I think I might be a terrible shot...

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andyman_49

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So I went out to the Selkirk range a few days ago to shoot my first new handgun, its a Norinco M93. Shot it once before with a friend and we were all over the paper. This time I met a couple there both with Glocks. They might be on the forum here.

Anyways they let me shoot five rounds out of each, one was a G17 9mm Gen 4. The other I don't know the model number but it was a 10mm. Well wow did that 10mm ever fit my hand beautifully. However with all three guns I was ALL OVER the paper, sometimes not even on the paper. And this couldn't have been too much more than like 10-15 yrds(I'm also notoriously bad at judging distance). I know I'm new to it and I'm somewhat impatient with the trigger but somehow I expected better than that. Any tips?
 
If you are hitting a letter sized piece of paper with all your shots at 10-15 yards off hand, you are off to a good start.

Pistol shooting is WAY harder than most people believe.
I start shooters off at 3-5 yards so they for sure hit the target.
Then work back farther.
 
Something worth finding out is which eye is dominant. This was the first hurdle I had to jump when I started shooting pistol.
 
To mirror the above, you really need to start closer and work on the fundamentals of stance, straight trigger pull, good grip and focusing only on the front sight post. There are a bazillion videos on YouTube showing proper methodology for each of these topics. That said, hands on coaching is ideal. Perhaps there's someone else at your club who could give some hands on pointers. Don't worry man, we all were rookies at one point. Nobody's born an awesome pistol shot. I often tell people new to shooting that without proper fundamentals, most people's first crack at pistol shooting would result in less than half their shots hitting a garbage can at 10m.

Also, the 10mm Glock was probably a Glock 20. If you like that one, you should try a Glock 21 in 45ACP. Similar size and cheaper ammo.
 
cancer said:
To mirror the above, you really need to start closer and work on the fundamentals of stance, straight trigger pull, good grip and focusing only on the front sight post. There are a bazillion videos on YouTube showing proper methodology for each of these topics. That said, hands on coaching is ideal. Perhaps there's someone else at your club who could give some hands on pointers. Don't worry man, we all were rookies at one point. Nobody's born an awesome pistol shot. I often tell people new to shooting that without proper fundamentals, most people's first crack at pistol shooting would result in less than half their shots hitting a garbage can at 10m.

Also, the 10mm Glock was probably a Glock 20. If you like that one, you should try a Glock 21 in 45ACP. Similar size and cheaper ammo.
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Thanks for all the tips so far and thanks for letting me know about which model it was. It really did fit my hand great but yeah, 10mm is not for me based strictly on cost.

Also I am right handed and right eye dominant. I also believe trigger pull/control is the key to my not so perfect shot but yeah, work is what I have to do and it is what I shall do.
 
Shooting a handgun accurately is waaay harder than I imagined. I couldn't hit a 8x11 sheet of paper from 20 yards my first 5 shots! I couldn't believe it, It was a browning 22lr buckmark. Sure opened my eyes to pistol shooting!
 
Dont feel bad, we all have bad days. I have some days where I can cut a ragged 30 round hole at 15 yards and some days where I can barely make a 12 inch group at that distance, but an honest average of about 5 inch. Nobody is perfect and anyone that is is just lying lol. You'll get better dont worry
 
Pistol shooting is easy... just look at me.... when I started I couldn't hit the broadside of as barn from 15 yards.... now I can hit the broadside of a shed at 20 yards.... practice practice practice!
 
Get some good coaching from someone who knows the basics, so that you practice doing it right, instead of getting good at shooting poorly.

Skiing looks easy until you try it. Same for skating. If shooting was easy it would get boring pretty quick.
 
It's a learned skill that requires constant practice to maintain. Find a competent instructor to start you off right, before you develop a lot of bad habits that will need to be unlearned.
 
"I think I might be a terrible shot..."

Nope, you're just more honest than most of us ;)

I remember taking my dad out for his first time shooting a handgun...20 rounds at 20 yards on a target 5 or 6 times the size you were shooting at...when we went up to check the target he had put one hole in it...I quickly reassured him that he put all 20 through that hole. Needless to say he was humbled by how hard it is to shoot a pistol.
 
I like to practice with my Glock pistols by sliding a laser sight on and then practicing trigger pull in the living room by trying to keep the laser as still as possible on the wall through the pull until it dryfires. Another method is to balance a quarter on the top of the slide (if your pistol has a flat top like the Glock) and dryfire it while aiming at something without the quarter falling off.

Try a 1911 or other pistol with a single action trigger and you will probably improve your groups (at least a little).

Keep practicing and you'll be shooting the wings off flies before you know it. Then you can start practicing the curve shot. :D

Good luck.
 
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Haha! Positive outlooks, something I didn't expect from from CGN, thank you all for the reality check, encouragement and/or advice. I find myself excited to walk down the road towards firearm proficiency.
 
The more you shoot, the better you will get, for me if i can keep the rounds on a man size chest target, i am happy, i go for hits on target not score.
 
cr5 said:
I like to practice with my Glock pistols by sliding a laser sight on and then practicing trigger pull in the living room by trying to keep the laser as still as possible on the wall through the pull until it dryfires. Another method is to balance a quarter on the top of the slide (if your pistol has a flat top like the Glock) and dryfire it while aiming at something without the quarter falling off.

Try a 1911 or other pistol with a single action trigger and you will probably improve your groups (at least a little).

Keep practicing and you'll be shooting the wings off flies before you know it. Then you can start practicing the curve shot. :D

Good luck.
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That's kind of pointless with a flat topped slide like the Glock - you can do a LOT of shaking around without it falling off. Try balancine a dime on top of the front sight, then you'll be exercising your trigger control...
 
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