What is causing my accuracy problems?

Question

I went to the range today...Shot at a man sized silhoutte target and most of my shots were low...hitting the stomach\groin area rather than center mass. Then when I tried with a smaller circular target I fired 10 rounds and didnt hit the target once. What was I doing wrong? Maybe it has something to do with how I tend to hunch forward and slouch sometimes?

Yeah I was shooting handguns...Glock and an XD

No I'm not an experienced shooter, thats why I'm asking this question

Answer 1

Bound's hubby here:

It sounds like you may have four or five problems, none of which are connected to your pistols:
1. You may have too much finger on the trigger and when you fire you may be pulling the pistol either left or right and missing your mark.
2. This is more likely... you are anticipating the shot and as you squeeze the trigger, you are pushing the pistol away from you and dipping the front sight below the target.
3. You may have developed a flinch.

(Of the above three, all could work together to cause you to be missing your target. However, it sounds like number two is the most likely culprit.)

4. You may have some weak (underpowered) ammo. Because you did not mention functioning problems, I do not think this is the case.
5. Did you fire magnum before you shot the Glock or the XD? Shooting below your target is a typical problem when you shoot standard calibers after you fire a magnum because in anticipation of the recoil, you push the pistol away at the time of firing and dip the front sight low.

The problem you describe is correctable, but I believe, for some reason or another, you are anticipating recoil and pushing the pistol away from you as you fire it.

Good luck.

Answer 2

the guns your are shooting are high quality firearms, so I suspect the problem is your lack of training and experience.

1. Wear ear protection. Other than saving your hearing, the reduction in noise also reduces flinch.
2. Move your target to Five yards from your firing point. this will help you develop some confidence in your group sizes.
3. Your grip: A firm hold, like a good handshake; not a death grip, like the one on the neck of your worst enemy. The butt of the gun should be fully in your strong hand, three fingers around the front, thumb resting parallel to the slide, not sticking up. The weak hand's four fingers should be wrapped around the strong hand fingers but no further than the strong hand knuckles (doing that pulls rounds to the weak side), the weak hand thumb should rest along side and slightly atop the strong hand thumb. Your strong hand/arm should be fully extended, but do not lock the elbow. Your supporting weak hand/arm should also be extended the same way. The push of the strong arm should be equal to the pull of the weak arm, but do not get into a tug of war, balance the pull, do not use full strength. You just want to hold the gun steady.

4. Your stance. I prefer a modified Weaver Stance. Start by putting your feet shoulder width apart. Take about a half step forward with the weak side foot. Extend the gun. Lean slightly forward. This stance should have you feeling comfortable and balanced. If not, shift around until your are.

5. Breathing. While breathing normally, acquire your sight picture, take a deep breath, let out about a third of it, hold your breath and squeeze off your shot. Do not hold the breath too long, you will start to shake. Also, fainting on the firing line is real embarrassing.

You say you are shooting low, but do not state what size your groups are or what range you are shooting or if you are hitting left or right. If your gun is factory set for, say 15 yards, and you are shooting at 50 yards, then you will hit low.
I'm going to assume you are shooting at 25 yards. If you are aiming at center mass, you should not be hitting the target so low. You need to measure the group size. Measure from the far left hole to the far right hole. With the guns you are using, your groups should not be larger than 4 to 5 inches.

As you are shooting the five yard target, concentrate on sight picture, proper grip and stance, and breathing. Fire slowly. Develope accuracy first, speed will come later.

That should get you started. . .

Good luck.

Answer 3

1 - be sure u are aiming properly. some people use to aim with the front sight too low. it should fit the entire "window" of the rear sight and you should put the front sight onto the bullseye, to cover it (usual handgun combat sights)
2 - pull the trigger gently trying to aim the target as much as you can. the shot must "happen", u don't have to pull strong as to make it happen. pull slightly. when u'll be more expert, u will make it more rapidly but in the same way.
3 - concentrate yourself as for a real ammo and fire a dummy, or: ask a friend to load a mag with some ammo and a blank too, and of course u don't know which shot it will be dummy. when u fire it, look at the front sight: if it moves (often low) u are pulling the trigger in the wrong way and u will shoot lower. pull the trigger with the end of your finger. when u fire a dummy your sights must NOT move. maybe u even have to check the backward movement of the trigger, maybe it collapses back and it moves your firearm in the instant it fires
4 - if points 1,2,3 are right u probably only have to adjust your rear sight. if you wish u can adjust it a bit lower in order to hit the spot when u are aiming the bottom of the bullseye (firing higher). but this is normally used for target range, not for self-defence.

Answer 4

Are you supporting your gun and hands on a rest, or are you shooting unsupported (not resting the gun/hands on a bench).

Some shooter anticipate the guns recoil and just before the trigger breaks, push the muzzle downward.

What you can do to check this is to rest the gun on sand bags or a bench with some type of support for the gun, and fire a few rounds. Concentrating on a smooth, even trigger pull with consistent grip pressure on the grip of the gun. If this doesn't change the issue, its possible that you have a gun that the sights are off (this is unlikely though as most companys zero the sights at the factory, glock and Springfield included).

If you have a shooting partner have him or her watch the gun as you shoot, they will be able to see if you dip just before the guns fires.

Answer 5

Is the weapon sighted in for you?
You must sight in you own weapon few very few people shoot the same.
If you just got the weapon and this is your first time shooting it.
I would say to sight it in to you.
That is if it has adjustable sights, if not use more front sight as in higher up in the rear sight will raise the point of impact.
Links attached to help you sight in, just read them.

http://members.aol.com/SweetAccord/Sights.htm

http://hunting.about.com/c/ht/00/07/How_Sight_Gun0962933352.htm

If this not the problem and the weapon is sighted in to you and worked good last week but not this week then I would bet you changed ammo or got a bad lot of ammo .
If this is the case get some new ammo and try again.
Preferably the same kind that it shot well with.

D58

Answer 6

Sounds like you are shooting a hand gun. You are not getting the front sight all the way down in the back groove, makes you shoot high. If the gun has adjustable sights, maybe they are loose

Answer 7

It sounds to me as if you are clinching your whole hand when you squeeze the trigger. this is causing the gun to twitch down just a bit, making your shots go low. try resting the gun on a solid surface and pay close attention to your trigger squeeze. hope this helps. mike

Answer 8

Well it sounds like I can trust you to not rob a bank!

It could be that your pistol isn't sighted in at the distance your shooting it at or that you are not using the pistol sight correctly.

Answer 9

Nine times out of ten its not the gun, but the man behind the gun thats causing inaccuracy............. You don't sound like an experienced shooter to me...........

Answer 10

reread bound and D 58, good advice.......