[Slugthrower]

To get the most accuracy you can out of a pistol you need to eliminate as many variables as possible to get consistancy.

The first varible is going to be your grip. The pistol must recoil in a predictable manner. If it doesn't, you will find yourself having to correct your sight picture and often having to move the hand around on the grip. Many times people hold the grip wrong and have the pistol recoiling in a haphazard way. The recoil should drive the pistol straight up and back. If you are having the pistol turning sideways in some manner, then your grip is incorrect or the pistol just does not fit your hand properly.

The second variable is going to be your presentation. If you are lowering your head to acquire the sights, then your sights and eyes are going to align differently each time you discharge the pistol and it will result in a wandering zero. The pistol should be raised to your line of sight and you adjust your sight picture from there.

The third variable is going to be your trigger press. The knuckle of your hand, the one you would use to punch a person, should not flex at all. Only the knuckle of your finger tip and middle knuckle should move. The middle knuckle should act as a hinge and not move around. If the the last one is flexing your palm is flexing and it will push the pistol around in your grip. Also take note that if any part of your trigger finger is touching the pistol it will move the handgun around as well, avoid this.

In regard to triggers.

The serrated wide triggers, commonly found on a revolver, are meant for target shooting and are intended for the shorter SA trigger stroke. The smooth faced triggers are a combat trigger and accomodate the long DA pull. It allows the finger tip to slide a little and affects the press a little less. Provided that you are not allowing your hand itself to flex. Also the combat trigger requires the shooter to be less precise about what part of the finger tip he applies under stress. The target trigger is best left to pistols where you have the time to worry about having your finger tip just so on it. Just make sure that you have a secure contact and don't worry about it sliding a little. Unless your figger is slipping off the trigger. Then you need to go closer to the first joint.

Breathing of course is a factor, but anyone who shoots knows that we must control our breathing to be accurate. I won't go into that.

With all of the previous having been mentioned. The last varible is going to be the shooter themselves. We all at some point will have some sort of anticipation to the recoil and the natural reaction of trying to push back against it. Once your mind learns that the pistol isn't going to jump up and smack you in the face it gets a little easier. Let it recoil and return naturally, try not to compensate for the recoil. All that happens is that you tend to push the pistol around afterwards and have a lot more difficult time to reacquire a sight picture.

In regard to grip.

Milking the grip can often lead to accuracy problems. This is related to anticipation of recoil and inceasing your grip as to begin to discharge the pistol. It will do the same thing to the pistol and move it around. Get a constistant grip. Don't gorilla grip it as this will make you shake. Don't hold it loose as it will allow the pistol to move around under recoil. A medium grip that gets as much of the hand around the pistol as possible will often give the proper traction to be consistant.

Using two hands and having as much surface area make contact in a constant manner helps as well. Two hands is the most accurate, but sometimes you will not have the luxury of using two hands. If the pistol is for self defence. You must be able to shoot it with one hand. This also means you should be able to shoot it with reasonable accuracy with your support hand only. If you cannot control the pistol one handed with either hand, it is too powerful for you. You should then either use lower powered ammuniton and build up or use a caliber that produces less recoil. Also you can consider going with a heavier pistol to help mitigate the recoil.

A handgun being the most difficult firearm to master will require you to dry fire ans live fire as uch as possible to remain proficient with it. Practice as often as you can. Shoot as much as you can afford, especially if you are going to count on it for SD.

I know I must have left something out, but it is what come to mind. Hope this helps in some fashion. Remember consistancy is the primary factor. Once you get it down and don't have to concentrate on all the different possibilities or potential factors that could affect your accuracy you'll find it gets much easier to be accurate. Then you can add other new problems, such as movement and shooting from less than ideal positions.

Good luck and shoot straight.