Why do I shoot to the left?

[243_shooter]

Hi,

I've had a nagging issue with my handguns, they all seem to shoot to the left (require quite a bit of rear sight adjustment).

I'm assuming that it's something in my technique that's throwing things off. It seems that they all can't be off 6" or so (S&W 686, Ruger MKII, Ruger Single Six, Ruger Blackhawk, Ruger KP89).

Strangely, my Taurus PT111 Pro is dead on (fixed sights) and it has probably the worst trigger of them all..?

I have no trouble with accuracy, and generally group in the 1.5" - 2" range with all of the above (~25 yds). Once I adjust the rear sight they are all dead on (for me, nobody else though!).

Does anyone have any pointers or thought on what I'm doing wrong?

Thanks,
Leo

 

[w_houle]

Because everything worth shooting is on the left...
I would think if there was something wrong in your technique that you would not be able to adjust your sights. If you want you could dry fire the pistol and see what your front sight is doing when you pull the trigger.

 

[mr_blove]

I was always told if your off to the left or right it is your trigger pull, and if your off up or down it is your breathing.

 

[Baba Louie]

Do you also shoot to the left when you shoot weak handed?
Where on your index finger does interaction occur with the trigger? Is your index finger pulling straight to the rear or is there any "rotation" that include a slight leftwards nudge?

Just curious.

 

[RNB65]

As long as you shoot good groups, who cares. You can spend big $$$ on shooting instruction trying to fix a tiny flaw in your technique. Or you can just adjust the rear sights and not worry about it. I'd just buy a sight adjustment tool and be done with it.
.

 

[hexidismal]

hey Leo , I do have alot of ideas regarding technique , but first I need to know if you are right or left handed. I started writing out some stuff here , but then I realized I was assuming you were a righty

 

[gbran]

My son in law had a Sig 226 and he was horrible with it. He too shot way off to the left. He complained the sights were bad, but I had no problem with it. He fired several of my handguns and had no problem. He was actually a pretty good shot. He eventually tried and bought a HK USP and is dead on.

For him it wasn't eye dominance or technique. The Sig just didn't fit his hand well.

 

[littlelefty]

Trying to attach the correction chart. Hope it works and helps. If your a righty, hold it in the mirror.

 

[hexidismal]

Those correction charts.. are pretty useless. First of all, you'll find various incarnations of them, all with differently sized areas. Secondly, and even more importantly, using the information on them to correct your technique is assuming that you're only doing one thing wrong. For example.. using the chart posted by little lefty if you're both heeling and jerking the trigger, you should be dead on ! And we all know that two wrongs do NOT make a right

 

[littlelefty]

Hex,
Good points.
I must be pretty simple because the correction chart worked for me. Of course it also helped that my groups were consistent and I adjusted the sights to fix the problem

 

[redneckrepairs]

I have no trouble with accuracy, and generally group in the 1.5" - 2" range with all of the above (~25 yds). Once I adjust the rear sight they are all dead on (for me, nobody else though!).

I would be forced to say that your grip/trigger pull is a bit different from most folks , but if you can shoot into 2" at 25 yards you are not doing a dammed thing wrong . Hell most run of the mill handguns wont reliably do that out of a ransom rest now days it seems . I am not sure my old eyes will even see 2" at 25 anymore much less shoot into it lol .

 

[Z71]

I noticed that handguns with fairly heavy triggers tend to make me shoot to the left.

A bit of practice with a DA only S&W auto really helped my shooting with all handguns, pistols and revolvers too.

Just my unpracticed, uneducated shooting technique causing the shots to pull left.

 

[Harley Quinn]

For right hand shooters the left hand holding in a double hold can be the determining factor. Shoot with one hand only and see what happens. The small amount of slight left I do at times, is something I have noticed also. When I hold it one handed or my left hand the slight left goes away.

 

[243_shooter]

I should ammend the accuracy statement.. That applies to the 686 / blackhawk both being fired single action and the MK II.

The KP89 never really approached that, more in the area of 4-5 but I figured it was about what it was capable of (single or double action).

I'm right handed, but I shoot with both eyes open generally. I read another thread on the board last night about putting a small piece of tape on my glasses I'm going to try that just to see how it works out.

I'm just afraid I've picked up some bad habit somewhere along the line. Figure I might as well try to work on it.

Next time out I'm going to skip a couple holes in the cylinder and rotate it (so I don't know when they are coming up) and see if I've got any kind of flinch going on. I just did some dry firing watching the front sight, and it seems to be rock steady, but that may not be the case when I'm shooting .357's.

It'll give me a good excuse to go shoot some more!

Thanks for the tips / advice.

Leo

 

[Shawnee]

I suspect Baba Louie and Harley Quinn have pegged the source(s) of the errant shots pretty well. Really.

However, another possibility is that the left side of your front sight(s) is reflecting light thus tricking your your eye into aiming with just the right half of the front sight which throws shots left. When you move the rear sight to compensate it doesn't help much because your eye still falls for the same deception.:banghead: It happens when bluing is worn from the sight - often by holster wear or case wear. A little carbon or some blacking on the front sight might have you back in Paradise fast.

As for doing it with some guns a lot and others only a little or not at all - the front sight reflection could be the problem or it also could well be due to the grip of gun "X" being a much better fit to your hand than is the grip of gun "Y". It's fixed by being aware of it and thus knowing you have to altar your grip for some guns.

HTH

 

[Steve C]

Usually shooting to the left is pushing the pistol left with your trigger finger. This happens when you have too much finger in the trigger and as you squeeze you put pressure on the right side of the gun. You should be using your end finger pad to squeeze the trigger straight bach, not the joint or the second (middle) pad. Your finger should not contact the side of the pistol as you squeeze.

Make sure you are holding the pistol correctly, alligned with your arm, midde of the "V" formed by your thumb and index finger.

 

[Quigley]

Grip too tight

You are more than likely Heeling or anticipating recoil. The most common symtom and also the easiest to correct. Loosen up, relax your grip and let the gun do its work. White knuckles usually accompany high and left. Let the firearm recoil naturally in your relaxed hand and you should see the impact come back to the 10 ring!

 

[TimM]

Because everything worth shooting is on the left...

 

[ninja45]

Leo,

Are you shooting one-handed with your right hand? The tendency is to shoot to left, if you are. If you are shooting with both hands, are you shooting weaver or isoceles? Weaver is less forgiving than isocesles (not trying to start a flame war here, folks, I shoot weaver 75 % of the time).

Also, before you start cranking out the sights on your pistols, ask a friend (who is not a newbie in shooting handguns) to shoot your pistols. If the sights are off, he will shoot to the left as you did too.

Ninja45

 

[Cougfan2]

This is a little different issue, but I thought my Springfield 1911 was shooting way to low on my first trip to the range with it. When I had a chance to shoot it from a rest, I found it was a trigger control issue. The trigger out of the box was so heavy I was pulling the muzzle down anticipating the release.

Trigger control is everything.

 

[Syd]

+1 for SteveC - I wonder if you have too much finger on the trigger. I do this on my Kahr occasionally. Do you find it's worse on guns with smaller/thinner grips?

 

[243_shooter]

Hi all, thanks for the tips..

I generally shoot two-handed, but not always.. Doesn't seem to effect where the guns hit. I'm not really sure what stance I use, I guess it's the guy standing there w' a gun posture!

I think you fellas might be on to something re: the trigger finger... I just grabbed the two with the sights the most out of whack, and dry fired 'em every time.. never noticed before but I'm using the joint of my trigger finger to do the work.

That got me wondering about the PT111.. Gave that a whirl and the trigger is so far from the grips (double action only) that I've got to use the tip of my finger.. and this is the one that shoots fine (fixed sights).

I'm going to try and get out this weekend to see if working on my trigger finger placement helps the situation.. also intend to have my friend shoot my 686 (he's got a GP100 he's scary accurate with) just to see how it hits for him. This is all depending on weather of course.. 8" of white crap fell today with more in the forecast.

I thank everyone for their thoughts / comments / ideas. I'll reply back after a bit of experimenting. I hope it's just this easy.

Leo

 

[loop]

First thing I check when I have trouble with a handgun is the grips. I have pretty big hands and tend to wrap-around a grip a little too much. I have a Sig P220 that I couldn't hit the broad side of a barn with and changed the grips and suddenly it was very accurate.

I was talking to my holster maker about it and said I think there's something wrong with the gun. He said "There is, it doesn't fit you." Guy is 72 and has forgotten more than most of us will ever know.

Darned if he wasn't right.

I have a drill that may also help.

Sit at home and pick a very small object to dry fire at. Put a dime on your slide and practice until you can drop the hammer without so much as a wobble out of the dime. While doing this focus on locking your gun-hand wrist. After you are sure your wrist is locked as solidly as possible and the dime doesn't move go to the range and do what you were doing at home. You may be surprised at the result.

 

[Harley Quinn]

loop,

Drills are good ways to improve your shooting or your fighting ability If you wish to improve your fist action practice on a speed bag, if you want to improve your grip and shooting dry fire. Good advise. The speed bag will strengthen your wrist and allow you to practice your shooting ability (it really helps)

Strengthen your grip by squeezing a ball that is designed toward that end. I use the ball and grip with my thumb and three fingers that hold the weapon leaving the index finger to be trained a different way so that it is independent of the pistol/revolver.

To practice the drill you are mentioning, will accomplish this assist, I have found anyway.

HQ

 

[1911NM]

Everybody's different, but for me, if I start to shoot left, it's time to check grip and trigger control.