Sunday at Shore Shot

[voyager9 3,434]

I wanted to take the wife to the range over the weekend to both try my Sig but also try a revolver that she might like better. To my surprise her Mother also wanted to come (in return for babysitting). She lives out near the shore so we met up at Shore Shot and we spent a few hours there.

 

She had never fired a gun before but was on her 'bucket list'. She said she had a blast! Started her out with a 22 revolver walked her through safety, operation..etc. She started out REALLY nervous, especially with the guy firing the 45 in the lane next door. Still she did great and by the end she was reloading by herself and not jumping EVERY time our neighbor fired.

 

My wife did really well also. I had her rent a 357 revolver firing 38+P's.. started her out at 5 yards and she did great then 10.. 15.. by the end she wanted the target 'all the way back' and she was getting better groups then I was.

 

Finally had her try a rental P226 9mm similar to what I have. She did well there too, but preferred the revolver.

 

One thing I noticed was that both our shots were off with the Sig. I noticed this with mine as well. When I shot the revolvers things were going right where I wanted but with the Sig everything was down and to the Right. Obviously you cant diagnose a shot over a forum post, but does anyone else see that going between platforms?

 

Anyway, the three of us had a great day at the Range.. and my MIL wants to do it again. +1 to the "not so scared of guns' group.

[T Bill 649]

Tightening grip while pulling trigger. Look up pistol correction chart targets. It will explain it better

[mcbethr 42]

going right where I wanted but with the Sig everything was down and to the Right. Obviously you cant diagnose a shot over a forum post, but does anyone else see that going between platforms?

 

I think your problem is that you weren't using a PX4 Storm...

 

... but seriously, you were shooting a rental. Why knows how many times it was beat up, or dropped, or whatever? If all of your shots were going in the same place, they you have high precision, but low accuracy. I'm not worried about groups that are off, but are generally in the same area - I can compensate or adjust for that. I'm worried when the shots are all over the target.

 

If it doesn't happen with your SIG, I would say it was probably just the rental.

[Ian S 22]

I noticed the same thing happening when I brought a new handgun shooter to Shore Shot the Saturday before your original post. We started light with a Ruger MKIII, single action with fully adjustable trigger. Every shot went where he put it. We moved on to my 686 .357 revolver and .38s and .357s were right on target.

 

I brought a good assortment so we kept moving up. The Sig P229 in .357 sig and my PX4 Storm in .40 both dove low on the target. He didn't like those two because of that. We moved on to a .45 1911, and he was right back on target. We moved back to the Sig and Beretta but the shots still dropped low.

 

Two weeks later, after seeing your same results here, and considering the difference in the triggers on each platform, I've just come back from Shore Shot with the same new handgun shooter with a completely different analysis from the shot chart.

 

When we moved from the revolver to the PX4 today, the same low shot was happening. These are my guns, both in fairly new condition. But I did watch his grip and he keeps a solid bear paw tight grip throughout the shot sequence. My advice was that he pay special attention to his trigger finger and be sure to pull straight back, rather than following the contour of the trigger which will pull the muzzle down. His next magazine was right on target.

 

So, the difference between the two platforms here is that the S&W revolver has a bit of a different pivot and contour to the trigger movement, compared to the Sig and Beretta semis. If you get accustomed to the pull on one, you will need to focus on pulling straight back when you switch to another. Going back and forth, a little focus on the trigger finger mechanics put every shot back on target.

[Smokin .50 1,907]

Squeezing the trigger throughout the entire "take-up" and determining the actual point of the sear letting go at the start of the ignition sequence is the first step. Proper sight alignment after take-up and just prior to the sear letting go is the next step. Making sure that the sights are aligned as the gun fires is important. It's so much easier in SA! I teach folks how to transfer knowledge gained from SA 1911's and revolvers when they switch back to striker-fired hand guns with the creepy, mushy triggers. Basically I instruct them to overcome the obstacle of using the triggers on the guns they've bought.......

 

More than one student / friend has bought a revolver because of the difficulty is making one ragged hole with a striker-fired gun with a stock trigger.

 

That being said, I just fired a .40 cal Glock Gen 4 duty gun from an Amtrack Cop. His 6.5 pound trigger was an improvement over what he had been issued previously. Someone over there "gets it" and actually cares where the flying lead winds-up! The new trigger isn't as problematic as other older ones I've tested.

 

Dave