Need some help...

[redza]

I don't know if this is the right forum but my wife and I went shooting this past weekend and she was having a lot of trouble with shooting the XD-9. I went to the range after we got it but Saturday was the first time she was shooting it. I know the gun is set up for 6 o'clock sighting but point of aim works best for me at 10 yards. However, for her, it seems like she's shooting 4-5 inches low and 2-3 inches left.

While we're both relatively new to handguns (she's shot a Hi-Power before without many problems), we have a 10/22 rifle and have been skeet shooting many times so we're not novice shooters.

Does anybody have any suggestions? She's got pretty solid technique for a novice (isosceles stance, left hand wrapped around grip, thumbs forward and left wrist cocked forward as shown in the Springer Precision articles/videos)...she's doesn't lean backwards and her muzzle jump is average so I don't think it's a grip issue. My only theory is that she's anticipating the recoil but wouldn't that mean that she shoots high? Oh, she's also right handed and right eye dominant, she shoots with her left eye squinted/closed if that helps.

She only manages to shoot where she aims if she triangulates the front and rear sights and not keep them in a line, but I think that would be harder to shoot consistently. It pains me to see her so frustrated with the pistol because she's an excellent shot with the rifle and shotgun. Any suggestions would be very welcome!

[SpringfieldXD.40]

Sounds like she may be using a little too much trigger finger. Others on here may be able to give you more info...

[oklawall]

Originally Posted by SpringfieldXD.40

Sounds like she may be using a little too much trigger finger. Others on here may be able to give you more info...

+1 with the trigger safety a bunch of people start off with that problem

[DM-SC]

Originally Posted by SpringfieldXD.40

Sounds like she may be using a little too much trigger finger. Others on here may be able to give you more info...

That's the most likely cause. It could be a grip problem as well.

Have her do doem dry fire drills (make 1,000% certain that the gun is unloaded BEFORE you do this!). Watch the gun as you pulls the trigger and see if she's pulling the gun low left.

[redza]

Thanks for the help so far! What exactly does too much trigger finger mean?

[DanTheEldest]

Generally when you talk about "too much finger", the shooter literally has too much of the finger on the trigger. Ideally, you want to use only the pad at the end out past the first knuckle, and squeeze evenly straight back. If she's got too much of her finger in there (ex pulling with the knuckle, etc) it has a tendency to push the muzzle off to the left (for right handed shooters). The low hits could be be the result of a bit of a flinch in anticipation of the recoil or jerking the trigger instead of a smooth pull; one of the best ways to correct these particular habits is to randomly mix snap caps in with regular ammo and have her shoot. If she has any bad habits, they'll be easy to spot when the gun goes "click" instead of "bang".

Here's another good bit of reference material for correcting bad habits:

Sample target for right-handers (lefties use reverse)



Happy shooting.