What can I do to improve my shooting?

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I mean more than merely getting to the range and practicing. I want to tighen my grouping and improve my aim -- I seem to hit consistently to the left and a little low (I am right-handed). I don't want to go and practice if all I am doing if reinforcing bad habits.
 
I suggest taking a class

If money is an issue than look into attending an appleseed class. They are very inexpensive and you can get rid of a lot of bad habits. That's for rifle shooting. For pistol shooting you might have to spend more money for a good class.

An alternative is to simply ask a good shooter to work with you at the range. Many are happy to give some friendly advice.
 
Trigger control. I dry-fire a pistol with crimson trace 100 times a night. I can watch the little red red dot on the wall. Keep practicing until the red dot doesn't move when you pull the trigger.

Chris
 
Good idea about dry-firing -- but I can do that til I'm blue in the face, and it's not the same as when i know there's a live round in there. I tend to anticipate the recoil. I need to stop doing that, but I'm not sure how.
 
I think the best thing to do to find out what you are doing wrong is to use a laser sight on the weapon.

Set the laser about 4 inches low of the actual iron sights. This places them out of the view of the shooter. You shoot and have someone else watch what the laser is doing.

This helped me figure out what my wife was doing wrong. I was watching the laser start dropping as she was taking the slack out of the trigger. She wasn't flinching, which I though was the issue even though she was adamant that she wasn't. She was simply trying to compensate for the recoil unconciously.
 
Thanks. I have Crimson Trace grips on my S&W 640. What would be recommended for my Glock 30?
 
This is exactly why dry firing helps.

HTML: 
I tend to anticipate the recoil. I need to stop doing that, but I'm not sure how.
You almost certainly have developed a flinch. Dry firing will allow you to concentrate on trigger pull and sight alignment WITHOUT flinching.
I discovered I had a nasty flinch a couple of years ago. Dry firing eliminated it. Give dry firing a try. It's free. And it just might work for you.
 
I would absolutely use the chart the fletcher posted before buying/relying on laser sights.

This chart helped me fix my "high and right" issue within 2 5-round strings.
 
I'm going along with all of the others on here and saying to dry fire. You may know that there isn't a round in the chamber, but you're still practicing your finger muscles to move independently of each other.

Another idea is to practice dryfiring at the range. Shoot about five shots. When the slide locks back, bring it forward again and pretend that you're shooting. I've done this last time I was at the range and I could tell that I flinched a little bit. After dryfiring a few more times and inserting a fresh mag again, my groups improved. I was even able to make a three-shot group about the size of a golfball once at 25 yards with my 9mm. There was probably a little bit of luck involved there, but I'm sure the practicing had something to do with it.

If you still can't get over knowing that your gun isn't loaded, maybe you can insert a snap cap or two randomly into your magazine. You won't know if it's loaded and you will be able to tell if you have a flinch when the gun doesn't go bang. This method obviously requires you to be more careful since you don't know if there was a primer malfunction, but if you follow safety rules, you can still be safe doing this.
 
Thanks, everybody!

Will try some dry firing tonight, and will get to the range again soon to intersperse some dry firing between magazines.

Any new suggestions, please keep 'em coming.

Oh, and could anybody please answer my magazine pouch question? Will a magazine pouch made for Glock 21 mags fit Glock 30 mags?

advTHANKSance
 
Good idea about dry-firing -- but I can do that til I'm blue in the face, and it's not the same as when i know there's a live round in there. I tend to anticipate the recoil. I need to stop doing that, but I'm not sure how.
Click to expand...

Don't forget the ball and dummy drill.

Of course you'll need a friend to do the loading for you.
 
no you dont, get some rounds reloaded with just the bullet (leave spent primer in) and mix them in with the rounds your about to load into your mag. close your eyes or blindfold yourself and load away. when you hit a dummy round, you will be able to see how much jump you have from anticipation.
 
Get a revolver and have someone load 4 rounds in the cylinder, random spaced. When the hammer falls on a empty chamber and the gun bucks, you know you are flinch impaired. (how's that for PC)
 
Successful dry-firing is the art of fooling yourself into being honest with yourself. You have to simultaneously believe that the piece is hot -- so you'll take it seriously -- and that it's cold -- so that you'll concentrate on the front sight and not worry about the bangy stuff.

While there's certainly some value in mindlessly clicking away on an empty chamber while you watch TV, you'll get the most out of dry-firing when you have something in mind you're trying to accomplish.

Other have mentioned the ball-and-dummy drill. IMO this is probably THE most useful range exercise there is.

Load your 640 with mostly spent brass and just a few live rounds. Make EVERY trigger press a perfect dry-fire with a rock-solid sight picture and no blinking. Let the live rounds truly surprise you. If you ever think you know what's coming up, spin the cylinder. Alternatively, just spin the cylinder every time it goes boom.

Pretty soon you'll find yourself in a mental place where this makes a lot of sense. This will take time, so don't rush it. Eventually this will become second nature, and you will be able to go to that mental place on demand.
 
Last edited:
What would be recommended for my Glock 30?
Click to expand...

Trade it in for a real pistol!

Kidding aside, when you anticipate the recoil you jerk the trigger and that's exactly why you shoot low. (unless your sights are off). You can center the shot by moving your trigger finger in or out a little but to keep the shot centered.

You'll need to let the hadgun "surprise" you when it fires. That means slow steady pull on trigger sights on target until it fires. You'll be surprised what slowing down the trigger stroke will do to accuracy. So quit trying to impress everyone with how quickly you can dump a mag and concentrate!
 
Don't want to dry fire? This is like a martial artist never practicing techniques & forms except during competition. You need to learn proper form first. Dry firing will do that.

Go to local IDPA meets to watch & learn. Ask the best shooters there for help, gunnies typically like to help the sport so you should get good advice. Let them watch you shoot & listen to their comments.
 
Tilden:

Lots of folks will say yes and lots will say no. I got the snap caps soon after buying the 642 just for the idea that any damage by dry firing would be minimal.
 
Snap caps

I have them for every gun I dry fire and put them in whether I need them or not because I know whats in the chamber then. If I put in a snap cap I had to make sure the gun was unloaded first.
 
The shortest quickest way to improve your shooting is to get some instruction. This can be from a mentor or a paid instructor. A longer way is to be self taught gleaning advice from instructional books. The longest way is to muddle along self taught trying one thing after another as you gather bits of wisdom from other shooters.

Go to www.bullseyepistol.com and read the Army Pistol Marksmanship manual and copy the “Wheel of Misfortune” from the article on error analysis. Get yourself a .22 lr, either a new pistol or a conversion unit for your center fire. Get some NRA slow fire bullseye targets appropriate for the range you have available. Score your targets 20 rounds per target (potential 200 points), break the line and the shot counts the higher score. I’ve seen superb shooters put them all in the 10 ring at 25 yds with a Ruger Mk2 so don’t think the gun is the limiting factor. This is using a one handed, non supported, traditional stance. Typically if you can score in the 150 or more you are doing very well.

The hit the range and practice, evaluate your results, reread the articles and practice some more. Perfect practice makes perfect.
 
Get some instruction. Look on Youtube and look for Todd Jarret's shooting tips. I found that when I switched from Weaver to Isocolese my time on target was a lot faster. Groups stayed about the same.
 
My wife likes to shoot 9mm a lot, but when she doesn't get to go shoot for awhile she probably does about what you are describing. This time I took the .22 Ruger and had her go through about 100 rounds of some mild recoil ammo before shooting the 9mm. It seemed to help her calm down and concentrate on her grip and aim a lot. You might try shooting a .22 some before practicing with your big bore.
 
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