wheelgun_fan
Inactive
Folks,
I've always loved guns, and I'm finally saving up to be able to get my first handgun, but the love is culture-, and not experience-, driven. I'd recently decided to either get the GP-100 or the 686; I just wanted to shoot a few hundred rounds with both to make up my mind.
Here's my problem: I'm apparently awful at shooting, so much so that I'm rethinking whether I should even buy a gun. Well, lemme be more specific. I'm a total newbie at shooting. I've shot before a couple of times with a 10-shot .22 revolver, and that went reasonably well for a novice shooter: lots of 8's and 9's, with a maximum of a 6-inch spread at almost 20 yards when shooting once every two seconds, shooting only SA. So I decided yesterday to step up to trying the GP-100 with 100 rounds of 38spl, just so I could get started with a getting a feel for a real thing.
It was a total letdown. I shot at 1-foot-diameter targets from 5 and 10 yards, all SA, all with taking my time, doing everything I could think of the right way: strong, high grip; weaver stance, wrists locked, body at 45 to the target; front sight locked in, rear sight at same height and with even distance between rear posts and front sight; controlled breathing; even trigger pull, with no sign of flinching when dry-firing. Virtually every shot I fired was low and left of the target. Even at 5 yards, my best shooting was a 4-inch group, with the best shot about an inch below the X-ring, and the worst about 5 inches down and low. At 10 yards, most of my shots were in 6- or 8-inch groups, with the closest shot in each group being probably 2 inches from the X-ring, and the worst close to the bottom left edge of the target. However, I had a lot of 2-bullet 1-inch groupings, so whatever I'm doing, I'm doing reasonably consistently.
I confirmed it wasn't the gun's sights that were the problem: I could hit the X-ring at 10 yards if I used the bench as a rest, and the guy running the range hit a 3-bullet 1-inch group an inch from the X-ring at 10 yards shooting isoceles just to put my mind at rest that it was my incompetence at fault.
I know I'm essentially a first-time shooter, and thus shouldn't get dejected about such things, but it's difficult not to get frustrated. I've read a lot about shooting correctly, and I think I'm doing everything right. I'd hire someone to help me, but I honestly don't have the money, and I have a feeling they'd want to teach me how to shoot according to their own style, instead of telling me what I'm doing wrong with mine.
So, before I go burn more money at the range getting frustrated, I figured I'd ask you guys for suggestions and advice: is there something obvious that I'm doing wrong, or that I should try? Any comments would be helpful.
Thanks!
I've always loved guns, and I'm finally saving up to be able to get my first handgun, but the love is culture-, and not experience-, driven. I'd recently decided to either get the GP-100 or the 686; I just wanted to shoot a few hundred rounds with both to make up my mind.
Here's my problem: I'm apparently awful at shooting, so much so that I'm rethinking whether I should even buy a gun. Well, lemme be more specific. I'm a total newbie at shooting. I've shot before a couple of times with a 10-shot .22 revolver, and that went reasonably well for a novice shooter: lots of 8's and 9's, with a maximum of a 6-inch spread at almost 20 yards when shooting once every two seconds, shooting only SA. So I decided yesterday to step up to trying the GP-100 with 100 rounds of 38spl, just so I could get started with a getting a feel for a real thing.
It was a total letdown. I shot at 1-foot-diameter targets from 5 and 10 yards, all SA, all with taking my time, doing everything I could think of the right way: strong, high grip; weaver stance, wrists locked, body at 45 to the target; front sight locked in, rear sight at same height and with even distance between rear posts and front sight; controlled breathing; even trigger pull, with no sign of flinching when dry-firing. Virtually every shot I fired was low and left of the target. Even at 5 yards, my best shooting was a 4-inch group, with the best shot about an inch below the X-ring, and the worst about 5 inches down and low. At 10 yards, most of my shots were in 6- or 8-inch groups, with the closest shot in each group being probably 2 inches from the X-ring, and the worst close to the bottom left edge of the target. However, I had a lot of 2-bullet 1-inch groupings, so whatever I'm doing, I'm doing reasonably consistently.
I confirmed it wasn't the gun's sights that were the problem: I could hit the X-ring at 10 yards if I used the bench as a rest, and the guy running the range hit a 3-bullet 1-inch group an inch from the X-ring at 10 yards shooting isoceles just to put my mind at rest that it was my incompetence at fault.
I know I'm essentially a first-time shooter, and thus shouldn't get dejected about such things, but it's difficult not to get frustrated. I've read a lot about shooting correctly, and I think I'm doing everything right. I'd hire someone to help me, but I honestly don't have the money, and I have a feeling they'd want to teach me how to shoot according to their own style, instead of telling me what I'm doing wrong with mine.
So, before I go burn more money at the range getting frustrated, I figured I'd ask you guys for suggestions and advice: is there something obvious that I'm doing wrong, or that I should try? Any comments would be helpful.
Thanks!