NO consistency with pattern

40 compact

40 compact

New member
granted this is my first semi-auto but is there any dvd's i could get to help with consistency ?out to 12 yrd.s i can place 10 shots inside a paper plate but there all over the place.think alot of it is consistent grip and aiming . any idea's.just want to get consistent from up close and personel out to just shooting for fun range.
 
Try dry firing to make sure you're not losing your sight picture while pulling the trigger. Also make sure you are seeing the sights at the moment the gun fires. A flinch can be imperceptible, if you don't see the muzzle flash onn each shot then you may be losing your sight picture at the last instant. There are no doubt dozens of DVD's out there but the basics are all the same. Here is a link to what's called "The Wall Drill." pistol-training.com » Wall Drill
 
You don't need a Dvd, you need practice, practice, practice. I don't know what kind of gun you are shooting, but the smaller the gun, the least accurate it is likely to be.
 
Practice is important, but practice doesn't make perfect, practice makes permanent. There is a lot of information on the web for pistol training, this is only one site out of many. pistol-training.com Also, while shorter sight radius makes aiming less precise, small guns aren't inherently less accurate, they're just harder to shoot well.
 
I'm sure there is lots of controversy over your question. I looked at your profile, and you are not new to hunting.

It appears by your name and statement you have recently acquired a 40 cal.

For protection carry it is fine. your picture shows a compact model. I have a Millennium pro by Taurus.

I gave it to my son who is a officer locally He loves it, but I tend to like the full size models because the recoil is easier on my wrist.

Just remember your carrying for protection and not competition. So don't panic when it does not put all the shots in the same hole. Should you ever have to use it! you do what you have to at the time, and the compact 40 will be ok
 
I used to have a similar issue with semi's. Dry fire, practice, and watch for flinching. You can also look up videos on competitive shooters stance and combat shooters stance. Copy the best! Like someone else was saying, practicing poor stance will not improve your shooting. So be sure you are practicing good skills, not reinforcing the bad ones. It helps if you bring a friend to watch you, or set up a camera so you can see how you shoot.
 
Also check the fit in relation to your hand size. I had a 6'6" friend who bought a Walther PPK and couldn't hit a silhouette regularly at 15 yds. His trigger finger sat on the second knuckle because he had huge hands and the slide also bit him with each shot. It wasn't the gun, as I could put 8 rnds into almost the same hole. The trigger fit caused him to roll the gun with each shot,, for instance.
 
As is said above dry fire. But when you are dry firing, hold the gun with a grip that is tight but your hands shouldnt be white. they should be similar as you holding a duffel bag.If you are right handed grip the firearm with the pinky, ring finger, and middle finger around the grip and the web of your hand high in the grip. then take your left hand and wrap your index, middle, ring and pinky around your right hand with your thumb facing forward and your right thumb on top of your left. the plam of your left hand should fit in the empty space on the grip and your hand should completely cover the grip. Then ensure that your firearm is empty and you use snap caps. point your firearm in a safe direction on a white background and slowly depress the trigger until the firing pin releases. This should come as a surprise when your pulling the trigger and you shouldnt know when it goes off. As you are doing this pay attention to the front sight and ensure that it is not moving. Do this a couple times until you can get a consistent trigger pull and the front sight doesnt move when you pull the trigger.You are basically building muscle memory. Now go to a range and get a target and turn it around so that you have the back of the target facing you which should be white or blank. Point your firearm at the target and take a shot. Now use this shot in the paper as your target. With a slow consistent pull of the trigger, aim at the shot in the paper and try to put all your shots in the same hole or as close as possible. Dont forget you are not going for speed that will come with time. Go for accuracy for now.

Why you should try the above?
Police officer for 5 years
shooter for 15 years
Coach/Instructor for High School Rifle Team for 8 years
Helped dozens of officers in my precinct enchance their shooting ability from low 80s to 100s

Try it out. It will help. Let me know if it works for you. Its hard to explain typing and is better explained in person. If you have questions send me a message or email [email protected]
 
+1 on the dry fire practicing (with snap caps of course) it seems stupid but trust me it works. Also if you don't already have one of these correction sheets here you go. Assuming your avatar is your gun I can tell you the triggers on M&P's (and other S&W semis) aren't always consistent and may be heavier than the 6.5lbs that it's supposed to be. Which COULD cause you to pull your shots. Make sure your holding the gun correctly, Make sure your using the backstrap that fits your hand the best (your finger shouldn't hook around the trigger) if it does go bigger and again lots of dry fire. You can use the correction chart to analyze your shots OR shoot at it directly.
 
First 12 yds is a fairly long self defence pistol shot, but certanly not out of the question, and as said prev, the smaller and lighter he gun the worse the problem, at your next range session, put your target at 3 yds shoot a group, do not try to compinsate between shots, then see where your hits are compared to where your aiming if your close go to 5 yds and try again, you will see where your pulling off your shots, to verify this borrow a pistol rest, use it correctly, and shoot at the same distance, and you will see whats going on, will also ck your guns sight alignment, and you may want to ck your gun to see that the trigger pull is not excessive, a hard pulling or a trigger that binds part way though its travel will mess you up, even if its just a little it will cause you to pull off your shot, when you see what your doing and correct it, this is what you need to practice, then when you go to the range, have your weapon ready put up your target and quikly pull your gun and put two in the target as quik as you can, this may give you a little indication on how you may do if had to in a bad situation
 
Alduane, Answered as I would of Dry Firing works Great. Try doing it in front of a mirror. To watch yourself. Or, have someone watch you dry firing to see of you change in between trigger pulls.
 
thank's for all the advise.im sure there is some thing's here that will help me.i will try some of it out and see how it goes.
 
Already been said. Practice, practice, practice.

Dummy rounds can be a good thing at the range. It can illustrate what you're doing wrong when you pull the trigger in the middle of a magazine of live-rounds. It also gives you a misfire malfunction simulation so you can teach yourself to deal with it.
 
I'm not an instructor nor am I the best shot on this forum. I can however pass along what Instructors have told me while trying to correct my shooting.

Slow and smooth. Get a sight picture, start to slowly put finger tension on the trigger while thinking squeeze, squeeze, squeeze. Shot should go off on third thought of squeeze. (Tension not necessarily pulling motion, believe me it takes tension not a pull)

Once your pistol fires allow trigger to come all the way back and HOLD IT. Once pistol recoils and comes back on target and you have a front sight picture again (then and only then) let the trigger out.

Repeat as needed.

Believe me if you follow these two simple steps it will cause you to slow way down and build a slow smooth trigger pull. After you build muscle memory then you will speed up the process without jerking the trigger.

Good luck.

Chap
 
40 compact said:
granted this is my first semi-auto but is there any dvd's i could get to help with consistency ?out to 12 yrd.s i can place 10 shots inside a paper plate but there all over the place.think alot of it is consistent grip and aiming . any idea's.just want to get consistent from up close and personel out to just shooting for fun range.
Click to expand...

Trigger control, trigger control, trigger control, trigger control, trigger control. It's the most ABSOLUTE thing to master in order to have consistant tight groups. Grip, stance, breathing, aiming is important, if not as important, but with out trigger control you can hold it, aim it, and stand perfect but won't do you any good.

The other issue you may be having is the type of firearm you have. If you bought a little 9mm pocket pistol, like a keltec for instance, its going to be hard to get tight groups with a firearm like that, especially being new to hand guns.

Dry fire drills work great. Follow these steps to help you practice. MAKE ABSOLUTELY SURE THE FIREARM IS UNLOADED. Triple check the chamber.
After making sure your firearm is unloaded, point at a spot on the wall that you can aim at, you can even hang a target, make sure its a spot on the wall that if the firearm were to accidently discharge, the bullet would not go through the wall and hit anyone, make sure its pointed in a safe direction.
1. After you get your grip, stance, and aim
2. With your trigger finger, only use the center of your last joint, meaning, don't put the trigger in the bend, make sure the trigger is in the center of your finger nail, closer towards the tip, NOT in the crease.
3. Pull in a smooth, slow, motion, until you hearing the firing pin.
4. Trigger reset is important, release the trigger slowly until you hear it "click", thats all the farther you need to let the trigger go forward, and you are set for your next shot.
5. Repeat the steps over again. Do it for every shot.
Just remember, every shot is a seperate event, the more you practice at home using dry fire drills, the more accurate you will be at the range. Try it and let me know, if you need anymore help, feel free to contact me.
 
Find out how accurate the gun its self is. Shoot it off of a sand bag or some type of sturdy rest and try different brands and bullet weights of ammo.
 
ton of good advise here and i must say it has helped a ton.especially the practice,practice,practice part's.i can now place my shots inside of a pie plate at 12 yards and even tighter at closer range.so i can see a vast improvement from when i started and having a blast(no pun intended) while doing the practice
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

New Threads

Members online

No members online now.
Total: 134 (members: 0, guests: 134)

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
49,525
Messages
610,668
Members
74,995
Latest member
tripguru365

Share this page

Back
Top