New Glock 26 and pulling left

[Yarborough]

Background: I grew up shooting and stopped while in my early teens, mostly to pursue other interests. A couple of months back, I suddenly remembered how much I'd enjoyed target shooting and figured to give it a spin for the first time in nearly ten years. I'd also had an on-off-on interest in getting my CHL, so I decided to buy my first semi-auto pistol (I grew up around staunch revolver shooters) and work toward feeling comfortable enough with my gun to get a carry license. (Class last week; paperwork under review at DPS as we "speak")

My gun of choice was the Sig 2022 9mm. I hit the range once a week (on average), firing 200rnds per session (more, when finances permit) and have the utmost confidence in my ability with that gun. I'm not competition-ready, but I'm pretty solid at 7-10 yards and not horrible up to 15 yards. It didn't take long for my old stance to return, and I'm improving by baby steps now that my foundation is reestablished.

Due to my small frame and unfortunate (by that, I mean "chubby") body shape, I decided against carrying the Sig until I'm more experienced with concealed carry. So, earlier this week, I picked up a G26, cleaned it up and took it to the range. I put 200rnds through on the first day and another 200 earlier today--I'm not wild about the ergonomics (my hands are far below average in size), but things are only getting better.

Still, I'm consistently missing to the left of center--up to six inches (at 7-8 yards), sometimes even a bit more. I initially had similar problems with the Sig and corrected it by working harder at trigger control, putting extra effort in smooth squeezing and not pulling at the last moment. I was better today (left the Sig at home and focused on the G26), even managed some groups that somewhat surprised me, but I also had some ugly misses.

Eventually, I plan to utilize some of the aftermarket G26 grip provisions (either a mag sleeve or the pinky extenders), but I'd rather not cheat by jumping to that--since I'll be carrying this gun for six months to a year before I start shopping for a larger carry piece (I was barely out the door with the Glock before I'd started drooling over the Sig P220), I want to be very, very solid with it.

Since I've had basically the same problem (that being the left-side pulling) with both guns, I wanted to see if anyone has any tips and/or exercises that can help me identify my error and work it out of my system. I quit using B27 targets and have been working with smaller practice targets. That has helped a bit, but it's still not uncommon for me to put a few outside of the outer circle. Am I just used to being babied by the SA Sig trigger? Not pulling my hair out over it (yet), just thought I'd check with some other shooters as opposed to beating my head against the wall while waiting for my CHL to arrive.

[KC5AV]

The one thing I've seen most often relates to trigger control, and that is the tendency to have too much finger on the trigger. That's usually the first place I start when discussing trigger control.

[boba]

Do any friends have a 22 you can use for practice? A lot of problems stem from fighting recoil so shooting a full size 22 is a way to reduce that. Another possibility is bad trigger finger placement. There's a diagnosis target out there on the net somewhere.

Found it.

[03Lightningrocks]

Funny thing... I have this tendency with all my Glocks. I figured out that I was pushing the trigger and gun ever so slightly as I "pulled" the trigger. In my case it happens when I have the first pad of my finger on the trigger, like I do my rifles. I changed my finger position to the crease between the first and second pad and my shots all hit right where they are suppose to. I found it odd that my Glocks and my Kahr will both do this. My sigs, 1911's and revolvers don't seem so finicky about position of finger pad. I have no idea why... wish I did. But give it a try and see what happens. It will only take a few rounds to figure out if more or less finger will center the shot.

[Bulldog1911]

Interesting. Never seen that diagram before. Very nice.

[thatguy]

Do any friends have a 22 you can use for practice? A lot of problems stem from fighting recoil so shooting a full size 22 is a way to reduce that. Another possibility is bad trigger finger placement. There's a diagnosis target out there on the net somewhere.

Found it.

Very interesting....

[03Lightningrocks]

Here is another one that I have used. Got it from somebody on this forum. I think it was pawpaw who posted it. Anyway... it is printable.

http://www.reloadbench.com/pdf/files/Ta ... Handed.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[brandrum]

The one thing I've seen most often relates to trigger control, and that is the tendency to have too much finger on the trigger. That's usually the first place I start when discussing trigger control.

exactly...When I first started shooting Glocks I had the same problem....I corrected it by putting less finger on the trigger ..you're probably anticipating recoil also...mix some snap caps with some live ammo to make sure.

[BiCMRC_O1]

I had a very similar situation when I was choosing my first semi-auto handgun. I went in dead set on a Glock 26 for easy carry. I knew I needed to put some rounds down range before I made a decision, so I went out to the range and rented. My first two rentals were the Glock and a Sig P220 (I wanted to get a feel for the difference between composite and alloy). I shot the Glock 26 like crap (most shots falling wide left), and chalked it up to being out of practice. Then I loaded up the P220 and surprised myself with decent clusters at 15 yards. I went back to the Glock and did better, but had no where near the accuracy and precision I had with the larger Sig.

After discussions with the guys in the shop (Red's North in Pflugerville -- great staff) I decided that it might be the sight distance that was causing me trouble. I switched to the Glock 19 and again shot like hell. I cycled through 10 or so other handguns over the course of about a week, including full-size Glocks and compact Sigs. I finally tried adjusting my grip on the Glock by rotating my wrist to the inside -- it made a huge difference. I don't know if that will solve your problems, but it made a ton of difference for me.

Of course, after all those trials, I settled on the P220 and will figure out a way to carry. It felt better and I shot better with it than any other semi that I tried.

Naturally YMMV and happy shooting!

[Skiprr]

I’m assuming the sights are correctly installed/aligned on the Glock. This is not an absolute guarantee. Mass-produced guns typically have their sights installed to a good degree of tolerance, but they usually aren’t test-fired for point-of-aim accuracy, and the occasional pistol can come out of the shop with misaligned sights. I have a Kahr, for example, that came with sights so obviously misaligned that you could simply look down the barrel of the gun and see the problem. The good news is that it’s easy to fix. A gunsmith can drift the sights for you at a cost that may be less than shipping the gun back to the manufacturer. Have an experienced “Glocker” shoot it, or do some supported, benchrest shooting to take most of the shooter out of the equation...if the point-of-impact remains consistent, it may be the sights.

However, I agree with everyone else that it’s more than likely a trigger manipulation issue. From what you said, my bet is that you don’t have enough index finger on the trigger. And that will most often result in the “pushing” that 03Lightningrocks described.

Almost all instructors who teach basic shooting will tell you to first align the axis of the barrel in a straight line with your forearm. For many people, that works just fine, and it does provide the best in-line support for recoil. If you have large hands, it’s not problem to keep that alignment while then working to adjust the placement of your finger on the trigger.

Folks with smaller hands, not so much. The controlling factor becomes finger length, not barrel/forearm alignment. Six physical factors of the pistol affect this: grip thickness (as viewed looking from the back), grip breadth (as viewed from the side), grip configuration (mostly meaning grip angle), length of backstrap to trigger, length of trigger pull, and type of trigger.

Some of the physical factors are more subtle than others. The Glock has sort of a double-whammy here because the grip (on most of the non-backstrap-adjustable double-stacks) is thick, and it’s at an angle that’s about 5-degrees more acute than Browning-style grips (1911s, XDs, etc.). Too, the Glock safe-action trigger requires a fairly straight press-back, otherwise it can tend to stick a bit before depressing, which can result in movement of the muzzle before the trigger even starts to move. Doesn’t mean, though, that people with small hands can’t learn to shoot it very well.

If the positioning of your hand on the pistol is a possible problem, I’d start with an unloaded gun; be sure to double-check that it’s unloaded.

Next, check again to make certain it’s unloaded.

Move the slide enough to cock the striker, and then—holding the butt of the pistol in your offhand—carefully align the middle of the first pad on your trigger finger square onto the center of the trigger. The pad of your finger should be at a perfect right-angle to the barrel. Press the trigger back all the way through the “shot,” holding it as far back as it will go. Check that your trigger finger is still aligned correctly and square on the trigger, then carefully wrap the other fingers of your shooting hand around the grip, firmly and securely, without disturbing the trigger-finger position.

In a prefect world, that’s where your grip would be at follow-through. Now, keep your grip in place on the pistol and let the trigger come all the way out to its fully-released location. This time, it’s your trigger finger that will shift its position on the trigger. Let it. The face of the trigger will end up at an angle to the pad of your forefinger, and it’s likely to be positioned more toward the tip of your finger.

Next, support the frame with your offhand and relax your grip just enough to allow you to rotate the pistol in your hand. Carefully rotate the pistol counterclockwise until you once again achieve perfect alignment of trigger and center-pad of your forefinger. Tighten your fingers a bit, and voila!

That’s probably where you should be gripping the pistol. Without shifting your grip at all, manipulate the slide enough to cock the striker, and practice dry-firing while maintaining a perfect, straight-back trigger press from first contact with the trigger to the break of the shot. Do this multiple times so you can get a kinesthetic memory of how the gun is positioned in your hand.

Since you have small hands, the result is going to be that the barrel is not aligned with your forearm, but is off by a few degrees toward the back of your hand. That’s okay, because common semi-autos have less felt recoil than revolvers in the same caliber, and practical shooting for the last few decades has been taught using two hands; you can certainly shoot one-handed, but the extra hand provides a great deal of support.

A relatively inexpensive (plus or minus $20-$30) tool to help you identify and correct trigger control issues (not so much flinching, but other issues, including “arc of movement”: the movement of the muzzle as you try to hold the sight-picture on target) is a laser boresighter. Activate the laser and practice dry-fire. IMHO, this is a rapid-improvement tool. As you pull the trigger, you get instant feedback if your trigger control is affecting the point-of-impact in any way. With standard dry-fire, or even live-fire, it can be difficult to diagnose trigger control issues unless you have an experienced shooter watching and coaching you. A laser on a blank wall 10 or 15 feet away will visibly show every little waiver and jerk of the muzzle...in real-time.

Have fun, and shoot safe!

[Mike from Texas]

Some great advice giver by Skiprr. I would also add, firing a striker fired pistol is vastly different than a single action or SA/DA trigger. I personally stink at shooting SA/DA triggers and I don't like different trigger pulls on a self defense weapon so I stay away from them. I suspect that your issue is trigger control related. Some dry fire drills and mixing snap caps into your shooting mix will also show any trigger flaws as well as allowing some failure drill practice at the same time.

[Yarborough]

Thanks to everyone for the detailed, helpful responses. The Wheel of Misfortune is especially telling--I've caught (and corrected, through trial and error) poor form, and that chart would have saved me a lot of time (and ammo).

On my second or third mag yesterday, I *did* find myself thinking more about the amount of finger on the trigger. The adjustments I made (or tried to make) seemed to have the most effect on my results.

Skiprr-Factory sight-misalignment occurred to me--especially during the first twenty rounds, when I likely could have
missed hitting the barn from *inside*--but I've done a limited amount of very accurate (same hole) shooting with the G26 . . . yet haven't succeeded in isolating what causes my inconsistency. The info in your post *really* hit home, and I'm going
to implement all of those suggestions with snap caps before heading back to the range next week. Major thanks for the details and phenomenal advice.

I also see a lot of credence in Brandrum and Mike's suggestion of mixing snaps with live ammo (on the range, of course ), as the first thing I noticed upon my initial return to shooting was a hefty flinch. I've worked through a lot of it, but I do catch myself slipping off once in a while.

Ultimately, I think I'm having more trouble than anticipated adjusting to the DAO trigger. However smooth the Glock trigger may be, I erred in practicing through hundreds of rounds exclusively with the Sig's short-pull. A lot of that was just getting back into the saddle, eradicating the flinch etc. . . . now, I need to get down to business with trigger control. I also erroneously (and in my enthusiasm for buying a new gun) assumed that the G26 would be more friendly to my hand size, somehow failing to consider that it's a sub-compact designed for average-above-average sized hands. I certainly don't *regret* the purchase (or the choice to make the G26 my first CCW), but I am starting to see myself winding-up more toward the Sig side of the Sig v Glock fence.

Thanks again for the help/suggestions. I'll also mention this to the folks at my range (where I also purchased the Glock . . . Marksman in South Houston--the most gracious, patient staff I've encountered) and see if they have any ideas.

[Yarborough]

Also--not to go to far off topic--I should mention it has occurred to me to just go the Crossbreed/Minotaur route and make the Sig my EDC. My idea was mostly to use the Glock to acclimate myself to carrying, without any concerns for printing etc . . . though I also have the occasional need for ankle carry.

Which is not to say that I won't have an "occasional need" to carry both, if you ask me in a year.

[Mike from Texas]

I think you are on the right track. And while I think the Glock is a fabulous self defense weapon, one of my favorites in fact, I am also not so short sighted to believe that they are the perfect gun for everyone. The bottom line is that you have to be very proficient with your CC weapon and you have to have absolute confidence that it will perform if ever needed.