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Trouble watching front sight lift


Wik

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I have a factory stock G34 except for a red fiber optic front sight and some grip tape on the grip. I feel I'm very accurate with the gun, I can shoot tight groups pretty quickly. Generally two quick shots will be within a few inches of each other out to around 25 yards. My problem is that I can't follow the front sight. I am gripping the gun with my hands properly, not 100% sure if my stance/arm bend is correct though. When I fire the slide goes back and the gun lifts up just enough to block out the front sight above my line of sight.

I am shooting Federal American Eagle 124 gr factory ammo. Believe it is traveling down range at 1090 fps out of a 4.6" barrel. Haven't chrono'd it personally, but I estimate it's around 1150 with my 5.3" G34. I know shooting lower PF ammo will help, but I believe a good shooter should be able to track their sights with most any PF ammunition, especially something around the 142 mark.

Any pointers?

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This isn't a glock problem. This is a shooter's technique/skills problem.

It could be multiple issues, but your post leads me to believe you are a fairly new shooter to USPSA. As with almost all new shooters, I suspect you are looking at the target instead of your front sight. Some call this gophering; you break the shot and pop your head up a little to look for holes in the target. So, your eyes are transitioning from the Front sight to the target when they should be watching the front sight movement to call the shot.

Brian Eno's book covers what your eyes should be doing better than any post, thread, or personal advise out there IMO. Get a copy and read it. It's very enlightening about this aspect of shooting.

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This isn't a glock problem. This is a shooter's technique/skills problem.

It could be multiple issues, but your post leads me to believe you are a fairly new shooter to USPSA. As with almost all new shooters, I suspect you are looking at the target instead of your front sight. Some call this gophering; you break the shot and pop your head up a little to look for holes in the target. So, your eyes are transitioning from the Front sight to the target when they should be watching the front sight movement to call the shot.

Brian Eno's book covers what your eyes should be doing better than any post, thread, or personal advise out there IMO. Get a copy and read it. It's very enlightening about this aspect of shooting.

I am new to USPSA and I am not a USPSA member. As such, I am not classified, but based on my classifier scores so far this year I would be a mid C class shooter. I have done drills where I fire aiming at nothing in the backstop and just watch the front sight, but again I lose it. I strongly agree it is a shooter technique issue, which is why I stressed that so much in the original post.

I believe it's more of a recoil control issue than anything. I have absolutely no problem tracking the front sight on my Advantage arms .22 kit. I can keep the front sight in focus throughout the whole entire process of recoil. I do have an issue with going cross eyed and blurring the front post though, which I am trying to correct. I am afraid the only way is to get glasses or put tape on the inside portion of my shooting glasses. Maybe I should take a video of myself shooting to get some input on my arms position as I think this is the weak point in my stance. I am positive my grip is correct, but I have a problem with keeping my arms relaxed while shooting, they are generally pretty stiff to try and hold the gun more steady. When I watch shooters like Sevigny shoot, there is almost no muzzle lift what-so-ever, but his arms do come back about an inch or two with each shot.

Is there anything you guys can actually suggest to practice or be more aware of when shooting? I will reiterate, I am not watching the targets to see where I'm hitting. Generally I try my best to call my shots and if I can't I just move on to the next target, trusting my ability. Generally this works out, but in order to improve I think I need to be able to actually watch my front sight throughout the shot, and for this I need some pointers/tips/drills as I've sort of reached a plateau.

Thanks.

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As a new shooter and still not shot enough to be classified, I can definately say you have NOT plateaued. What you are experiencing is the expansion of your beliefs and understandings about shooting. It's really hard to see this concept except through hindsight.

Based on your second post, I would recommend training with someone who can guide you through the basics of shooting. I would recommend the training come from someone extremely versed in competition shooting. If it's a class with a USPSA GM shooter, even better. The $ spent now to get your fundamentals solid will save you $ in ammo alone in the long run. Reading Brian's book is still a huge recommendation also.

I commented on it's a technique issue and not a Glock issue as this thread would received more attention to the root issue if posted in the section of the site for shooting techniques and not the Glock section.

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Ahh, got ya. I like posting in the Glock subforum because I like to hear from other Glock USPSA shooters. Since this is completely a shooting technique issue I definitely should've put it in Techniques, so BE and others could give some insight. I love this forum. Thanks for the help. I will buy BE's book and I'd really like Matt Mink's DVD's as well. Also, it isn't that I haven't shot enough that I'm not qualified, it's that I'm not a USPSA member. I still only have about 6, 7, or 8 events under my belt. Maybe 7,000 9mm rounds down range total in my life (only 20 years old).

This thread can be deleted, I'm going to revise and put it in shooting techniques. Maybe it will help out other shooters as well.

As a new shooter and still not shot enough to be classified, I can definately say you have NOT plateaued. What you are experiencing is the expansion of your beliefs and understandings about shooting. It's really hard to see this concept except through hindsight.

Based on your second post, I would recommend training with someone who can guide you through the basics of shooting. I would recommend the training come from someone extremely versed in competition shooting. If it's a class with a USPSA GM shooter, even better. The $ spent now to get your fundamentals solid will save you $ in ammo alone in the long run. Reading Brian's book is still a huge recommendation also.

I commented on it's a technique issue and not a Glock issue as this thread would received more attention to the root issue if posted in the section of the site for shooting techniques and not the Glock section.

Edited by Wik
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