Consistency?

D

Drawdown

Inactive
I've been shooting my Taurus Mod 96 a lot lately trying to get ready to try it this fall on squirrels. It's done proved itself very well of great accuracy, and I've shot plenty of groups @ 25yds 1 1/4", and some well under 1" with the open sights. But it's nothing for the next 6 to be 2" or more and when so they are often very high. I've done plenty ammo tests and have settled on Eley SS HP's, so it's not the ammo. I've experimented with clean vs dirty barrel & chambers, not having drawn any real conclusion on this, other than a clean barrel with a foul shots seems to be best. I've even marked the cylinder's always starting @ #1 and don't see any real difference in them.

I've never been a really dedicated pistol shot but have shot rifles, especially 22's all my life and open sight squirrel hunting or scopes I've done all my life. What I'm asking is answers for more consistent accuracy. I believe it's me not the pistol, probably the grip. But the challenge of it I truly enjoy!
 
1. I've done plenty ammo tests
2. I've experimented with clean vs dirty barrel & chambers
3. I've even marked the cylinder's always starting @ #1 and don't see any real difference in them
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Okay, I'm out. But I'm interested in what some of the others here will say.

I'll just add that what you've done, especially number 3, IMhO shows a lot of resourcefulness in trying to ferret out the problem.
 
I think it's you because I'm the same way. I try to shoot a little every day since I can just open my garage door and shoot whenever I want. Using the same gun with the same ammo shooting at the same target, I am far better some days than others. Worse than that, I might start shooting and be pretty accurate and later I am terrible.

I've decided I need to learn to more accurately shoot my new mini-compact 380 so I am shooting 2 magazines (12 shots) per day until I am more consistent.
 
Well, I can't offer any practical advice since the only thing consistent about my shooting is that I consistently miss, but I had one of those Taurus 96 revolvers and really liked it.

Good gun.

Enjoy yours.
 
How are you stabilizing the gun for the trials? Sand bags? Ransom rest?

My demon on this topic is my "eagerness" to press the trigger. Sometimes :rolleyes: I get to yanking and jerking it like milking a cow. Then other times, when I grab a mag with a snap cap buried in it, the gun just jerks down on it's own :eek:.

Microscopic differences in grip, sight, focus, triggering action and attention can move point of impact a lot. But YMMV as they say.
 
I've just always preferred to rest the butt of the handle on something, and when I'm practicing on targets I rest it on a small sandbag. I've experimented some with a barrel rest but I do better with the butt rest. Being a long time rifle shooter, something touching the barrel, even a finger is a no-no. But I see other pistol shooters using a barrel rest?

Maybe the kind of consistency I'm seeking, comparing pistol's with rifles, is beyond my capability? I believe all the micro differences do add up to big misses!
 
How many shots in a group? Maybe the problem is you're shooting so few shots in a group that each group isn't really representative of the gun/ammo combination.
 
Usually 6 but sometimes up to 20. With open sights I'd consider a consistent 4or 5 out of 6 shots that group well a very good average showing normal human error on my part normal, especially with a handgun. But when I put all 6 inside 1 1/2" and then the next 6 barely 2 1/2", then I've done something totally different, but it's always something that I can't recognize?
 
It's very refreshing to hear someone realizing that accuracy begins with the shooter, instead of blaming the gun, the sights, the weather or their Mother-in-Law.
You'll figure it out, no question.
 
Drawdown said:
But when I put all 6 inside 1 1/2" and then the next 6 barely 2 1/2", then I've done something totally different, but it's always something that I can't recognize?
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Some groups are going to be smaller than the average group you can consistently deliver. Some are going to be bigger. As one improves, their average gets smaller, but the spread between the smaller-than-average and larger-than-average groups gets smaller, too. IOW, the group size gets more consistent.

The more you shoot, the more fine nuances you begin to notice and can start applying consistently.

Right now, it sounds like you have the skill to shoot 1 1/2", but not consistently. The real issue is what you're able to do consistently, so here's a "thought experiment": Imagine you're competing in a target event where the winner shoots the smallest group. But here's the catch - you have to "call" your group beforehand, and if you shoot a group smaller than that, you're eliminated from the match. Would you call 1 1/2"? If you did, you wouldn't likely get DQd, but if 1 1/2" isn't what you can do consistently, you make it easier for others to beat you. What would you call? ;)
 
I have just a couple of little things that hold true for me. Coffee if I have a cup before shooting my group will grow. And landing my finger tip on the trigger if I miss by the smallest amount I'm off just a little and the group will open. So watch your diet for something that may affect your group and work on finger placement. Good luck
 
Usually 6 but sometimes up to 20.
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I don't have a quick solution but I would start eliminating variables.

Standardize as many things as possible starting with the following:

  • Distance
  • Aiming point/target style
  • Group shot count
  • Shooting technique

Start logging information with the groups you shoot.

Keep track of conditions such as wind, light conditions, lighting direction, temperature, noise levels, distractions, anything that might affect your shooting.

Log information such as number of shots fired since last cleaning, a rough assessment of the barrel temperature (hot, cold, warm), anything else about the gun that might change over time.

Make sure that your ammo is being used/handled consistently. For example, don't let it sit in the sun where it might heat up.

I can't guarantee that this will solve your problem with this particular gun, but I think that it could help you become a more consistent shooter as you begin to understand how various factors affect you, the ammunition and the gun.
 
Like I said in the 1st post, I've never really been a dedicated pistol shooter, but now I'm trying to do so. I'm no compeitition shooter, but it's one of the most important pursuits in my personal life. I'm 56 and have been a squirrel hunter since I can remember. Almost everywhere I went when I was a kid I had a pellet gun, various types, pump up to CO2 compeitition 22 caliber with quality sights. Even today nothing gives me the satisfaction that looking down (Drawdown) open sights and taking a squirrel with one well placed shot! I don't get into trying to kill #'s but just truly enjoy hunting and making each shot count, that's what I enjoy the most about it! Practicing for the hunting is what gives me the drive to do plenty of serious target shooting with my 22 rifles.
Now I'm getting interested in trying it with a handgun, so for me practice is now important, and consistency, to a certain degree mandatory. What degree of consistency is possible for me is why I turned to you'll, and am glad I did, cause you'll are obviously very interested in helping! Rifle's I know about but pistols, well?? Thanks very much, this is already turned out to be a helpful thread, hopefully helpful to others!

When I go shooting I've got the best shooting range in the world. I load onto my Honda ATV at my back door and ride aprox 7 miles into these mountains of SE Ky. to a place that's safe, so secluded I think I'm the only person in the world, and usually spring thru fall in the early morning hours anyways, a dead to very little wind. Concentration, scenery, and enjoyment comes easy!

The things I've learned from rifle shooting to be most important? Naturally the wind, but usually for my case not a factor, so when I do shoot in a wind I see the effects of it very well.
Target type is as important as any other variable, especially shooting open sights. A definite POA to give a consistent POI is a must, especially again with open sights past 40 yds, and I shoot out to 150 meters and am going to move that out to 200 this year.
Consistent hold and rest is much easier with a rifle, but the little things still matter all the same, especially past 50 meters!
And coffee most definitely! I'm always out right after daylight, having eaten and taken in plenty of coffee, I love it! I'm hyper and excited then anyways, so I naturally have to settle into my shooting. But this duplicates exactly my condition and circumstances of an early morning squirrel hunt, so I have to overcome them, not do away with, but wouldn't change a thing I enjoy it so much!
Last but not least and probably the single most important is light. It took me a lotta years to get this one in my thick skull, but light, the amount, angle, shadows of dark and light, all make so much difference! How we see the target is determined by how the light brings it to us, and again the type of target comes into play on this one!

You'll have already pointed out all these factors, but now I've got to apply them to pistol shooting, and at close range they're still important, even tougher shoting a handgun. I may only kill a few squirrels with my pistol before my days are up, but the learning trip to achieve it is what makes it so rewarding, and something I love even more now than I did when I's 10 years old drawing down them sights of my pellet rifles! You'll stay with me!
 
There's one big difference in shooting handguns rather than rifles.
The wobbles.
Handgun shooting, by its very nature, makes it harder to be consistent.
Especially when holding and aiming too long, trying for that perfect shot.
I find that, much like archery, taking too much time for each shot can introduce those counter productive wobbles.
When the sight picture looks right, take the shot.
Betcha' accuracy from shot to shot improves.
 
You're 100% correct G.W.! I shot a longbow most of my life, instinctive shooter. Practicing with rifle or handgun leads to a type of instinctive aiming in the field, especially hunting with open sights, that I often can't even remember using the sights!
 
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