I'm a horrible handgun shooter

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chute2thrill

chute2thrill

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I honestly do not find much interest or fun in shooting pistols... Mostly because I suck.. and secondly because I suck... I haven't quite figured out how to control any recoil above .22lr... I've shot 22lr, 9mm, .38 Special, .357 Mag, and .44 Mag.. and the only cartridge I have become efficient with is the .22 (Browning Buckmark, Ruger Mark 3).. I'm really good with both of them... and with every air powered handgun I've ever shot.. but... I don't know how to shoot anything above .22..

On the other side.. I absolutley love shooting rifles and it has become something I am quite good at... I've shot .22, .243, and .30-06.. I started shooting my stepdads deer rifles at a young age... It just seems kinda natural to me.. I'm especially better with iron sights than a scope... Which kinda confuses the hell outta me because I've never used a scope on a handgun and it can't be "that" different.. I obvously understand the difference between shouldering a rifle and holding a pistol because I am pretty accurate with a .22 on down :barf: Its not really practical to only be good with a .22 and I'm just confused as to why i can't hit S#!^ with any pistol that has any recoil... And I'm Not Flinching!!!

^^^^both pistols^^^^first paragraph!!!

So sorry I posted this in the wrong forum... Mods please move this to General>>:mad:
 
Proficiency comes with practice.

Still, not being any good with pistols isn't all that bad. I am not very good with pistols either.

Pistols are last ditch defensive tools used only when better options aren't available. They are better than a pointy stick, but that is about it.

Rifles are where it is at. I firmly believe that if you're good enough with a rifle, you'll never have to use a pistol. Rifles are the king of the heap. Once you gain a little competence with a rifle, handguns and shotguns just pale in comparison.

So yeah, I suck with a handgun. But I am okay with that, because I have rifles and know how to use them.
 
"...it can't be "that" different..." It is. Handgun scopes have much longer eye relief. Mind you, if you can't shoot a handgun with the factory sights, a scope won't help. Upper body tone is required and strong hands. The fit to your hand is absolutely essential too.
"...I haven't quite figured out how to..." Go take some training.
 
If you can shoot 22 cal. handguns well, just stick to those and enjoy them. No one said ya got to shoot everything under the sun.

Might be you shoot iron sighted rifles better because it takes a little more effort to get the sight picture just right.
 
Your not alone.I shoot offhand with irons better than a scope. Red dot for me works as good as irons. Offhand 6moa with irons. 4x scope maybe 2 shots on paper, 16x scope damn near makes me car sick trying to even find the target.
Try a 22 mag or 17hmr handgun. They are a whole lot more effectice on varmits than a 22,32,380 or 38 lead round nose. I shouldn't add the 380 because I've never actually seen anybody hit anything with one. Just lots of misses.
 
I honestly do not find much interest or fun in shooting pistols...
Click to expand...

1) The easy advice is, then, "don't do it."

2) The question becomes, "do you want to get better?" If so, you need three things, a gun that fits you, a qualified teacher, and lots of practice. ["Qualified teacher" is another whole subject which I think I'll start.]

3) If you want to be able to use a pistol for defensive purposes, such as carry, then concentrate at distances of ten feet. You will probably find that you can do much better at than range than you can at 25 yards, and it is much more in line with real life defensive needs.
 
Two hours with a local range instructor will help immensely.

After that, go to one of the gun schools for a two or three day course (or longer).
 
Do not anticipate the bang
Say your shooting a revolver don't count your shots in that say seventh pull of the triger you will see if your flinching,you probley are.that gun should not move when it goes click

PRactice buy loading random cyliners with shells and shoot like you are pulling the trigger on an emptey cylinder you will shoot better then practice more and more
 
Get yourself a 38 special or 357 revolver with a 6" bull barrel, and buy some cowboy load 38s. They are low power lead roundnose bullets. Then practice.

That should build up your confidence.
 
Just the opposite here. I do fairly well with pistols (up to 50 feet or so), but rifles? I like 'em but find them clumsy and hard to shoot well. The latter is at least partly due to my inability to see the front sight clearly.

I'm thinking the original poster should give .32ACP or .380 a try; these are pretty mild rounds.
 
I honestly do not find much interest or fun in shooting pistols... Mostly because I suck.
Click to expand...

Handguns are much more difficult to master than rifles. In addition, many of them are less likely to consistently shoot every round to the same place, even if the shooters do their part. A six shot revolver will align the bullet and barrel differently with every cylinder. The barrel moves around on some semi-autos so the point of aim moves with each shot. Semi-autos with fixed barrels tend to hold point of aim better, but also tend to have blow back actions which limits the energy level they can handle.
 
I maintain that the only thing a person has to do to be a pretty decent target shooter is,
know and understand the correct sight picture and hold the sight picture as steady as you can while squeezing the trigger until the gun fires.

Two new neighbor ladies want me to teach them to shoot.
I guarantee inside of several shooting sessions, with me constantly stressing sight picture and trigger squeeze, these two ladies will be able to shoot better than a good precentage of shooters that have been at it for some years.


Just yesterday I got my good friend's wife to shoot. Except for her CHL shooting qualification she hasn't shot a pistol in 7-8 years, and little before that.
Her first two shots, with my Makarov, were just under the 8x11 inch target.
I stressed sight picture and trigger squeeze.
Then she tore up the targets with my Mak and 3 inch 38 S&W J Frame. She went through a lot of magazines and 38 Special.:)
I even threw in firing while moving and turning and firing. She was doing terrific, even though her hand was getting sore.
Every time she got off a little I'd say, "Watch that sight picture" and she would come back to center of COM.
 
As stated previously, learning the proper shooting techniques of a handgun
won't come over night~! :eek:

It takes many, many moons of constant practice to become a half-way
decent shot with a handgun. But, the more you practice the better you
will become; at times even amazing yourself~! Don't ever give up~!

After a bad day at the range, rest as needed and return too the firing
line. Someday, you may be glad that you did~! ;)
 
+1 with the lessons. An instructor can pick up little (or big) mistakes and help you correct them.

Also, you might try using a gun that is heavy for the caliber selected.

For example, my revolver has a weighted barrel (47oz) and pussified 38 specials feel no worse than shooting a .22lr. It groups nicely if and only if I'm able to do my part.
 
Ballistics + Ergonomics

Many shooters fail to take into account the fact that the firearm is already in recoil when the bullet leaves the barrel. Thus, one crucial component of accuracy is a consistent recoil arc. This frequently requires more effort to develop with handguns, which are lighter, shorter and less well supported than rifles. Inconsistencies in the grip or grasp of the handgun can produce exaggerated effects. For example,I once had a father and son take a course together, Because the father, a good shooter, decided to step in and coach his son, it took me additional time to make the crucial observation that, during a string of fire with a double-action revolver, the son would begin with the gun-hand thumb sharply flexed downward, as instructed, but was relaxing and straightening it as he fired the remaining shots in the cylinder. As a result, when it came time to fire the "qualification" for his Arizona CWP, his first shot at ten yards would be very close to his point of aim but most of the remaining four shots fired at that distance were climbing out the top of the acceptable zone.

I will be happy to discuss specific problems with you, if you care to e-mail me at [email protected]. In the interim, let me make a couple of general points:

1. The biggest value in a two-hand grip, properly executed, is that it stabilizes the gun against the trigger stroke. Recoil control is secondary.

2. The greatest stability of the gun, both against the trigger stroke and for a consistent recoil arc and its recovery, will likely be obtained by pressing together as much as you can of the bases of the palms, at the rear of the handgun. Most shooters err in regripping with the support hand between shots. This only serves to separate the bases of the palms. Mother Nature is not stupid - if she is shifting your support hand rearward in recoil, she is trying to tell you that it is more stable back there.
 
The Greek Stoic philosopher Epictetus famously said, "If you wish to be a writer, write."

Golf great Gary Player once famously remarked, "The harder I practice, the luckier I get."

Must be a tip in there somewhere for someone who wants to improve his handgun skills. :)
 
Some already said it above, but I think it is the best advice you can give to anyone struggling with pistol accuracy. Don't anticipate the bang. Now that's not saying you're flinching, but if you know the recoil is coming then you can sometimes over compensate by dropping the muzzle at the last minute. A friend of mine is the range officer for the state highway patrol and he said when you're shooting for accuracy, the bang should always be somewhat of a surprise if you're doing it right. Squeeze the trigger continually while holding the front sight where you want it. Another trick that helped me is to not let the trigger go fully forward after the shot. You should just let the trigger come forward just enough to where it doesn't take a full pull for the follow-up shots. But find a decent mid-size caliber like 9mm or .38 special and start with something around 5 yards or so. Get to where you can put a nice group. Then work your way further back about 2 or 3 yards at a time.
 
Thank you for the advice everyone... I'm not concerned with carrying a handgun for defensive purposes.. I'd just like to be able to shoot my friends pistols a little better when we go out shooting... The funny thing is as bad as I am, my friends are worse with their own guns than me...
Spwenger I believe you hit the nail on the head with the recoil arc thing... I usually find that my missed shots go above and to the right of whatever i'm shooting at... So is it that i'm not compensating for recoil? The nice thing with even my .30-06 is that I don't have to do that... It hits where i'm aiming at...
I know I need practice, practice, practice... But I don't really get the time to shoot as much as everyone here.. Its more of a every other weekend thing for me.. I'd just like to have more fun (shoot with more accuracy) with the pistols!!
 
I honestly do not find much interest or fun in shooting pistols... Mostly because I suck..
Click to expand...

switch to revolvers.......I've found myself to be much better with a revolver than a pistol. Why? I dunno, just me.
 
short and skinny is get instruction from someone who knows how to shoot.....


just practice wont help... it will only reinforce what you are doing wrong....


perfect practice makes perfect...


your finger has to manipulate the trigger without moving the gun off target.... its the super secret answer
 
I have tried shooting revolvers, mostly snubnose .357 magnums... I'm worse with a revolver than I am an autoloader...
 
No, Don't "Compensate for Recoil"!

Spwenger I believe you hit the nail on the head with the recoil arc thing... I usually find that my missed shots go above and to the right of whatever i'm shooting at... So is it that i'm not compensating for recoil? The nice thing with even my .30-06 is that I don't have to do that... It hits where i'm aiming at...
Click to expand...
Compensating for recoil is called "anticipation" (and often mislabeled "flinching"). Recoil is inevitable. It has two perceived components - the "slap" into the hand and the muzzle flip. Muzzle flip can be reduced by grasping the pistol or revolver as high on the back strap as practical for the fit of the gun in your hand. Doing this ensures that the axis of the bore sits as low in your hand as possible. Minimizing the sensation of the slap is similar to what you would do with a rifle or a shotgun, where you press the toe of the stock firmly into the shoulder pocket, denying it the space to accelerate and smack you. With a handgun, use a consistently firm grip. Also, if you lean forward slightly or "slump" on the gun, you will reduce the tendency of the recoil to make you feel that you're being pushed of balance, further reducing the risk of anticipation and bringing you back on target sooner. If it's comfortable to keep some flexion in the elbows, this will further reduce the amount of recoil force that makes it back to the shoulders and the spine.

As I suggested earlier, feel free to e-mail me directly ([email protected]) if you would like to discuss the specifics of what you're probably doing right and what you're probably doing wrong.
 
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