adjusting my aim

[tlarkin]

Hi everyone,

I have fired many hand guns over the years but I haven't owned my own personal gun until recently. I bought my first hand gun a few weeks ago, a Ruger P89 9mm. It fires well, and I have fired over 600 rounds with it so far. My problem is, I tend to aim low with it at the range. I noticed this that when I aim for the chest of a silhouette target I typically hit their stomach, when I aim for the head I typically hit the chest.

Any tips to help straighten out my aim?

[billy]

aim high!

[texnmidwest]

Do you have adjustable sights for elevation or are they fixed?

[two-70]

might have to contact ruger and get a different site

[tlarkin]

as far as i can tell they are fixed. I think it may be due to my posture. I am just not sure????

[Palladin8]

You could have someone else try shooting it and see what happens when they shoot it. If they have the same results then you could replace the sight. Or you could (not that I am recommending it) file the front sight down a little to raise your point of aim.
Scott

[DWARREN123]

What grain bullets and what type of ammo? If you are shooting 115 gr then try a heavier bullet and see how that works for you. Having someone else shoot your pistol is another good idea to make sure it's not you.
Make sure of your sight alignment and sight picture.

[samuel]

Try snapcaps or dry firing and see if the sights go way off target when you fire.If they do it is you. sam.

[texnmidwest]

I agree with Sam. Try the snap caps first. Or just find an empty hull and put it into the chamber. Dry fire it a couple times and see what happens to the sight picture when the hammer falls.

When I first started shooting pistols in my early teens I was always shooting high and to the right. I tried this trick and it corrected what I was doing wrong!

[tlarkin]

My friend fired it and seemed to be a bit more accurate than I.

Excuse me for my ignorance but what exactly is dry firing?

Also, I was shooting cheaper ammo, winchester 9mm luger rounds in the bulk 100 round boxes. They are half the cost of the bullets at the range.

My co-worker was telling me if I am serious about shooting I should load my own ammo and it would increase my accuracy and reduce the recoil, is that true?

I am not sure I am at the level of loading ammo, however I do have experience loading ammo. My uncle is a gun collector and his hobby was buying really old beat up WWI and WWII guns and restoring them. When I was a kid I used to load shotgun and handgun munitions in his basement with him. Of course that was like 18 years ago or something like that.

[nighthawk80]

Dry firing is basically shooting your gun without any ammo. You triple make sure that you gun is not loaded then you go through the process of shooting. It will tell you if you have the correct grip, pushing or pulling the trigger. etc. Alot of people prefer to use snap caps (plastic inert ammo that has a metal rim and primer) or an already fired shell to keep the firing pin from hitting thin air. It can cause problems on some guns.

[tlarkin]

OK, so when i dry fire it I am looking for anything I am doing wrong, like twitching or in my case, dropping my hand down a bit?

I have tried gripping the gun many different ways too. I guess I will just need to get used to it, even though I have already fired 600+ rounds with it. I may go shooting again tonight after work, depends on if I get a chance to or not.

[Wingwiper]

You are jerking the trigger and pulling the weapon down as you fire it. SLOW steady trigger pressure.

Put a sand bag under it and then lay a web belt over is and a sand bag on both sides to hold it down snug. NOW aim and shoot and see where it hits. If at that point you get the same results get a shorter front sight. Are you holding the front sight even with the top of the rear???

If it is not the weapon but you, then try the two hand grip. Just do a google for visuals on the grips.

[tlarkin]

Originally Posted by Wingwiper

You are jerking the trigger and pulling the weapon down as you fire it. SLOW steady trigger pressure.

Put a sand bag under it and then lay a web belt over is and a sand bag on both sides to hold it down snug. NOW aim and shoot and see where it hits. If at that point you get the same results get a shorter front sight. Are you holding the front sight even with the top of the rear???

If it is not the weapon but you, then try the two hand grip. Just do a google for visuals on the grips.

Yes, I am holding it so the front and rear sights make a line with their dots.

I think my grip may not be tight enough, I think im going shooting in a few hours after work I will try out some new grip handling and see what happens.

Thanks for the advice.

[Wingwiper]

Originally Posted by tlarkin

Yes, I am holding it so the front and rear sights make a line with their dots.

I think my grip may not be tight enough, I think im going shooting in a few hours after work I will try out some new grip handling and see what happens.

Thanks for the advice.

I always had a hard time with hand guns, something that DID work for me is a two hand grip and then I would twist my wrists so they would lock and the weapon would actually be from 10 to 4 instead of 12 to 6. see if that helps BUT make sure you are pulling the trigger straight back and with steady pressure, don't be snapping or jerking, that will pull the muzzle downward.

Good Luck and enjoy

[texnmidwest]

Yes, please let us know how you did shooting tonight. Dry firing really helped me get on target. I also, experimented and found a "funky" grip angle with my 45 that got me on target. I forced the heel of the pistol into the web of my stong hand and wrapped my hand tightly around the grip making sure that the line down my forearm was straight with the centerline of the sights. Then I wrapped my trigger finger snugly around the trigger when I was ready to fire. I was working the trigger with the second joint on my finger. Not textbook but was good enough to win sodas from my shooting buddies for a couple weeks. With practice I learned to control my 45 and now have a more conventional grip.

Keep shooting and the bullseyes will come! Besides practice is great fun!

[tlarkin]

I shot a lot better this time, and I even hit several bullseyes. This was about at 35 feet distance or so. I changed my grip like how you would climb a pole. Its firm and even all around and I squeezed with even pressure. I also with my off hand now grip right under the trigger to force the gun to stay level in case I was dropping a bit when I was squeezing the trigger.

I still think I am aiming a tad bit low but overall I did see a decent improvement. I am using cheap bulk ammo though too, which I am told also makes a difference.

[Wingwiper]

Originally Posted by tlarkin

I shot a lot better this time, and I even hit several bullseyes. This was about at 35 feet distance or so. I changed my grip like how you would climb a pole. Its firm and even all around and I squeezed with even pressure. I also with my off hand now grip right under the trigger to force the gun to stay level in case I was dropping a bit when I was squeezing the trigger.

I still think I am aiming a tad bit low but overall I did see a decent improvement. I am using cheap bulk ammo though too, which I am told also makes a difference.

Welcome to the Great Sport of Shooting and Learning.
I would highly suggest if you plan on taking the sport seriously is to do some Googling and reading. Don't Always do what the fella beside you is doing, he may be ignorant and doing it wrong.
Once you get the position, learn the sight picture and practice, practice, practice.
Competetion is 17 to 25 meters, so use that for reference.
I would NOT worry about how many Bulls eyes you are hitting but would be far more concerned about your GROUP. Once you are able to shoot a tight group then there are steps that can be taken to get the group centered. Get the group first. When I say that I say that with the hopes you have already aquiered a good sight picture, good trigger squeeze and good all around basics. Watch the tv shows on the outdoor channel and watch the experts. While at home, hold your gun, fondle it, make love to it and handle it as much as possible, get it to be a familiar feeling in your hands and not a strange feeling that you have to wrestle with. Another thing. NO MIND GAMES.

Good Luck and good shooting

[tlarkin]

well to demonstrate my improvement, each target was shot at with around 75 rounds

my initial grip



my adjusted grip



The pics are kinda crappy, taken with the built in camera on my mac. I definitely do have a grouping, slightly low and to the right.

thanks for the advice

[texnmidwest]

I do see the improvements! Congrats! Wingwiper has some great suggestions. The more you handle and dry fire your weapon the more comfortable it will become and the more accurate you will be. Plus, it is just a whole lot of fun to fondle firearms. Sometimes I go into my basement and watch TV playing with one of my pistols. I come by it honestly. When I was a kid my Dad shot bullseye competition with 45s. It was not unusual for him to sit in front of the TV late at night and dry fire his 45 at a curio in the book case. He was a very good shot. I am just sorry he quit before I was old enough to shoot with him. We did do a lot of shooting and hunting together but never the competition. But still some very fond memories.