Thursday, January 8, 2009

Fun with Shot Timers

I have recently been incorporating a shot timer into my training. I'm not sure why I waited so long but, if you want to improve, this is an invaluable tool.



I started out with this free Shot Timer from Surefire that I downloaded to my Apple iPhone. My friend and I used it to train at out local indoor range. It works pretty well and shot strings can be emailed.


After I found that shot timers are very useful I went out and got myself a dedicated shot timer. I bought a P.A.C.T MKIV XP Championship Timer and Chronograph. In hindsight, this is probably a bit of an over kill but now I'm stuck with it. Anyway, I like it and it works great so far. My only initial "complaint" is that it is a little bigger that I was expecting.


I can record multiple shot strings and recall them easily. So, multiple people can share one timer.

It has a pretty large key pad to enter in and retrieve data. The buzzer can be set to three different levels of loudness. The start time can be delayed randomly and other cool things like that.


It has a par timer feature that I like to use at the range and for dry firing. I use the par timer to practice drawing from a holster and shooting to drawing, shooting then reloading and shooting. I try to push the envelope a little to speed up my time. The buzzer goes off at the par time and the actual time the drill took is also displayed.

This is a very versatile tool and I've already seen a great increase in performance and skilll in my technique.

I'll be scouring the web for more ideas!

No comments: