ccw_steve said:
Steve C, I have tried adjusting my grip as you describe, but my hand is fairly small and I cannot get my trigger finger off the side of my pistol without drastically rotating my hand, almost to the point where my right thumb is facing left instead of forward. Actually, now that I think about it, this could be a huge reason for my problem. I'll try to take some pictures of my grip, maybe that will help.
A small hand as you describe means that the last two segments of your trigger finger are probably reaching well ahead at a big angle to reach the trigger. That sort of thing is definetly going to make the gun push to the left if you pull back from the first joint out from the knuckle.
For sure put the smallest back strap on the gun for starters. And secondly try this little something on your trigger pull. When you pull the trigger conciously try to pull it back and TO THE RIGHT. To do this you want to pull back with your finger normally like you're doing but at the same time at your knuckle pull "up" to the right. It'll feel really odd but by working to move your trigger finger back and to curl it so it tries to move right at the same time it will counter the natural tendency to apply pressure from a short finger back and to the left in an arc of movement and pressure. The idea is that the resulting travel of the hammer will then be straight back like it should instead of being pressured to the left.
Normally this idea would be bad advice for anyone with big enough hands where the last two segments sit more directly square across when resting on the trigger. But with someone that has shorter fingers so that the last two segments are pointed strongly forward conciously moving your finger to the right is needed so that the finger segments do a sort of double arc of motion such that the contact point on the trigger is pulling straight back. It's sort of like the guy running the Bobcat excavator in my yard the other day does to do a nice level cut in the trench. He arcs the bucket down and back at the same time he booms up so that the two arcs are complimentary and the bucket moves back and level. If your finger has to reach too far forward then it is like the arm of that Bobcat and you need to "boom up" to the right so that the trigger sees only direct back pressure.
Often dry firing will show side pressure effects at the trigger as a jump in the sights to the side when the trigger breaks with the CLICK. It takes a sharp and self critical view of the sights but if you want to fix the issue it can really help. Try to hold the gun in your grip totally steady and dry fire it. If you are holding your grip steady you may even see the sight picture start to pull to the side just from the build of pressure before the click. But this assumes that you're not altering your grip by habit to compensate for this build of side pressure. At the break the gun will jump slightly in your grip and if you have side pressure on the trigger you should see the sights jump. Do it enough that you're sure it's consisitent then go try it with some ammo. The idea is obviously the sights should not jump at all. When the trigger breaks at most there should be the smallest amount of general jiggle with no sign of a consistent direction.
Mention has been made to shift your grip around the backstrap for a better reach. But doing this by too much brings its own problems where the recoil will rotate the gun in your grip. The upper hook in the backstrap really should be centered neatly in the U formed by your thumb and forefinger. If it's not there or very nearly there the gun's recoil will make it jump to the side a little. Then you end up with two issues. Trigger side pressure AND noncentered backstrap support. That really muddys up the water for trying to figure things out. Better to go correct with the centering of the gun in the U of your hand and then deal with the trigger.
What about other guns that are easier to hold for folks with smaller hands? Single stack 1911's are great for this. And since they are so customizable you can tailor fit it to your hands with thicker or thinner grips and different reach triggers.
Other off the shelf guns that I've found have smaller grips and trigger reaches are the Ruger SR9, S&W M&P and CZ75b or 85b with the thin aluminium grips often used by shooters in IPSC.
And of course being in the US where you can access lots of small guns that I'm not allowed to buy you have other options such as Makarovs and Walther PP and PPK's and a lot of other compact guns in various calibers. The XD is, after all, not a small gun. And obviously Beretta 92's, PX4's and M9's would be right out. Those are ginormous.
