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Old December 14, 2000, 03:22 PM   #1
Mikul
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I've been shooting for a year and still find myself frequently pushing or pulling when I pull the trigger and it is frustrating as all heck. I'm pretty good when firing slowly, but rapid fire or double taps are pitiful (who needs a shotgun?).

Most shots land 2 inches to the right and down from the bullseye.

I think it's a flinch since I'm a better shot when switching from my .308 to 9mm (recoil? what recoil?)

HELP!! What can I do to help me learn to fire properly. Books? Drills? Heck, I'll even make the supreme sacrifice and eat more chocolate if it will help.
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Old December 14, 2000, 06:51 PM   #2
WESHOOT2
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Go to http://www.uspsa.org and select 'club-finder'. Find nearest club. Go, join, shoot, learn, practice.

Bet that will help.
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Old December 14, 2000, 07:02 PM   #3
Dave R
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I don't claim to be an expert, but here are some things to try. Somebody correct me if I give bad advice.

1) More dry-firing. Lots. Get some snap caps (to protect your firing pin) and practice dry-firing. Align the sights. Press the trigger. Mentally note where the sights are when the hammer falls. Strive for steadiness. Get your muscles used to the pattern, without the recoil to drive your nervous system crazy. After you've "trained" your arm/hand muscles, you should get steadier, and more recoil-resistant.

2) To test for flinching (when shooting), have someone randomly load a snap-cap into your magazine (or cylinder) so you don't know where it is. When you pull the trigger on the snap-cap, any flinch should be more obvious. No boom or recoil to mask the flinch.

3) When shooting, if you find your groups opening up because the recoil is creating a flinch, stop shooting for awhile. Or shoot something else. Don't let your body train the flinch into itself.

4) You may want to try a different hold on your gun.

I really like the drill of draw/safety off/dry fire. I assume that, if you ever need to do it for real, you'll revert to what your body is used to. If the motion of drawing, snicking the safety, aligning the sights is well drilled, you'll be more likely to be able to do it properly under stress.

Hope this helps.
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Old December 15, 2000, 09:33 AM   #4
JoeHatley
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Mikul,

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...495717-2381358

Hope the link works. Charles Shephens has a couple of small books out, that are packed with very good information. (especially the 1st one) He explains how to analyze your handguns shooting and how to correct any problems.

Well worth the modest price. Highly recomend for any handgun shooter, especially those that think they already know the proper techniques.

Good Luck...

Joe


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Old December 15, 2000, 09:57 AM   #5
iso1
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The snap caps are a great idea, but for a revolver, you can still tell which is which.

I had a bad flinch while shooting my .38 special.

I just had someone else load it with some live ammo and some used shells.

After a few sessions of this, I learned not to anticipate the recoil by pushing forward. And, believe it or not, one of the bests drills I tried was to just load up and fire six shots as fast as I could. That helped a lot, too.

Also, when you're rapid firing, especially in an intense situation, I don't think you'll have a whole lot of time to line up the sight. This is where the alternative methods of aiming come in. Study and use them.

And last, KEEP SHOOTING! Practice as often as you can.

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Old December 15, 2000, 11:54 AM   #6
Mikul
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Thanks for the advice. I went to the range again last night to vindicate myself. I did much better. What I need to do is work on my speed. I can fire about 1 round every 2 seconds with very good accuracy, but any faster and it's shotgun city.

I discovered that my left hand was touching my trigger finger and screwing me up.

I also discovered that I STINK with my left hand. If I stand sideways and close my right eye I'm okay, but if I had to shoot with my left hand for self-defence it would certainly be for the noise alone. I'd like to hear how you shoot with your non-dominant arm.

Aside from snap caps, I also put the gun into DA mode so that when I'm expecting the trigger to break I'll notice a flinch.

You're probably right about not shooting when I notice a problem happening repeatedly. I'll try to remember that.
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Old December 15, 2000, 12:29 PM   #7
Bartholomew Roberts
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Mikul, what really helped me improve my double taps was not paying any attention to the target at all.

Run the target out to 3/5/7yds (depending on how much you need to improve). Now when shooting double taps, concentrate only on the front sight and the sight picture. Try to control the recoil so that the sight bounces up and down in a rhythmic pattern - <bang> straight up, straight down <bang> straight up, straight down, etc.

By concentrating on the front sight and trying to establish a regular up and down rhythm - you will control flinching and you'll be amazed at how fast you can double tap after awhile.

The other thing to remember is to practice the motions smoothly and correctly and speed will eventually come without any additional effort. It is a lot better to practice a motion slowly and correctly (and build the correct muscle memory for fast accurate shots) then to concentrate on speed and build muscle memory that is sloppy or inaccurate but fast.
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Old December 15, 2000, 02:18 PM   #8
Morgan
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Without seeing you shoot, it's very hard to tell what's going on, but...

It sounds like you're using too much trigger finger and/or milking the grip (squeezing with the whole hand as you pull the trigger).

Also, I've seldom met a shooter who's accuracy in fast strings couldn't be improved by gripping with more pressure from the support hand and lightening up a bit with the primary hand. The primary hand should be about firm handshake level, support hand firmly clamped down (but not "death grip" level - you shouldn't notice any tremors or such).
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Old December 15, 2000, 02:28 PM   #9
bobo
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Get one of those cheap laser pointer pens. With an empty
gun tape the laser to the slide or frame of the weapon.
When you pull the triggre the laser will let you know if your flinching or anticipating the recoil. When you can
pull the trigger and the red dot doesn't move you moved on
to be a better shooter.
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Old December 15, 2000, 02:50 PM   #10
Lavan
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You might also try going down a caliber or two to work on it. The suggestion to shoot a tight group on a close cardboard box is good too.
I was reading one of my old 1963 gun books the other day and the author was recommending 200 .22LR, 100 .38 spl. and only 50 .45 per week as a minimum practice but he stressed very strongly not to push yourself on the larger calibers.

Personally, I went the bullseye route and after I could put em all in the black, tight, consistently, and ONE HANDED, double taps were very easy to do.
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Old December 15, 2000, 09:32 PM   #11
navaho
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bobo:

Great idea!
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Old December 15, 2000, 10:19 PM   #12
Shake
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I'm no expert, but generally (if you are a righty) if your shots are going to the left and down from the bullseye, it may be that you're tightening your grip as you are pulling the trigger. You could also be thumbing the gun to some degree (pushing harder with your thumb while pulling the trigger). Thumbing generally pushes your shots right.

Practice and the above-mentioned ideas will help. I especially like the lazer idea.

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