Pistol Qual

I sometimes think I fired more 105mm and 120mm than .45 ACP or 9mm while I was in the Army.

That's because we took the tanks downrange twice a year but only did pistols annually.

In basic we were still with the M1911A1's and we used the man-sized knock-down targets.

Those things were shot to Hell and lots of guys would have qualified on their first pass if the hadn't hit the bit hole in the middle of the target.

I think that 10 yards was the maximum range and the close targets were like 5 yards.

The next time I qualified was, again, with an M1911A1 at my line unit.

This was paper targets at 7 yards.  Several 6" circles on a big sheet of paper to do each stage of the table.

My last qualification should have been with our new M9's.  I did it with a Glock 17.  That's from turning in our .45's and the ammo and getting 9mm NATO ammo, but no guns thanks to some sort of production shutdown from QC issues with the M9 in Maryland.

Army ammo, privately owned pistols, Hollywood Range at Graf.  Well maintained knock-down targets scattered around a fan shaped pattern with ranges out to 25-30m.  Most targets in the 10-15m distance.

Same tables I referenced in a earlier post.

EASY shooting.

But just three official trips to the pistol range for three years of service.

Once I had the Glock, though, I went more often to the Rod and Gun Club range.  Learned a lot more about shooting there too.