I took my new Springfield Armory XDM 9mm to the range today. I went with a buddy from work that's got S&W 357mag revolver.
The day I bought it, I went and put about 75 rounds through it. Today was my first serious attempt at paying attention to what was going on with my grip, and eyes/focus, etc..., trying to really pay attention to what I was doing to try to make things better.
I've been reading as much as I can online, and have been dry firing the gun to practice my grip and trigger control.
It's a dirty, dingy, hot & muggy indoor range with poor ventilation. I was shooting through foggy safety glasses the whole time and breathing in prodigious amounts of gun powder smoke. I can't wait to go get my membership to the private range that everyone around here recommends.
I think we rang about 250 rounds through my gun and about 100 through his. I think he shot about 30-50 of the rounds through my gun and I got to shoot several through his. The trigger of his was really nice and smooth and light whether I fired DA or SA. Actually, SA in his took a little getting used to.
I felt better than the first time I went out, but still have a long way to go.
This was at 3 yards. The headshots were with my buddies gun shooting DA. I wish my bullets made those nice clean holes.
The shots around the X were with my gun, and the shots in the upper torso were my attempt at controlled pairs aiming for that top 8 (trying to make the most of the targets)
This was about half and half left and right handed only at 3 yards. (usually only load my mags to 15 rounds)
This was 7 yards
This was my attempt at controlled pairs at somewhere around 10-12 yards (tried to get halfway between the 7yd and 15yd marks). My aim was for the head, center and the 7 down at the bottom.
So, if I'm ever "attacked" by someone who's 30-35' away that will stand still while I shoot them (while they're attacking me, but also standing still?). I should do ok if I have a full magazine or two. (which would be 38 bullets in my gun)
It's apparent that I'm pretty consistently shooting to the left. Something that I need to work on. I felt like my grip was much better than when I went shooting with redbeard, and the other two times that I've been shooting. I think that helped. But I think it's inconsistent. I need to work on slowing down and really thinking about everything with each shot, I think.
My buddy did really poorly with my XDM. I was surprised because it feels so good to me. But I don't think he's got much handgun experience either. And I noticed on the first two times that I went to the range to try different guns that I shoot very differently with different guns. My buddy probably needs some instruction, and an XDM just may not be the right gun for him.
Now I'm going to go clean the thing.