Tips for shooting semi-auto with combat sight

[OkayShooter]

Some of you make shooting sound like rocket science, lol.

Although it may be true for some, not everyone requires a coach to become a competent marksman. Can a coach help? Definitely, but so can videos. It all depends on what type of learning best suits the individual. Personally, I wouldn't bother with paid lessons unless I was trying to become a highly competitive shooter.

A lot of people say that just going to the range and shooting a $hit ton won't help but I beg to differ. Learn the basics, practice a lot, shoot a lot, get better.

But you get these people that think you cannot teach a old dog tricks, or embarrassed to ask for help. I would say I'm decent shot, but I recently found out I was holding the gun too light. So I had to work on that. I also had issues shooting barricades in PPC. I just asked one of the older fellas, how they do? Because I was bashing my knuckles off the posts. That night I happened to win the night.

Asking for coaching, shouldn't be a hard thing. But in shooting, the biggest thing I've seen is people egos. Years ago, I was at a indoor range. I had a single ported comp 45 ACP 1911 on the bench. This guys walks in, I unload my gun and walk back, to let him setup. He looks over, sees the thing. Went on, how hes not gonna setup by me. So he setups far away from me. So we are shooting, he has his target at like 5M, hes shooting, and hes struggling. Changing his grips, stance etc. I walk over, and say. I see that your struggling, with finding a comfortable grip and stance. Lets find you a grip and stance that works the best. Hes like I don't need to and actually starts to packs his bags.

 

[mactroneng]

Thanks you all!

I have had a member here reach out to be and hopefully I can meet with him soon for some instruction/coaching.

 

[pirate604]

Thanks you all!

I have had a member here reach out to be and hopefully I can meet with him soon for some instruction/coaching.

Glad to hear it, let us know how it goes.

 

[hannibal.black98]

How many of you actually shoot pistols with 2 eyes open...I can do it for close range, shooting fast and instinctively while aiming for center mass...like if you were jumped...but I find shooting both eyes open with anything BUT a red dot is next to impossible...blurry, go crossed eyed, double vision, ect. ect.

 

[jimbo14]

Thanks you all!

I have had a member here reach out to be and hopefully I can meet with him soon for some instruction/coaching.

Fantastic! Getting some good eyeballs on your technique can really shorten the learning curve.

How many of you actually shoot pistols with 2 eyes open...I can do it for close range, shooting fast and instinctively while aiming for center mass...like if you were jumped...but I find shooting both eyes open with anything BUT a red dot is next to impossible...blurry, go crossed eyed, double vision, ect. ect.

One eye for me. My eyes are messed up. Cross dominance issue with other stuff mixed in. Much easier for me if I close my non-dominant eye.

 

[mactroneng]

One eye for me. My eyes are messed up. Cross dominance issue with other stuff mixed in. Much easier for me if I close my non-dominant eye.

I also shoot one-eye open due to similar issues, I hadn't consider this an issue as it's not uncommon to shoot rifles with a single eye open... but this may be part of my issue.

(Although, I can still shoot revolvers much better than semi-autos, as proved to myself once again last night... had a unusually bad night with my 22 pistol (with red dot) and managed to shoot better groups with a S&W 500 with irons at the same distance)

 

[sidester]

How many of you actually shoot pistols with 2 eyes open...I can do it for close range, shooting fast and instinctively while aiming for center mass...like if you were jumped...but I find shooting both eyes open with anything BUT a red dot is next to impossible...blurry, go crossed eyed, double vision, ect. ect.

I do. With some rifles & shotguns too. Only when I shoot left hand (I am right handed) with rifles I close the right eye.
Practice & repetition it is all there is to it, for me in that case.

 

[jimbo14]

Take a magazine, and mix up live ammo with dummy ammo.

Put a target at 5 yds, with a small bullseye (1-2" black circle, on white background). Even a Sharpie will work well.

Do what BC Rider said above about grip, (watch that video, and/or this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJrA7wMXuuQ ), and focus on your sight picture, so the FSP is super clear. The RSP and target will be a little blurry.

Focus on a smooth trigger pull. Take your time, even if it takes a few seconds to build up enough pressure for the trigger to break. It should surprise you when the gun goes off.

When you encounter the dummy round, the gun won't go bang, but the gun shouldn't move, either. It should stay motionless as it goes "click". If it moves in some direction, the bullet would have gone someplace other than the bullseye. This is the "flinch" people talk about and what you want to deal with early in your shooting, otherwise you'll be dealing with it for years to come.

Each time you flinch, I want you to pause. Gather yourself mentally, and focus on isolating that trigger finger. Repeat the process of a smooth, slow, deliberate, trigger pull. Train your brain so it gets used to the explosion 2 feet from your face, and that it shouldn't worry about it.

 

[Brutus]

I taught my nephew and two daughters to shoot 22 pistol half decent enough they could punch paper at ten yards with a two hand hold of course.
I am fairly convinced it is about three times harder becoming proficient with a handgun versus rifle.

Once they mastered sight picture and breathing, it's all about that trigger.

Straight back straight back straight back...

I literally get them to repeat these words as they take up first squeeze.

Good luck....

 

[Moodie]

How many of you actually shoot pistols with 2 eyes open...I can do it for close range, shooting fast and instinctively while aiming for center mass...like if you were jumped...but I find shooting both eyes open with anything BUT a red dot is next to impossible...blurry, go crossed eyed, double vision, ect. ect.

I’ve been shooting with both eyes open since I got my first pellet gun 45 years ago. It always felt more natural to me. I’m left handed and have always been strongly left eye dominant. These days I have diabetic macular edema. The dominant left eye is still 20/20. But a small patch about the size of a loonie held a foot away from the right eye, right at the point of focus, is severely distorted. With crisp vision outside that patch. That right eye regularly tests around 20/70 - 20/80. But with both eyes open I’m so strongly left eye dominant I don’t notice the right eye mess.

 

[Johnny Favorite]

delete

 

[Gundoggy]

Taking professional courses was the best investment I made to improve my skills. At the time I took the courses I used an HK with an LEM trigger with a longer take up and reset. That forced me to focus on fundamentals that could then be easily applied to the much easier SAO triggers.

 

[AxialLoading]

Flinching/compensating for the recoil was a bigger thing than I realized. My range safety instructor was helping me out, I was consistently was having a low to the left grouping. To show me how I was shooting, he loaded my pistol for me and told me that he put only one round in there and to focus and shoot again. I aimed and pulled the trigger exactly how I was previously doing and nothing happened. He didn't load anything in it but I instinctively flinched as I pulled the trigger pulling my gun down. It was then I realized exactly how much I was actually doing it. That helped me a lot to improve. Learning to shoot with both eyes open was tricky for me but you'll get the hang of it with more practice. Grip and trigger follow through and reset is important as well as others have posted in greater detail.

Hope this helps

 

[Butcherbill]

Thanks for all the advice guys, I will look into it.

Any thoughts as to why I seem to be having so many more problems with this semi-auto gun than my revolvers?

Different grip and trigger most likely, as well as the combat hold for the sights. I can see how going from a 6 o’clock hold to a combat hold might throw you off.

How many of you actually shoot pistols with 2 eyes open...I can do it for close range, shooting fast and instinctively while aiming for center mass...like if you were jumped...but I find shooting both eyes open with anything BUT a red dot is next to impossible...blurry, go crossed eyed, double vision, ect. ect.

I shoot pretty much everything except my scoped rifles with both eyes open, pistols and shotguns especially. Once you get used to it there’s no going back, I’ve been trying to do it more with a scope while I’m shooting from a bench.

 

[easyrider604]

Got my first 9mm a little while ago, a Girsan Regard MC, and I cannot for the life of me shoot the damn thing straight, only putting maybe half (give or take) my shots on an 11x17 paper at 20 yards. I can place all shots in a largish (say 6") group on a benchrest reliably with it. Also had this issue with a couple other guns I've tried (9mm and 45 ACP). I've put maybe 100 rounds through the new gun, plus a a dozen or so mags through other guns I've tried in the last 6 months.

I am by no means a good shot (wouldn't go as far to call myself half-decent) but I can put revolvers in the target rings pretty reliably at 20 yards with 6 o'clock sights and small-profile (for lack of a better term) fiber-optic combat sights, and I can get a pretty decent group with a 22 semi-auto pistol with a red dot sight.

Is it just a "need more practice" thing, or is there something I should be looking out for? I know I can flinch sometimes but I've been trying to work on it and I assume if that was my only problem I'd be doing just as bad with revolvers and the 22 pistol.

Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

By combat sight, I assume you mean this sight picture. It is very difficult to achieve precise hits with this sight picture because your front sight covers your target and you are basically "guessing" your point of impact.

 

[easyrider604]

I would suggest trying this sight picture, where the front sight is proud of the rear sight, and use a 6 oclock hold on target. See where your point of impact will be.
With this hold, you can at least see your target and hopefully your point of impact.

This is also a faster sight picture to acquire.