Encouraged by Improvement with XD40 - XDTalk Forums - Your HS2000/SA-XD Information Source!

mcone · 09-01-2005, 02:32 PM

A year ago, my new XD shot low and to the left and my groups were huge. (Don't ask how huge.) When I first installed new night sights, I adjusted the rear sight so that the pistol aims more to the right. My shots moved to the right some, but the groups were still huge for months.

Today, I was greatly encouraged because shots were regularly going into the bullseye (or thereabouts) at several distances. Some of the groups were forming one bigger hole. What a relief it is to know that you guys that have claimed that the XD can do this were right all along

.

This required lots of dry fire practices in the basement. At the range, my practice is to shoot 5 rounds, then dry-fire immediately after the five to be sure that there is no automatic flinching forward. If there is any flinching, dry fire continues until the flinch goes away. (This serves as an incentive for me because live fire is a lot more fun than dry firing.)

For those of you who are new with accuracy problems - you can probably assume that the issue is with technique. Frankly, my XD never shot "low and the left" on its own - I am convinced that it was my fault all along.

-Mike

Matt`G · 09-01-2005, 07:37 PM

Thanks for posting... it's good to hear how much practice with dry fire can help! Hopefully other shooters who are struggling too will read this and give it a try.

hipower · 09-01-2005, 08:27 PM

Thanks for the tip. Do you use a snap cap mixed in a mag with live ammo?

one-eyed-fatman · 09-01-2005, 08:34 PM

mcone, I don't think moving the sights helped you unless they were not set right. It was all the practice you did. It takes a lot of practice to shoot good.

mcone · 09-02-2005, 02:15 PM

Quote:

Thanks for posting... it's good to hear how much practice with dry fire can help! Hopefully other shooters who are struggling too will read this and give it a try.

You're welcome.

Quote:

Do you use a snap cap mixed in a mag with live ammo?

I have not tried that. It sounds like a good idea. Using a snap cap requires that we load the mag without counting rounds inserted, or we bring someone else along to load the mag. For me it is good enough to just dry-fire after shooting five times. The automatic reflex is still there, even if I know it's unloaded. The first time I discovered this problem was when shooting both the XD40 then my kid's Beretta Neos (.22) at the range. The flinch was very easy to detect in the Neos. My reactive brain was still acting as if I were firing the XD.

Quote:

I don't think moving the sights helped you unless they were not set right. It was all the practice you did. It takes a lot of practice to shoot good.

Agree! At 60 feet or more, my groups are high and to the right a few inches. That seems to indicate that you are correct.

-Mike

09-01-2005, 02:32 PM	#1
mcone XDTalk 100 Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Michigan Posts: 263	Encouraged by Improvement with XD40 A year ago, my new XD shot low and to the left and my groups were huge. (Don't ask how huge.) When I first installed new night sights, I adjusted the rear sight so that the pistol aims more to the right. My shots moved to the right some, but the groups were still huge for months. Today, I was greatly encouraged because shots were regularly going into the bullseye (or thereabouts) at several distances. Some of the groups were forming one bigger hole. What a relief it is to know that you guys that have claimed that the XD can do this were right all along . This required lots of dry fire practices in the basement. At the range, my practice is to shoot 5 rounds, then dry-fire immediately after the five to be sure that there is no automatic flinching forward. If there is any flinching, dry fire continues until the flinch goes away. (This serves as an incentive for me because live fire is a lot more fun than dry firing.) For those of you who are new with accuracy problems - you can probably assume that the issue is with technique. Frankly, my XD never shot "low and the left" on its own - I am convinced that it was my fault all along. -Mike

09-01-2005, 07:37 PM	#2
Matt`G XDTalk 500 Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Michigan Posts: 602	Thanks for posting... it's good to hear how much practice with dry fire can help! Hopefully other shooters who are struggling too will read this and give it a try. __________________ Matt G. Got Jabber? matt [ at ] accordingtomatt [ dot ] com

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09-01-2005, 08:27 PM	#3
hipower XDTalk Newbie Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Tucson, AZ Posts: 8	Thanks for the tip. Do you use a snap cap mixed in a mag with live ammo?

09-01-2005, 08:34 PM	#4
one-eyed-fatman XDTalk 10K Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Posts: 10,187	mcone, I don't think moving the sights helped you unless they were not set right. It was all the practice you did. It takes a lot of practice to shoot good.