Shooting baseline

Years ago when I was shooting regularly, one of the things I enjoyed was the self-paced marksmanship program the NRA set up. At the height of my ability, I had acheived a Sharpshooter Bar 7 rating in the pistol marksmanship program (.22LR pistol, 25 feet).

Years have, however, passed, and I currently can barely reach the Bar 1 qualification level with the same setup. I intend to improve that, but I've also developed a greater interest in more defense-oriented shooting.

To that end, this past monday I did a timed trial with my S&W 686 (.357 Magnum, 6 shot). I was able to take position, empty the chamber, reload from a speed loader, empty the chamber, reload from a second speed loader, and empty the chamber a third time in exactly one minute. Half of my shots hit a head-sized target at 25 feet. This is nothing impressive by itself, but it does give me a baseline to work from.

I also intend to see if Norpoint stocks or can be persuaded to stock targets for the NRA handgun qualification course, or something similar. The pistol course focuses on accuracy, mostly using a one-handed firing position. The handgun course focuses on getting shots on target, going for less fine accuracy and from a two-handed position.

Slowly regaining my lethality...