Fitting a 1911 into your shooting hand

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mikemyers

mikemyers

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I noticed today that I shoot 3" groups at 15 yards when I put the gun down and pick up my binoculars after two or three shots. On the other hand, when I shot 5 rounds in a row without lowering the gun or in any way re-positioning it in my hand, my group size drops to just over 2".

If this really is as critical as I'm starting to think it is, any suggestions for how to be sure the gun goes into the shooting hand exactly the same way every time? The only thing i can think of, is to pick up the gun with the support hand, and feed it into the shooting hand. Maybe there are more tricks I don't yet know.

I suspect part of the reason I'm having this problem is because my Les Baer Premiere II has a gigantic surfboard for a thumb safety, and a very stiff spring pushing out the grip safety. With my Colt Combat Commander, the gun fits my hands much better.... but I still shoot better with the Baer.


I hope this isn't too silly a question to be asking here, but I was amazed by how big a difference it made, simply by not releasing or changing my hold on the gun.
 
For strictly target shooting, place the gun in the web of the shooting hand with the off hand.
Then grasp it exactly the same every time you lay it down or reload.
 
'rcmodel' - will immediately start doing that.

'jtq' - for bullseye shooting, I've been told to keep the thumbs off the gun.

'stu1ritter' - that's a goldmine of information. Thank you. That is an answer to my question, in lots of detail. For what I'm trying to do (only target shooting) it's perfect. Now, I need to re-read all of it, slowly. Thank you!
 
I thought about addressing this last night, but it is always interesting to see the different takes folks will have on the "problem" and solutions.

Having seen this same result in a number of clients, the cure is almost always the same. We often say, "Looking for a hardware solution to a software problem." What we have here is "Looking for a physical solution to a mental problem."

While it isn't beyond possibility that you could be gripping the gun differently, it is much more likely that you are looking at the group that your first 2-3 shots form and you are now trying to put you follow up shots into that same group rather than just staying in your original process.

You're trying to "make" the shots go off, when your sights look perfect, rather than trusting the process that was already working
 
For me, I always aim the gun at the middle of the target, no matter where the shots are going. If there were 9 shots off to the left, I would make no changes on my last shot. For that matter, while wearing my shooting glasses, I have absolutely no idea as to where the holes are (and this, along with what you wrote, is why I refuse to use shoot-n-see targets. With those targets, I'm thinking too much about the target, and not enough about my sights.)

I like to calculate the CEP of my targets, which would be useless unless I kept everything the same. Another reason not to use shoot-n-see targets.

In my case, I did sort of know that I'm supposed to hold the gun the same way for every shot, but I was amazed to see how much of a difference it made. By loading 5 rounds in a magazine, and shooting all of them without shifting anything, the pattern from target to target changed, but each target had a nice tight group. ....even more proof of how important this is.

I guess that's my next learning project, how to hold the gun in the exact same way every time I pick it up. Sounds so simple..... If I'm being honest, it isn't that simple to do, at least not yet.



I should add one more thing. I know what you're saying, and from what people tell me, that is exactly what many of them do! No matter where the hole goes, they think they can compensate it by aiming differently. Sounds so simple and "obvious". Oh well.....
 
If you really want to see how consistent you are shooting, shoot at a series of 1" dots/squares/diamonds...but only take on shot at each. Then compare the relative position of the POI on the different POA.

The consistency between the bullet strikes will tell you much more than a "tight group"
 
That sounds interesting. For a series, I'll use five rounds (one magazine).

I'll try one inch dots or squares, but I think they'll need to be at least two inches, for me to see them at 15 yards. Even then, they will be a blur. I think if I draw five "X" characters, it will achieve the same purpose, and it will be easier to see them while focusing on the sights.

I'll post a link to the target file, so anyone who wishes can try this out:

http://www.sgrid.com/2016/five-X-target.jpg
It should print perfectly on a sheet of 8 1/2 x 11 paper.


Not sure if this is close enough to what you meant, but if so, how about you try this as well? :)
That way I'll have an example of something to "shoot for".
 
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I wasn't sure how clear the "X" characters would look at 15 yards, so i re-did the target late last night, and got:
http://www.sgrid.com/2016/ten-dots-target.jpg

The target you just posted is better. Thanks!


The article 'stu1ritter' linked to up above is a goldmine of good information, some of which I already knew, but lots of things I'm learning for the first time. Best of all, everything I've read so far is very logical, and immediately "makes sense".
 
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