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I've been practicing..

mpguy

Regular Member
Joined
Mar 25, 2012
Messages
689
Location
Suffolk Virginia
For the life of me...I'm low and left. I need to nip this in the end, before it comes habit forming. Any advice for correcting it? I'm using a M&P. 45 with the stock trigger.

Yes, I know I can put a apex in it. I only think this may mask the problem. My trigger feels smooth, I've got the grit out the trigger, so I know that not it.

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skeith5

Regular Member
Joined
Sep 19, 2012
Messages
356
Location
United States
Where is your finger in relation to the trigger? Is the trigger in between the end of the finger and the first joint? On the first joint? Usually low and to the left means you are not pulling straight back on the trigger which could be due to incorrect finger placement. When you are shooting you are pushing the barrel a little too the left. You could also be anticipating recoil. Here are two exercises which should help.

1. Put in some snap caps and practice dry firing. If you are doing this inside your home stick to one room. Put a few dots up on the wall to aim at. You can also put a couple pennies on the front of the gun, trying to keep them on when you are firing. Double check or triple check that you have no real ammo in the gun and keep ammo out of the room you are practicing in altogether.

2. While at the range have a friend load up your magazines. Have them their in a snap cap or two. Watch what happens when you get to the snap cap. Do you flinch?

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Grapeshot

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Joined
May 21, 2006
Messages
35,317
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Valhalla
Last edited:

mpguy

Regular Member
Joined
Mar 25, 2012
Messages
689
Location
Suffolk Virginia

skidmark

Campaign Veteran
Joined
Jan 15, 2007
Messages
10,444
Location
Valhalla
For folks with "normal" vision Grapeshot's recommendations are spot-on.

There are a few of us out there with wacky vision. Lining up the sights in a Ransom rest (to avoid all human variation possible) gets me low and right consistently. Take it out of the rest and have almost anyone else re-set it and they hit dead center. Talked (well, cried, actually) to my eye doc about it. He is a bullseye shooter. He checked things out and diagnosed a parallax problem which also explained why I was so bad at shooting pool. Adjusting the sights so I am dead center puts everybody else high and left, just as would be expected. Now I too can rip the center out. If I try shooting someone else's gun I need to remember to apply Kentucky Windage for a POA high and left so the POI is dead center.

Lesson? If you check out your sight picture and trigger work and it is OK, and everybody else can rip out the bullseye while you are consistently at the same place somewhere else on the paper, adjust your sights to fit what is happening when you shoot.

stay safe.
 

Lasjayhawk

Regular Member
Joined
Jul 21, 2012
Messages
289
Location
Las Vegas
FWIW: I was low right and wild with my M&P 40. The three things that fixed it was going to a smaller backstrap and setting my trigger finger on the 1st joint, and I was cocking my head slightly to the right instead of bringing the firearm up to eye-level. Also make sure your hand is tucked up tight to the beaver-tail.
 

skidmark

Campaign Veteran
Joined
Jan 15, 2007
Messages
10,444
Location
Valhalla
FWIW: I was low right and wild with my M&P 40. The three things that fixed it was going to a smaller backstrap and setting my trigger finger on the 1st joint, and I was cocking my head slightly to the right instead of bringing the firearm up to eye-level. Also make sure your hand is tucked up tight to the beaver-tail.

Practice does not make perfect. Praticing perfectly does. Otherwise you are just reinforcing bad habits. But when your technique is as perfect as can be and you are still not getting the results you expect it is time to look for external factors.

stay safe.
 

OC for ME

Regular Member
Joined
Jan 6, 2010
Messages
12,452
Location
White Oak Plantation
Blame the dumb bullets.

http://theweek.com/article/index/223898/the-smart-bullets-that-steer-themselvesnbsp

A little trick you can use is to tape a piece of paper to the wall, place a sharp, full lenght pencil in the pistol and "shoot" the paper from about six to eight inches away. The pencil mark will approximate a bullets trajectory to a target about 21' away. Try it and see what happens. You may be surprised what you learn about your trigger control.
 

eye95

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 6, 2010
Messages
13,524
Location
Fairborn, Ohio, USA
Blame the dumb bullets.

http://theweek.com/article/index/223898/the-smart-bullets-that-steer-themselvesnbsp

A little trick you can use is to tape a piece of paper to the wall, place a sharp, full lenght pencil in the pistol and "shoot" the paper from about six to eight inches away. The pencil mark will approximate a bullets trajectory to a target about 21' away. Try it and see what happens. You may be surprised what you learn about your trigger control.

I take it you mean to dry fire with the pencil in the barrel. Will this in any way damage the firearm?
 

skidmark

Campaign Veteran
Joined
Jan 15, 2007
Messages
10,444
Location
Valhalla
I take it you mean to dry fire with the pencil in the barrel. Will this in any way damage the firearm?

The pencil dot drill will not harm most modern center-fire firearms. Dropping the hammer on an unsupported firing pin (no cartridge or dimmy round to accept the force of the hammer strike) in a rimfire firearm or a center-fire firearm with a hammer-mounted firing pin will hurt the firing pin if done "excessively". (You will not know what "excessive" is until you reach it. By then it's too late.)

"Real operators" use those short little pencils you see on golf courses and lottery ticket counters. They srtuff them down the barrel and let the force of the firing pin drive them past the muzzle crown. Most other folks use a full-length pencil that sticks out the end of the barrel. Certain folks of dubious intellect have been observed using either type of pencil in attempts to attain distance or the ability to stick the pencil in acoustic-type ceiling tiles.

stay safe.
 

PistolPackingMomma

Regular Member
Joined
Oct 1, 2011
Messages
1,884
Location
SC
The pencil trick is new to me; may have to look into that.

I've had issues using my sights, due to apparently not having a dominant eye AND an astigmatism, but find I rarely have any troubles if I merely shoot using the "instinctive hand/eye coordination" method. But I have no problems with a scope on a rifle. Go figure.
 

Grapeshot

Legendary Warrior
Joined
May 21, 2006
Messages
35,317
Location
Valhalla
The pencil trick is new to me; may have to look into that.

I've had issues using my sights, due to apparently not having a dominant eye AND an astigmatism, but find I rarely have any troubles if I merely shoot using the "instinctive hand/eye coordination" method. But I have no problems with a scope on a rifle. Go figure.

Using a scope eliminates the dominate eye problem + allows for focusing sharply.

"Instinctive hand/eye coordination" can be trained/learned. Many extremely good defensive shooters look over the top of the barrel, never use the sights. IMHO - at most frequent defensive shooting distances, sights are not necessary.

Then there is this :uhoh:
http://www.youtube.com/embed/iDnEkFSMRik?rel=0&vq=medium&autoplay=1
 
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