9mm horribly inaccurate

[chrome_austex]

Low left is flinching(pushing the barrel down and left in anticipation of the recoil.) Get some snap caps, and have a friend load a mag with some random duds in there. That should make it super obvious.

 

[ATBackPackin]

This should help.

 

[Jonah71]

You are yanking the trigger back or jerking your rest hand (flinching).. not sure if you are right or left handed but it is probably one of those 2 things.

Pull the trigger don't slap it! You should almost be surprised (in a sense) when the gun goes off.

I did the same thing with the first autoload I owned. And with several others since. I'd suggest looking at this possibility instead of blaming the gun. Recently I had a Kahr CW 40 that I was so innacurate with I refused to carry it. With only one exception everyone else that fired it got small groups on target. I never did get it right and traded the gun. But it was my innability to correct what I was doing wrong that was the problem, not the gun. I'm not saying that's what's happening with you, but it could be.

 

[HOOfan_1]

Teh prevailing opinion on here always seems to be the shooter is the one who is jerking it....I have my doubts...

With my Ruger Security Six, I hit exactly where I am aiming. With my 1911, It shoots low and left...if I compensate...I can put 7 rounds in a 2 inch circle at 10 yards, if I am jerking, how can I get such a tight group? Am I jerking the exact same each time? My P38 also shoots low left if I shoot it two handed, if I shoot it one handed, it shoots directly to my point of aim. If I am jerking the trigger, I think I would be jerking it worse shooting 1 handed.

All of these guns act exactly the same for my dad as well.

It is possible the sights need adjusting sometimes too.

 

[LiveLife]

These are my FiL's old reloads he gave me since I just got this (new to me) auto.

I am still suspecting the "old reloads" to be suspect. I think the OP should try some new factory ammo and see what kind of shot groups they produce.

If the pistol still shoots poorly with new factory ammo, then I would blame the shooter, but not until then.

 

[hardluk1]

If all those low left bullets are hiting in the same small area it is ammo and or trigger control

 

[MCgunner]

Time for the dime on the slide, dry fire practice. My P85 and my P95 that's traded off both shot to POA 3" or better groups at 25 yards depending on the load.

 

[highlander 5]

Out of curiousity were the reloads lead bullets? Most 9 mm won't shoot lead bullets well because of the 1 in 10 rate of twist. The last P89 I had shot the 147 gr subsonic ammo the best.

 

[9mmepiphany]

if I am jerking, how can I get such a tight group?

If all those low left bullets are hiting in the same small area it is ammo and or trigger control

It is likely a grip issue. This is why it is so hard to diagnose and correct shooting issues over the internet. Video clips help, but personal observation is always preferred

Teh prevailing opinion on here always seems to be the shooter is the one who is jerking it....I have my doubts...

We can only respond to what the OP gives us. For a new shooter, who doesn't say he is shooting tight groups that are just landing to the left, it is much more likely that it is a shooter/technique issue than a sight adjustment issue

 

[Cop Bob]

This should help.

The chart posted by AtBackPackin tells the tale... Targets do talk... Little bit of coaching and dry firing to work out the kinks of trigger control and you should be ok...
B
BTW.. Jerking or Slapping the trigger, and Healing the gun, both mostly in anticipation of recoil, are the most common mistakes of new pistol shooter... not to worry, all of us here started out with a touch of it.. It is easily overcome... See if you can find you a GOOD pistol coach for a session or two... it will pay off in spades...

 

[rellascout]

This should help.

Please stop posting this wheel. It does not apply to two handed modern combat pistol shooting. It was developed for single handed bulleye....

 

[SpentCasing]

What sight picture did you have? A 6 o'clock hold wont work too well with combat sights. On my 92FS and S&W 910 the holes go where the front sight is. As long as my front sight is covering the target I know that is where the bullet is going.

Edit: Sight image 3 is what Im tring to say.

 

[9mmepiphany]

I've shot guns that had been sighted-in for Sight Picture #3, but it just seemed wrong to cover up what you are trying to place shots into. I guess it would be acceptable if you limited yourself to short ranges or large targets.

Sight picture #2 will usually give the most flexible (variable distances) accurate shot placement

 

[SpentCasing]

I totally agree but it is a possible solution I havent seen mentioned yet for his problem. If the gun is sighted like that then perfect hold, squeeze, etc. isnt gonna make a bit of difference.

 

[9mmepiphany]

Actually it will.

Driving-the-Dots, as folks I know refer to Sight picture #3, will cover the point you are shooting at. While it wouldn't seem to make a difference is defensive shooting, it could be the difference between a good shoot (different than justified) and a bad one...not seeing the dropping of the weapon or being able to identify the weapon before taking the sight picture and trigger press (because it is covered by the sight blade). If you don't align your sights on the target until after that final confirmation, you run a higher risk of not getting your shot off in time (action/reaction) or missing (jerking the trigger trying to catch up).

This is why shootings of unarmed assailants can be ruled as justified, you aren't required to be sure...but, if it were I, I'd want to be as sure I'd made the right decision as I could be. Training with Sight Picture #2 gives you better vision of your target for this.

In shooting paper, Sight Picture #3 doesn't give you enough target discretion for a consistently repeatable POA...you can only shoot as discrete a group as subtended by front sight blade

 

[BRE346]

1SOW has got it. Practice with snap caps until the gun doesn't move much any more.
LIke someone else said, stick one in the mag at random and see what you're doing when it doesn't fire. Sometimes I'm flinching, other times pushing.

I had a gun that hit way right. Someone else shooting did that too. Finally I drifted the rear sight until it hits the bull. (Well, closer.) Don't do that with a new gun until you and it have fired hundreds of rounds through it.

 

[Hk Dan]

Low/left? Really?Why, I've never heard of a new shooter hitting low/left before (heavy sarcasm). Check any one of the threads on here on this subject, and there have been hundreds. If you can't find them, please drop me a PM and I'll coach ya through it, it's a 2 minute fix. Just a little repositioning of your hand and ***presto*** the gun is accurate again.

 

[David E]

I had a gun that hit way right. Someone else shooting did that too. Finally I drifted the rear sight until it hits the bull. (Well, closer.) Don't do that with a new gun until you and it have fired hundreds of rounds through it.

Sounds like you adjusted the sights to compensate for your flinch.......

 

[barnetmill]

Right now I am going through the problem of glock 19 accuracy with stock OEM barrel. I have a rugged miniature reflex milled into the slide with a 3.5 connector. With standard bulk type ammo it will not shoot small groups at 100 feet. The goal is to shoot man size groups at 100 yards with it. I will try some premium ammo, but wonder a lot about the stock polygonal barrel. Others have also had problems with cheaper 9 mm ammo. The russian steel case is often more accurate than the cheap American ball ammo.
I will likely end up putting a high quality after market barrel on the gun in which the rifling are cut and not beaten in with a mandril.

 

[Ben86]

it is just the operator...but I'm not that bad with a wheel gun

Just because you are good with one gun doesn't mean you are good with all of them. My guess is a grip issue or trigger pull issue, or combination there off. Do some dry practice to perfect your trigger pull and make sure you are not adjusting your grip strength while shooting. It's very common to have these problems with a new gun because you are not used to the grip and trigger yet.

With me it's generally 6 o'clock hold for 25 yards+ and front sight over target at 10 yards and under.

 

[Warp]

As mentioned low/left just screams shooter error. However sometimes it is the guu/sites. It can be irritating when you know you just need the sites moved and everybody is telling you that is not the case. When I asked the gun shop/range where I had my sites installed on a new Glock a couple months ago to do just that they gave me this look and kind of patronized me. I know how to shoot, Glocks especially, and I just needed the site bumped over. They offered to shoot the gun themselves but I declined...I don't care how the gun shoots in somebody else's hand I care how it shoots in MY hand.

Here is the target. The small group just to the left of the X is what I got with the first 20 rounds through the gun (7 yards)



Just remember, shooting left isn't always the shooter's fault. Usually, but not always.



AND just a CYA before people try to tell me it isn't the sites...I taught myself how to shoot fairly well but then I went to a police academy that had above average firearms trainings (11 full days total, 9 of them on the range) and they ended up bumping the rear site on my G17 so far over it was almost sticking off the side of the slide. But you know what...I had the highest shooting scores in the class on a daily basis and on qualification days. Once I put 4 rounds into a fist size area right on the 'heart' of the target...from 25 yards...with a stock G17.

 

[tahco gunworks]

I do a lot of reloading and play with different loads in 9mm.

I've seen prints change dramatically in 7 yard distances with hotter or slower loads. Sometimes the grouping moves 2-3 inches.

 

[searcher451]

Perhaps this will help:

 

[9mmepiphany]

Perhaps this will help:

This has already been offered in post #27 and countered referenced in post #36

 

[mortablunt]

In my experience, when I first began to use a handgun (an airsoft M1911), I kept on having marksmanship issues where the rounds would not go where I aimed them at. I discovered two things.

#1: I was imporperly using the sights and aiming high. This one was easy to fix.
#2: Mty trigger pull was too harsh and in the last moments before firing, the trigger would slam into the gun and jerk it off target. I had to fix this through a lot of practice and adopting a new holding technique.

When I picked up my second airsoft handgun (an M9), I had much better accuracy. It is quite possible that certain guns won't work for certain people.