Yesterday I decided to dust off my P220 for a local steel challenge match. I figured if I carry the gun sometimes, I may as well shoot it. Bad decision.

On every stage, I missed the target with the first shot. 25 out of 25 misses. I finished with my worst score in 6 years. I have gotten so used to the 5 pound pull of the striker guns. I did get a lot of reloads practice with the 8 round magazines!

Back to the Glock or M&P next month.

Great work!

Next match, shoot SSR.

A traditional double-action pistol requires constant practice to control the trigger and transition properly from double action to single action. If you have only been shooting striker-fired pistols for a while, your experience is to be expected.

I prefer the TDA pistol. I make it a point to practice twice a month with it. Doing Bill Drills helps keep me in control of the trigger work.

I know you did not ask, but if you prefer the striker-fired pistols, use them exclusively. Going back and forth between the two platforms never worked for me. I selected the TDA (a P226) side and stick to it. It makes a difference.

Good luck. Enjoy the range.

^^^ Well, you've got to fire a double-action trigger at all. OP, if you've got access to a P250 you might focus on it for a few range sessions. It's not as though the 250's trigger is stressful to shoot during extended range sessions, but doing so can make a 220 trigger seem pretty easy to work with.

Opposite here. I’m transitioning back to TDA as I feel I have more control over the trigger and it provides much better feedback. I’ve tried to love strikers, multiple times. It’s just a preference thing.

But, but …, wait: I’m confused. According to the posts I read, I would have guessed that at least half of the shooters here have no problem switching among every possible type of trigger mechanism and scoring all A-zones with every shot. And more to the point, according to them if we can’t do that we’re probably defective and don’t deserve to even own a gun.


Okay, now that I’ve had my hyperbole fix this morning, all I’ll add is that I’ve found my extensive experience with double action only triggers has helped me with all the guns I fire—assuming I operate all their triggers the same way. I nevertheless realize that that’s never going to be true of all shooters, and that if someone can’t operate a particular gun well, then he shouldn’t rely on it for serious purposes.

I had the same issues when I switched from glocks to Cz's. It only took a little time at the range to get my mind around that first da pull.
It actually helps me now by forcing me to focus on that first shot and that sets me up for the rest of the course.

I had seventeen years of striker induced muscle memory to overcome by the time I bought my first DA/SA gun. Though I thought I could do it, from that first P229 to a decade later I still don't think I've got it anywhere closed to mastered, despite many thousands of consumed rounds that I've put through DA/SA SIGs, CZs, Berettas, HKs, S&Ws and others. Granted only a fraction of those pulls involved DA, but intentional DA practice was something I did with that P229 for quite a few visits to the range, and still do with my Mk25. Blessed be thy SIG decocker design.

Some guns I've come close to harmony with, like my aforementioned Mk25, but that's more about a firearm with a rather sympathetic mainspring right out of the box that plays more nicely than anything my own self manages to overcome. Some things just flow, and for(ever) me a simple striker action continues its pervasive dominance. If I were to insist on change SAO is a more tidy and friendly transition, but then there's that goddamned thumb safety. Thus for moi the Dark Side reigns supreme. Yet the occasional dalliances with DA remind me that it's not a bad thing to continue to learn something different.

I'm the opposite, most often the first DA shot is my best.
I've carried and shot a DA revolver for so long I suppose it is where my brain goes first.

quote:

Originally posted by Ironmike57:
Yesterday I decided to dust off my P220 for a local steel challenge match. I figured if I carry the gun sometimes, I may as well shoot it. Bad decision.

...

Back to the Glock or M&P next month.

So you're going to make the P220 a safe queen? Relegate it to casual shooting just a have a DA/SA Sig? Sell it? Certainly you're not going to carry it any more.

Mind you: I'm not criticizing your experience/observations/what-have-you. That's the same reason I went with a SAS DAK for my first carry pistol. And it's the reason I'm re-thinking the idea of acquiring a DA/SA P229 in .357 Sig.

I simply do not practice enough to remain proficient on multiple action types, so I'm thinking I'll stick to DA-only and striker-fired.

I'm one of those that cannot transition from different trigger to different trigger so I just picked what I shot best and stay with that. It's what works best for me.

quote:

Originally posted by Il Cattivo:
^^^ Well, you've got to fire a double-action trigger at all. OP, if you've got access to a P250 you might focus on it for a few range sessions. It's not as though the 250's trigger is stressful to shoot during extended range sessions, but doing so can make a 220 trigger seem pretty easy to work with.

I have a P250 also and as a former DA revolver shooter that used to compete in PPC matches, I've got to say that the DAO on the P250 provides an extremely transition to those who had any experience with DA revolvers. I guess my kind are a dying breed, but "back in the day", a good wheel-gun shooter could easily be as accurate as someone going single action with the same revolver (usually a S&W).

quote:

Originally posted by Ironmike57:
...a local steel challenge match.
...I did get a lot of reloads practice with the 8 round magazines!

Try shooting steel with a revolver.

With a revolver and 5 steel, you only get one round as a margin for error, rather than the 4 you have...in an 8 round mag (+1 in the chamber). You even have more rounds than an 8 shot revolver

 
I just recently returned to the DA/SA camp, with a P220 Elite Stainless. After some practice and dry firing, it got good. My first match, at 25 yards, I made a little cloverleaf with my first three shots.
 

I don't find the "transition" from DA to SA to be any problem. For me, it's the first DA shot. If I'm going to pull one, it will be that first shot. I just decided I'll deal with that and have a great trigger. Deal with that first shot 8-10 lbs then have a great 4 lb trigger for the rest.

I have a 92FS with quite a bit of WC work done to it.

Still shoot a box stock G26 or G17 better on the first shot - every time.

Don't get me wrong, love my Beretta. One of my favorite guns of all time. No plans to ever part with it . . . but the paper doesn't lie.

Some things are just objectively true, and the truth is a wonderful terrible thing.

Gentlemen, Thanks for the wisdom and advice.

I am finished crying in my milk. I am not going to sell the gun as it has big time sentimental value. I did not lose confidence in it as a carry gun - just hitting 8" plates at 25 yards double action. The guy running the timer said I was hitting the bolts on many of the single action shots.

As soon as the skin on my thumb heals(don't know why it is so chewed up), I will work on my dry fire then take it to the range and work on DA shots. I just do not shoot the gun enough. This whole ordeal is probably a blessing.

I probably need a J. Jones course.

I would love to shoot the course with a six gun. The only revolver I have is a J frame.

Also, I do not mind reloads. The RO always asks if I have enough ammo in my gun. I tell him that I don't know or care. I am not a serious competitor. I am just doing this for fun and to handle my guns once a month.

quote:

Originally posted by 9mmepiphany:

quote:

Originally posted by Ironmike57:
...a local steel challenge match.
...I did get a lot of reloads practice with the 8 round magazines!

Try shooting steel with a revolver.

With a revolver and 5 steel, you only get one round as a margin for error, rather than the 4 you have...in an 8 round mag (+1 in the chamber). You even have more rounds than an 8 shot revolver

quote:

The only revolver I have is a J frame

I used to shoot ICORE with a guy that insisted on using his new J frame.

After a while, he got pretty dern good at both not missing & the smoothness of his reloads.

My take on things is a bit different. I have been thinking seriously about committing to the P320 for the '18 season. I have been shooting canned drills for time across several platforms. A 2.0, full sized 320, 320 Compact, Gen5 17, 226 and 2022.

Problem is I keep learning the same lesson over and over again, and am apparently not smart enough to accept it.

I blow speed and accuracy out of the water with the DA/SA guns. I've shot about 2k in the last two weeks, in training and shooting demos. And I have found the same lesson out that I keep finding out. The 226 and 2022 are home for me. I have much greater control over the first shot with the DA gun over the striker offerings. So much so, that I can tell you that this formula works consistently. 10 yards+1.20 draw+.25 split= consistently two bullets that touch with the 2022. The 226 is a bit faster.

The control I am taking about really shows at distance on the draw.

The control I am talking about leaves me continually excited. I've carried a lot of pistols over the years. I've owned a bunch of 226s and 2022s that have found other homes over the years. But, the current evolution of the 2022 continues to impress me. The 226 has always impressed me.

#dasaposse for life.