Friend can't shoot straight

In all honesty if you don't mind rent him a 22lr pistol to try out. I have one and even though its not what I started with -Colt 1991a1- it has helped me improve my shooting skills greatly. I believe practice makes perfect too, it also has to do with affordability to shoot. Any time behind a trigger is better than none at all. Give it a whirl, it should help a lot.

Needs more time that's all.
-firm combat grip
-use the end of the trigger finger, opposite of fingernail area
-he's probally scared of the pistol and rushing shots
-do your sights suck? Stock sights on those 3 pistols aren't too easy for many shooters.
-useing the wrong had/eye. Make sure he's using his strong eye and strong hand. I'm cross dominant. I had to learn that. Right hand, left eye.

Nothing wrong with 2 feet at 7y. We all started somewhere, I used to stink at shooting as well. (left hand, left eye)

Is there some sort of group requirement where you live?
Because if there isnt ... He can get it anytime.

Is he closing his eyes? Just sayin'. It happens.

I will bet he is flinching badly. I have helped a friend get over a flinch, but I will bet serious money there are guys on this board who have helped many more people recover from a flinch. Maybe they will post.

I always start people out with a .22 pistol or rifle. Somehow when they insist on going up, it works out better than when I suggest it.

Maybe a .22 rifle would be a better start. Sneak a used .22 case in once awhile to see if he is flinching, if a bolt action and shooting one at a time. MikeT, welcome to the forums!

To check on flinching, buy or borrow a revolver and play Russian Roulette with the target.
You load one round for him in a random chamber then have him shoot. If he's flinching or anticipating the recoil, you'll both see it when he drops the hammer on the empty chambers. Then you can coach him on trigger pull until he "get's" it.

+1 for flinching badly.......

Maybe he's just confusing "Minute Of Aim" with "Hour Of Aim".

Most of the good shooters I know, started out on a BB rifle, or single shot .22 bolt action. The shooting basics are the same, but the firearm isn't nearly as intimidating. Some can start with a centerfire weapon and do just fine, but more often than not it just teaches them to flinch.

+1 for flinching badly.......

Click to expand...

That, plus possibly closing his eyes as someone else suggested. He may also be snatching the trigger while chasing a "perfect" sight picture. That's a pretty common problem and is something most of us are guilty of at some time or another.

He may be doing 1 or all 3 of those things at the same time. My money is on flinching and yanking the trigger. As a side note, my wife flinched so badly when shooting my S&W 642 at an indoor range that she through a shot into the ceiling above the target hanger.

A .22 would be the best place to start, IMO. Preferably a double action revolver, if you can get a hold of one from a friend. You'd have both the option of DA and SA. DA would be a nice option, as I've personally found that for me it tends to discourage trigger snatching at a ideal sight picture, if you just keep focusing on maintaing a consistent squeeze and release all the way through the process. Then you can load snap caps or spent cases in some chambers and get an idea for his flinch.

Also, what worked for me early on was basically drawing an imaginary, small circle or figure 8 with the gun on the target between shots. I found moving the gun (with sights aligned) in a very small circle within the bullseye (barely perceptible to onlookers) works best. Basically it forces you to accept that an off hand shot is not going to come with a perfect sight picture, that there will ALWAYs be some movement. This helps reduce the temptation to trigger snatch. I still use that technique now and then when I find myself chasing the sight picture.

The .22 rifle is another excellent suggestion.

Did you try having him dryfire the weapon(s)? Not the 1911 obviously, but the M&P should be dryfireable.

Tape a laser pointer to the barrel of a gun (don't worry about aligning it to the sights) and have him dry fire at a spot on the wall. See how much the laser moves when he is aiming and when he pulls the trigger. He might not be able to hold the gun steady in the first place. Just a thought.

After losing the sight in my right eye, I was happy to get a 2 ft. group when I started shooting again a few years later. Just make sure he sticks to the basics (easier said than done, even for me now.) and with practice I'm sure he will improve. I'm one of those people that needed a few thousand rounds of practice with handguns to get it right.

See if the range has a professional instructor that can help him for a reasonable fee. They should be able to determine what he is doing wrong and coach him.

As others have said it is always a good idea to start a new shooter with a .22 and a lot cheaper for them to develop their skills and to not fear the recoil of the pistol.

Dry firing IMO is critical to learning how to shoot a pistol well. I practice dry firing every week if not a couple times a week. Have him try dry firing against a target somewhere and put a quarter or nickel on top of the slide (if possible) to see if it stays there through the dry fire.

Most likely as a new shooter he is flinching. Load a magazine for him with a couple snap caps in it and he and you will immediately know how bad his flinching is when he trys to fire with a snap cap in the chamaber.

I can not enphasize the importance of proper grip and trigger control. Stance is important too but not near as much as the other too. Breathing control to some extennt is important too.

I use the thumbs forward grip and use more grip pressure with my support hand than with my strong hand. I also "push" a little with my stong hand toward the target and then "pull" a little with my support hand to create a little bit of a vice effect for a very stable pistol shooting platform. For good trigger control a shooter must learn to "press" the trigger and to isolate the trigger finger from the rest of the hand when doing so in order to not move other muscles which is very hard for a new shooter to do. Doing such will cause the other fingers on the strong hand to move when firing. A shooter should not feel their strong hand fingers tighten on the grip when pressing the trigger. All that needs a lot of practice. The links to the videos below may be worth it for him to watch about grip and trigger technique.

Good luck and let us know how it goes with your friend.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WO-2xewdyfg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQgLmQl1zDw

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

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nm9uG5bPubw

Practice rarely makes perfect, but it can make permanent, or nearly so. The longer a flinch goes unmolested, the tougher it is to correct. A .22 is a lot easier to make progress with than a center fire, cheaper, too. A .22 revolver and a couple of boxes of Aguila Colibri or Super Colibri, or CB caps couldn't hurt.

Maybe your friend, like many new to target shooting, is looking at the target rather than at the front sight.

How about his eye dominance - is he cross-eyed dominant?

Slip a snap cap into his mag for the M&P--don't tell him OR don't let him see where in the mag. Watch him shoot.