The mechanics of shooting, I'm not getting better.

[WanderingSol07]

Took the Intermediate Handgun course at Applied Ballistics this weekend. Found my grip to be the issue. I'm a lefty and was holding tightly with my left hand with my right gripping over my left. Half my shots were going right due to my left hand fingers pulling to the right with every trigger pull. I now hold the gun with my left, but not tight, just enough to hold it securely. I use my right to tightly grip my left hand, this keeps my left hand fingers from moving the gun while pulling the trigger. I can now hit bulls-eyes more than half the time at 15 yards. This was a significant improvement for me!

 

[bloodandgutsmurphy]

Congratulations on your newfound success, maybe I should take a class from them. I could use a few pointers

 

[Seancass]

Judging by your last two posts, you've found a definite problem in your form! That's good! However, I don't agree with the solution. A weak grip won't translate well to a larger handgun. I believe some people call this "divorcing the trigger finger", but the goal here is to move the trigger finger completely separately from the hand. You need to be able to squeeze the gun tightly with your dominant hand(right or left, whichever ends up working for you). At the same time, you must squeeze/press the trigger smoothly and deliberately.

If at all possible, rent/borrow a double-action revolver, especially a 22, and practice shooting it double-action. The long trigger pull will force you to focus on your trigger finger. It will also highlight anything your doing wrong with your trigger finger.

Also, any work you can do to strengthen your grip will help. Those cheap-o "grippers" you can get at walmart will work. I bought one recently at the grocery for $3. Give you something to do on the morning commute.

 

[BE Mike]

Having the sights aligned with each other (focusing entirely on the front sight) at the instant the trigger is actuated and not disturbing that sight alignment, will produce an accurate pistol shot. All that effort in aligning the sights before the shot, is wasted, if at the instant the shot breaks, you do something to cause the sights to come out of alignment. I think someone else said it, "It's simple, but not easy!" Everything else, like grip, stance, holding one's breath, keeping the eyes open throughout the process, etc. supports the first sentence.

 

[WanderingSol07]

As I said, I now hold the gun securely with my left (trigger hand), by no means weakly, but I'm also not trying to crush it either. This lets my trigger finger work independently of the other fingers. I then increase the grip strength of my right hand to be equal or maybe slight more than my left. This also got rid of most of my shake.

 

[cedartop]

As I said, I now hold the gun securely with my left (trigger hand), by no means weakly, but I'm also not trying to crush it either. This lets my trigger finger work independently of the other fingers. I then increase the grip strength of my right hand to be equal or maybe slight more than my left. This also got rid of most of my shake.

Eventually you will find you will be able to increase grip pressure with that hand and still pull the trigger independently. That is a good thing. After all, sometimes you will be shooting with only one hand on the gun.

 

[comm2679]

I have been shooting handguns for 10 years now. Here in the past year or so I have finally had that "lightbulb" moment and began to fully grasp sight alignment and focus, trigger control etc. it really is as simple as everyone makes it out to be. It just takes practice. Some folks pick it up naturally. Others, like me, take a little more time. Dry fire is huge. If you have some snap caps, integrate a few of them randomly in each live fire magazine on the range to help diagnose shot anticipation. If you don't know which shots will be clicks and which ones will be bangs, the gremlins will appear.

If you can already dryfire without your sights moving, here's my biggest tip. As you're pressing the trigger, let the shot surprise you. It sounds strange...you're shooting a firearm, the last thing you would expect to want is a surprise. But you're finger is on the trigger and you've already decided to shoot. From this point on it is about precision. Part of precision shooting is not knowing the exact moment when the shot will break. If the shot break doesn't surprise you to some extent, it means you've probably "told" the gun when to break the shot. "Telling" the gun when to break the shot almost always means you've added some kind of flinching or jerking input which is going to negatively impact accuracy. Here are some videos that have helped me out.

https://youtu.be/6lMYzJpD4n8

https://youtu.be/Gk6PqDx8LX4

https://youtu.be/CtKFCyupJ_0

 

[WanderingSol07]

I've found with my modified grip, not crushing with my left (trigger finger) and more with my right I can now sight equally well with my left eye or with my dominant right eye. The barrel of the gun still lines up with my trigger hand and arm in a straight line.

 

[mcapo]

As you're pressing the trigger, let the shot surprise you.

This has also been so true for me with rifles and pistols. Get on target and press till it goes bang.

I've seen a lot of people that "stab" the trigger when they get it on target. Of course, I've never done that....

 

[SnoopLoggyDog]

This worked for me when I wanted to increase my speed and accuracy.

[video=youtube;EvDAon7RGno]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvDAon7RGno[/video]

[video=youtube;ij7u-e0Z4EU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ij7u-e0Z4EU[/video]

 

[BE Mike]

This worked for me when I wanted to increase my speed and accuracy.

[video=youtube;EvDAon7RGno]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvDAon7RGno[/video]

[video=youtube;ij7u-e0Z4EU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ij7u-e0Z4EU[/video]

At the distance (4 yds.) that they are shooting, point shooting works. There is no need to look at the sights at all, once muscle memory is developed. There must be some developed trigger control, as well. This won't work for some types of shooting, like hunting or precision pistol shooting, however, because of the greater distances and precision required. At these later endeavors, the only way to insure a quality hit is to have the barrel aligned with the target and the only way to do that is to have the sights aligned perfectly with one another when the gun discharges.

 

[Luka93A]

Having a range buddy helps

 

[mammynun]

Training with a good instructor, they're not all created equally. For top quality instruction on the mechanics of shooting I highly recommend John McPhee (aka the Sheriff of Baghdad). He limits class size for lots of one on one time, and uses high speed video to break down what you're actually doing vs what you think you're doing. After class you receive a link to download your HD videos that covers presentation, grip, stance, and reload.

Here is his breakdown of my grip from 2016 which helped my shooting more than all the previous instruction I had in 25+ years...

[video=youtube_share;YL-6V9ReC3Q]http://youtu.be/YL-6V9ReC3Q[/video]

His classes are relatively expensive, but I think they're the best bang for the buck. He's come to Louisville, KY in September for the last few years and he's working on his 2018 schedule now... https://gunfighteru.com/

 

[Twangbanger]

...Those not in the bullseyeare to the right, slightly higher and lower, everything would be in a 5"radius. I'm a left handed shooter, right eye dominant, but I am using myleft eye for the sights. I shot the same pattern with the 2 .22lrs so Ithink it is me, not 3 guns all being off exactly the same.I really think about what I am doing while shooting...keeping both eyes open...I feel as every shot should be in the bullseye and am surprised when I miss....

This right here, by itself, will cause you to shoot to the right. (I will trust that you know about eye dominance, and how to determine it).

When you say you only shoot with your left eye...how do you know? Does that mean you close the right one? If you are left handed, but right eye dominant, you need to close the right eye when you're shooting, or it will make you miss right. It's your right eye taking over, telling you (erroneously) that you're off to the left, and causing you to over-correct to the right.

Try it by pointing your finger at something across the room, and alternately closing one eye, then the other. I'm just going off what you said above...and you said you keep both eyes open. So I'd recommend you make a range trip with your Browning, diligently keep your right eye closed for a box or two of ammo, and report back on what happens.

To answer your "real" and final question...dry fire every day is what helps me. You're getting your introduction to shooting during a fortunate time, because dot sights on pistols are everywhere. I think having a center-fire pistol that can be dry fired, with a dot on top of it, could well be one of the best beginner learning tools, if you can spring to find room for such a rig in your arsenal.

updated post:

Took the Intermediate Handgun course at Applied Ballistics this weekend. Found my grip to be the issue....I can now hit bulls-eyes more than half the time at 15 yards. This was a significant improvement for me!

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Progress...welcome to the sport! The problem-solving process you're doing now is your most valuable lesson learned so far. You will do this over and over, for as long as you shoot a gun.


But this comment concerns me:

I can now sight equally well with my left eye or with my dominant right eye. The barrel of the gun still lines up with my trigger hand and arm in a straight line.

Switching eyes back and forth is something you need to be careful of.
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The problem-solving process is simple in a nutshell:

1) Is the gun's point of impact mechanically aligned with its aiming system?
2) Are you getting that aiming system properly aligned with the target?
3) Are you keeping it there while the shot goes off?

It sounds like your Applied Ballistics class addressed some issues you had with #3. That's the one that gets most beginners (and intermediates...and experts, occasionally), which is jerking the shot down and away from the strong hand side.

But watch out for #2, because that's your dominant eye issue, and it can creep back up on you, when you least expect it.

A dominant eye problem is a permanent, structural issue in how you shoot.
A "new grip" usually does not permanently address it (...unless you go all the way, and switch to shooting right-handed).