I can’t afford all that much ammo or a .22 pistol right now, but I finally got the chance to do some real pistol shooting yesterday. The past couple times I shot my pistols I was only able to shoot at 25 yards so I used the opportunity to make sure my pistols worked. I dug out my S&W 642 to be shot for the first time since I got it, and my Glock 26 and headed out to this shooting area to run a couple 3x5 and Dot Torture drills so I can try to assess my skills. I brought 150 rounds for each caliber. There were several brands and weights for .38 spcl but the 9mm I brought was cheap 115 grain Federal from Walmart.
Sorry I don’t have pictures of targets.
The first drill I ran was with the revolver and 158 gr +P Blazer at 5 yards on a 3x5 card and was pleasantly surprised when all 5 rounds cloverleafed. I made it back to about 12 yards when I had trouble keeping all 5 shots on the card. On the next fresh box of ammo, I ran the Dot Torture at 3 yards as best I could with a revolver and no speed loader. My shots on the “rapid fire” portion were awful, but I was able to call them. I just need to slow down until I get this right. I also caught myself focusing on the target rather than the front sight a few times.
My results with the Glock were much less satisfactory. From 3 yards, the best I could do was a 3 inch group with an exception detailed below… The shots were everywhere but the POA, none that I could tell were grouped to the left or right or up or down. My grip and stance are the current school I guess; squared to the target, knees slightly bent, weight on the balls of the feet, isosceles, high grip, thumbs forward, pad of the finger squarely on the trigger, etc. I’ve dry fired this thing about a million times and the front sight doesn’t move at all when I do. However when I shot weak hand only, the first 3 shots out of 5 made a ragged hole right where I was aiming, but the other 2 I pulled and I’m not too sure where they ended up.
I know it’s hard to figure out anything with the limited amount of info I can provide, if you need more information I’ll see what I can do.
So is this somewhat typical that a new pistol shooter isn’t half bad accuracy wise with a revolver but sucks with an auto? I know this is all me because of that left handed group. Maybe in a few months I’ll be able to afford to shoot more and look into getting professional instruction, but for now I’m gonna try to figure out what I was doing differently with the revolver and my left hand unless someone can figure out what I’m doing wrong first.
You’re snatching on the trigger and changing your grip in anticipation of recoil. The Glock trigger feels differently to you, so you can predict it better and know when it’s about to go off.
When you changed hands, your LH trigger finger wasn’t used to it yet so you shot well.
Anticipation issues, dude. Ball and dummy drills, and lots of dry fire practice.
Were you shooting the revolver in the llllooooong double action trigger pull? Or cocking it between shots?
Maybe the differences in triggers threw it off that much. But as stated…anticipation issues is the best guess. Have a buddy sneak in some random snap caps in some mags and see if you´re flinching. Same test with the revolver too.
This happened to me once after years of accurate shooting. I was shooting at a dot on a paper plate, about 5 yards away and normally I would get a ragged hole. My shots were going all around the dot without one direction in particular. I finally figured out that I was reverting back to my shooting infancy and focusing on the dot on the paper plate and not my front sight. When I focused back on the front sight, one ragged hole again.
The front sight on the 642 is so darn small you have to focus on it. And I bet when you were shooting your Glock one handed you knew one handed was more difficult and you focused on the front sight.
Shooting is a perishable skill even for the most experienced shooters. New shooters who don’t shoot often can expect skills to deteriorate–significantly–between trips.
I’m not sure if you shot all your ammo on that trip, but 300 rounds can be too much of a good thing, especially if you’re a new shooter who’s not on the range often.
For several reasons, I think the 642 is a major culprit here. Its short sight radius and heavy trigger make it very difficult to shoot well. (The same goes for the G26, just not as much.) Plus, little alloy guns kick HARD. That alone could have had a major negative impact on your Glock results, especially if you shot much +P ammo before you shot the Glock. Finally, there’s the ammo issue: what did you shoot in the 642? Commercial lead-bullet ammo (even if it’s not +P) can lead a bore badly enough to ruin accuracy after just 5-10 rounds. If your revolver’s bore showed lead fouling after that trip, then it’s definitely a major factor.
Finally, cut yourself some slack. You’re a new shooter. You went in cold with two guns that are known for being hard to shoot well and you shot drills that leave experienced shooters cursing and shaking their fists at the sky.
Sometimes it helps to just maintain skill by focusing on fundamentals. Warm up with slow fire and end your session with a few speed drills. We all have off days on the range. What matters is that you’re out there training, that you’re aware of your weaknesses, and that you’re getting help the best way you can.
here are some things that help me, dont anticipate the gun going bang, pull trigger nice and easy, buy the best ammo you can afford and buy alot of it, muscle memory drills pull that trigger a million times and drop the mag just as much, talon grips or stipling, a better trigger i have the 3.5 ghost rocket and it works pretty good
Prep the trigger and take up the slack all the way back until the connector stops the rearward travel (about 1-2 lbs left before it releases the striker. Make sure the sights are still where you need them, controlling the breathing…and press.
90% is controlling the trigger. If you do the above properly, you will hit the target even if your jumping rope!
Does someone know who took my magpul dynamics jump rope out of my range bag?
Seriously though some very good advice in this thread. Another trigger control drill that I personally use from 3-7 yards: Draw a solid 1" square on your target and try to completely eliminate it with one magazine. Decrease the number of rounds you use as your proficiency increases.
You don’t even need a gun for this drill
To illustrate how trigger snatching can affect you, hold your strong hand up as if griping the firearm. Move your trigger finger quickly…see how your other fingers move? Get the trigger finger slow and fluid til you are able to keep those other fingers stationary.
A “snatch” involves a LOT more than the trigger finger moving…it’s the whole hand.
You can’t move the gun that drastically off target by only slapping the trigger… the rest of your grip/hands need to move in order to do that.
Yes, you need a good trigger press, but even with a shitty one, if your hands stay still, you’ll still get a good hit.
This has been demonstrated before by having one person hold a gun on target, while another takes a peg and a hammer and drives the trigger back with a hammer blow. The bullets still go where they were aimed.
Shooting a S&W fast and accurate is an art. You must first learn to stage the trigger.
1 Visually and physically inspect the firearm to be sure it is empty.
2 Place the crease between the tip and second bone in your trigger finger on the trigger.
3 In a safe direction very slowly pull the trigger making sure to note the exact instant the cylinder stops moving.
4 Stop pulling. Do not release. Notice how it feels-it is lighter. The trigger will now only take a minimum of pressure and very small amount of travel to fire.
With practice you can do that at speed.
Dont’ feel bad about out shooting your Glock. I would routinely qualify 100% with my snubby and drop a few shots with my issue G21. Gun to hand fit makes a difference.
No two sets of hands are exactly the same. Where I pull the trigger from is different from where each of my shooting buddies does, yet we all can hit the X-ring.
The joint may be a good starting point, but frequently people are going to need to fine tune where exactly the sweet spot is for them.
Lots of good suggestions here already. One other thing to try: double hearing protection. Wearing muffs over earplugs may help you keep from closing your eyes when the gun fires. Learn to see the sights through the firing process. Watch for the flash and the blur of the case as it’s ejected. With practice you will learn to call your shots. There should be no mystery where the bullet hit on target. Then, if you occasionally flinch/anticipate or slap the trigger, you’ll know it because you can see it happen if your eyes are open.
