Help me correct my shooting.

Yup, dry fire a lot, safely. Dry fire so much that you will train your muscle memory without flinching. Right now you are anticipating recoil/noise. Have a friend put a couple of snap caps in a magazine randomly, then watch the front site dip low left when you squeeze one off. Oh, also, focus on the front sight, and only the front sight. Don't switch your eyes to the target to see where it hits.....

LNK

The 23 is 40, right? The extra recoil is making you anticipate.

Can't rule out sights though, which can be determined by shooting off bags or a rest. My new P01 was off just enough to throw shots 3" left at 15 yards.

It is your trigger control. You are anticipating the additional recoil and jerking the trigger. To fix it you need to dry fire, and when you shoot live rounds you should let a friend load your magazines and have him (or her) put some snap caps randomly in the mags to let you see how badly you are anticipating the shot.

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That correction chart is designed for shooting right-hand only. However, I find that most of the time when people are shooting low-left, it's jerking the trigger (one-handed or two-handed).

rhp997 said:

No issues to damaging the gun dry firing?

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None. Rimfires you might, but not centerfires. If you are worried, grab some snap caps ($10).

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You can dry-fire any center-fire gun safely generally as a rule. The only center-fire's I wouldn't dry-fire are relics. Rimfires are a little different; if they've been headspaced correctly the firing pin won't hit the chamber face, but often times it will and lead to peening of the chamber face through repeated impacts of the FP.

Some rimfires, like the Ruger MKIII have a firing pin stop to prevent this, although that stop pin can eventually deform over time too. Best thing for rimfires? Get some #4 dry-wall anchors and use them as disposable snap caps.

Yup, dry fire away (best form of practice there is) and get snap caps if you're worried. They're also useful for practicing malfunction clearance drills and training away flinches.

Correct your shooting?

Ok, the first thing you're going to want to do, is look at your target.

Next, point the gun at the target and pull the trigger.

Really try to hit the target.

If that doesn't work.... try and shoot gooder.....

Just kidding of corse. The others have given you good info. You are just anticipating the recoil and need to work on your trigger pull. Good luck.

I agree with the flinch diagnosis. It's probably the most common problem among infrequent to casual shooters. As a slice is to golf, a flinch is to shooting.

I'm of the view that flinching starts with the eyes. You have a very normal human physiological reaction to close your eyes when there's a VERY loud noise and a sudden jump of something in your hand. You may have overcome it with a 9mm in a mid-size gun, but a smaller gun in a louder/snappier cartridge brings it back.

As with any flinch, what you mainly need to do is gradually train yourself to be OK with the gun going off. The eyes are, again, the key. Next time you shoot that gun, don't try to hit anything in particular (other than a safe backstop). Just try to see the gun go off. Try to see the muzzle flash. Try to see the brass eject. Try to see the front sight rise in recoil. All of those things should be perfectly visible if your eyes are open. If you just can't do it, go back to the 9mm for a while to rebuild some "trust" in your brain - or, better yet, a .22.

Some people can overcome a flinch fast. Others (like myself) require many, many rounds and several sessions. It may even come back on you from time to time, especially if you go a long time without shooting.

Once you can keep your eyes open through the shot, chances are you won't push the gun off-target. And if you do, you'll see it so immediately that your brain will really understand it, will "believe" that it's pushing the gun, and will quit it pretty quickly. You'll be able to aim through the shot, rather than getting set, and then closing your eyes and jerking the trigger quickly so the shot can be over and you can re-open your eyes.

Go watch the gun go off. Find out how much you can see.

Along with the rest of the stuff you may be focusing on the upcoming bigger BOOM! that goes with the .40 ammo. It might be making you flinch a little where you don't with the softer recoil of the 9mm.

So when youre working on your dry firing and when shooting live concentrate on pulling the trigger smoothly to the rear travel limit. And work on a proper follow through where you still have the trigger pulled back at the end of the recoil bobbling. Only then ease up on the pressure until you can feel the reset click through the trigger.

At that point you can reverse the pressure easing to a pressure build to pull the trigger back to the rear travel limit again. Along the way the gun will go BANG! Try not to worry about that as it interrupts your proper trigger pull practicing.

I know that last bit sounds funny but if you can focus out the BANG!'s and concentrate on the trigger pressure building, easing, building and easing in a continuous smooth cycle for your shots you'll find you shift your focus away from the recoil and end up with less flinch and tighter grouping.

I was doing the same thing with the 1911 in the Corps, the bloody thing does not fit my hand right and when I squeeze the trigger my hand causes me to push the round low left. I put a bic cigarette lighter between my palm and grip and the problem went away.

No one could figure out or see my issue, and a number of coaches worked with me. I just kind of stumbled on it because my finger are so long and I was contating the trigger into and just past the second joint of my trigger finger.

It doesn't take much and was not very easy to see. Take note where you trigger finger contacts the two triggers on each pistol and see if a you are dealing with a mismatch between your hand and grip on that pistol. Afterwards, I could see what I was doing wrong when dry firing; the sights were difficult to keep aligned about the same time the sear let go.

Chuck

rhp997 said:

Any suggestions on dry fire drills?

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Place a dime on the front sight and dry fire. It shouldn't move.

A laser would better to see the little movements you may make.

It sounds to me, you just have to get used to the added recoil. If your shooting you 9 fine, then you just need to shoot the 40 more to get used to it.

Hi, lots of good advice up there. The following is based on a few assumptions, so please forgive me for errors or otherwise making generalizations in the absence of more information. You are male, of at least average height, strength, have no serious physical impairments, and have at least more than a passing familiarity with your guns. I do not own, nor have I fired a .40 semi auto, so I don't know is the recoil is materially different from the 9mm.

To add a few more things, take a look at this link and think about your stance and grip.
http://www.corneredcat.com/article/the-shooting-basics/stance/

I had a similar problem with my CZ75, and adjusting my grip to a "thumbs forward" grip, and adopting the Modern Isosceles stance improved my accuracy from shooting to the left to shooting on target. My problem was more pronounced with the 9mm than the 22 competition pistol, even though they are of similar weight. In this example, there was a meaningful difference in recoil.