Down and to the left...

[Bersalover]

Is there a reasonable explaination as to what I am doing wrong that at the range today all of my shots with 3 different guns and 3 sizes of ammo are all down and left?

 

[Jeremiah]

http://www.pskm.be/Pistol_Shot_Analysis.pdf

 

[cornfused]

Jerking the trigger, google shot placement chart.

 

[jajwrigh]

Are you right handed? My guess is that you are jerking your trigger squeeze.

 

[phred]

New High Resolution Pistol Correction Chart w/ XDTalk logo - XDTalk Forums - Your XD/XD(m) Information Source!

Scott

 

[Jubba]

This seems to be a trend lately.

 

[TomN]

It all comes down to trigger control.

 

[kludge]

My "guess" is that you are involuntarily tightening your grip as the shot is fired, usually in anticipation of the recoil.

Solution: Tighten your grip. If your grip is already tight when before you pull the trigger it can't tighten when you pull the trigger.

 

[CindyE]

This seems to be a trend lately.

Yeah, but do i get credit for starting it?

 

[Jubba]

Yeah, but do i get credit for starting it?

Sure! I couldn't remember who started it. I also have a friend who called me a couple days ago and said he was shooting low left with his new S&W.

 

[IndianaGTI]

You are most likely pulling with your offhand if you are right handed to minimize recoil and/or make a fast followup shot. Try shooting a shot one handed and see if it is down and to the left. I'll bet not.

 

[Stainer]

Since we are in the handguns forum, I'm guessing you were firing handguns. My suggestion would be to tighten up your grip with your support hand and allow your strong hand to focus solely on squeezing the trigger. Other then that, let the trigger surprise you meaning don't focus on when the gun is going to go off, just focus on the fundamentals and continue to squeeze the trigger while you are on target.

If you really want to see how your fundamentals are doing, have a friend load your magazine while you aren't watching and have them put one or two dummy rounds randomly in the magazine. While you think the gun is going to go off, everything you are doing wrong and right will shine through. Highly recommend it!

 

[CindyE]

Sure! I couldn't remember who started it. I also have a friend who called me a couple days ago and said he was shooting low left with his new S&W.

OMG- it's an epidemic!

 

[Hornett]

The solution to this problem is to dry fire your gun with a penny balanced on the front sight. If you can drop the hammer (striker) without the penny falling off, you are getting the idea.
Of course, double check to make sure it's unloaded, point the gun in a safe direction, all of the dry fire rules apply.
Dry fire is your friend.

 

[Bersalover]

dry fire

thought it was bad to dry fire a gun

 

[MarlinMan68]

Too much finger on the trigger?Put a pen or pencil between your palm and the grip and take a few shots and see what happens.

 

[CalebToNowhere]

thought it was bad to dry fire a gun

You can get dummy rounds with a spring loaded primer cup. Also, I've heard you can dry fire a 1911 all day long and never hurt it.

 

[Arickosmo]

The solution to this problem is to dry fire your gun with a penny balanced on the front sight. If you can drop the hammer (striker) without the penny falling off, you are getting the idea.
Of course, double check to make sure it's unloaded, point the gun in a safe direction, all of the dry fire rules apply.
Dry fire is your friend.

Great idea there.

Secondly, not sure if I had low-left or not but moving to a thumbs forward grip eliminated my aiming problems.

 

[CarmelHP]

How much finger are you putting in the trigger? Do you go past the first joint?

 

[IndyGunSafety]

Is there a reasonable explaination as to what I am doing wrong that at the range today all of my shots with 3 different guns and 3 sizes of ammo are all down and left?

You are squeezing your entire hand and/or fingertips as you press the trigger. NOTHING MOVES BUT THE TRIGGER FINGER! This is the most common error I see. DO NOT INCREASE YOUR GRIP STRENGTH AS YOU SQUEEZE THE TRIGGER. It will go away if you practice NOT doing it. But you must practice often to keep it away. If you go a month between range sessions you will find yourself doing it again at the beginning of a session but with good focus the problem will be gone by the time you go home. But if you wait another month to go to the range it starts all over again.

HOLD CONTROL AND TRIGGER CONTROL! Good luck.