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Learning to Shoot in My Basement
Posted by Junior Shooters
Learning to Shoot in My Basement
By Nate Staskiewicz (14)
There are so many fundamentals that you have to learn before you can become good at shooting the pistol. When I first started shooting, I would dry fire with my regular gun but would have to rack the slide every time and couldn’t see where the shot went. This didn’t allow me to understand good trigger control. I quickly got bored with dry fire until my Dad found the SIRT training pistol from Next Level Training.
Using the SIRT, he taught me how to shoot the handgun in my basement and it simplified learning trigger control. Two months later I competed in my first Steel Challenge. My two goals were to not get DQ’d and finish in the top 50% – I exceeded both of my goals and it was the beginning of my passion for shooting.
SIRT Training Pistol
SIRT stands for Shot Indicating Resetting Trigger and it does just that. Unlike dry fire with a real pistol and having to rack the slide every time, the SIRT’s trigger resets automatically. The SIRT has two lasers – the first is a red laser that shows trigger prep, which is when you have pressure on the trigger. It also shows you if you are resetting the trigger without losing contact between rounds. The second laser is a green laser that shows where your round would have impacted and if you’re pulling the trigger too hard or anticipating the recoil. The SIRT has different settings that allow you to turn the red laser on or off.
The SIRT pistol has a similar size, shape and feel of a Glock 17 and the same frame size of a Glock 34, which is the same pistol I use in competitions. You can even put your own sights on the SIRT. But the shape and size of the SIRT doesn’t matter – the important thing is to learn trigger control.
Effective Drills
The first thing I was taught when using a SIRT pistol is how to incorporate a safety protocol into drills. Even though it is impossible to load a round into a SIRT because the slide doesn’t move, we begin by removing all live firearms and ammunition from the room we are training in. This prevents any type of weapon confusion during a training session.
When I first started training with the SIRT pistol I would stand in one spot and shoot at small targets on the wall until I understood trigger control. Then, once I got good at that I would incorporate the draw into the drills. Eventually, I would gradually incorporate more advanced things like shooting on the move, reloading and transitioning between different sized targets. While doing this, I have different sized targets to work on point shooting vs. sighted shooting.
Another way to train with the SIRT is to take it onto the live fire range and do drills with it before you do them with live fire so you can conserve ammo.
3-Gun Shooting
In my opinion, out of the pistol, rifle and shotgun, the pistol is definitely the hardest one for me to master. But because of the SIRT, it has made learning to shoot the pistol much easier.
As I started shooting in Steel Challenge, USPSA and 3-Gun matches, I have found my passion is with 3 Gun shooting and I’ve been traveling to regional 3-Gun competitions. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank my sponsors – Blade Tech, XRail by RCI, Taran Tactical Innovations, ESS, Targets Online, TACCOM and especially Mike Hughes of Next Level Training for providing me with a SIRT training pistol.
Next Level Training has generously offered a 15% discount code to junior shooters. Use the code “YOUTH” at checkout from the www.NextLevelTraining.com store for their SIRT Training Pistol and the SIRT AR Bolt.
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