How to shoot accurate and in groups

[MinhWin]

I would like any advice in shooting accurately and in groups. When I shoot, I get lucky sometimes and shoot it in groups. I would like to shoot dead center. Usually when I aim, I aim dead center with the front sight on the center of the target but when I pull the trigger it goes way high left or most of them go low. Help.

[WEC]

Sounds to me that you're anticipating the recoil of the gun as you squeeze the trigger. I know a few people who have this problem. Some of them work it out, others never do. I don't know any gold-plated advice to give you other than what I heard someone say once: "Every time the gun fires, be prepared for it, but it should almost come as a surprise to you."

[Aggie_engr]

There's a very useful chart that I've seen some one post on here before that will help show you what you're doing wrong (i.e. anticipating recoil, pulling down, proper grip etc). If you're a beginner shooter, what I can recommend is obtaining some snap caps and working on dry firing. You want to put a slightly increasing pull on the trigger while keeping your sights aligned until it releases, which if done properly the bang should come as a surprise. Yanking on the trigger will result in loose groupings so practice with the snap caps on your trigger pull. Other than that, practice makes perfect! Put some rounds downrange!

[Aggie_engr]

WEC beat me to it with the surprise factor...

[seamusTX]

The best way to improve your shooting is to get some coaching. Even one hour with an experienced coach will clear up most of your problems. Ask around your range for the name of someone who can help you.

I found the U.S. Army Pistol Marksmanship Manual very helpful. It breaks down the elements of marksmanship into stance, grip, breathing, sight alignment and trigger control. It's not something that most people can read in one sitting. I read some of it every day and went back over it many times.

- Jim

[edmart001]

I agree with above - get some coaching. Even if it's informal, finding out what works from others is a natural way to learn. Many CHL instructors also offer "Basic Pistol" courses and that may help some.

Link to best example of previously mentioned chart that I've seen:

http://www.katychl.com/images/handgun_s ... _chart.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[arod757]

My wife's going through the same problem right now. Putting dummy rounds randomly into her magazines along with the live rounds helps her A LOT. She doesn't know if the gun is actually going to go off, so she doesn't anticipate the recoil as much and the rounds that do go off tend to go into the center of the target with more frequency.

I personally also like practicing dry fire techniques with a laser at home. A cheapo laser that you mount to the rail of your gun or trigger guard can show you a lot of problems you're having with your trigger control. When you can keep the laser dot steady on the screw of a light switch plate and it doesn't jump around on you when you pull the trigger, you're heading in the right direction.

[Charles L. Cotton]

I would like any advice in shooting accurately and in groups. When I shoot, I get lucky sometimes and shoot it in groups. I would like to shoot dead center. Usually when I aim, I aim dead center with the front sight on the center of the target but when I pull the trigger it goes way high left or most of them go low. Help.

Where do you live? If you are close to Houston/Friendswood, I'd be happy to meet you at PSC Shooting Club and work with you for a couple of hours. It does sound like you are "flinching."

Chas.

[stroo]

I am a flincher. I have found dry firing, dry firing with a laser, shooting airsofts, and shooting 22s all help. When you dry fire concentrate on trigger control especially pulling it straight back. It may also help to have a friend load your mags and mix in a dummy round or two. Having said all that, while I have improved a lot, if my concentration is off on a given day, I still flinch although when I do, I tend to only hit about 3-6 inches low at 7 yards compared to a foot or more when I started shooting handguns about 3 years ago.

[MTICop]

I agree with all the advice you have seen above. It also sounds to me like anticipation. Of course, that is without actually seeing you shoot. The "surprise" factor is crucial to not flinching/anticipating recoil. Look at trigger press in this fassion: I tell all the shooters I coach not to squeeze/press the trigger to make the gun fire but squeeze/press until the gun fires. I know that really is semantics but, if you think about it, it makes sense. If you are sqeezing the trigger to make the gun fire, chances are you are anticipating when the gun will go off and the often made mistake is breaking the wrist down or pushing the gun toward the target. Both will throw your shots off. If you concentrate on nothing but increasing the pressure on the trigger until the gun fires, you won't do this. It may sound silly but it has worked for most of my students. Some just can't get the concept.

Also, I don't know what caliber of gun you are using but, if you can, get a .22 pistol and practice with that. The lack of recoil on one of these will help tremendously. This is your brain saying "this gun doesn't have any kick so I don't have to brace for it". I use the Walther P22 I bought for my son sometimes to work on fundamentals. I also highly encourage it for brand new shooters to start with. They build the fundamentals with a "non-scary" gun and move up in caliber from there.

My $.02, for what it's worth.

[MrsFosforos]

I would like any advice in shooting accurately and in groups. When I shoot, I get lucky sometimes and shoot it in groups. I would like to shoot dead center. Usually when I aim, I aim dead center with the front sight on the center of the target but when I pull the trigger it goes way high left or most of them go low. Help.

Where do you live? If you are close to Houston/Friendswood, I'd be happy to meet you at PSC Shooting Club and work with you for a couple of hours. It does sound like you are "flinching."

Chas.

That is one of the best offers you'll ever get!! We took a Personal Protection in the Home course Charles & TraCoun taught a year or so ago and it was worth the drive down! The course content was great, but the hands on instruction we got from them was the best!!

One piece of advice Charles taught that helped me was the concept of follow through. It was basically incorporating the practice of re-aquiring the site picture/target after each shot -> before the next shot was attempted. It was especially helpful when transitioning from one target to another; but it also helped me when using the same target repeatedly. I may have understated it, and if I did Charles, please do correct my interpretation.

The best thing that has been helping me train against flinching was using a laser with dry firing. Granted, I don't experience the sensation of recoil with dry firing, but it helped give me visual feedback on the movement I was causing by pushing the gun with trigger pulls. I've also read you can do the same thing by balancing a dime on the muzzle. Keep it balanced and you're not flinching!!

It also helped me to alternate shooting a .22 pistol with a bigger caliber as needed to retrain myself if I was getting off track again. I'm still learning and my groupings are inconsistent, but getting better as time passes!!

I sometimes wish we lived closer to Houston, if only to benefit from learning more from the all the great shooters we've met at the PSC club.

The next best thing would be to go to the annual TexasCHL Forum day that's hosted there. We went a couple of years ago and every session we participated in was very instructive and helpful!!

[MinhWin]

Chas. What are your fees to teach how to shoot better?

[txfireguy2003]

When I was in the police academy, we had one cadet who had never fired a handgun in her life and was flinching badly. On the B-27 target, she would have been hitting perps in the groin! It was a decent group, but WAY low. The instructor took all her mags and had her hand him the gun. He would insert a mag, maybe empty, maybe with one round in it, rack the slide and hand it back to her to shoot, then repeat. They went through this for about 10 rounds with no bangs, then all of a sudden, she gets a live round and the hole is dead center on the target! They repeated this little scene for a half hour or so before class each day and before it was all said and done, she was shooting with the rest of us.

[mac_attack]

here is another version of the chart mentioned above.
Correction Chart

[KinnyLee]

Mashing the trigger, flinching, anticipating recoil, etc... Chas is a good teacher. He'll set you straight.