Looking for tips for better revolver shooting

[AllOutdoors.22]

I have had a S&W 386 XL Hunter in .357 Mag. now for almost a year and I love it. I shoot it well enough but would like to get better. Lately I have been trying to shoot longer ranges (out to 100 yds.) thinking it might make me a better shot in closer but I seem to have hit a wall. I would like to tighten my group at 50 yds. (my self imposed limit to shoot a deer) but 6" is about the best I can do. Anyone out there have any tips they could share or books to read with some good advice in them? TIA!

[Thumbcocker]

Dry fire.

[Southpaw 72]

Concentrate on having a consistent grip from shot to shot.

[22cf45]

Accept the fact that you have a certain area of wobble, concentrate on the front sight, and continue to bring the trigger back until the shot breaks. It is natural (and you must not let it happen) to want to look at the target rather than the front sight, to wait for the sight to get dead center, and make the shot break. That is a recipe for disaster.

Google Bullseye Encyclopedia and you will find all kinds of help there.
Phil

[dubber123]

Concentrate on having a consistent grip from shot to shot.

About the single biggest contributor to group size. Just thinking about changing grip will add a few inches to a 50 yd. group. A good gun and loads is important, but most any decent quality gun with a good load will shoot in the 3" range at 50 yds. It's not easy, but it is usually US, not the gun that is the biggest problem.

Doing the basics and starting with a gun without major issues should come first of course, making sure the throats are at least bigger than the bore, trigger isn't horrible, sights are clearly defined to your eyes, etc. Then find a good accurate load at closer ranges. I look for around an inch, to maybe 1.5" before attempting 50 yds. Sometimes a good 25 yarder doesn't work out at 50, but you have to start somewhere. Wadcutters in .38's are a good example. Not too hard to get under an inch at 25, but try 50 or farther.. Not so much.

Concentration and trigger time. I'm out of practice, and have been shooting a little more lately, and even though my groups reflect my rustiness, I can usually tell what I am doing wrong. Keep shooting, you will see groups shrink soon.

[ole 5 hole group]

If you are shooting consistent 6" groups off-hand at 50 yards you are shooting very well. Off-hand groups like that at 50 yards tells me you have your "basics" down pat and just need more practice. Everyone hits the wall and through practice you will get through that wall - You will hit another major wall at 5 inches and if you're able to punch through that 5" wall you're pretty well home and should consider shooting competitive bullseye.


There's not many people able to consistently shoot 5" or less groups at 50 yards off-hand and I don't care if they're using one hand or two hands. Now, shooting off a rest is a different story but still, just a slight grip change and that group can easily open up to 8 to 10 inches off a rest at 50 yards - when talking 100 yards, well - missing your target completely is fairly easy to do.


Just keep at it, as all it takes to shoot 4" groups off-hand at 50 yards is dedication, money for shooting supplies and time, like maybe 10 years or more of sending lead down range every day. You'll get there if you have that desire.

[Bigslug]

Accept the fact that you have a certain area of wobble, concentrate on the front sight, and continue to bring the trigger back until the shot breaks. It is natural (and you must not let it happen) to want to look at the target rather than the front sight, to wait for the sight to get dead center, and make the shot break. That is a recipe for disaster.

Google Bullseye Encyclopedia and you will find all kinds of help there.
Phil

Re-read this post several times, then start practicing with the double action trigger.

The corrective action I apply with my Glock-armed officers seemingly more than any other, is to shift their PRIMARY mental focus away from trying to fire the gun at the precise instant they see (or think they're ABOUT to see) a perfect sight picture (in short, slapping the trigger), and more toward pressing the trigger smoothly. The big hurdle here is ACCEPTING the fact that the sights are NEVER going to hold perfectly still, and that multiple rounds will inevitably disperse in a cone rather than follow a single line. The trick then, is to use your sights to gauge, minimize, and time the wobble (rather than make a futile effort to eliminate it) to the trigger press.

Think of it this way: Imagine (DON'T ACTUALLY DO THIS!) sweeping your gun rapidly across the entire range from right to left, and trying to hit the trigger so that you cut the intersection of the X printed in the center bullseye. Pretty much impossible, right? But that's exactly what a lot of shooters try to do within the seemingly more realistic scale of their normal wobble. . . and they have a lot of hits low and to their support side to show for it.

While I shoot primarily Glocks and 1911's, lately I have been spending a lot of time with DA revolvers, and have started keeping my .22LR S&W at work to help get this idea across. With a DA wheelgun, there is NO WAY you can even pretend that you can hold the sights perfectly still, so it forces you to perfect your sighting, grip, and trigger technique.

The other HUGE thing I work on a lot is follow-through. Your front sight is mounted over the muzzle for a reason: that's the last point at which you still have control over where the bullet goes. By staying focused on the front sight up to and even AFTER the shot, you ensure the gun stays aimed through the entire process. Fight the urge to come off the gun and look for a hole with everything you have.

[Petrol & Powder]

Lots of good advice here. Dry fire is useful and revolvers are conducive to that practice.

If you're getting 6" at 50 yards you've got the basics down. It's just a matter of burning powder and time behind the gun.

I will say that with a handgun, trigger control is just about everything.

[dubber123]

I guess I was assuming he was shooting from a rest.. 6" off hand at 50 is indeed pretty good. When tuned up, I can do better, but I have sent several hundred thousand rounds down range. I haven't shot much in the last year, and it shows. I would be pretty darn happy with 6" off hand right now. Off a rest is a different story.

[JSH]

Email sent.

[250kt]

I don't consider myself a real good handgun shot, but if practicing at longer ranges offhand I do a lot better shooting at a specific object rather than a target. Whether a rock, milk jug, whatever. Just pick a object the size you want to keep your groups at. Works well if you think of a 6x6 or 8x8 inch kill zone for hunting or whatever. Either you hit it or don't. For some reason it's easier for me to concentrate on the object rather than a target. I think we try to hard to concentrate on a regular paper target when like said above should be looking at the front sight.

[Blackwater]

Learning to shoot a revolver well is a process, not a technique. It's really just a matter of learning to hold steady (not immobile, but steady), and then squeezing the shot off without moving the muzzle in the process, and finally, following through as the hammer falls, again without letting the muzzle move. It's a really simple process, but hard to execute. An old trick is to balance a penny or other coin on top of the front sight, and practice dropping the hammer without letting the coin fall off. This will likely seem impossible to do at first, but it really IS possible once you learn the subtleties of pulling a trigger. I doubt it'll ever become "easy," but that's really part of the charm and challenge. What shooter among us doesn't relish a challenge???

You're going to spend time shooting anyway, so why not make it pay off by constantly testing and refining yourself and your sense of feel and your technique? Just makes sense, really, doesn't it? Just focus intently on the muzzle, and keeping it as still as you can at first, and as you go along, and your muscle memory starts to kick in, and your technique gets more and more subtle, you'll start to surprise yourself. That's when you're beginning to shoot well enough that you can actually tell which loads are really the most accurate in your guns, and you'll even further add to your accuracy, especially at distance. Keep at it, and you'll find yourself doing things you'd never have expected yourself to do. Those kinds of surprises are ALWAYS welcome!

[Patrick56]

When you hit the wall the problem is between the ears. The only way is to start again with short distances and gradually increase the distance as the self-confidence increases.

[bobthenailer]

Install a quality red dot sight ! I can usually always shoot better with a red dot sight even if the iron sights are match quality aftermarket sights . because of eye fatige or lighting condtions
You may also try a Weigand flat rear sight blade with a narrower sight notch than the factory's .125 width. and with the narrower rear notch a narrower front sight may help ! also try sight black ,no colored sights.

[Mk42gunner]

It has been a few years since I read through this sticky, but it has some very good advice: http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...oving-accuracy

Robert

[stu1ritter]

Study this guide over and over and put into practice everything it teaches. http://www.bullseyepistol.com/amucover.htm

Stu

[44man]

On a day my old age shakes are less, I hold 6" at 100 and can call all shots, hit or miss.
It has been said we all shake and how true that is. One secret is to let the sights move around and keep adding pressure to the trigger until it breaks.
The worst thing to do is make the gun fire when the sights pass through the bull.
If your gun is accurate and the LOADS, emphasis on LOADS, you can't shoot better if your loads are not up to par. Do all testing from a rest. Your shots should go to the sights--PERIOD no matter where your sights are. If you do not have that, no amount of work on your part will correct it.
The S&W grip is a tough one to handle, you might consider custom grips. I could move a group 10" by removing my hand from the grip and starting over. My group size would not change but POI did. The SA hog leg is the only grip that allows a change in my hand. Bisley sucks for me. Some guns need super glued to your hand!
It took me years to make revolvers accurate and I know how hard it is. I eliminated myself when doing the work but my friends and I all will out shoot a Ransom rest.
We were about done one day and I had 3 shots left for my SBH and took them at my steel at 100 off hand. Even with some shakes I let the gun go off when it was ready, not trying to hold like a vise and got this.Attachment 140352 3/4" at 100. I have taken deer cleanly to over 120 yards off hand.
The main reason is accuracy first.
You might want to test from a rest to see if what you are shooting can do it before working a sweat over yourself.
I have left revolvers in the safe most of the year but will pop every deer I see. Confidence in my loads.
We all miss but when you see the last sight picture when the gun goes off and call the shot and your spotter confirms it, only then are you there.
Dry fire? Not hardly. You can wear your gun out but once you know the gun is loaded, it is not the same. It is why I shoot nothing but hunting loads all year, you must feel at home with recoil. I teach with a heavy recoil first and step down, NOT UP. I have had kids here that can take a pop can at 100 off hand with a .454 after hitting every can at 50 with a .500. Dang I wish I could hold still like them anymore!

[Whiterabbit]

dry fire didn't work for me, neither did shooting a 22. guys at the local range told me something that stuck with me. 20 rounds of good practice beats 100 rounds of bad practice. That was the key for me. very single bad shot: stop, think about it, slow down, start over. Every shot is sacred, it's always OK to put the gun down and start over.

Shooting a flintlock helped a lot too. Much more than 22 or dry fire. Every shot counts.

Only shot heavy loads. With the gun in hand, muscle memory took over. None of that "try to scare yourself with one chamber empty" bullcrap. After your body does what it does on memory without you thinking about it, then your gun is stone fixture even when you get a dead primer.

After that, it was and is working on grip. Seems less sensitive on the heavy recoiling stuff. Maybe the recoil is just so severe that small changes in grip don't amount to much control change over the recoil profile? I dunno. Seems to make a HUGE difference in 45 colt.

Anyways, that's what has worked for me so far. I'm still working on it.

[FergusonTO35]

It's an eternal struggle. I've been shooting and hunting for 30 years now, and a good day handgun shooting for me is a 1" group at 20 feet with any of my guns. 3-4" is more likely. An average shooting session for me is only 20-30 rounds, I am blessed to be able to shoot in my back yard, which is something most people don't have.

I've decided to just focus on making incremental improvement to what I have, not trying to duplicate the exploits of people who are gifted with talents I don't have. My neurological system doesn't like to cooperate with me and will always be an impediment. I doubt I will ever be able to make neat groups with a pistol even at the standard 25 yards, and I accept that. I don't hunt with a handgun nor am I a cop or in the military, so anything I would ever have to do with a handgun would probably happen at a much shorter distance. If I can get to where I can reliably place the boolits where I want them to go at 10 yards consistently I will be content.

[Groo]

Groo here
+1 for 44man.
I have shot 357mags at 100yds for so long that I hate to think of it.
First you need a good grip [ one that fits your hand.\] then You need a good load , [ not hard in a 357]
Follow that with a good trigger and trigger pull [ this will throw you off the most] and last sights.
A master 45 shooter [also an engineer] showed me that It is not possible to miss the 50yd target[slow fire]
with a good factory Goldcup and factory target ammo.
Not enough variation in the system. YOU are the X-facter. [ 357 shoots better]
Try this, Grip your gun the same for every shot, work the action the same for every shot, shoot at 7 yds a 5 shot group.
Is the group as small or smaller than your front sight? [It should be].
Now you can say, the gun and load will group inside your front sight at most any ranger.[ I used this for 300yd shooting front sight about same as a torso]
After this , I know that the gun/load will group this size at whatever range, so the rest is ME.
Grip is important, trigger is important,sights ,,not so much,,, and you know the gun/load is ok ,,, now "buckets of bullets"