Posted: 7/22/2007 5:40:10 PM EDT
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I've been shooting pistols for a couple of years. My shooting doesn't seem to be improving. In fact, I think I suck. I'm all over the place even at 10-15 yards. A thought occured to me. Maybe it's my eyes? I shoot rifles lefty and pistols righty. BUT, I'm left eye dominant. So when I shoot a rifle it is correct. But pistols, I'm using the opposite eye from my gun hand. Could this "crossover" sighting be a problem? Next time I go shooting, I'm going to try to use my right eye instead and see if I improve. |
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ME, could you be flinching? Flinching occurs when you shoot a firearm and you anticipate the recoil, "pushing" the gun away from you. Here's an exercise you can do for yourself to detect and correct this. ********************************* The phenomenon of "anticipating the recoil" or "flinching" as you fire, is due to reflex, nothing more. Reflexes can be taught and learned; just ask any karate guy. Way back in the day, when your ancestors and mine were settling disputes with rocks & sharpened sticks, we had some common enemies: the bear, the panther, the lion, the tiger... All of them did the same thing: they would ROAR and they would JUMP AT YOU. Your natural and unlearned response was to PUSH AWAY the attacker. Nowadays, you have this dangerous tool in front of you, and you pull the trigger, and it ROARS, and it JUMPS AT YOU. Your response is to push it away! Here is a drill you can do to cure this. It helped me in one 1/2 hour range session. If you have access to a large-bore revolver, one that will provide some fairly serious recoil, then do this: Load 5 loaded rounds, and 1 empty. Spin the cylinder & close it without looking at it. Line it up with the target & squeeze off 6 shots. When you hit the empty round, you will see your sights dip! THIS part is important! Another thing you will experience when you hit the empty cylinder is the 'tingling' in your arms that makes you push the gun away from you. It is a sort of "muscle memory." This is masked by the recoil, and you don't feel it when the gun fires. But it is this sensation you should be trying to avoid. Now try loading the revolver with all empty brass. Align the revolver with the target and squeeze off a few “dry fire" shots. You will see your sights move & feel your arm tingle. Do this a few more times with the intent of keeping the sights on the target. Also, try to "follow through" with the shot: As you are dry-firing, pretend that the pistol is firing and recoiling. It looks and feels pretty silly, clicking and letting your muzzle raise and lower, but you are actually doing a little "muscle training" in the process. You are also training yourself to re-acquire the original sight picture. When you've kept the sights aligned for about 20 "dry shots," go to the next step. Now remove one empty casing from the cylinder. Replace the casing with a live round. Spin the cylinder & close it w/o looking at it, so you don't know when the live round comes around. Align, squeeze & shoot as above. When the live round comes around, you likely will be hitting right in the black, probably 8 or 9 or even 10 ring. I've used this technique with several people at shooting ranges, and in almost every case have helped them improve their shooting. (The only time I couldn't help someone, I left the range... he was a complete dunderhead that shouldn't have even dressed himself. I told the rangemaster on the way out, too.) The above exercises can be done with semiauto pistols, too, using snap-caps, but not as easily. |
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If you REALLY want to improve, try shooting a USPSA or IDPA shoot. Just one - it won't kill you. You already own the gun you need. There is a shoot happening this weekend someplace nearby where you live. You are NOT required to be "good" to come to a shoot - in fact, that is the point - to come & improve through SHOOTING. Locate a shoot near you here: www.idpa.com www.uspsa.com |
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Left-eye dominance is just not an issue in pistol shooting, as it is in rifle shooting. It's a matter of turning your head a tiny bit. Go ahead and shoot left-eyed. If you are having trouble shooting accurately, it is almost certainly a matter of trigger control. Simply put, you are pressing the trigger harder than you need to. If your pistol requires X pounds of pressure to fire, then don't apply 2X pounds of pressure. Apply X pounds and no more. With live ammo, on a target range, try to find out how hard you can press the trigger WITHOUT making the gun fire. That is, bring it right up to the point where you think it will fire if you add one more ounce of pressure -- then stop. If the gun actually fires, then you should immediately think, "Damn!" Try that a few times, and you will be surprised to discover that all the "Damn" shots are in a small group! Next drill: follow through. Without worrying about accuracy, focus on holding the trigger all the way back after the gun goes bang. Don't even bother looking at the target between shots; it doesn't matter. Focus all your attention on holding that trigger back in the rearward position after the gun fires. Then very slowly release the trigger, and listen carefully for the "tic" sound when the trigger resets. Bang (tic) Bang (tic) Bang (tic). Miraculously, all your shots will be in a small group. When you progress to shooting fast, you won't go back to pressing hard, and slapping at the trigger. Instead, you will be pressing softly, applying only the minimum amount of pressure necessary to get the gun to fire, and thinking Bang(tic)Bang(tic)Bang(tic). Standing by for next range report. 
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If you go with a shooting buddy you can have him load your mags and put a snap cap in random places, so you don't know where they are. That way while your shoorting it you can see if you flinch. |
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How much do you dry fire? Are you focusing on the front sight? What weapon are you shooting? The two most critical elements of pistol marksmanship are focus on the front sight and trigger control. If you haven't done so yet, try to pick up a copy of 'The shooters Golden Treasury " by Gil Hebard, Read everything written by Bill Blankenship in the book and seek to apply it. |
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Thanks guys. I'll try to go friday and give a range report with my newly learned techniques to try. To the last poster: I shoot mainly my 2 9mm XD's. Sub and Service (3" and 4" barrels). I also have 2 .357 magnums, a Taurus snubby and a 4" S&W. I do try to focus on the front sight because I've read to do that. It's hard to not look at the target though! |
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It's terribly easy to sneak peeks at the target even as you're just breaking the shot. However, you read correctly on focusing on the front sight. It's hard to stress just how crucial that is to best accuracy. When starting new shooters out, after they get over the shooting jitters I try to move the target out far enough that they can't easily see the bullet holes, that way they're not tempted to sneak and cheat  Keep on the front sight, do your dry firing religiously and you'll see a huge improvement. Good luck!!! |
The only thing that combo will get you is a sweet transition drill. I'm left eye dominant, and should have been left handed but when I was growing up my mother thought that there was some stigma attached to being left handed, so she taught me to do everything right handed. When it came to shooting a rifle, my left handed father left me to my own devices. As long as you stay away from that stupid weaver stance, you should be fine. Shooting, just like anything else that requires motor skills, takes practice. A while back, a friend of mine brought one of his friends to the range to help him with his shooting. When I asked about his friend, he said that he was a good guy with decent skill, he was just 250K rounds behind the curve.  I would suggest that you follow the advice of the previous posters. You need to get in as much dry fire practice as you can in order to work on your sight alignment and trigger control. When you are burning powder, try to make every shot count. I've had friends that have greatly improved their scores by picking up a .22 cal conversion kit for their pistol so they could afford to practice more. |
Ok, then you need to look at your gun. I had a Browning High Power that I loved, problem was I couldn't hit shit with it. Sold it my brother and he shoots it fine. Does this happen with all your handguns or just this one? The only other thing I can tell you is to try to shoot both eyes open as it helps with depth perception. An old bullseye shooter told me that only the front sight should be in focus and don't worry if the target is fuzzy. |
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BRASS Breathe - controlled Relax - exhale slowly Aim - front sight focus Squeeze - only the trigger finger should move, NOT the gripping hand Surprise - Bang! then trigger reset For Semis - TRIGGER RESETwill tighten up the groups - Maintain even trigger pressure all the way back to the frame of the pistol until the gun discharges/cycles and autoloads the next round. Slowly release trigger forward until you hear/feel the "click" of the trigger resetting. No need to release trigger farther forward than that point. You are then ready to press the trigger again for you next shot. Your trigger finger should maintain contact with the trigger the whole time so that the squeeze is consistent. Many people "slap" the trigger - constantly removing their finger from contact on each shot. DRY FIRE DRILL at home (Triple check an empty chamber) Place a quarter flat on top of the slide or other flat part e.g. front or rear sight Slowly squeeze the trigger double action without dropping the coin Slow=smooth Smooth= accurate Accurate=fast |
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post my summary once more... " 1st, the best advice is to seek professional training if you want to persue this beyond casual range time ok, some general advice: trigger finger: just a tad past the tip of the finger (it will vary where to put your trigger finger on the trigger; its usually somewhere on the 1st flangie, or on the joint if its a heavier/DAO/revolver trigger where more force can be applied) 'press' straightback, rearward mod iso is great for gripping--60-70% grip w/ the weak hand, 30-40% w/ the strong hand, high hand on the rear tang, "stong" hand/trigger hand concentrates on JUST the ''press'' of the trigger, as your "weak" hand firmly grips the auto your mind concentrates on the front sight on the target.....trigger press initiates and gun goes off in a surprise as you continue on concentrating on the front sight...follow through these might help also: video: video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4584332856867071363&q=handgun readers: www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/ayoob85.html www.shootingusa.com/PRO_TIPS/JARRETT2/jarrett2.html www.uspsa.com/gmTips/tip01.html www.glockfaq.com/shooting.htm the two most important things for accurate shooting are trigger and sight (front), everything else helps, but they are also mostly more helpful for follow ups and recoil (such as stance, grip, arms/legs/body/head, etc) trigger info, esp for glocks: www.glockfaq.com/trigger.htm these targets might help also: www.degrata.com/pdf/commonshootingerrors.pdf http://www.tackdriver.com/pix0703/correction.jpg 4 main points: -trigger control -sight alighnment -sight picture -follow through some can argue against dry firing, but imo, dryfiring is important practice (only if what your practice is correct though) books: SURGICAL SPEED SHOOTING by andy standford hope this helps, good luck "
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