons of time. You do that twice per stage multiplied by however many stages are in the match. That’s a HUGE part of your overall time. This is a great time to practice reholstering also. It’s amazing how much time is wasted with a fumbled reholster. It’s especially costly if you miss the holster completely and end up with a dropped gun. 4 Quote
Randy Saint Eagle, SASS # 64903 Posted March 3 Posted March 3 There have been a lot of good points brought up. Any time I practice the first thing I do is shoot a stage before I do anything else. The reason being is that any time you go to a match you shoot a stage cold. I’ve gone to several matches and the first stage ended up being my best stage. If I have to move after shooting pistols I holster both while I’m moving to the next position. Unlike some I always look my pistols into the holsters, it’s probably slower but I’m not comfortable holstering without looking. As mentioned earlier transitions are everything, learn to do them well. Once you get the fundamentals down don’t be afraid to miss in practice. I shot for several years slow and deliberate before I finally realized that you can’t learn to shoot fast by practicing slow. Now I try to practice on the ragged edge and try to back off just a little in matches. Smooth is fast! Duelist is definitely Coolest! Randy 11 Quote
KatfishKid Posted March 3 Author Posted March 3 All great advice and greatly appreciated. Hopefully with daylight savings approaching I will start having more time for live fire practice. I enjoy dry firing, but I don't feel like I get full benefit. It certainly does help with strengthening barely used muscles...so there's that. 2 Quote
Randy Saint Eagle, SASS # 64903 Posted March 3 Posted March 3 9 minutes ago, KatfishKid said: All great advice and greatly appreciated. Hopefully with daylight savings approaching I will start having more time for live fire practice. I enjoy dry firing, but I don't feel like I get full benefit. It certainly does help with strengthening barely used muscles...so there's that. Be careful with with too much dry fire practice, I never missed a target while dry firing!😂🤠 Randy 2 4 Quote
KatfishKid Posted March 3 Author Posted March 3 4 minutes ago, Randy Saint Eagle, SASS # 64903 said: Be careful with with too much dry fire practice, I never missed a target while dry firing!😂🤠 Randy Lol...absolutely! I learned that very quickly when I was getting use to the rifle. I believe I've got that down to the point that I am able to shoulder and focus on my front sight instinctively. Same with the shotgun. The pistols are still...meh. I have a bad tendency of just trying to get that first shot off too fast and I miss. That'll get better once I realize my limit and keep it throttled just to that point. I've ordered some brass front sights in hopes that they'll help me acquire the sight easier. 1 Quote
Randy Saint Eagle, SASS # 64903 Posted March 3 Posted March 3 6 minutes ago, KatfishKid said: Lol...absolutely! I learned that very quickly when I was getting use to the rifle. I believe I've got that down to the point that I am able to shoulder and focus on my front sight instinctively. Same with the shotgun. The pistols are still...meh. I have a bad tendency of just trying to get that first shot off too fast and I miss. That'll get better once I realize my limit and keep it throttled just to that point. I've ordered some brass front sights in hopes that they'll help me acquire the sight easier. Front sight should be your throttle limiter, don’t pull the trigger until you see the front sight on target just don’t worry about the center of the target. The club paid for the entire target so it’s ok to use any part of it!😂🤠 Randy 4 1 Quote
Shooting Bull Posted March 3 Posted March 3 2 hours ago, Randy Saint Eagle, SASS # 64903 said: Be careful with with too much dry fire practice, I never missed a target while dry firing!😂🤠 Randy And THAT is why you’re a world champion. Just a couple of weeks ago I had two misses and a P. ☹️ 2 1 Quote
Randy Saint Eagle, SASS # 64903 Posted March 4 Posted March 4 3 hours ago, Shooting Bull said: And THAT is why you’re a world champion. Just a couple of weeks ago I had two misses and a P. ☹️ Unfortunately that happens to most of us sometimes! Randy Quote
Chickasaw Bill SASS #70001 Posted March 4 Posted March 4 Practice ? such a NASTY word go to your room CB 3 Quote
Dantankerous Posted March 4 Posted March 4 I have been watching High Plains Hud for several years. He is the CC around these parts who's been whuppin' the rest of us pretty consistently and by a stout margin. Why? Because he is smooth. He doesn't look "fast" until his time is read. What he does very well as a double duelist are his transitions. Very well done... almost natural. His hands are always doing something and he never wastes time. His movement on the stage is always done with purpose and never wasted. Find someone like I described and watch them carefully. They'll show you what needs to be done. 6 Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.