Range Drills to Improve Accuracy?

[Blind Bat]

Hey Guys,

I started shooting back in January. I was going to an indoor range once ever other week and dry firing in between. I joined a local club with a small outdoor range about a month ago and I've been trying to shoot twice a week. There is almost never anyone at the local range so I have a lot more concentration and the freedom in the drills I can do.

My 7 yard accuracy has improved tremendously but I feel like I'm beginning to plateau. I'm left handed and tend to shoot about an 1-3" to the right of the ten ring depending on the pistol I'm using. I can't make a consistent grouping to save my life. Being left handed this supposedly means I'm not squeezing the trigger smoothly.

Any recommendations on practice drills I could to improve trigger control and accuracy?

Cheers!


P.S. Pistols I generally shoot:
XD-9
CZ-85B
Sig P6
Tokarev

 

[JDGray]

Balance a coin on the slide while dryfiring. Try more or less finger on the trigger, to see if your groups move. Try mixing in a snap cap in your magazines, to see if your flinching when the gun doesn't fire. Lots and lots of shooting, makes us better.(As long as its not just blasting through ammo)

Oh, one more thing after seeing your username, Get some glasses

 

[cavman]

As a lefty also, I get some to the right in my Rapid fire in Bullseye.

This happens to me due to not getting the crystal clear front sight and "pushing" the trigger with my finger to the right.

At that close of a distance (and any distance, actually) one may be tempted to look at the target rather than keeping at all times only the front sight in focus.

Also, if you are shooting two handed, sometimes I see people using their right hand for support and improperly placing their right thumb on top of their left thumb's tendon instead of keeping the right thumb out of the way. During the squeeze that can cause movement of the muzzle.

Bottom line: keep the front sight in focus, so you can make sure it is perfectly placed in the middle, and practice that perfect, rearwards pull of the trigger.

 

[BlindJustice]

From BlindJustice to Blind Bat

Welcome....

I'm working on the same problem but RH'd and pulling to the
right.

S&W 1911 5"
S&W 625 5"
CZ 75B
S&W 617 6" 10 shooter
& a couple of others I don't shoot as much

Randall

 

[Navy joe]

Buy a .22. Shoot at close distances(7-10 yards) at small targets like a 1" black dot until you can keep all your shots on it. If you stray, stop and dry fire. Pull the trigger without moving the sights, that is the fundamental goal that the dime drill, dry fire and many others are teaching. And buy a .22!

 

[tipoc]

Dry fire, watch the front sight as you do and work for consistantcy.

In live fire work with a small target-a 2"-3" bull up to 15 yards.

Watch for signs of pushing the gun forward in anticipation of the shot. Try to avoid this.

Keep practicing.

tipoc

 

[basicblur]

Been a loooooong time ago, but I used to dry fire while looking into a mirror and focusing on the gun barrel in the mirror while pulling the trigger-just practiced until the trigger finger is the only thing visibly moving (remain focused on the gun barrel in the mirror).
After that, I moved on to placing the front sight on a target and dry firing, making sure the sight didn't wander off the target (focused on the front sight/target).

After you've dry fired enough to train only your trigger finger to move, time to move on to live fire.
If you're flinching during live fire, don't know what to tell ya?
If you're moving nothing but your trigger finger when dry firing, there's no reason you shouldn't be doing the same while live firing!

Go to http://www.reloadbench.com/pdf.html and download the TargetLeftHanded.pdf-(got one for righties also) a little more than halfway down the page (Adobe.pdfs).

 

[cavman]

Shoot at close distances(7-10 yards) at small targets like a 1" black dot until you can keep all your shots on it.

That was the exact drill I did over and over. It is very satisfactory putting them in the 1" pastie.

 

[Blind Bat]

Thanks guys.

I have a Ruger Mk-I that I love dearly. I inherited it from my father who had inherited it from a good friend. The Ruger makes me look like I know what I'm doing. With the Ruger I have absolutely no problem keeping 50 rounds within the 10 ring (using the 25 yard targets from Walmart). But... it has a 2.5lb trigger and a 5"(?) bull barrel. I'm not sure if someone did work to the trigger or if was made (mid-1960's serial number) before lawsuits made trigger jobs a necessity.

I'll pick up some snap caps and try randomly placing them in my mags.

JDGray - My first "mod" was to get new glasses. Hopefully one of these days I can afford laser surgery. I certain that I'm right eye dominant due to my left eye being in the 20/100 range even with glasses.

 

[Steve C]

Read the Army Pistol Marksmanship Manual and take notes. Print the Wheel of Misfortune

Use a .22 lr for economy. Perfect practice makes perfect. Less than perfect practice makes less perfect.

Work on sight alignment, breathing and trigger control. Get bullseye targets, slow fire, and set them at the distance they are designed for (50' or 25 yds). Targets set a 7 yds may stoke your ego but are not stretching you enough to gain any appreciable skill. Practice and keep score, its the only way you can gauge your improvement. If you shoot 2 handed switch to a one handed hold when you can regularly score over 60% of the total points possible.

The skill set, procedure and technique are the same for all handguns regardless of caliber.

 

[jeepmor]

I'll second the "wheel of misfortune" as a good tool.

As for a lefty, be sure to find the lefty version.

 

[Pat-inCO]

Todd Jarret has some good information in his video. Watch it several times.

 

[9mmepiphany]

the secret to accuracy is not grip or stance or sight alignment...it's trigger control

go to this website and get Bruce Gray's Dryfire packet..it's free. if you ping the link, it will automaticaly sent it to your e-mail

www.GraygunsTraining.com

then come take a class with us and we'll teach you to cut a playing card, edgewise, from that same distance...there are pictures in the gallery

 

[burningsquirrels]

do you own that CZ-85? because instead of getting a 22 pistol, get the 22 kadet conversion for your CZ. That way you practice economically on a full size pistol.

 

[basicblur]

Since you’re a noob, check the thread below for some helpful hints and do some dry fire practice (make sure the gun is unloaded 3 times!).
I suspect trigger control/flinching is your problem?
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=378581

You can also download the “Wheel of Misfortune” target at the links at the above thread.

 

[hotshotshoting]

i think 9mmepiphany has it right... accuracy issues normally lie with trigger control... when you start shooting you need to pull the trigger so slowly that you dont know when it will go off... your finger will have muscle memory and your body will learn how to cope with it... then you can gradually increase speed as your accuracy gets better...

and then after that you can do some of the more complicated drills, like shoot or no shoot, changing targets, low light, failure to fire drills, jamming drills, drawing drills, etc the list goes on forever !

 

[1911 guy]

Drills I'd recommend.

First, I'll agree with dry firing. A coin on the top of the handgun can help, too. Just be sure to watch the sights for movement whether you use the coin or not.

Secondly, find the sweet spot for your trigger finger. Do this in conjunction with dry firing. The trigger should pull straight to the rear.

Next, bench your arms/wrists over sandbags and concentrate on proper sight alignment and trigger control.

Finally, stand up and transfer the control you learned on the bench to offhand shooting.

After you've got the basics down, go on to failure drills and reloading, as well as drawstroke. Start slow, let the speed pick up as you become more comfortable.

Practice your weakest area most. You're usually better off if all skills are somewhat evenly mastered, rather than one down cold and everything else sloppy.

 

[Vermont]

If you are a lefty and your shots are off to the right, it could mean that you are using too little of your trigger finger. If you are using just the tip of your trigger finger it will tend to push the gun to the side opposite your finger.

I don't know if that's what you are doing, but I was having a similar problem and a little more trigger finger seems to have helped.

 

[Owen]

dot drill.

Shoot a dot 5-6 times (the number is important). If all the hits are in the dot, move the dot back, and repeat.

If any of the shots are out of the dot, keep shooting groups until all of the shots are on the dot. Keep track of how far out the target is. Next time at the range, pull the target in a few yards, repeat.

 

[Blind Bat]

Thanks for all the great input. My marksmanship has come along pretty well over the last month. In late June I joined a club with an outdoor range less than a mile from my house. Since the club doesn't charge for range time I've been shooting more frequently but less rounds per session. I no longer shoot low (flinching) but I still shoot about an inch to the right of the 10 ring which is generally considered trigger control for us south paws. Albeit, my shots now resemble a decent grouping.

I used to fire off a full mag (8-16 rounds) then examine the target. A friend from the range recommended only loading five rounds at a time. That also seems to help get my focus back on to the fundamentals faster and saves a bunch of money on ammo.

I'll try to remember to take pictures of my targets the next time I go to the range. Cheers!

 

[dmazur]

I've found laser sights to be a great aid to dry firing.

You watch the position of the dot as you release the trigger. If it pulls to one side, you can see it happen. A good release results in very little "jump" of the dot.

(I'm not sure I'd rush out and buy laser sights just for this...but if you already happen to own some, this is something else they can be used for. )

 

[9mmepiphany]

beware of getting focused on the dot...stay on the front sight