Sight Travel - should it be straigh up and down?

[dbxdm9]

Trying to get sights to go straight up and down. Can't get there.

After shot - sight move up and to the right (towards 2 o'clock position.)

As the slide moves forward again the sight dips down and left, too far. Towards a 7 o'clock position.

I have tried different grip pressures right and left, moved trigger finger location, ... I moved to a lower poundage recoil spring the lessen the slide force moving forward to keep sights from dipping below horizontal as slide moves forward. Helped some but they still do it.

Help...

[slickmix]

what kinda of sight are we talking about???

[sirveyr]

Find a grip that is comfortable and is consistant. Let the gun do what it does, which is recoil. You cannot stop the gun from recoiling. It doesn't matter if the sight is not tracking perfectly up and down as long as it comes right back to where it was when you called the first shot.

[G-ManBart]

Increasing your grip strength so that you're able to hold the gun more firmly without causing trigger control issues will normally reduce the amount of muzzle flip, and make it track more consistently. At the very least, it can't hurt anything to have stronger hands/forearms.

What sort of gun/caliber/load and what weight recoil springs have you tried? R,

[dbxdm9]

Iron sights on my XDm 9mm.

I reload my own - tried 124gr, but settled on 115gr. 4.9gr of W231, 1.125" OAL.

I have tried 16#, 18#, and 20# recoil springs.

I have read Enos' book - shows bent arms to absorb recoil. Everyone else I see locks their arms. What do you do?

I have tried soft hands and gripping the snot out of it - seems to work better with a firm grip. I use about 80/20 strength in left/right hands. Is that what is forcing my sight up/right? If recoil is coming straight back and my left hand is firmer, thus providing more resistance, is it forcing the gun up and right?

[Jman]

Where are your feet?

[Singlestack]

Is your weak thumb touching the frame?

[dbxdm9]

Right foot is about 6 inches further back than left. Gets me a natural POA.

I try to keep both thumbs off the gun. Not always successful.

[Matt Cheely]

Mine goes up and to the right a bit. I wouldn't worry about it as long as it's not taking off at a 45 deg angle.

[twodownzero]

I'd say heavier bullets (147s or heavier), lower velocity, and lighter springs would be a good start.

[dbxdm9]

Tried some of your advice tonight at the range.

- Leaned forward, more into the gun.

- Made sure both my thumbs were neutral, not touching gun

- Moved my right elbow down and in a little towards my body.

Made a noticeable difference.

Thanks.

[want2race]

You can also try changing how far away the gun is from your chest. Closer vs further. Changes the elbow angle.