[abrink]

OK... I'm a great shot with a rifle. A real can't miss anything. Unfortunately for me it's very hard and illegal to conceal a rifle. I've read so many things about stance trigger pull grip and all of that but my shots are all over the place. Sometimes i get some good groups just not where i want the group to be. Every time i shoot i swear my sights are right on the center of the target and the shot isn't even close to it.

I'm a little better one handed but not much. ANY tips appreciated. Even pictures of how you are when you shoot would be great.

thanks soo much!

[CountGlockula]

What about taking a NRA certified basic handgun course in your local area?

It's best to get a one on one lesson, so the instructor can give you the right tips on handgun shooting. I took one and it was SOOOOO valuable!

Here: http://www.nrahq.org/education/training/find.asp

[Grizfire]

This is why I like pistol shooting so much...its so much more challenging. when I started I couldn't even hit the box my target was attached to. With a rifle you have three anchor points (fore stock, trigger hand, and shoulder), while with a pistol you only really have one (the trigger hand, with the support hand at the same anchor point).

what has really helped me is with the use of snap caps and dry fire exercises. This helps getting a good feel for the trigger and not anticipating recoil. Also work on follow through and calling your shot.

I have much improvement to do, so take my advice with a grain of salt.

[AZAndy]

NRA class is a good suggestion. In the meantime, what are you shooting? Revolver? Semi-auto? Double action? Single action? There are differing techniques depending on the machine you're operating.

[ReadyontheRight]

I got a version of the following chart at an NRA Bullseye Pistol training session. I just did the Google on "pistol shooting chart" the advice quoted below.

My biggest issue to overcome is anticipation/flinching. You really catch yourself on this when you think you are firing a live round and there is no shell, or a fired shell, in the chamber. You can have a friend randomly load 3 cartridges into a 6-shot revolver to check out your tendency to flinch.

IMHO - #1 below should read "not looking at the front sight".

A few other things that have helped me -

-Seek your natural point of aim - Line up on the target with your eyes closed. If you are off, move your feet and line up with eyes colsed again. DO this every time you proactice.
-A pistol - especially shooting one-handed - is going to waver on your target. Don't look for a perfect hold, look for an acceptable amount of "waver" on the target and squeeze the trigger so you're suprised when it goes off. THis can also apply to rifle shooting - especially shooting offhand.
-Get a semi-auto .22 for $300 and shoot a few thousand rounds for $20 or so. You will be a better pistol shot than 90%+ of the population.

http://home.earthlink.net/~potomac008/Pistol%20Wheel.htm

http://home.earthlink.net/~potomac008/wheel.gif


Top Eleven Bad Habits of Shooters

1. Not Looking at the Sights. This quite frequently is listed as "looking at the target." A shooter may be focusing his eye on neither the sights nor the target, but since he does not see the target in clear focus he assumes he is looking at the sights. You must concentrate on sight alignment.

2. Holding Too Long. Any adverse conditions that interrupt a shooter's ability to "hold" will cause him to delay his squeeze, waiting for conditions to better. The disturbing factor about this is that you will do it unconsciously; therefore, you must continuously ask yourself, am I being too particular?

3. Improper Grip or Position. Suffice to say that you cannot fire a decent score with any gun at any range if you continually change your grip or position.

4. Jerk or Heel. The application of pressure either with the trigger finger alone or in case of the heel, pushing with the heel of the hand at the same time. Apply pressure to the trigger straight to the rear and wait for the shot to break.

5. Anticipation. Anticipation can cause muscular reflexes of an instant nature that so closely coincide with recoil that extreme difficulty is experienced in making an accurate call. Anticipation is also the sire to flinching.

6. Loss of Concentration. If the shooter fails in his determination to apply positive pressure on the trigger while concentrating on the front sight his prior determination needs renewal and he should rest and start over.

7. Anxiety. You work and work on a shot, meanwhile building up in your mind doubt about the shot being good. Finally you shoot just to get rid of that particular round so you may work on the others.

8. Vacillation (Plain Laziness). This is a mental fault more than a physical one, which results in your accepting minor imperfections in your performance which you could correct if you worked a little harder. The end result being you hope you get a good shot. Just like you hope you will get a gratis tax refund, and you will get one just about as frequently as you get the other.

9. Lack of Follow Through. Follow through is the subconscious attempt to keep everything just as it was at the time the shot broke. In other words you are continuing to fire the shot even after it is gone. Follow through is not to be confused with recovery. Merely recovering and holding on the target after the shot is no indication that you are following through.

10. Lack of Rhythm. Hesitancy on the first shot or any subsequent shot in timed or rapid fire. Develop a good rhythm and then have the fortitude to employ it every case. Frequently many shooters will have fine rhythm until the last shot of a string and then hesitate, doctoring up that last shot.

11. Match Pressure. If there are 200 competitors in a match, rest assured that there are 200 shooters suffering from match pressure. So what makes you think you are so different? If you are exerting all your mental energy toward executing the correct fundamentals rather than the arithmetic evaluation, your shooting match pressure will be what you feel when people congratulate you on a fine performance.

Copyright 2001 2006- 13th Confederate Infantry
For problems or questions regarding this web contact the webmaster
Last updated: 11/14/07.

[Navy joe]

Of all the advice out there one thing of what I tell new shooters seems to stick. Sight alignment and sight picture are easy to grasp. What I tell them is pull the trigger without moving the sights. That is the key goal behind all the diagnosis targets, grip, brething and other advice. Dryfire, load, shoot, if you shoot badly stop and dryfire some more. If the sights move, dryfire until they don't.

Get instruction.

[stevereno1]

Assuming that you're right-handed. you should grip the gun firmly with your right hand, wrap your left hand so that your left pointer is around your right middle finger. your left thumb should be riding low, and your right thumb should be resting above your left thumb. Not on top of it, but above it. Do not try to squeeze the juice out of it, just grip it firm. take up the slack while aiming at your target. Press the trigger at an even rate, and let the shot surprise you. Do not jerk the trigger, do not be afraid of recoil,(My 2 yr old daughter hits harder than this), and if you let the shot "surprise you" you will find that you hit the mark every time. Further practice is required in order to press under stress, but the fundamentals stay the same.

[Comanche180]

When I started I could barely keep the shots on a 3 foot square target at 50 feet. After a little training and a lot of shooting, things have gotten a lot better. The concept of shooting is pretty simple, like golf. Hit the little ball into the hole: line up the sights on the target and let the bullet go. Simple concept, difficult to execute. I have found that a very firm grip and good trigger control are key to accuracy. A good trigger helps too.

My son was a marine and he said that in training, they dry fired for at least a week before they were given any ammo. He knows a lot more about shooting than I do, but I can afford to buy more ammo.

I shoot bullseye so it's one handed all the time.

[kamagong]

It takes a lot more effort and practice to gain proficiency with a pistol compared to a rifle. The most important thing for me has been trigger time. That means a lot of dry firing. I use a .22lr pistol a lot too because I can't afford to shoot .45ACP all that much.

Another benefit of dry firing is that it taught me to shoot with both eyes. When I first started I had to close one eye in order to pick up the sights. I tried a couple of weeks of dry firing at the morons on tv. The next time I went to the range I had "magically" gained the ability to acquire the sights with both eyes. I attribute that to my practice at home.

[yhtomit]

For more practice, consider an airgun, too.

(If ammo is cheap enough to you that this is a non-issue, and if there's no place more convenient for shooting an airgun such as in a handy basement, then disregard this, I guess :))

This might draw chuckles, but if you have a place where you can safely shoot it, practicing with an airgun might be very useful, by encouraging consistency, etc, and by being a dead-cheap way to shoot with target feedback, rather than only dry-firing.

Also, though I would never plan to shoot actual firearms without hearing protection, I find both plugs and muffs plain uncomfortable and slightly distracting. Shooting an air pistol is certainly not without (slight, reasonable) risk, but hearing protection is not an issue except with with relatively high-powered guns, such as pre-charged pneumatics. (If anyone can correct me on that, please do.)

There are good deals on airguns, too, especially if you're interested in shooting for practice and form rather than competition-level picayune accuracy. I paid less than $50 each for a pair of Crosman 1377s (single-shot, largish pistols -- amazing how accurate they are!), and am tempted to get a Marksman 2004 model for just slightly less. (See http://www.pyramydair.com/cgi-bin/model.pl?model_id=614 -- it's a more conventional looking handgun, a bit like certain models of Walther in style.)

I'd like one of these, too (http://www.pyramydair.com/p/izh-46M-match-air-pistol.shtml), but as Economics professors like to point out, for practical purposes human desires are limitless, and really it's the tip of a very large iceberg. A few years ago, the idea of a funky-looking, $300, single-shot pellet gun being in any way "a bargain" would have seemed ludicrous, but now it strikes me as exactly that, at least compared to the competition it's classed with. At least the delusion is a chosen one ;)

This is not in disagreement with any of the advice given above, at least not intentionally. I concur esp. with the advice to shoot lots of .22, too!

timothy

[Waywatcher]

A good book is a great investment. Some reading goes a long way.

[Mad Magyar]

Even though I never "aimed" to be a bullseye shooter, I feel being a "trigger jerker" is the most common malady in today's shooters. After many years, still working on it... Now, the underlying causes for that & its affects are well listed above...:)

[astark]

Watch this video and notice the grip technique, thumb of support hand matching trigger finger extended.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=ysa50-plo48

[Mad Magyar]

As far as video watching, not much transference/osmosis in that regard..Each shooter knows deep down what his "demons" are. You can watch Doug Koenig, Jerry M, et al for hours and if anything; makes you realize you need to get off the couch and practice your weaknesses. In regards to the trigger, not all blamed on the shooter...Different pull ratios, slacks/travel, etc. makes it all the more challenging...

[DFW1911]

All good advice so far. I'd add: bring someone with you when you shoot who has the experience and ability to critique your shooting.

It's amazing what a set of experienced eyes can diagnose and help correct.

Have fun,
DFW1911

[Lurper]

This will help:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=oQgLmQl1zDw

Are you shooting one handed or two handed? The chart shown above is for bullseye shooters. Two handed shooting introduces a different set of variables.
If you are shooting two handed, you want to have a neutral grip and stance. Relax and allow the gun to do the work for you.
Another thing to check is blinking. Many people (even those who have been shooting for years) blink when the shot breaks and don't realize it. I film students so they can see for themselves, but if you are blinking, you don't know where the sight is when the shot breaks.
Also, work on a smooth trigger press. Everyone understands the concept of sight picture/alignment, but the world class shooters will tell you that trigger press is more important. Build your sight and trigger technique by dry firing. Focus on the front sight, make sure that it doesn't move when the hammer falls.
Start there.

The best thing to do is seek professional training.

[dethstormpx4]

i am left handed and left eye dom and when i try to shoot with both eyes open i get double vision and my eyes start to cross:. does anyone have advise on correcting this ? maybe practice at home ? I cant get to the range as much as i would like so anything would help. thanks.-joe

[Conqueror]

You should shoot with both eyes open and focus on the front sight. The front sight should be crystal clear with the target slightly fuzzy. This should help with the "double vision" as it gives you something close to focus both eyes on.

[MrBorland]

i am left handed and left eye dom and when i try to shoot with both eyes open i get double vision and my eyes start to cross:. does anyone have advise on correcting this ? maybe practice at home ? I cant get to the range as much as i would like so anything would help. thanks.-joe

Joe -

I recently switched over to shooting with both eyes open and struggled with double vision too. Keep in mind that it's your brain, not your eyes, that's seeing double. The good news is that your brain doesn't like confusing images, so it'll force the dominant eye to take over. In other words, you may see double at first, but if you focus on the front sight, one of the images should disappear. With time & practice, your brain will be less confused, so practice at home would be a big help. Just hold the gun and practice establishing and holding a good sight picture with both eyes open.

Another trick that helped me is to apply a small piece of scotch tape (the translucent "fuzzy" kind) on this inside of your non-dominant side of your glasses when you shoot. The tape will block the vision of the non-dominant eye and will help get you used to simply keeping both eyes open when you shoot without the distraction of double vision. Replace the tape with smaller and smaller pieces until you don't need any tape.