shooting low

L

ltc444

New member
Problem: Son shoots low.

Background: My Son purchased a Remington 1911. We took it out for the first time. Initially he sot all over the place. We worked on some basics, checked his grip and gripping. I shot the pistol and put 5 in the black.

Next I tryed him on a basic Ruger MkII. He shot low on it as well. His groups were excellent. Next I got my target Model Ruger adjusted elevation up six clicks. His next groups were all in the X ring.

My questions are:

Is there a solution to the problem from shooters point of view?

Not being knowledgable with the Remington GI replica 1911 are the sights adjustable.

Is there a gunSmith in Santa Fe who can assiste him.

From my own experience I know that some pistols do not shoot right in the hands of some shooters. I had a Colt Trooper which I could never get on target. My fellow shooters chould shoot it perfectly. My solution was to trade it off and get my DW.

He is going to ask me for my advice and I wish to have some answers.
 
Almost every handgun I have ever fired initially shot high. It is just the way I let a gun recoil.

If he is shooting consistent groups but they are just low what I would do is either install adjustable sights (this is what I prefer) or get a lower front sight or taller rear.

I dislike having a gun that I need to take a weird sight picture, I prefer to modify the sights to where I can take a more normal picture.

This may not have helped but fixing sights is usually not a hard project and very rewarding to say "I did that myself!"
 
I would guess he is flinching/diving on the gun. you "load" the gun and hand it to him when you are at the range but when I say "load" it you say you put one in the chamber but dont. When he takes his shot you watch the gun and you will see him pull the trigger and flinch waiting on the recoil this will tell you what you want to know.

Alot of dry fire will help get the pull right then you will see him hit x or high for the first few shots then the rounds will drop again.

Just need more dry fire time and more .45 rounds down range..
 
Thanks for the comments.

We did ball and dummy. He shot consistently low with the 45 and 22. The groups were tight.

I think adjustable sights are the answer.

The remington has the 3 dot system. I find that I do not shoot consistent groups with dots.

Once again thanks for the thoughts.
 
Back in the 50&60s when working with 1911s. We Sometimes would Stake a 1/4 inch steel flat as a front site. Then as the shooter would shoot the gun behind the shop we woulf file the front site, just a little at a time.
when the pistol would shoot right where the customer wanted it to, we would then polisf the site and blue the pistol. A lot of gold cup shooters wanted fixed sites so point of inpact could not change, unless a hard hit or being droped.
If you have a large front site and a number 2 flast bastard you can do it just finish it off with 600 grit wet/dry paper to polish and then just spot it with cold blue.
 
breaking wrist down,pushing forward or dropping head are usually the causes . if you shoot on target then it is not the gun
 
He could be anticipating recoil thus pushing down (shooting low) and if the sights on the G.I. are like the old sights then at best leave much to be desired for sight picture
 
My adjustable sights tend to cause others to have a higher POI than I do, I'm not flinching...it's just the way my eyes work. I shoot both eyes open. So with my fixed sight firarms if I have a low POI, I'll use lower velocity rounds and that will usually solve the problem.
If he's grouping is tight and consistent, he could have the front sight lowered a bit...but I'd try different ammo first. I handload so it's easier to match the round to the gun.
 
Could be recoil anticipation. If he is shooting a tight group to, it my be a sight alignment issue. Make sure he isn’t burying the front sight and see if "equal height/equal light" doesn’t fix it!
 
Sight picture

It sounds to me like a sight picture issue and can be corrected by purchasing custom sights by a manufacturer such as Dawson Precision.

Many will argue you should correct the shooter and I would agree for right or left but when it comes to up or down why not customize the pistol so that the shooter is comfortable using their natural sight picture. Here is a video with Dave Dawson, he is explaining how to install his sights but he gives a lot of information you may find helpful about custom sights. I would recommend you go to a competent gunsmith for the installation.

This is an excerpt directly from Dawson's web sight.
"If you purchase a set of Perfect Impact(R) sights directly from Dawson Precision (DP front and DP rear only), we guarantee that your pistol will zero. If it does not, we will give you a new front sight at the proper height free of charge so that it will. If we do not currently offer the height you need, we will make one for you as long as the requested width is already available for your pistol model."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=do8sHBDfIGk

Best of luck,
Jim
 
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Itc444:

If you are shooting tight groups that are off center then you are doing something right. Flinching, pulling the trigger or poor sight alignment results in scattered shots not groups. A pistol bullet is still in the bore during recoil and bullet bore time is a critical factor in vertical bullet strikes: the longer the bullet is in the bore during recoil the higher that it hits on target. A loose grip on the pistol will let the pistol rise higher than a firm grip. This is controlled by developing a uniform grip. It is obvious that two people won't have the same grip and that the bullet leaves the bore in a higher or lower position.

Adjustable sights are the answer.

Semper Fi.

Gunnery sergeant
Clifford L. Hughes
USMC Retired
 
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