Need help hitting point of aim

[Fair 'n Square]

I bought an XD-40 last week. My groups are pretty good, but I'm hitting off to the left. Somewhere I've seen a diagram of a target with explanations why a person's groups might be off-center - anticipating recoil, trigger pull errors, and so on.

I've tried searching the forum for previous threads on this, but I'm not having any luck. Can someone direct me?

Thanks,
Fair 'n Square

 

[MLH]

Try searching the old TFL files

I know it's in there somewhere.

 

[pale horse]

A few things I do to hit poa is dry firing, using a .22 pistol, or do speed drills. I know that I had the same problem hitting poa with the xd40 until I found the sweet spot on the trigger.

This suggestion is dependant upon how your trigger finger is placed on the trigger

Here is what you do. If you shoot with the pad (first section on the index finger), look at the front site just like you are shooting, dry fire now. When you pull the trigger see if it dips down and to the left, it may move just to the left. If you are seeing that like I did it does dip for the 10 people I have talked with. The way to fix this is move your finger (first joint) on the trigger and then dry fire it. You should notice that there is no movement down and to the left. That is what helped me shooting poa with the xd40.

 

[Sean Smith]

Pulling shots a bit left is a pretty common thing to do. If I haven't shot a gun in a long time, or a gun is new to me, that is what I usually do until I settle down and get the hang of the trigger.

Basically, the best thing to do is to do alot of dry-firing, keeping an eye on the sights to see what happens to them. Once you get the perfect slow trigger squeeze down pat, it gets easy to shoot faster and still keep the sights where they belong.

 

[johnny wong]

This one u looking 4?

 

[Al Thompson]

Thanks Johnny and welcome to the High Road!

 

[Fair 'n Square]

Thanks!

Thanks to all of you! And, yes, johnny wong, that's exactly what I was looking for. I appreciate your help.

Fair 'n Square

 

[Navy joe]

With the XD I am going to vote that you are actually slapping the trigger. Pretty common with Glock types, it also shows up with someone who squeezes all their fingers as they squeeze the trigger. The chart is good, just not 100%. Try different finger placements to see if it helps, but the cure is going to be dryfire, no matter what the problem is.

 

[Archie]

Another thing to consider.

What is the SHAPE of the group off to the left?

If it is a long, strung out series of hits, perhaps starting near the point of aim and continuing left and usually down.... you are indeed triggering incorrectly.

If all your shots are landing on top of each other, or gathered in a circular group to the left of the POA, you need to move your rear sight to the right a couple clicks.

 

[Dave R]

On the other hand...

You may just need to adjust your sights. Drift your rear sight left.

To determine whether your sghts need adjusting, shoot the pistol from a bench rest. Carefully align signts and shoot a few groups. If the groups aren't centered where your sight picture is, then you need to adjust the sights.

 

[4v50 Gary]

Have a good shot fire five rounds. That'll tell you whether the sights need to be drifted.

 

[gixxersixxer]

Keep in mind that if you are left handed you need to flip the circle over across the Y-axis.

 

[Archie]

Not trying to start anything, but...

regarding 4v50 Gary's comment:

Have a good shooter shoot it. If he (she?) can make a good group with it and you can't, it's you.

However, don't sight your gun in to anyone else's shooting. Your eyes, hands, arms and stance will put the rounds in a different place than most anyone else.

Okay... the good shooter's point of impact and yours won't vary much at less than 25 yards.... still, do the final adjustments yourself.


And look at the shape of the group.

 

[bountyhunter]

My groups are pretty good, but I'm hitting off to the left. Somewhere I've seen a diagram of a target with explanations why a person's groups might be off-center - anticipating recoil, trigger pull errors, and so on.

I don't need the chart. Going left is from yanking the trigger, I've done it a thousand times. Usually hit at about 8 O'clock with a trigger yank. Dry fire and focus on holding the gun dead steady as you drag the trigger slowly to the rear. Try to focus on the pull, and ignore when it fires.

 

[WonderNine]

Hmm, from my experience yanking the trigger usually ends up with the shot going way low or way high.