Is it me or the gun?????

[TxAggie94]

I've posted on here before that I have a Glock 26 that I always hit high and left with. I've shot it off a rest and gotten the same results. I have not had an opportunity to have anyone else shoot this gun. But what I did yesterday was to take it to a range and rent a second G26 for a side-by-side coparison.

I was hoping that either the second 26 would shoot exactly where mine does (therefore its me and not the gun) or it would shoot dead center, so I could say it is the gun. Either way, I would finally know.

What I got was disappointing. The "other" 26 is definitely better, but not dead center.

I planned to post pics of my target, but I don't seem to be smart enough to figure out how to put attachments in my post

So, now what do I do?

[danp]

I would say you are probably anticipating the recoil. Maybe some follow-through problems as well.

Get some dummy rounds and have a buddy load your magazines mixing the dummies with live ammo. If I am right your buddy will see your muzzle move when you hit a dummy round. For dry-fire practice, balance a penny on your front sight. Practice your hold and trigger squeeze while keeping that penny on the sight.

Happy shooting.

[TxAggie94]

When I do dry fire practice, the gun is rock solid. My brain knows. When I mix in snap caps at the range, I do not see the gun moving any when it snaps. I haven't had a friend there to watch yet to see for sure.

Now, I think I have the picture thing figured out so here goes:



This is at 7yds, aiming for the center of the 10 ring. The shots to the far right are from later shooting. The ones center and left are the 7 yd shots.I fired 5 rounds with my G26, then circed each of those and fired 5 with the rental gun. So the individual shots that are circled are with my gun. All five shots with the rental went into a very close horizontal line. Its still a bit left of the center of the orange area, but markedly more consistent and closer to the center than with my gun.

[TxAggie94]

This one is at 10 yds, this time aiming at the spot I colored on the target. The results did not seem quite as good as at 7 yds, but still, the rental gun averages closer to the spot than mine.

Same as last time, the shots that I circled with the pen are with my gun, the ones that are not circled are with the rental.

[TxAggie94]

Now for 15 yds. Same drill, I made a dot on the target, fired 5 shots with my gun, circled them, then fired 5 shots with the rental.

The three shots in the black are with my gun (the circles are just hard to see). The round that's high in the neck area and looks a little larger was a stray from some later double tap practice with the XD45 (it was supposed to be higher in the head area). The round that is level and slightly to the right of the spot was with the rental, but was one that I knew when I fired that it was wrong.

For the record, I used the same mag in both guns.

[TxAggie94]

So, Is it me, or the gun, or maybe some of both?

[danp]

Since its evident in both guns, I'm more incined to think its you. Have a friend shoot your gun just to make sure. Seeing the target is a help. Are you left or right handed? If you are a leftie, you may be "heeling" the gun, squeezing it tighter just before the shot breaks.

Are you taking a six o'clock hold on the target or point of aim?

[Krackels]

Did you try having someone else shoot the gun? That's often what I do to eliminate me from the equation to see if it's the gun or me.

It would seem that you're riding the recoil and might have too much finger on the trigger.

Originally Posted by danp

Are you taking a six o'clock hold on the target or point of aim?

I'd recommend aiming for a smaller point. I always find it hard to accurately aim at the center of a 6" black circle, so I often use those little bright orange stickers.

[TxAggie94]

I'm right handed.

I use 6 o'clock.

I realized after shooting the 7 yd round that using the center orange section of the target wasn't good for making this comparison. So the Dots I made with my pen were about 1" across. When I go to the range where I normally shoot, I cover the cardboard with butcher paper and then stick those small orange stickers on it.

I've traditionally shot with the trigger nearly to the joint. When I got my XD, I started working on moving it to a better position. Now I have it about half way between the joint and tip. I've tried consciously using less finger, and it hasn't made any difference in how I shoot the 26.

I still have not had anyone else shoot the gun. I'll try to set that up.

I think the charts said for righties high and left is anticipating or no follow through. I thought that anticipating or flinching ususally involved dipping the gun and impacting low, rather than high. What can I do to address this?

[danp]

When I was a kid, it was called "bucking" the gun. Now its called "riding the recoil". Basically what it means its your anticipation is not to force the muzzle down, but just the opposite, you raise it up if this is your problem.

Dummy rounds are a great tool. Give 'em a try.

ETA: Looking at your targets again, if the ink pen spot is 1" your problem is pretty subtle. You may need an experianced instructor to watch you shoot.