wanderinwalker
Member
Good afternoon all,
I just thought I'd share this little observation from today's range trip. Hopefully it will help somebody out, as it sure opened my eyes. Sorry if this goes a bit long.
Let's start: I've had a Glock 17 for a very long time (in my frame of reference) now. Can't say I love the thing, it's an inanimate object, but I do like it quite a bit as a shooting machine. Goes BANG, holds lots of rounds, is pretty easy to shoot, low maintenance and all of that.
BUT! Every once in a while it crops up that I shoot the thing to the left. Oddly not usually while in a one-handed Bullseye type hold, rather mostly when taking a typical modern two-handed grip. Many, many right handed shooters shoot Glocks to the left. A quick Google search will reveal this, and it seems there are many different suggestions of what to do to "fix" the problem. Usually the suggestion is to vary how much finger the shooter is putting through the trigger guard, typically suggesting to make sure to use just the tip of the trigger finger, or just drift the sights if it's consistent. This morning though I found a post at Brian Enos forums (sorry, didn't bookmark it) that suggested all you have to do to correct "Glock left" is to make sure you're focusing on squeezing the trigger straight back at a steady pressure.
Hmmmm.... that made a lot of sense. A little dry-fire against a blank wall and I'm starting to see how it's easy to curl the trigger-finger and pull the front sight in the wrong (left) direction. So I loaded up 50 rounds, formulated a plan and hit the range for some live fire.
First target goes up at about 9 yards. I decided to use a plain piece of 8.5x11" paper. Five rounds in a magazine, I settle into a modified Isosceles stance and take aim. Squeeze the trigger, focus, straight back, BANG! First shot lands dead center. Ah. Now, for shot number two I try jamming my finger as far into the trigger guard as I reach. I end up with the trigger somewhere between the first and second knuckle. Again, I focus on just squeezing the trigger straight back. And another round goes close to center. (Pause for short giggle, I think I'm onto something.) Repeat three more times, varying how much finger is on the trigger and watch all 5 shots cluster pretty closely, in the center. AH-HA!
Magazine two is another five rounds. This time I vary my grip on the pistol with how far my hand is wrapped around it and where the tang is hitting the web of my shooting hand. Again, as long as I can get my finger on the trigger in a position to drive it straight back and not apply force off-axis, the shots go to center.
The remainder of the session was practicing placing the first round from the holster and the first round from a reload to the center. I lost focus a couple of times and overdrove the trigger squeeze, resulting in the predictable left-hits. But when I focused on "trigger straight back" the rounds went back to the middle.
So maybe that's it. If your Glock is shooting to the left, focus hard on how you're squeezing the trigger. Be very deliberate to make sure the movement is straight to the rear through the middle line of the trigger. You may think you're squeezing the trigger carefully and not disturbing the sights, but you may in fact be applying the force at an angle to the center line. I know I for sure thought there was nothing wrong with my trigger control; I shoot DA revolver regularly and while I'm not even close to the skill of a good wheelgunner like our MrBorland , most people think I'm competent with a S&W. Yet targets never lie. Watch your trigger control and perhaps your Glocks will stop shooting left too.
Thanks to anybody who read this far, and I hope this helps somebody out.
I just thought I'd share this little observation from today's range trip. Hopefully it will help somebody out, as it sure opened my eyes. Sorry if this goes a bit long.
Let's start: I've had a Glock 17 for a very long time (in my frame of reference) now. Can't say I love the thing, it's an inanimate object, but I do like it quite a bit as a shooting machine. Goes BANG, holds lots of rounds, is pretty easy to shoot, low maintenance and all of that.
BUT! Every once in a while it crops up that I shoot the thing to the left. Oddly not usually while in a one-handed Bullseye type hold, rather mostly when taking a typical modern two-handed grip. Many, many right handed shooters shoot Glocks to the left. A quick Google search will reveal this, and it seems there are many different suggestions of what to do to "fix" the problem. Usually the suggestion is to vary how much finger the shooter is putting through the trigger guard, typically suggesting to make sure to use just the tip of the trigger finger, or just drift the sights if it's consistent. This morning though I found a post at Brian Enos forums (sorry, didn't bookmark it) that suggested all you have to do to correct "Glock left" is to make sure you're focusing on squeezing the trigger straight back at a steady pressure.
Hmmmm.... that made a lot of sense. A little dry-fire against a blank wall and I'm starting to see how it's easy to curl the trigger-finger and pull the front sight in the wrong (left) direction. So I loaded up 50 rounds, formulated a plan and hit the range for some live fire.
First target goes up at about 9 yards. I decided to use a plain piece of 8.5x11" paper. Five rounds in a magazine, I settle into a modified Isosceles stance and take aim. Squeeze the trigger, focus, straight back, BANG! First shot lands dead center. Ah. Now, for shot number two I try jamming my finger as far into the trigger guard as I reach. I end up with the trigger somewhere between the first and second knuckle. Again, I focus on just squeezing the trigger straight back. And another round goes close to center. (Pause for short giggle, I think I'm onto something.) Repeat three more times, varying how much finger is on the trigger and watch all 5 shots cluster pretty closely, in the center. AH-HA!
Magazine two is another five rounds. This time I vary my grip on the pistol with how far my hand is wrapped around it and where the tang is hitting the web of my shooting hand. Again, as long as I can get my finger on the trigger in a position to drive it straight back and not apply force off-axis, the shots go to center.
The remainder of the session was practicing placing the first round from the holster and the first round from a reload to the center. I lost focus a couple of times and overdrove the trigger squeeze, resulting in the predictable left-hits. But when I focused on "trigger straight back" the rounds went back to the middle.
So maybe that's it. If your Glock is shooting to the left, focus hard on how you're squeezing the trigger. Be very deliberate to make sure the movement is straight to the rear through the middle line of the trigger. You may think you're squeezing the trigger carefully and not disturbing the sights, but you may in fact be applying the force at an angle to the center line. I know I for sure thought there was nothing wrong with my trigger control; I shoot DA revolver regularly and while I'm not even close to the skill of a good wheelgunner like our MrBorland , most people think I'm competent with a S&W. Yet targets never lie. Watch your trigger control and perhaps your Glocks will stop shooting left too.
Thanks to anybody who read this far, and I hope this helps somebody out.