Trouble with target shooting. Hitting low and left.

[VariableRecall]

I would agree. Can you "bench rest" the guns to see if they are still doing the same thing?

There are no folding chairs in our indoor range to do that sort of work. I suppose I could find out next time if crouching and resting my elbows on the shelf in our lane would be comfortable. This range is rather long and narrow. I saw benchrest equipment in their inventory but I'm not sure if that would cost extra.

[blackthorn]

Check with the range to see if they will allow you to bring your own folding chair. If so, you should be able to find one cheap at your local thrift store.

[VariableRecall]

Check with the range to see if they will allow you to bring your own folding chair. If so, you should be able to find one cheap at your local thrift store.

I could just ask if they have chairs handy. Pretty simple.

[chutesnreloads]

Consider getting an airgun.You can shoot it in the backyard or even in the house.An average phone book will stop a lot of pellets before you shoot through it.
There are some really nice handguns that use air power

[VariableRecall]

Consider getting an airgun.You can shoot it in the backyard or even in the house.An average phone book will stop a lot of pellets before you shoot through it.
There are some really nice handguns that use air power

I think dry firing with the firearms I have on hand would work best. Maybe if I got a laser cartridge I could better understand where my point of aim is going.

Either way, I need more practice.

[Bazoo]

An airgun, or even an airsoft is a very useful training aid.

[DougGuy]

When you shoot, simply pull the trigger diagonally to the right some with your finger. You will see that immediately change your POI.

What is happening is this. You obviously have some fairly stiff triggers, and when the shot breaks, your finger jerks to the left as the trigger continues to travel rearward, they call this overtravel. Some guns are fitted with an overtravel screw to minimize this. You will often see the 1911 45 ACP pistol with a screw in the trigger shoe, that's what it does. As soon as the shot breaks the screw stops the trigger's rearward movement so it doesn't allow you to jerk it to the left.

For a Ruger single action revolver, you can swap in a Wolff 30oz. trigger return spring which will lighten the trigger pull appreciably. It will also make it MUCH EASIER to hold the sights motionless in dry fire. If you cannot dry fire the gun and keep the sights from jumping, it will always fight you until you master this one small task. Once mastered, groups will shrink accordingly.

[leeggen]

Variable recall, they make a target that has answers to most shooting problems listed on it. It is made 2 ways one for lefties and one for righties. It might hel you alot. I know several people I have put on the target found answers for themselves. Ihave a bad time to send things thru space. So I will send you an email on here of the target, Bet it will help you some.

[David2011]

After reading all of the comments several stand out. The troubleshooting chart is the first thing I thought of reading your initial post. Note that the six, seven and eight o’clock segments point to things that other responses said; jerking the trigger, pushing and squeezing too hard. Shooting on a sandbag or a bag of rice will reveal a great deal. If you hit near your point of aim using the bag that says that the problem is pushing/squeezing/jerking. Rifle shooting does not fully translate to handgun shooting mechanics.

The revolver is a great training tool. Have someone else load it for you with randomly placed empty cartridges, so you won’t know when a fired case is coming around. The empties will immediately reveal jerking, pushing or flinching. They will also help overcome those traits. Practice with the .38 and random empties until you no longer pull the sights off target.

Dry fire both guns until your follow-through keeps the sights on the bullseye. To see how important dry fire is, many top level competitors say they dry fire 10:1 over live fire.

[daengmei]

Some of this may help as well, a lot of illustrations and information.
Search "pistol marksmanship trigger control".

[leeggen]

Mr. VR. I have a target that might help you out.

LEE target WWW.Leeprecision.com Lee Precision, Inc
4275 Hwy. U
Hartford Wisconsin
53027
In each of 9 outer pies it tells you what went wrong. It has helped several new shooters and a couple old timers when shooting.It helped me when I changed from revolver to semi auto.
Good luck,
CD

[Echo]

Looks to me like a common jerk - rather than Squeezing the trigger, if one jerks the trigger, it will invariably pull the shot low and left. And, as someone said, dry-firing can make that show it's face!

[BamaNapper]

I too find the laser bullets useful. My wife and I have the iTarget and can shoot some friendly competition in the family room. There's a big difference at the range if we laser a couple hundred rounds the evening before. It's even more useful for practice now that I'm trying to stretch my primer supply. 5000 rounds through the laser is a $5 pack of batteries which are not in short supply.

I also agree with trying a group from a rest of some sort. Or maybe try shooting left handed? If you shoot a rifle lefty, maybe that's where the pistol belongs as well. I sometimes shoot better lefty, and I think it's because I don't have as much muscle memory and have to pay closer attention to what I'm doing.

[tommag]

I'll chime in with another vote for some loaded rounds with some empties interspersed. It's especially good with the revolver to show what you're doing. In the academy I went through it was called skip-loading. I can see what you're doing from the target, but seeing it for yourself by skip loading is a real eye opener.

[725]

Not seeing you in action is difficult to pinpoint issues. Some constants that may or may not apply to you are the observation of a vertical group ~ may indicate breathing. Constantly left ~ may indicate the finger not inserted deeply enough into the trigger guard/trigger. Could be that at the discharge, you are pushing the trigger to the left, (Conversely, those who put too much finger over the trigger tend to pull right. Other way around for lefties ). Shooting cross eye dominate opens up another bag of worms. I'm right eye dominate / right handed. However, while still a young gunslinger, I cut the end of my trigger finger off and had to carry my duty revolver left handed for about 6 months. Easy switch for me at the time, but I do remember dealing with the cross eye stuff. Once I trained my brain, it all worked out. Just remain flexible, open to new stuff, and don't get discouraged. As noted above, I had my finger wrestling contest with my radial arm saw on a Sunday morning and re-qual'd Monday morning with the M-16, 870, and Model 10. Train - practice - learn and keep moving.

[VariableRecall]

Not seeing you in action is difficult to pinpoint issues. Some constants that may or may not apply to you are the observation of a vertical group ~ may indicate breathing. Constantly left ~ may indicate the finger not inserted deeply enough into the trigger guard/trigger. Could be that at the discharge, you are pushing the trigger to the left, (Conversely, those who put too much finger over the trigger tend to pull right. Other way around for lefties ). Shooting cross eye dominate opens up another bag of worms. I'm right eye dominate / right handed. However, while still a young gunslinger, I cut the end of my trigger finger off and had to carry my duty revolver left handed for about 6 months. Easy switch for me at the time, but I do remember dealing with the cross eye stuff. Once I trained my brain, it all worked out. Just remain flexible, open to new stuff, and don't get discouraged. As noted above, I had my finger wrestling contest with my radial arm saw on a Sunday morning and re-qual'd Monday morning with the M-16, 870, and Model 10. Train - practice - learn and keep moving.

Thank you! I'll do some more dry fire practice when I get the chance.

[10-x]

Wow, from reading most posts seems you need BASIC marksmanship instruction. NRA, like them or not has basic pistol marksmanship, easy to get. Having been on AMTU team the basics are proper grip, sight alignment, breathing control and trigger control. Grip is the basic foundation, one should train to develop the proper grip without thinking. BTW, your pinky finger is an enemy, do not use it. 2 middle fingers should hold pistol or revolver securely against web of thumb and hand. Practice makes perfect. Sight alignment depends on one vision, buy cheap glasses at wherever you find them so you can focus on sights. Go in store hold your arm out at distance pistol or revolver would be and check which glasses allow you to Clearly see. + 125, 150 or whatever you need. Breathing control is needed mostly for target shooting but if one practices enough all come naturally. Trigger control needs much practice, use ONLY the fat part of first joint of trigger finger. Repeated practice of squeezing to the rear will get you good results. Just remember, practice makes perfect. By chance you can find a experience shooter to help you will make a huge difference. Good luck.

[VariableRecall]

Wow, from reading most posts seems you need BASIC marksmanship instruction. NRA, like them or not has basic pistol marksmanship, easy to get. Having been on AMTU team the basics are proper grip, sight alignment, breathing control and trigger control. Grip is the basic foundation, one should train to develop the proper grip without thinking. BTW, your pinky finger is an enemy, do not use it. 2 middle fingers should hold pistol or revolver securely against web of thumb and hand. Practice makes perfect. Sight alignment depends on one vision, buy cheap glasses at wherever you find them so you can focus on sights. Go in store hold your arm out at distance pistol or revolver would be and check which glasses allow you to Clearly see. + 125, 150 or whatever you need. Breathing control is needed mostly for target shooting but if one practices enough all come naturally. Trigger control needs much practice, use ONLY the fat part of first joint of trigger finger. Repeated practice of squeezing to the rear will get you good results. Just remember, practice makes perfect. By chance you can find a experience shooter to help you will make a huge difference. Good luck.

I have a good pair of prescription lenses, and a pair of shooting glasses that I can wear over my own, so I can see just fine overall. If I were to take my prescription glasses off, I wouldn't be able to see more than 2 feet from me. That's no way to handle a firearm safely.

Mainly I just need more practice.

[farmbif]

+1 on what 10x says. plus
not only will you probably enjoy a couple classes with a good instructor you will learn stuff you probably had not previously been exposed to.

[Land Owner]

[SARCASM=ON]

Try this (which does not "fix" a thing):

1.) move the aim point up and to the right.

Viola'. Hits on bullseye.

For defensive center of mass shots, compensate. Aim for the Perp's left shoulder (on your right hand as the Perp advances toward you).

[SARCASM=OFF]



In a serious vein, I viewed, and got excited about shooting a single shot at 3 yards, slowly squeezing the trigger and being surprised when the gun goes off (every time), then DELIBERATELY trying to put every subsequent shot of 5 into that SAME HOLE. Move back to 5 yds. and repeat. Move back to 7 yds. and repeat. Move back to 10 yds. repeat. Back to 15 yds. repeat. Back to 20 yds. repeat. Finally, back to 25 yds. repeat.

When all 35 rounds are WITHIN the "9-ring", you are learning hand, wrist, and trigger control through muscle memory.

Also, do not be afraid to TAKE YOU HANDGUN COMPLETELY APART (Youtube is helpful), to smooth and polish the parts of the action, and to reduce, but not eliminate, required pressure on the trigger that releases the sear and hammer. If you practice with a SOLID WEIGHT trigger (factory, some more than 12 pounds), that requires you to VICE GRIP IT to make the gun discharge, you will be giving yourself significantly greater confidence AFTER you smooth the action and REDUCE the trigger weight (say to 6 pounds).

There is a WORLD of difference from 12 to 6 pounds and a UNIVERSE of difference from 12 to 4 pounds. It is, imo, difficult to over polish when using non-cutting compounds on the sear, slide, hammer, etc. You may have to put the hand gun together a time or two getting the polish "just right", but when you get it right, that trigger becomes butter in the hand...and you DIY.