My gun seems to be obscenely inaccurate

mr00jimbo

mr00jimbo

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From about 7 yards or so, i can't seem to land any shots on paper with my Sig P220 9mm. Would I be able to tell any signs of a guy being inaccurate to that extent? When I do land shots, they are poorly patterned and all over the paper. Of course there's the possibility that I am horrible but i can shoot with other things so I think it very well may be the gun.

Any way to tell besides asking an expert to shoot it @ the range?
 
If your gun is inaccurate at 7 yds, there is definately a big problem. At that distance you should be able to point and shoot...no sight picture needed.

There are 3 things that I would look at as the problem:

1. THE SHOOTER: Is this your first handgun? Do you drink too much coffee? Are you really aiming or just "spray and pray" type of scenario.

2. THE GUN: Is this thing new or used? Possible damage from misuse of the firearm, bad maintenance?

3. THE AMMO: Could be that your ammo is no good and causing SEVERE deviation from muzzle to target. BTW, this one is a long shot...it usually happens at greater distances.
 
First handgun, but i'm steady with it and I aim, sometimes I bench it. It's used and I don't know the entire history. But how could it be that inaccurate? The ammo i use is either federal American Eagle or Remington UMC.

Like,w hat would the general problem be, and what parts would likely need to be replaced in a general scenario? I 'm hoping not the barrel, those damn things are pricey. Could a 'smith tell right away or would they have to go shoot it to see?
 
I didn't like the high bore axis on my Sig P-226......couldn't group consistantly. Glock fixed that for me.:D
 
mr00jimbo said:
First handgun, but i'm steady with it and I aim, sometimes I bench it. It's used and I don't know the entire history. But how could it be that inaccurate? The ammo i use is either federal American Eagle or Remington UMC.

Like,w hat would the general problem be, and what parts would likely need to be replaced in a general scenario? I 'm hoping not the barrel, those damn things are pricey. Could a 'smith tell right away or would they have to go shoot it to see?
Click to expand...

If your gun is clean, and you are benching it, then it most likely would be your barrel (IMO). Try field stripping your pistol and examine the barrel. If your barrel is damaged enough to produce that kind of deviation you should see it.

Next step would be to examine your sights, have they been moved/damaged in shipping?

Before you go to a gunsmith I would recommend having an experienced shooter try it... all else fails go to a gunsmith.

It's quite possible you didn't get the full story on this pistol before you purchased it. I hope in this case you didn't get screwed.
 
I still think it's the shooter. A lot or rifle shooters move over to handguns and are dismayed at the accuracy. Try getting a snap cap and have someone else load the mag to see if you're flinching badly, I'd bet this is the case. Or, just try a dry fire after a mag and see what your sights do. 7 yards is VERY close, I shoot 25 yards for handgun. A SIG is just not gonna act up this bad in my experience, and it would need more than 100,000 rounds down the pipe in my estimation to become terribly inaccurate at 7 yards. Try dry firing 10 times, then firing one live round with the same mindset, not anticipation. I know when I first started shooting handguns I was TERRIBLE, and thought it was the guns, it's the shooter. I'd shot rifles for a long long time, and assumed my handgunning would be fine and it even felt fine, not so much. What size are the groups?
 
Ardent said:
I still think it's the shooter. A lot or rifle shooters move over to handguns and are dismayed at the accuracy. Try getting a snap cap and have someone else load the mag to see if you're flinching badly, I'd bet this is the case. Or, just try a dry fire after a mag and see what your sights do. 7 yards is VERY close, I shoot 25 yards for handgun. A SIG is just not gonna act up this bad in my experience, and it would need more than 100,000 rounds down the pipe in my estimation to become terribly inaccurate at 7 yards. Try dry firing 10 times, then firing one live round with the same mindset, not anticipation. I know when I first started shooting handguns I was TERRIBLE, and thought it was the guns, it's the shooter. I'd shot rifles for a long long time, and assumed my handgunning would be fine and it even felt fine, not so much. What size are the groups?
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Thinking back to my first handgun........yeah I remember that. I told a fellow shooter that my sights were all ####ed up from the factory, when it was just me that was the problem. Not as bad as 7yds :)p ) but still...I was the problem.

I used the Revolver (One chamber loaded, One chamber empty) approach. Same idea as snap caps in a mag. You still have to get someone else to load the mag/cylinder for you though.

Try it....it works!
 
Some things to consider when operatong a handgun...

Since you are new to pistols, you get to enjoy the steep learning curve that goes along with it!

Let's start with grip, shall we? Regardless of the stance you use, a good foundation of a grip will help you develop your consistency.

I use a grip that allows me to grip the firearm on all four corners of the butt (hehehehe I said "butt").

First you place the pistol in your dominant hand so that there is a straight line from your elbow through your wrist and down the barrel. your grip on the firearm should be firm, but not white knuckled. Your index finger should line up down the side of the frame like you're pointing. Then you take your off hand and place it so that the fingers are wrapped around the fingers of your dominant hand from the opposite side of the pistol, resting firmly up underneath the trigger guard. Your off hand thumb should then rest along side the other side of the frame parrallel to you dominant hand index finger. Next you rest your dominant hand thumb on the top of the safety (or not) and on top of the behind the first joint of your off hand thumb. :confused: (I hope that makes sense)

When you are ready to fire, you line up the sights using the sight picture
suggested by the manufacturer of the pistol. Then you take your dominant hand index finger, rest the pad of the finger (I use the part that is about the center of the finger print) on the trigger, then, focusing on the front sight, gently squeeze the trigger. The shot should be a surprise. Keeping a firm grip on the pistol (NOT a death grip), regain your sight picture and repeat.

When you are comfy with the above stuff, you have to add the breathing part as well. I was taught to take in a steady breath and gently release one third to one half of it, hold and squeeze the trigger ( see above).


I have used this to good effect. I was taught this method by people who really knew what they were doing. Practice, relax, have fun, but work on your consistency and I bet you will see holes in the paper in no time.

If these things don't work, find a person who is willing to coach you in person as then you can find what works for you. I have not heard of pistols being so inaccurate that they can't put hole in the paper at 7 yards, especially a Sig. I conceed that there may be a serious sights deviation, but point shooting should help you figure that out pretty quick (get a knowledgable coach to help you on that one)
 
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Getting someone who is a (proven) good shot with a handgun to try it at the range is a smart step to verify that there isn't actually a problem with the gun itself. I would highly recommend that.

There can be problems with a used gun that could make it inaccurate; usually either a problem with lockup (the barrel isn't being held still when the gun fires) or a damaged muzzle crown (allowing the gases to push the bullet to one side as it exits the muzzle).

You can examine the muzzle crown to see if there are any signs of nicks, cracks or other damage. If there is, it could explain the problem. A damaged crown can seriously affect accuracy.

Close the slide on an empty chamber and see if you can wiggle the muzzle around at all with your fingertip. Push down on the exposed chamber of the barrel at the ejection port to see if it moves up and down. Everything should be very snug, even when you apply quite a bit of force. If it isn't, the gun's accuracy will suffer -- although not usually as much as you describe.
 
Dry fire the pistol. Aim - Fire, where the sights point when the hammer falls is where the bullet will land. Because pistol sights are very close together, any slight misalignment will result in a wide shot. If the sights move when you fire, adjust your grip so that the pistol is in line with your forearm, if you hand is large enough for such a grip. Only the first finger pad should contact the trigger. This grip may not allow for a double action pull, so conduct all your practice single action so that you do not have to change your grip when you go from SA to DA. Do not live fire until you have a satisfactory sight picture when you dry fire.

If all appears fine when you dry fire, begin your live fire shooting the pistol from a sand bag rest. Allow your wrists to be supported, but do not allow any portion of the gun to touch the bag. Stick with SA.

If shooting from a rest works out, then begin shooting off hand or from supported positions, both SA and DA.
 
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There is a simple test you can do to see if it's the pistol or not.. use a bench rest for the pistol.. see what groups you can get with the bench rest.. at seven yards, you should be able to get a 1" to 1.5" grouping from a bench rest.
 
I say the shooter not the gun. For that barrel to be worn you gotta fire 30K plus, Still would get a pattern on target at 7yrds.

Also did you check your sight? Are there where they suppose to be set at? And not off to one side or not...
 
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ckc123 said:
There is a simple test you can do to see if it's the pistol or not.. use a bench rest for the pistol.. see what groups you can get with the bench rest.. at seven yards, you should be able to get a 1" to 1.5" grouping from a bench rest.
Click to expand...


Better still, get another shooter to shoot it from the rest before you do. If there is a big difference between your groups, it's you not the gun. Good luck!
 
I would say its shooter error. Practice will help.. seriously. A few hundred rounds shoulr help you to get a better understanding of how your aiming and gripping the pistol. It will come.
 
I suggest giving the barrel a good scrubbing. I've seen otherwise very accurate pistols start having problems when shooting high velocity lead bullet handloads. And I'm talking like: shots 1 through 5 are grouping 1-1.5 inches, shots 6 through 10 are grouping around 8 inches (at 25 yards) and shots 11+ are actually tumbling. I'd pass a brush down the bore and the groups would be back to acceptable. I made up my own lower powered handloads and problems stopped.

So yeah, I'd look down the bore and see if there's a lead build-up. I can't imagine any amount of abuse to a Sig barrel, short of smashing the muzzle into an oval shape and/or taking a drill to the bore and removing the rifling to make it miss that much. I don't think a nick or two on the crown is going to make you miss the paper at 7 yds. Even my very old (Alsmost 90yrs), mostly shot out bore, Mauser Broomhandle can hit the paper at 25yds.
 
ckc123 said:
There is a simple test you can do to see if it's the pistol or not.. use a bench rest for the pistol.. see what groups you can get with the bench rest.. at seven yards, you should be able to get a 1" to 1.5" grouping from a bench rest.
Click to expand...

Dude, at 7 yards you should be able to do MUCH better without a rest. Hell, with my CZ75 at 7 yards I would usually put them in the same hole....
 
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