New to handguns, bring on the shooting tips

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jon1985

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Carleton Place, Ontario
I went out last weekend for the first time with my shadow and was hitting 4" left and 2" down at 10 yards. It was very frustrating.

I went out again today with the Kadet kit in my shadow and shot several hundred rounds of .22 and was happier with the results. That said I was still about 1" low at 5 yards but much more central.

I switched back to the 9mm barrel and slide and put about 80 rounds through it. I was happy with the results as long as I relaxed my arms every 3-4 rounds. By the time I hit about 80 rounds my groups were opening up more then I liked so I packed it in on paper and headed to steel at 10 yards.

So I now understand the importance of taking my time while shooting. What Im looking for is some other tips. Whats the best grip? Best stance? Any good videos worth watching?

Open to any tips.
 
Given it's a new gun to you I'd let an experience shooter try it just for fun..

It could easlily be a sight adjustment and that should tell you right away.
 
Best thing to do is experiment and take a lot of mental notes about what is working or not working for you. Everyone's body is different, we all have different comfort levels and shooting styles. Don't let anyone tell you that there is one right style. 25 years ago, when I competed, I used a modified tea cup hold with both arms extended. Would'nt say I was the best shot but I was pretty close to the top. Left the sport for a while and when I returned nothing was working for me at first. I am not sure if it is old age, bad eye sight or the extra 30 lbs but I had to change me stance, my grip to a more traditional grip, I dropped my weak arm and I am hunching over more. One thing that could help you to find your own style is to film yourself, that way you could tweak your movements and position of your body and limbs to see if accuracy improves. good luck and have fun.
 
Take up the slack in the trigger... start at 5 yds then work your way back...

Robert (Bob) Vogel has some vids that are very good. I took his advice and adjusted my grip and can shoot both faster and more accurately now.
 
I always thought the Wheel of Misfortune was a good starting point.

hxxp://www.aafirearmstraining.com/files/Download/Practical%20Pistol%20Shooting%20Handout.pdf
 
Start up close, like 5-7 yards. It's much easier to make good hits and will build your confidence to start pushing out to longer ranges.
Everyone has a grip they like, I like to get as high a grip as possible with my thumbs forward. Arms fully extended, shoulders up a little. I like everything to be as in-line as possible, really helps me manage recoil and shoot faster. Feet shoulder width apart, tho I tend to lead a little with my left foot.
Trigger pull is very important, use the pad of your finger, take up the slack in the trigger, and just ease her back. Align the sights, but put your focus on the front sight. You want that shot to break without disturbing your sights, especially the front sight.
I do a lot of dry fire practice as well, just to work on my trigger squeeze and ensure there is no flinch. It takes a lot of practice to shoot a handgun well, I'm no pro by any stretch but I'm a helluva lot better than when I started like 5 years ago. You'll eventually develop your own methods.
 
If you are just starting out, there is lots to learn and put into practice. I know because I still consider myself a beginner. It is all a combination of proper stance, grip, sight alignment, trigger pull. There are some great videos showing all this. There all important pieces but I think the least intuitive is the proper grip. Strong hand up high. Weak hand with forward locked wrist, fingers angled down, both thumbs forward. Even sounds awkward until you try it. Then start to put these into practice, not at 10 yards but at 10 ft. Work your way up to distances after you gain proficiency at short range. Practice and have fun!
 
For a beginner here's what I'd do. Before the trigger breaks, pull the trigger as slow as you can so the shot 'surprises' you. Slower the better. Try dry firing your centerfire setup and watch what happens to the sights. Pulling the trigger faster makes the sights move. You may be on target initially, then you actually pull the sights off target while you squeeze the trigger.
 
I used to shoot to the left, then some guy at the range noticed how when I was pulling the trigger the gun would move a bit to the left. So I adjusted how I pull the trigger and it works for me
 
^Great advice.

You can read all the articles you want and watch every youtube video there is, but at the end of the day only you can figure out what works best for yourself. By all means gather as much info as you can, accept help and advice whenever you can, and don't be afraid to try new ways of doing things, but also recognize that you'll know what works when you feel it. This requires lots of shooting.

Also, try not to get distracted by the background noise of shiny new toy syndrome. It's hard, I'll admit I'm guilty of it these days, but you're better off spending the money on ammo and learning the basics on a single platform than buying/trading/selling multiple guns and dealing with the idiosyncrasies of each. You grabbed a nice first gun, so that should help. I had upwards of 10,000 rds through a BHP before I tried my second handgun and truly believed that helped me to establish a good foundation. I also had excellent mentors and instructors....look for the old guys.
 
jon1985 said:
I guess I will spend more time shooting .22 so I can get used to the trigger pull and sight picture before switching to 9mm. Much cheaper to shoot, thats for sure.
Click to expand...

Even cheaper is to dry-fire in your basement. Zero ammo costs. :)

With your Shadow, (usual safety stuff, make sure it's empty, ammo in a different room, etc), focus on that front sight post. It should be crystal clear. The rear sight post and the target (light switch on basement wall, etc) will be out of focus. Now slowly pull the trigger STRAIGHT back to the rear of the gun. The front sight post should not move. If that front sight post is moving, you need to train your fingers to isolate your trigger finger from the rest of them, so when you move your trigger finger, your other fingers don't move.

Don't grip too hard with your strong hand because that can tense up your trigger finger and cause problems too.

Experiment with this and you may find that if you have "too much" trigger finger on the trigger, you may pull the front sight post to one side, and "too little" trigger finger may pull it to the other. Adjust the angle of your grip to adjust how much trigger finger you're placing on the trigger and try this out for yourself.

As for the rest of the grip, I like Shannon Smith's video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJrA7wMXuuQ
 
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