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Bad grip?


Thaunk

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I shot 3 gun on Saturday and something odd happened with my pistol on one of the stages. I was shooting a texas star and some other steel and when I had the pistol lined up straight I wouldn't hit my target. When I had the front sight all the way to the right suddenly I'd hit. Could that have been a bad grip, something else, or should I look for a fault in the pistol? I shot it fine in practice prior to the match so I don't think it'd be an equipment issue, but I've got a lot to learn yet.

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I would say jerking the trigger, but not loose or bad grip. A poor grip and trigger jerk leads to low and left (for a right handed shooter). If I start jerking the trigger hard with a good grip I tend to go left, but the horizontal location of my hits never changes.

I shoot a Limited Pro, which has an adjustable rear sight. I zeroed the sights using slow deliberate bench testing, then I moved the sight two clicks to the right to keep it centered at speed. The more I dry fire and shoot the less it is needed and frankly I could probably take my "cheat" out and never know notice the difference inside of 15 yards.

I suggest the white wall drill. Dry fire at a plain white surface with no actual target. The goal is zero sight movement. When you think you've got it, pull the trigger quicker. You'll learn a quite a bit about your trigger press and your grip. Do that for 5 minutes every day for a week and you'll notice improvement at the range.

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Like people have stated, most likely jerking the trigger. However. Finger placement could also be an issue that magnifies your trigger jerking. For me, I find that I have better trigger pull with my finger placed a bit closer to the tip rather than right in the middle.

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BC27 has a point. On a 1911 I use the pad of my finger. On my Lim Pro and CZ's, with their DA first shot and curved trigger, I use the first distal joint. With a Glock, I throw the gun down the range because I don't shoot them well at speed no matter what I try.

Edited by cjdaniel78
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^ Yup. Because everyone had different size hands and finger length and all firearms have different grip to trigger lengths (can you call that length of pull for a pistol?). Anyway, combine all that and you typically don't have an ideal fit in many cased so you sometimes have to adjust your finger placement on the trigger to compensate from one pistol to another. That's what I do anyway. This may not be the OP's problem but it is something to consider.

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Dry fire your pistol at a spot maybe 20' away and pay attention to how the sights move. I see mine move left, sometimes right anticipating the recoil and sound. Where your finger is on the trigger plays a part so play with that.

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  • 1 month later...
On 7/11/2016 at 10:45 AM, Dis-1-Shooter said:

Sounds like you are jerking the trigger and/or pushing the gun to the left with your trigger finger.

If you are a right handed shooter this applies:  Typically when folks flinch they shoot (low and left)  not always but most of the time.  That being said when you aimed right it compensated for the flinch.  If you have a super heavy trigger pull this can exacerbate the issue, with that said light triggers dont completely solve the issue of flinching the triggers as I have seen several folks with 5k sti match guns with 1.5 lb trigger flinch over and over on a plate rack at 15 yards.  So look up a ball and dummy drill to help get you out of this. 

Having taught for over 10 years and several thousand shooters Id say this is the problem 98% of the time.  Its unconscious and something we don't realize were doing so when it does happen often people look to factors that we are aware of.  Grip is a big deal but Id focus on flinching drills very heavy as its super important and the most common issue, equipment cant replace training on this.  Typically when I do NRA instructor training about 20-40% of the class fails the shooting qualification due to flinching.  I have found this in many folks so don't feel bad about it, with some training I have got them to pass.  But some of the folks that have failed are swat cops, military firearms instructors I don't say this to ridicule them in any way as there are many folks that don't pass but merely using them but as an example of how common it is and its a natural reaction our brain has to loud noises.  Another thing that will help is to always use double ear protection, as its usually the noise that bothers folks not the recoil, but being on a timer doesnt help. 

Hope you get something out of it!

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Definitely sounds like a trigger jerk. There are drills you can do to help off the range but nothing is going to be as good as live fire under the clock. With time grip and trigger control become second nature and you wont even half to think about it.

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  • 1 month later...
  • 1 month later...
On 12/4/2016 at 5:54 PM, joerenew said:

It sounds like you may be reseting your grip after each shot or slapping the trigger.

I tend to agree with this. Relax your right hand (if you are right-handed) a bit, and see what happens during dry-fire.

Also, I believe that realism is important during practice. Have someone stand behind you, closely watching your trigger finger. When you pull the trigger have the yell bang, as loud as they can.  :D

Edited by MikieM
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