Consistant Sight Return?

[Cooperkidd]

Recently Ive noticed my front sight.lol Then I started to notice that during recoil the front sight raises to the right (towards my strong hand) then dips down to the left (towards my weak hand). Any thoughts on why it's not straight up and down?

[GuildSF4]

Note the rifling of the bore will torque the gun (for most handguns that I have shot this is to the right). This may be exacerbated with a non-neutral grip. If the sights are returning to the same point every time then I would not worry about it, if not the check out the following topics:

http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=168601&hl=

http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=171778

http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=172650

[grapemeister]

Neutrality with the grip and letting the sights come back to the same spot they started. The "letting" part I didn't really understand in the beginning, and was something I struggled with for a long time. Experimenting with the grip, and finally getting to a firm neutral grip got me a lot closer. A lot of slow group shooting and all the while concentrating on letting the sights return to the starting point. Lots of practice, lots of observation, and thought about anything I might be doing that would not let the sights track up and down consistently. Do my sights always go straight up and down, no, but they consistently return to where they started.

[Grunt]

Experimenting with the grip, and finally getting to a firm neutral grip got me a lot closer. A lot of slow group shooting and all the while concentrating on letting the sights return to the starting point.

+1

For a right hander, you are seeing what every other right hander sees. The sight tracks up and to the right. Congrats!! You are seeing the front sight in recoil. IMO, this is a huge first step toward improvement.

Experimentation is critical with so many parts of this, and other, sports. Play with the extremes to see the results and then find the theoretical middle-ground which is usually what works for you. Re: the grip, this is essential to ensure the sights return to the same alignment. A slight change in grip can impact this and effect how the sights align on subsequent shots. With targets at close range this is less of an issue. But as the distance increase, this can become a problem. Obviously, coming out of the holster, or picking up the gun from a table, may impact how you end up gripping the gun. Generally speaking, take the close shots first and transition to the long shots (making any grip adjustments required along the way). You may not actually regrip the gun, but slight pressure changes in the grip will help keep the gun recoiling in a consitant manner. Note, this is not a mechanical thing. Its more of an intuitive thing, which takes practice.

Grunt