Shooting Help

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COMPNOR

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Missouri
Went to the range the other day with this girl I've been seeing. She has a S&W .44 Special that she brought, I brought my XDm 9mm with newly installed XS 24/7 Big Dot night sights.

She could shoot the revolver just fine. Good grouping and all. When she tried my XDm though, things weren't so good. No malfunctions, but no holes on paper either. Towards the end of the magazine(I had loaded it to 10) some holes were appearing.

Watching her shoot, I could really see anything wrong. I am however a horrible teacher, so even if I did I'm not sure I'd be able to tell her how to correct.

Thoughts?

Thanks
 
We were at 7 yds. Can't get much closer than that. Especially at this range, where 7 yds is the minimum distance.
 
Have her take a class with a good instructor. He'll be able to teach her the correct fundamentals and diagnose and correct problems she's having.

In the meantime, have her shoot her .44 if she shoots it better.

It's just too difficult to diagnose what the problem could be long distance as there are so many potential issues and the only input we have is that she's not shooting well.
 
Were the shots high when they hit paper? If thats the case I would think she may not be used to the big dot sight.
 
This is my basic run down of the fundamentals:

The first principle of accurate shooting is trigger control: a smooth, press straight back on the trigger with only the trigger finger moving. Maintain your focus on the front sight as you press the trigger, increasing pressure on the trigger until the shot breaks. Don't try to predict exactly when the gun will go off nor try to cause the shot to break at a particular moment. This is what Jeff Cooper called the "surprise break."


By keeping focus on the front sight and increasing pressure on the trigger until the gun essentially shoots itself, you don’t anticipate the shot breaking. But if you try to make the shot break at that one instant in time when everything seem steady and aligned, you usually wind up jerking the trigger. Of course the gun will wobble some on the target. Try not to worry about the wobble and don’t worry about trying to keep the sight aligned on a single point. Just let the front sight be somewhere in a small, imaginary box in the center of the target.

Also, work on follow through. Be aware of where on the target the front sight is as the shot breaks and watch the front sight lift off that point as the gun recoils – all the time maintaining focus on the front sight.

Also, while practice in very important, remember that practice doesn’t make perfect. It’s “PERFECT practice makes perfect.” More frequent practice shooting fewer rounds, but concentrating hard on what you’re doing, will be more productive than less frequent, higher round count practice.

Practice deliberately, making every shot count, to program good habits and muscle memory. Dry practice is very helpful. You just want to triple check that the gun is not loaded, and there should be no ammunition anywhere around. When engaging in dry practice, religiously follow Rule 2 - Never Let Your Muzzle Cover Anything You Are Not Willing To Destroy." As you dry fire, you want to reach the point where you can't see any movement of the sight as the sear releases and the hammer falls.

Finally, some instruction is always a good idea. I try to take classes from time to time; and I always learn something new.
 
I'm going to take a wild guess and say she was shooting the S&W single-action. If so, what you saw was the difference between the "legendary" S&W single action trigger and the so-so trigger of your XDm in the hands of a novice. Put a decent 1911 in her hands and she'll probably shoot it about the same as the revolver.

With training and practice she'll shoot either of them well.
 
Probably was jerking the trigger rather than squeezing it, along with not holding the pistol in proper alignment with the arm and getting a direct straight back trigger pull, will throw shots all over.
 
grip ?

Check out her grip next time.
Make sure the 'meaty part' of her palms are in full contact with the grip scales, pressing in slightly. Any spaces or voids in the grip and the pistol will recoil in unpredictable ways.
 
i would think that if she was shooting good groups with the S&W and wasn't able to do it with your pistol, it had alot to do with the sights.

she's likely used to aligning the sights correctly with the S&W and the wide rear ears of the XS 24/7 sight don't allow for this. without a proper rear notch, she can't figure out elevation
 
Sounds like trigger pull and maybe sight picture. I've had beginners try to align the bottom of the front sight with the top of the rear.....
 
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