I'd like to put together a small list of books and other resources to hand out to recruits at the academy in conjunction with the firearms program. From that perspective, I would like to suggest to them some things that would be beneficial to a beginner/intermediate level shooter. I also don't want to give them a list that is 10 miles long. If you could tell a newer shooter just a few things to read or other places to check out in order to try and further those skills, what would you point them toward?
Suggested Reading For Handgun Proficiency?
- Thread starter SMJayman
- Start date
Neither are what the OP is looking for. TAPS is seemingly random musings about weapons training, and "Sentinel" is about how to use the concepts from a protection detail to ensure your or your family's safety.
I've read most of what's out there.
The best pistol book (imho, of course) is the overlooked "Modern Handgun Fundamentals" by Brad Engmann. Looks like its out of print http://www.amazon.com/Modern-Handgun-Fundamentals-From-Beginner/dp/0615573258 but you could contact the author on Calguns and see if he has a copy he can sell you directly.
Stoeger's "Practical Pistol" is also good for students of the pistol. Not as all encompassing as Engmann's though, and naturally a spends more time talking about competition, which is sure to cause some to dismiss it.
Duckysattva
Newbie
"Refinement and Repetition" by Steven Anderson I thought was a good resource specific to dry fire drills and routines. It's tailored toward drills to improve one's competition skills obviously but the drills and performance measurements program, if followed, will yield results in overall gun handling that are bound to be transferable.
I agree. I have both the Anderson and the Stoeger books. Clearly you are going to see some overlap as there are only so many basic skills you work on with dryfire, but you will see most focus on draws, reloads, transitions, movement into/out of positions, targets of varying difficulty, etc. It is more important to pick one and work the drills rather than trying to decide if one is 1-2% better or not. Picking either book and working the drills systematically while tracking your performance will yield results.
I personally use the Stoeger books, plus his "15 minute dry-fire routine" (https://forums.brianenos.com/topic/96029-ben-stoegers-15-minute-dry-fire-program/). They have produced dramatic measurable improvements in both my dry-fire drill times and my IDPA/USPSA match performances in about, I dunno, four months or so of regular dry-fire. The only other thing I'd recommend is getting some 1/3 scale IDPA and USPSA targets so you get used to aiming at the A-zone. Sounds like a small thing, but it's very helpful.