Confession time: guns we can't shoot

I have had 2. The first was a HK USP compact in .40 s&w. I could never get it to group well without being slow and deliberate. Ended up trading it for a Beretta 96 compact. The other is my Colt Mustang. I know it's not meant for shooting nice right groups but I can shoot all the p238's and micro 380's just fine. Anyway it was my mother's carry gun for like 20 years so even though she is still with us I gotta keep it for sentimental reasons.

Having shot competition rifle and pistol and winning a few, I for the life of me cannot shoot a shotgun worth a hill of beans.

stoky said:

.45/.410 American Derringer

Click to expand...

I can't shoot my Bond Arms 45 Colt..410 derringer with any kind of accuracy. It's better with a 38 Special or 327 Fed Magnum barrel.

For the past 35 years, with just about every semi-auto pistol I have, I shoot to the left and sometimes a bit low. I know all the reasons but I just cannot make adjustments short of moving the sights or installing adjust able sights.


I'm working on it and Ive been shooting a Springfield XD-e about to point of aim of factory installed sights.

In any case, I'm learning to adapt with a Springfield XD-s.

^Place your weak hand thumb along the frame with slight pressure.

I don't keep a gun I can't shoot.

Can't shoot a Ruger LCP worth a hoot. Kahr 380 is fine but the Ruger bloodied my trigger finger and I was happy to find the target at 25'. Since both the Ruger and Kahr belonged to friends I went back to my handguns and recovered my confidence. The nice thing about .45s is that they make big holes in targets that are easy to see.

I've learned the hard way (sometimes more than once) that there are some handgun designs that simply do not perform well in my hands. Most DA revolvers give me trouble, but that's usually fixed by a smooth trigger. For some reason, I have never shot well with 3rd-generation S&W pistols, though I like their design immensely. Finally, putting any big-bore single-action magnum revolver in my hand is a really bad idea unless you want wasted ammo and damaged target stands.

This is my embarrassing one - it's a rifle story though..

My father bought me a gorgeous Kleinguenther K-14 .270 when I graduated from high school (42 years ago). They were based on a Voere (Austrian) Mauser action and it had been accurized by Kleinguenther. They guaranteed either a 1/2 inch or 1" group at 100 yards. I could never hit the broad side of a barn with it. My friends could pick it up and shoot it accurately...but not me. I could pick up my friend's Savage 99 and drive nails with it. For some reason, it just doesn't "fit" me. I can't get myself to get rid of it, but haven't shot it in 40 years.

On topic? I'm a pretty fair pistol shot, but I have a Taurus PT58SS .380 that my patterns are terrible. No matter what I do.

My first CCW, a S&W 469.
It ran without a hiccup, would shoot rocks if you could get them into the magazine (thanks for whoever gave me that quote), and from a rest would shoot acceptably--but certainly not exactly stellar--at SD range. I'd definitely trust my life to it at 'oh crap' range.
But offhand? Always low and a wider spread than I'd like horizontally, particularly to one side. No change in technique did anything but make the pattern more consistent, and never any closer to where I wanted it to go. And that's even with my acceptable--if not exactly stellar--shooting with my other guns, and most of my friends' guns.
I think it was just the shape of the grip.

Anything Glock. They shoot way to the left in small groups.

J-frame.

Although those come from an era of dismal shooting. So maybe it's not just me.

A Glock. Learned to shoot with a double action revolver and never have spent enough time behind the trigger of the auto to figure out the trigger pull.

My Bro-In-Law's Desert Eagle 50AE. Heavy, angry, disgruntled bulk of a gun. I much prefer shooting his .460 S&W. Still heavy, but it'll actually take suggestions from ya where you want the bullet.