Accuracy problem

[Bucc5207]

Can anyone offer me some advice to get over a marksmanship plateau?

I started shooting in February, so of course I'm no ace. I shoot a hundred rounds a week or so, but I'm not improving. At 7 yds, I get groups about a foot tall and 4-5" across. I'm shooting a new XD9 Tactical, with the thumbs-forward grip. I use the 'flying thumbs' variation, or else my right thumb interferes with the slide release. I should also note that I am somewhat nearsighted. I shoot without my prescription, so I can clearly see the front sight. At 7yds, I can see the target, but I can't see the bullet holes.

It seems the more carefully I aim, the worse I shoot. Last time out, I thought I'd see how much worse it got if I went real fast. So I emptied a mag, firing each round as soon as the sights realigned. This came out maybe a little faster than 1 rd/sec, but slower than 2 rd/sec. The result was about a 6" group, round rather than elongated. I shot another batch slow, with the same old crappy results. Then I shot another batch fast and got another 6" group.

Has anyone else experienced this faster-is-better phenomenon? What can I learn from it that will help me improve overall?

[sloopy70]

Sounds like you needa do alot of dryfire, to get your trigger control down... thats all I can imagine... also get someone to load some dummy rounds (I've used empty cases before...) somewhere in the mag, then see what happens when you go to fire the dummy round...

[agalindo]

Looks like you need to get some one to help you out. Take a course. Trigger control, and sight alignment are the most important. Concentrate on knowing where your sights are when the gun goes off. Pull the trigger slowly so that you will be surprised by the shot. Get some snap caps and have a friend load your mag with live rounds and snap caps. When you pull the trigger on a snap cap you will know right away what your doing wrong.

[enfurno]

Have you tried slowly pulling the trigger while keeping solid focus on the front site? Focus solely on the front site, point it at the target which should be quite blurry, then sllloooowwwlllyy pull the trigger, this will help you skip the anticipation and delegate your aim more correctly. Do this a few times and see if your group tightens up.

You are using a solid grip, but are you cocking your wrist forward in order to absorb the recoil?

[jnclement]

Find a good teacher, and take some lessons. It amazes me that their is such a stigma about shooting lessons, unless it's some kind of CQB training.

[EME]

The vertical string of shots is most likely due to your breathing. Try holding your breath either on inhale or exhale and then squeeze the trigger. Now, you don't hold your breath like we did when we were kids, and we didn't want to do something and we held our breath til we turned blue, but just easy, also grab the grip with a very, very firm grip. Not so that your fingers go numb but with some authority. And like the rest have said, practice, practice and then practice. Good luck in your quest.

[roadhippie]

A couple of things might help. (all this is when you're ready to fire)
Make sure you left arm is locked with you right hand.
Squeeze the trigger till you feel the tension.
After firing keep the trigger all the way back until you aquired the target again. Then ease it out until you feel the tension.
Look at the target only AFTER you've finished firing completely.
Go slow. I always luv those shooters the blast away and can't figure out what's wrong. They generally blame it on the gun.

[Bucc5207]

Thanks for all your thoughtful replies. Amazing how much there is to think about while doing something that seems so simple. After each range session, I realize that I focused on one or two details (like keeping my thumb off the slide release) and neglected some other piece (like cocking my left wrist). Got to work on putting it all together.

I think I will go back to school. Nothing like having an objective observer point out what you can't see for yourself.

I think EME solved the faster-is-better thing. I probably unconsciously stopped breathing for the 10s or so it took to empty the mag. When I fire slowly, I try to stay relaxed, so I keep breathing the whole time. Something else to work on!

Thanks again. What a great group!

[bham shooter]

What I did was to go shooting with someone who is much more experienced than I was. He pointed out a couple of things right away that I addressed. The rest was practice. But practicing bad habits is useless. Also, focusing too much has never helped me. You'll find that over-concentrating on something is sometimes counter-productive. If I am focused solely on hitting the bullseye every time, I'll be disappointed shooting handguns. But if I focus on getting my shots all within a small area, I can do that. I love to shoot steel plates. They are about 6 inches in diameter. Anything in that size will be sufficient in a self-defense scenario.

[hardwarz]

Long ago, I was in the same boat as you. I tried dry firing, that helped, but I kept trying to find what could help me more. Everything I’ve read said, concentrate on the front sight. I thought to my self, I AM! I read it and re read it everywhere. Front sight, front sight, front sight. The one that hit it home was one that stated, stare at your front sight so much that you can see the dust particles, the sheen of the gun oil, every last little detail while pointing your weapon at the target and slowly squeeze the trigger.

Ok, I figured, I’d do that, even though I am doing it. I stared at it, focusing on nothing but the front sight, slowly squeezing the trigger. Boom, there’s a hole exactly where I was aiming. Hummm… I do it again, and again… like an epiphany the front sight tip locks in.
Maybe I was focusing on the front sight then focusing on the target and back. Maybe I was doing something else, I don’t know, but my shots have improve greatly. I’m not the greatest shot, but I’m a lot better than before.

Hardwarz