Having trouble with pushing your shots left (for right-handers) with your Glock? You're not alone. I was also plagued by this for quite some time when I first got my Glock 17. However, with a lot of practice and trial and error I can now keep my shots centre of target. So, I figured I'd throw this post together explaining how I got to where I am today.
To start off, let me say that before I got my Glock, I could bullseye with a 1911 no problem. With very slow deliberate shots, it wasn't uncommon to keep 3 inch 10 shot groups at 20 m. But after becoming fed up with the constant reliability issues, minor parts breaking and the cost of 45ACP ammo I decided to try a Glock 17. Afterall, everyone and their Grandma seems to have a Glock, why not give one a try?! After my first range trip I thought, "ok, this is a decent pistol, I like it, but it groups 8 inches at 20 m and it's shooting left, what gives?". A quick google search later and I discovered I wasn't alone.
So, after a pile of literature reading and a pistol shooting clinic I was able to solidify my grip, stance and draw, which shrank my groups down to a consistent 5 inches at 20 m, but I was still frequently pushing my shots left. If I was ever going to master this frustrating trigger something had to happen! I thought back to my time with a 1911 and said, "You know, that was a really short trigger, maybe if I get a short light trigger that'll help". So, I bought a 3 lb trigger kit from Glockmeister and gave it a whirl. Yep, it was lighter, but unfortunately it still didn't help much with the pushing, and by and large just masked a bigger issue I had yet to discover. So back on went the 5.5 lb stock trigger and onto the EE went the 3 lb trigger. So much for gimmicks...
It was becoming obvious the problem was entirely me. I was going to have to put in much more effort to overcome this hurdle. This extra effort would come in the form of dry firing. In the past I'd dabble with dry firing occasionally when it struck me to get my pistol out and fondle it, but I never practiced for long durations. These days, I am fully in the routine of practicing my trigger pull by dry firing over and over and over again every night.
By now I'm sure most of you are either dying for the meat and potatoes or are saying, ok, so you dry fired, that's nice, but if you dry fire with lousy technique it'll just solidify bad habits, and you're right. However, as a relatively new pistol shooter, I was (and probably still am) open to trying new things without commiting these new ideas into bad muscle memories. The technique I eventually developed through trial and error is as follows.
Before you start, please check that your pistol is unloaded.
Stand about 5-10 m from a wall with a target that is highly contrasting to the wall colour and front sight post. A fancy coloured Sticky-Note or some coloured construction paper works great for this. Draw the gun with proper grip, rack the slide, keep your solid grip and point at your target with your finger off the trigger (I'm going to assume you've already worked extensively on these topics).
Now, put your trigger finger into the guard and place the middle of the pad of your trigger finger horizontally on the middle of the trigger. The vertical position of the trigger finger on the trigger is also very important. Your finger should be toward the bottom-middle portion of the trigger, it may even be lightly touching the bottom of the trigger guard. It must not be toward the top of the trigger. I suspect that because of the relatively thick Glock trigger guard, combined with the grip angle, many novice Glock shooters allow their trigger finger to ride high at the top of the trigger and the rest of their fingers to ride somewhat low on the grip. If your trigger finger is too high on the trigger and too far away from the rest of your fingers, your trigger finger will naturally tend to curl around the trigger as it's pressed rearward. To prove this, raise your hand up and pretend to be holding your Glock. Now, pretend to press the trigger while keeping your index finger close to your middle finger and the rest of your digits. Easy to pull straight back while keeping the pad of your finger flat against the imaginary trigger, isn't it? Now try it again with your trigger finger elevated high and away from the rest of your fingers. You will notice that aside from feeling somewhat unnatural, it's much harder to keep the pad of your finger flat while consistently maintaining backward movement. I believe that this is an exagerated example of what is happening when a new shooter fires a Glock with poor grip and trigger finger placement.
Assuming your grip is correct and your trigger finger is now in the right place, take a deep breath, exhale, pause and press the trigger directly rearward with slow consistent even pressure through that notorious mushy early portion of the trigger movement. No jerks or tempo changes. Just nice, steady, rearward pressure. The first section of the press will be very easy as the trigger travels through the mushy section, but will then resist as the trigger mechanism loses all its slack. Keep the pressure constant. Make absolutely sure that you don't squeeze the grip and trigger like a rifle. Doing this action will also naturally cause the gun to veer slightly left (for right-handed shooters).
As you continue to press the trigger rearward, keep your eyes focused on the front sight post and only that. Your target will be a blur (as it should be), but should still be easy to keep track of it due to the contrasting colour. Keep pressing that finger back until you hear the "snap" of the striker. If your grip and stance are still solid, and you did everything as described, the front sight shouldn't move at all. Congratulations on your imaginary bullseye! But don't stop here. Practice keeping that finger exactly where it is on the trigger. When firing live ammo, or if the striker is still cocked, with even pressure, slowly back off the trigger. You should just back off the trigger until it resets. Stop here, don't let that finger travel all the way forward through that mushy front section. If you were at the range, this would be where you would start your second shot from.
These days I'll typically practice for about 5 mins a night. It only takes a couple dozen rack and press movements to make sure everything is still doing what it should. However, when I first started, I would easily go a good 30 mins of racking the slide and pressing the trigger over and over until my hands got shaky or my grip started to go. If you get to that point, you should stop for the night. It may take you a couple weeks of practice to get this down pat, but the results are worth it.
Cheers and happy shooting!
To start off, let me say that before I got my Glock, I could bullseye with a 1911 no problem. With very slow deliberate shots, it wasn't uncommon to keep 3 inch 10 shot groups at 20 m. But after becoming fed up with the constant reliability issues, minor parts breaking and the cost of 45ACP ammo I decided to try a Glock 17. Afterall, everyone and their Grandma seems to have a Glock, why not give one a try?! After my first range trip I thought, "ok, this is a decent pistol, I like it, but it groups 8 inches at 20 m and it's shooting left, what gives?". A quick google search later and I discovered I wasn't alone.
So, after a pile of literature reading and a pistol shooting clinic I was able to solidify my grip, stance and draw, which shrank my groups down to a consistent 5 inches at 20 m, but I was still frequently pushing my shots left. If I was ever going to master this frustrating trigger something had to happen! I thought back to my time with a 1911 and said, "You know, that was a really short trigger, maybe if I get a short light trigger that'll help". So, I bought a 3 lb trigger kit from Glockmeister and gave it a whirl. Yep, it was lighter, but unfortunately it still didn't help much with the pushing, and by and large just masked a bigger issue I had yet to discover. So back on went the 5.5 lb stock trigger and onto the EE went the 3 lb trigger. So much for gimmicks...
It was becoming obvious the problem was entirely me. I was going to have to put in much more effort to overcome this hurdle. This extra effort would come in the form of dry firing. In the past I'd dabble with dry firing occasionally when it struck me to get my pistol out and fondle it, but I never practiced for long durations. These days, I am fully in the routine of practicing my trigger pull by dry firing over and over and over again every night.
By now I'm sure most of you are either dying for the meat and potatoes or are saying, ok, so you dry fired, that's nice, but if you dry fire with lousy technique it'll just solidify bad habits, and you're right. However, as a relatively new pistol shooter, I was (and probably still am) open to trying new things without commiting these new ideas into bad muscle memories. The technique I eventually developed through trial and error is as follows.
Before you start, please check that your pistol is unloaded.
Stand about 5-10 m from a wall with a target that is highly contrasting to the wall colour and front sight post. A fancy coloured Sticky-Note or some coloured construction paper works great for this. Draw the gun with proper grip, rack the slide, keep your solid grip and point at your target with your finger off the trigger (I'm going to assume you've already worked extensively on these topics).
Now, put your trigger finger into the guard and place the middle of the pad of your trigger finger horizontally on the middle of the trigger. The vertical position of the trigger finger on the trigger is also very important. Your finger should be toward the bottom-middle portion of the trigger, it may even be lightly touching the bottom of the trigger guard. It must not be toward the top of the trigger. I suspect that because of the relatively thick Glock trigger guard, combined with the grip angle, many novice Glock shooters allow their trigger finger to ride high at the top of the trigger and the rest of their fingers to ride somewhat low on the grip. If your trigger finger is too high on the trigger and too far away from the rest of your fingers, your trigger finger will naturally tend to curl around the trigger as it's pressed rearward. To prove this, raise your hand up and pretend to be holding your Glock. Now, pretend to press the trigger while keeping your index finger close to your middle finger and the rest of your digits. Easy to pull straight back while keeping the pad of your finger flat against the imaginary trigger, isn't it? Now try it again with your trigger finger elevated high and away from the rest of your fingers. You will notice that aside from feeling somewhat unnatural, it's much harder to keep the pad of your finger flat while consistently maintaining backward movement. I believe that this is an exagerated example of what is happening when a new shooter fires a Glock with poor grip and trigger finger placement.
Assuming your grip is correct and your trigger finger is now in the right place, take a deep breath, exhale, pause and press the trigger directly rearward with slow consistent even pressure through that notorious mushy early portion of the trigger movement. No jerks or tempo changes. Just nice, steady, rearward pressure. The first section of the press will be very easy as the trigger travels through the mushy section, but will then resist as the trigger mechanism loses all its slack. Keep the pressure constant. Make absolutely sure that you don't squeeze the grip and trigger like a rifle. Doing this action will also naturally cause the gun to veer slightly left (for right-handed shooters).
As you continue to press the trigger rearward, keep your eyes focused on the front sight post and only that. Your target will be a blur (as it should be), but should still be easy to keep track of it due to the contrasting colour. Keep pressing that finger back until you hear the "snap" of the striker. If your grip and stance are still solid, and you did everything as described, the front sight shouldn't move at all. Congratulations on your imaginary bullseye! But don't stop here. Practice keeping that finger exactly where it is on the trigger. When firing live ammo, or if the striker is still cocked, with even pressure, slowly back off the trigger. You should just back off the trigger until it resets. Stop here, don't let that finger travel all the way forward through that mushy front section. If you were at the range, this would be where you would start your second shot from.
These days I'll typically practice for about 5 mins a night. It only takes a couple dozen rack and press movements to make sure everything is still doing what it should. However, when I first started, I would easily go a good 30 mins of racking the slide and pressing the trigger over and over until my hands got shaky or my grip started to go. If you get to that point, you should stop for the night. It may take you a couple weeks of practice to get this down pat, but the results are worth it.
Cheers and happy shooting!
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