I am new to CC. I have shot quite a bit in my life but not a lot in the last several years. I went to take my class and was shooting low left. I was consistent shooting a small group but low left. I feel awful about this. I know I need practice, lots of practice. I have had a few people tell me I was anticipating the recoil or jerking the trigger. I don't know if it matters or not but that was the first time I ever fired this gun. I know I am trying to make excuses, but I am upset with myself. Any pointers to correct this would be appreciated. :cray:
Shooting low left
- Thread starter kotaNsid
- Start date
Terry Hall Sr
New member
Tighter grip..stop you from milking it..
dry fire practice
Don't feel bad. It happens to all shooters every once in a while, especially with a new firearm or after a long period of not shooting. As long as you shoot a tight group, there are ways to adjust your point of impact until you're consistently hitting center of mass.
Does your firearm have stock sights or aftermarket? Have you had one or more other shooters test fire your firearm to make sure there is no problem with the sights? This is unlikely, but possible.
One of the best (and least expensive) ways to improve speed and accuracy is DRY FIRE practice. Please google it if you aren't familiar with the term. It is also known as "snapping in". Firstly, please observe ALL firearms safety rules, even when dry firing, to include:
- Ensure that the firearm is unloaded and that there is
- absolutely no ammo or loaded magazines in the dry fire practice area.
- Ensure that there is a good solid backstop behind your dry fire practice target. (I like to use concealable body armor as a dry fire target.) A good way to assure that the firearm is unloaded is to use a plastic dry firing barrel insert to replace the real barrel. I have a yellow one made by Blackhawk, similar to this one.
Link Removed
There are also special dry fire cartridges made out of plastic and/or metal with springs inside to absorb the firing pin's energy, if you are worried about ruining your firing pin on an empty chamber.
Are you right-handed? It is common for a right-handed shooter who jerks the trigger to shoot low left.
You could also be using "too much finger" on the trigger, thereby pulling it low left if you are right handed. When you dry fire, try to focus your attention on your trigger finger so that the the trigger is somewhere just behind an area between the center of the finger pad of the first joint of your trigger finger, and the actual crease between the first and second joints. Without taking a look at your hand and firearm, YMMV. Many shooters who anticipate recoil tend to shoot high.
Also, this may sound like a stupid question, but do you wear hearing protection when you shoot? I've actually heard of people who do not, especially when shooting outdoors. Sometimes the crack/boom of the firearm tends to make shooters uncomfortable and anticipate recoil or jerk the trigger. If it bothers you, use double ear pro-- ear plugs AND ear muffs, to lessen the discomfort.
Be safe, good luck, and have fun
DVC,
Frank
Don't feel bad. It happens to all shooters every once in a while, especially with a new firearm or after a long period of not shooting. As long as you shoot a tight group, there are ways to adjust your point of impact until you're consistently hitting center of mass.
Does your firearm have stock sights or aftermarket? Have you had one or more other shooters test fire your firearm to make sure there is no problem with the sights? This is unlikely, but possible.
One of the best (and least expensive) ways to improve speed and accuracy is DRY FIRE practice. Please google it if you aren't familiar with the term. It is also known as "snapping in". Firstly, please observe ALL firearms safety rules, even when dry firing, to include:
- Ensure that the firearm is unloaded and that there is
- absolutely no ammo or loaded magazines in the dry fire practice area.
- Ensure that there is a good solid backstop behind your dry fire practice target. (I like to use concealable body armor as a dry fire target.) A good way to assure that the firearm is unloaded is to use a plastic dry firing barrel insert to replace the real barrel. I have a yellow one made by Blackhawk, similar to this one.
Link Removed
There are also special dry fire cartridges made out of plastic and/or metal with springs inside to absorb the firing pin's energy, if you are worried about ruining your firing pin on an empty chamber.
Are you right-handed? It is common for a right-handed shooter who jerks the trigger to shoot low left.
You could also be using "too much finger" on the trigger, thereby pulling it low left if you are right handed. When you dry fire, try to focus your attention on your trigger finger so that the the trigger is somewhere just behind an area between the center of the finger pad of the first joint of your trigger finger, and the actual crease between the first and second joints. Without taking a look at your hand and firearm, YMMV. Many shooters who anticipate recoil tend to shoot high.
Also, this may sound like a stupid question, but do you wear hearing protection when you shoot? I've actually heard of people who do not, especially when shooting outdoors. Sometimes the crack/boom of the firearm tends to make shooters uncomfortable and anticipate recoil or jerk the trigger. If it bothers you, use double ear pro-- ear plugs AND ear muffs, to lessen the discomfort.
Be safe, good luck, and have fun
DVC,
Frank
Retired Grunt
New member
Left or right handed?
NRA Lifer and Proud
New member
I would let someone else shoot this pistol to see if it's the pistol or something you are doing.
Retired Grunt
New member
low left try this chart
sight correction chart
sight correction chart
unclewayne17
unclewayne
I agree have other people try the gun, if it shoots the same for them it must be the sights. If not its you, sorry.
Retired Grunt
New member
Right hand chart
Link Removed
Link Removed
H
handgonnetoter
Guest
Thats usually what I do. What kind of hand gun is it? Does it have a "heavy" trigger? Me being right handed, if the gun has a heavy trigger that is, tends to make me shoot a little left. I find, with me anyway, if the gun has a heavy trigger then I will use the distal joint of the trigger finger and get better results. JMHO.:biggrin:
The best way I know to diagnose and get rid of trigger-jerk is the dummy-and-ball drill. Have a training partner load your gun, or not load it, and hand it to you - you won't know which. Your job is to press the trigger without jerking it at all. It's uncanny how, when you don't know if the gun will go "click" or "bang", your trigger-jerk becomes obvious. It's important to have more empty chambers than loaded and by the end of the drill you'll have your hole in the center of the target.
Great info! I am picking up some "dummy rounds" tomorrow. My local gun shop was out of them the other day. Hopefully this will help. I don't believe it is the gun since my husband had no trouble with it. We are going shooting this weekend with a few friends that have a lot more experience with guns. This should help. Again thanks for the info!!
6shootercarry
New member
I did this with a friend of mine new to shooting.. M&P40c snappy little bugger... I loaded it and put a dummy in the magazine..
I caught him 3 times pushing the gun low and away... And he knew it.. dry fire it with a dummy load until it feels natural...
Time/practice (with good habits) will cure things like this... I did the same when last at the gun club... A member there offered me his .44Mag to shoot with some of his hand loads. I knew it was gonna kick at me.. Pushed the first 2 shots low... Grrrrr, shook my head and took my time on the trigger... Next 4 were better... Get some instruction if possible, from members of a range or club if you are a member...
Frank hit a good point and Retired Grunt posted up the chart which is very useful.
Dry fire practice can be a wonderful thing. Snap caps (dummy rounds) seem to work well for some, but they're not for everyone.
A little cheater technique that was given to me when I had to learn to shoot "pumpkin on a post" with the Beretta 92FS was to put a #2 pencil (shapened) eraser first into the muzzle end (if it fits) of a completely unloaded pistol. Post up a target within your normal line-of-sight on a wall. Get up close and personal with the target, 2-6 inches away is far enough. Make the firearm ready (hammer back, striker readied, etc), then pull the trigger. If the pencil is fully rearward when the trigger is pulled, the pencil should come out of the barrel and place a mark on the paper. This is where RG's chart can come in VERY handy.
Any way you go about it, dry fire practice is an important learning tool.
Dry fire practice can be a wonderful thing. Snap caps (dummy rounds) seem to work well for some, but they're not for everyone.
A little cheater technique that was given to me when I had to learn to shoot "pumpkin on a post" with the Beretta 92FS was to put a #2 pencil (shapened) eraser first into the muzzle end (if it fits) of a completely unloaded pistol. Post up a target within your normal line-of-sight on a wall. Get up close and personal with the target, 2-6 inches away is far enough. Make the firearm ready (hammer back, striker readied, etc), then pull the trigger. If the pencil is fully rearward when the trigger is pulled, the pencil should come out of the barrel and place a mark on the paper. This is where RG's chart can come in VERY handy.
Any way you go about it, dry fire practice is an important learning tool.
TlWheatley
New member
You can use a gun rest, correcting your grip as you go.
I think that some of my problem is I have carpal tunnel syndrome in that hand, of course my dominant hand. I wear a splint off and on. So I was really worried about recoil. To my suprise it wasn't bad. I believe with practice, practice, practice I will get better. I appreciate all of the advice.
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