Lousy Range Day with 9mm

[rs525]

Do you flinch? How can you tell? If you are dry firing and see no sign of a flinch, that's promising. But the mind is a sneaky thing. If you know you're going to fire real ammo you may flinch without knowing you're going to do it. The best way I've found to detect a flinch for myself or other people is to shoot revolver with only 2 or 3 rounds loaded in it. Click, click, BANG, click, BANG, click. What if you do flinch? The best therapy for that is to shoot a .22 a lot. Or an air pistol. Shooting an air pistol has helped me a lot.

I do have a bad habit of flinching. Dry firing is fine but real firing is another story. I do plan on getting a couple of .22 conversion kits.

 

[CNobbe]

UGGGH. Just came back from the range with my three 9mm pistols and it stunk today. \ Let me know any of your thoughts for any improvements or if I just had an off day.

Ammo could cause issues, but shooting different types of guns can too. If I mix strikers with SAOs with DA/SA with PCCs..I usually don't shoot any of them well.

 

[sigarms228]

It happens but I also found out caffeine and certain meds can significantly impact shooting. One day I took Excedrin headache formula which has caffeine and Sudafed before going to the range for bad sinus headache and did some of the worst shooting I had done in years. Stupidly forgot that Sudafed can make me feel jittery and caffeine amplifies that.

 

[GooseGestapo]

Many ammo remanufacturers use plated bullets.
I find that many plated bullets are undersized and shoot horribly.

Most of my 9’s and .380’s have .357-.358” bores. The larger the bullet, the better they shoot, till they are too big to chamber. I compromise with a .357” cast bullet. They typically shoot about as well as I do now.

At 15yds, a typical service pistol in 9mm with QUALITY ammo, should shoot 1-2” groups (5-shots).
My match grade 9’s shoot bug holes. I hated the 15yd line in PPC competition. It wasn’t especially hard to “clean” the 15yd line with 12 X’s, but it was profoundly easy to throw a 10, or a 9...
I really hated giving up points at the short lines! (25yds, 15, and 7).

It takes a lot of mental discipline to focus on the front sight and smoothly pull the trigger.

Next time, shoot a few slow drills at 7yds. Then move to 15yds.
Once you get your hits up, then, start trying to build speed...
And.....
DRY FIRE, DRY FIRE, DRY FIRE....
I found more X’s in my foyer where I practiced dry firing than I ever did at my loading bench or firing range.

 

[bannockburn]

When I go to the range I always take along a .22 just to kind of get settled in a bit with my stance, grip, trigger control, and sight picture. Think of it as being sort of like a warm up to the "Main Event". You might also want to concentrate on taking one gun at a time so you're not dealing with so many variables at the same time.

 

[PzGren]

Shooting is a precision sport and any deviation from the correct basics will spoil the results. Before I go to the gun range to test a used gun with adjustable sights, I eye ball if they are properly aligned in the center. If they are not, I adjust them back. Many shooters compensate problems caused by vision, flinching, breaking the wrist etc. by adjusting the sights, not the inherent problem.
When novices at the range where I was the coach wanted to change the sight settings, I let them shoot sitting and from a sand bag. Suddenly they realized that the gun was accurate enough to hit a playing card at 25 yards.
Realizing were the problem lies, is the first step to correcting it.

 

[tightgroup tiger]

Ammo could cause issues, but shooting different types of guns can too. If I mix strikers with SAOs with DA/SA with PCCs..I usually don't shoot any of them well.

That is the biggest one for me also.
If I take a revolver and a semi-auto to the range I usually do pretty well, not always, because we all have bad days as has been said above. Some days really bad. Finding out why is very important.
I have found that if I take more than one semi-auto with me in say 9mm, that I end up fighting with myself for trigger control. Then I discovered that starting with the semi-auto that has the heaviest trigger and go to the lightest, really helps a lot in holding my accuracy.
Same with starting with the semi-autos, then going to the revolvers seems to work best for me.

But I have walked out of the range before because I was just wasting ammo, it just wasn't going to happen today.
I have also shot ammo that my gun didn't like and I knew the gun shot better than that and that I was holding on my target correctly. I those cases I don't buy that ammo any more.
"Reloaded" has nothing to do with the accuracy if it's done correctly with components that are known to work well together. It the loads were just thrown together to do as cheaply as possible for profits sake, with a load all powder, you may have a problem with the ammo. I would start there, go back to ammo that you know is accurate, then try more of the cheap stuff to see if it's you, the gun, or the ammo.

 

[Walkalong]

If I take a revolver and a semi-auto to the range I usually do pretty well, not always, because we all have bad days as has been said above. Some days really bad. Finding out why is very important.

And some days it's just our mind isn't right, or we aren't stable physically that day, it happens. If I am having a bad day, I need to know if it's me or the load being tested if it's a test day, I like to give it another chance if it's me.

 

[The Glockodile]

I'm just sharing my thoughts, not really asking for a diagnosis.

Perfectly okay to vent, mon...

But do try shooting at a large piece of cardboard at closer range!

That'll tell you what's going on, and whether or not to stay away from your present choice of pewticles...

 

[gwpercle]

If you go back to the range ... and still can't hit things you normally can easily hit ...
You may consider an eye exam .
It happened to me ... my aim was getting bad ... the retina in my right eye was starting to slowly detach.
Caught in time they can be repaired ... left too long and the sight in that eye is damaged beyond repair .
I was only 38 years old when the retina detached ... no apparent cause , it just started detaching .
5 years later the other eye began to detach but I went to Doctor in time and saved the sight .

I hate going to doctor ... but in a case of your eyesight ... don't not go ...I could have saved the sight in my right eye but I waited too long . Call me "Blind in one eye and can't see out the other" !
Gary

 

[1-12 INF (M)]

You might want to give us a try. Reduced Recoil polymer-coated 125gn 9mm - it's smooth shooting and accurate. www.cavalryammunition.com. We make lots of 'regular' 9mm service loads too. Thanks.

 

[AzShooter1]

I find it difficult to shoot a few different guns when I go to the range. Trigger pulls on the variety you chose are vastly different and I'd be surprised if you could shoot them equally well.

I go with my revolver most of the time but will bring my auto too. I cannot shoot them both well so normally I shoot one one week and the other the next.

Remember to relax, have fun and when it's no longer fun stop doing it.

 

[Buzznrose]

So I'm going back to paper targets at 7 yards for now.

Good plan!

Whenever I have issues at the range, I always bring it back to basics...slow down, bring the target into a manageable distance, get a good support, and try other ammo for starters.

When my Henry .22 lever rifle all of the sudden stopped being accurate off hand, I brought it back to 10 yards off a bench. Tried several brands of ammo and still had flyers all over a sheet of paper. Frustrated, I sent the rifle back to Henry. Something happened to the barrel crown. Henry replaced the barrel, and I'm back to one hole groups at 30 yards with pretty much any bulk ammo...which is all I want.

 

[tightgroup tiger]

is reloaded ammo inherently more inaccurate compared to new factory ammo?),

That's a loaded question. My reloaded ammo is more accurate than most of the factory ammo, but I have ladder tested mine.
I know it's accurate. I seriously doubt that very many commercial reloaders do actual ladder tests to find an accurate load to sell. They probably have some "acceptable to them" tolerance that they go by where we usually go all in on our ammo.

 

[Cornhusker77]

A bad day at the range beats a good day at work

 

[Smaug]

Ah, sorry to hear it man. Next time you go, you might ask someone else there to help you spot where your misses are going; maybe hand him your phone to take a quick video.

I'll share one of my bad days: One time, I was doing a semi action shoot with steel plates and bowling pins, and I couldn't figure out where I was missing. The pins weren't falling, and I wasn't hitting the stands or the dirt anywhere near them. Luckily, I had someone video my turn, and in the video, I could see the bullets hitting the dirt about 40 yards behind the pins. It turns out I was skipping the bullets off the plate the pins were standing on and they were ricocheting way downrange. I would have NEVER figured it out if not for the video.

Here's that video; watch it starting at about 30 seconds:

 

[Riomouse911]

Bannockburn beat me to it.

First, I almost always start off with a .22, an auto if its an auto day or a revolver if those are the primary gun to be fired. Slow, deliberate shots to get the basics down.

Then its off to the races.

Second, I don’t drink caffeine before I shoot. I don’t like coffee, but tea or soda makes me jumpier than normal and my groups or plate performance will really show if I drank some.

Third thing is know where your loads strike at the distance you are shooting. I was on a roll one year we had our charity falling plate target matches where some good shooters show up. Made it past the round-robin and two rounds of head to head single elimination runs.

I lost my third-round elimination match because I didn’t account for some earlier team matches and ran short of my regular ammo. The backup load I had to use was hitting a bit lower than I expected; the first 2-3 rounds were striking the crossbar that held the plates and rocking the plates rather than knocking them over. I was now in the hole when I figured that out, had to swing back to reshoot and knock them down. My opponent ran clean and beat me soundly. Ended up fourth, no trophies came home that day.

We all have good ones and bad ones. Just relax and come back swinging next time, you’ll knock them down .

Stay safe.

 

[Cayle]

So I'm going back to paper targets at 7 yards for now.

No. If you were missing steel plates at 15 yards, what is shooting paper at 7 yards going to tell you? Nothing. Everything may "look" acceptable at 7 yards and fall apart between 7 and 15. Shoot the same distance with the same ammo and see what that tells you. You're being too inconsistant to properly diagnose and fix a problem.

 

[Ignition Override]

rs525:

But are the Guns reliable?

This is always my highest priority.
The other issues can be improved.- and will be.

It never bothers me if my shooting sucks, and my Rifles are far more fun.
But a gun with only moderate reliability bugs me.

I began in 2019 twice- per-week Krav Maga classes for true self-defense, for an intensive “ hands on “ thug attack where You can’t Spare a hand to draw a gun.

 

[rs525]

rs525:

But are the Guns reliable?

This is always my highest priority.
The other issues can be improved.- and will be.

It never bothers me if my shooting sucks, and my Rifles are far more fun.
But a gun with only moderate reliability bugs me.

I began in 2019 twice- per-week Krav Maga classes for true self-defense, for an intensive “ hands on “ thug attack where You can’t Spare a hand to draw a gun.

Yes they're completely reliable. No issues so far with feeding or ejection.

 

[WVsig]

Yes they're completely reliable. No issues so far with feeding or ejection.

Even a monkey falls out of the tree sometimes. We all have been there and done that when it comes to a bad day at the range. If I am having one I generally end it early but I always make is a point to end on a good shot. Bring the target in close concentrate and make a good hit. Then back up your stuff and go. Never end the day on a poor shot. Always end with a win.

I would not worry to much about it. 124gr 9mm depending on how it is loaded and what jacket is on the projectile it might not have had enough energy to knock down the target. Do you wear electronic amplifying ear protection. Sometimes when I shoot steel 9mm does not move the plate at some distances and I only know I it it from the sound.

I would say to keep dry firing. When you dry fire how do you do it? Lots of people sit in front of the TV and pull the trigger or just stand and pull the trigger. When I dry fire I do it in the exact same manner as I shoot a pistol live at the range. I draw present and shoot. I shoot multiple targets. The front sight will tell you if you moved. It will give you visual varication that you would have gotten a positive hit. Dry fire for practice and skill development. Life fire is for verification. This is even more true today with the cost of ammo.

I like reactive targets. Steel and show me targets. If I am shoot standard paper or cardboard I always tape them as often as I can. I want to be able to know where the shots went. I personally do not worry too much about group sizes. I am not shooting for tiny groups at long range. I am trying to develop the skills to defend myself and others at speed and under pressure. So you also have to remember to take into consideration what you are training for.

 

[Zerodefect]

It's ok to suck.

You learn more from missing at longer ranges, than a paper target at 10 yards will ever tell you. You have to reach a "failure point" to grow.

Keep at it. Work your grip and fundys. Consider finer quality sights.

As for the Glock, and with all pistols, make sure you follow through on the trigger. Hold it to the rear, dont release until back on target. The unwanted double tap is likely a major clue why you had a bad day.

Only shooters without bad days, suck forever.