Ron Ankeny
New member
I’ll apologize for the length in advance. I am sincerely looking for some help from all of you so I hope you take the time to read my post and respond.
I am 44 years old and I quit competing 10-12 years ago. I have shot many thousands of rounds through double action PPC revolvers made by Power, Davis, etc. and at my pinnacle I was a very competitive master class shooter in PPC and Action Pistol. I also always finished in the top 20 in the now defunct National Pistol League. I have coached and trained numerous Expert Class shooters into the Master class and I think I have K and N frame Smiths figured out.
Along the way, I tinkered with a dozen or so 1911 style pistols including such pistols as Clark long heavy slides, and an early Les Baer govt. model. However, I always competed with heavy barrel revolvers and I never took autos seriously. When I was shooting, no one took an automatic seriously in my disciplines. My crowd shot little groups at what would now be considered long yardage, with liberal par times while the “other guys” shot their autos at bigger targets up close and personal against the clock. Still, I have always had a love affair with the 1911. The heft, the way they point, their heritage, etc. is very appealing to me.
I have resolved to learn how to run a 1911. I set my Dillon up for .45 auto. I have obtained a couple of five-gallon buckets full of brass, and so on. I bought a Kimber Custom Stainless Gold Match because it is so fine looking (unfortunately beauty is only skin deep) then I had Brian Bilby make it run. I built target frames and purchased over a hundred bucks worth of cardboard IDPA targets. I even bought a new timer. Off to the range I go and the problems start.
First, how do you grip a 1911? I think I figured that out by watching Brian Enos, Rob Leatham, etc, explain grip on a video. I think my grip is OK but how do you pull the trigger? I pull a Smith trigger double action by two staging and indexing the tip of my finger against the frame or by using the continuous pull using the second joint . That doesn’t work with a 1911. So, I am using the tip of my index finger on the trigger instead of the second joint and I guess that is correct form. OK, so how do you shut the slide? I have shot Glocks a bunch and I also have played around with a P7M8 a lot. I “slingshot” those pistols. In the old days I closed a 1911 slide with the right thumb. But isn’t it better to close a 1911 slide with the thumb of the support hand? Then there is the draw. For years and years I shot those big old heavy revolvers from break-front holsters swinging them like a pendulum with the revolver settling into the “sweet spot” about the time the cylinder stop was finding its home. Don’t work with an auto. Heck, that doesn’t even work with a stock revolver. As near as I can tell, you meet your weak hand with your strong hand at your chest, get your grip, then push the auto to the target. When you get good, the first shot breaks at the instant you obtain the target. Got that from a video too. Unfortunately, the draw and grip is all that was covered in the video.
Well guys, I gathered all my stuff up, including the timer and a print out of the IDPA qualifier and off to the range I went. A thousand rounds later I am double tapping the target right in the middle but I am slow. Then I try multiple targets and things go to heck. I stink at the El Presidente and shooting while walking is not possible. I suck, big time. I can shoot the qualifier better with a 2 ½ inch model 19 Smith and full boat loads. I would be lucky to qualify at the top of the marksman class. I am smart enough to know I need to find a coach. Of course, none are to be found here. All my buddies are revolver shooters, and the LEO guys are Glock shooters and only a couple of them are any good. I am slow as heck on the reload. Heck I don’t even know how to reload a 1911. Don’t laugh, I am incredibly fast at reloading a revolver and I can tell you it is an art and most folks go about it all wrong. There must be a technique, trick, or method to reloading an auto fast, especially the “tactical reload”, and I don’t know what it is.
I told Brian Bilby I am ready to go back to revolvers. Of course, Brian told me to stick with it, learn proper technique, and when it all comes together, I should be able to make a 1911 really “rock and roll”. Yeah, that’s what I needed hear. I wanna rock with a 1911 come “hell or high water”.
Since I can’t find a coach here, so I am going to travel to matches, watch, listen and learn and steal every idea that looks valid. I know some of them won’t work for me, but some will. Still, I need to be developing skills now. I have a good grip. I understand the mechanics of obtaining a sight picture. I have a decent but not great control of the trigger and I am working on the draw. I can handle match pressure, and I have an above average grasp of the mental game. What I don’t know is how to shoot and move. How to reload. How to do a tactical reload. How to do a clearance drill. How to smoothly engage multiple targets (in action pistol the targets are much closer together edge to edge, the revolver much heavier, and all you need to do is make par time). I need help and the sooner the better.
Please, can any of you point me to a rock solid video, book or Web site that addresses these issues? I don’t want to hear about some revolutionary gimmick. I need sound info on the mechanics and basic skills of shooting a 1911 “fast and accurately”. Thanks, and trust me, I will look into any and all suggestions.
I am 44 years old and I quit competing 10-12 years ago. I have shot many thousands of rounds through double action PPC revolvers made by Power, Davis, etc. and at my pinnacle I was a very competitive master class shooter in PPC and Action Pistol. I also always finished in the top 20 in the now defunct National Pistol League. I have coached and trained numerous Expert Class shooters into the Master class and I think I have K and N frame Smiths figured out.
Along the way, I tinkered with a dozen or so 1911 style pistols including such pistols as Clark long heavy slides, and an early Les Baer govt. model. However, I always competed with heavy barrel revolvers and I never took autos seriously. When I was shooting, no one took an automatic seriously in my disciplines. My crowd shot little groups at what would now be considered long yardage, with liberal par times while the “other guys” shot their autos at bigger targets up close and personal against the clock. Still, I have always had a love affair with the 1911. The heft, the way they point, their heritage, etc. is very appealing to me.
I have resolved to learn how to run a 1911. I set my Dillon up for .45 auto. I have obtained a couple of five-gallon buckets full of brass, and so on. I bought a Kimber Custom Stainless Gold Match because it is so fine looking (unfortunately beauty is only skin deep) then I had Brian Bilby make it run. I built target frames and purchased over a hundred bucks worth of cardboard IDPA targets. I even bought a new timer. Off to the range I go and the problems start.
First, how do you grip a 1911? I think I figured that out by watching Brian Enos, Rob Leatham, etc, explain grip on a video. I think my grip is OK but how do you pull the trigger? I pull a Smith trigger double action by two staging and indexing the tip of my finger against the frame or by using the continuous pull using the second joint . That doesn’t work with a 1911. So, I am using the tip of my index finger on the trigger instead of the second joint and I guess that is correct form. OK, so how do you shut the slide? I have shot Glocks a bunch and I also have played around with a P7M8 a lot. I “slingshot” those pistols. In the old days I closed a 1911 slide with the right thumb. But isn’t it better to close a 1911 slide with the thumb of the support hand? Then there is the draw. For years and years I shot those big old heavy revolvers from break-front holsters swinging them like a pendulum with the revolver settling into the “sweet spot” about the time the cylinder stop was finding its home. Don’t work with an auto. Heck, that doesn’t even work with a stock revolver. As near as I can tell, you meet your weak hand with your strong hand at your chest, get your grip, then push the auto to the target. When you get good, the first shot breaks at the instant you obtain the target. Got that from a video too. Unfortunately, the draw and grip is all that was covered in the video.
Well guys, I gathered all my stuff up, including the timer and a print out of the IDPA qualifier and off to the range I went. A thousand rounds later I am double tapping the target right in the middle but I am slow. Then I try multiple targets and things go to heck. I stink at the El Presidente and shooting while walking is not possible. I suck, big time. I can shoot the qualifier better with a 2 ½ inch model 19 Smith and full boat loads. I would be lucky to qualify at the top of the marksman class. I am smart enough to know I need to find a coach. Of course, none are to be found here. All my buddies are revolver shooters, and the LEO guys are Glock shooters and only a couple of them are any good. I am slow as heck on the reload. Heck I don’t even know how to reload a 1911. Don’t laugh, I am incredibly fast at reloading a revolver and I can tell you it is an art and most folks go about it all wrong. There must be a technique, trick, or method to reloading an auto fast, especially the “tactical reload”, and I don’t know what it is.
I told Brian Bilby I am ready to go back to revolvers. Of course, Brian told me to stick with it, learn proper technique, and when it all comes together, I should be able to make a 1911 really “rock and roll”. Yeah, that’s what I needed hear. I wanna rock with a 1911 come “hell or high water”.
Since I can’t find a coach here, so I am going to travel to matches, watch, listen and learn and steal every idea that looks valid. I know some of them won’t work for me, but some will. Still, I need to be developing skills now. I have a good grip. I understand the mechanics of obtaining a sight picture. I have a decent but not great control of the trigger and I am working on the draw. I can handle match pressure, and I have an above average grasp of the mental game. What I don’t know is how to shoot and move. How to reload. How to do a tactical reload. How to do a clearance drill. How to smoothly engage multiple targets (in action pistol the targets are much closer together edge to edge, the revolver much heavier, and all you need to do is make par time). I need help and the sooner the better.
Please, can any of you point me to a rock solid video, book or Web site that addresses these issues? I don’t want to hear about some revolutionary gimmick. I need sound info on the mechanics and basic skills of shooting a 1911 “fast and accurately”. Thanks, and trust me, I will look into any and all suggestions.
