I suck with my Glock

[scottka]

Here's what you do (while you're waiting to get some training):
Get some snap caps and randomly distribute them with your live ammo in your magazines. Then go to the range and fire away. When you hit a snap cap instead of a live round, laugh at yourself as you fling the barrel of the gun downwards in anticipation of the recoil that didn't come. Practice malfunction drill with snap cap. Rinse, repeat.

THIS, THIS, THIS!!! I preach it all of the time! This will humble nearly any shooter. Even better, have a buddy load a snap cap or two somewhere in a magazine, but don't let you know where it is. Then begin firing. You'll know when you hit the snap cap because your front sight will disappear behind your rear sights. Like Nike said, Just Do It!!!

 

[nomadicmutt]

And with the glock I know I have a tendency to kinda pull it all at once and there's probably some recoil anticipation in there too, but what drove me nuts was when I gathered myself and just told myself to slow down and pull slowly, slowly add more pressure until like a previous poster put it, I'm taken by surprise by the shot, and it's STILL low. Then as I mentioned earlier every once in a while I'd have just a perfect shot, which told me that I am capable of shooting well with it, I've just got a subconscious mental block of some sort.

It's unfortunate, but no amount of mental focus will keep you from flinching unless you compliment your amazing mental focus with physical practice to get your muscles in line with your brain.

If thinking really hard about something changed your muscle memory, I'd totally be Neo by now.

Trust me (the random guy on the internet). Try the snap cap practice (I don't have any .40's or I'd loan you some) and the slow dry fire drills. If that doesn't help diagnose or even fix the problem, I'll... I'll... I'll post a picture of me eating my hat.

so there.

 

[jumbopanda]

I think that proper training can make you proficient with any firearm. Sure, it's tempting to try and take the easy way out by buying different guns and trying to find one that points more naturally or feels better in your hand. But really, you can't call yourself a marksman if you are only able to shoot one specific firearm. Personally, I love Glocks. 1911s are okay, and Beretta 92s feel fat and bulky to me. Yet, I can shoot pretty much the same sized groups with all of them. Now, I'm not saying that you shouldn't look for a gun that you're comfortable with, just that you should put more focus on practicing and getting the fundamentals down.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

It may be the grip angle. I have to work harder to be good with a Glock than with a revolver or a 1911, its just not as natural to me. You might be in the same boat. You can overcome this with training, as others have said, but frankly if you aren't being forced by policy to carry a Glock shoot what you feel most comfortable with. You'll never be sorry you trained and practiced with a weapon that felt natural in your hand.

 

[churchmouse]

THIS, THIS, THIS!!! I preach it all of the time! This will humble nearly any shooter. Even better, have a buddy load a snap cap or two somewhere in a magazine, but don't let you know where it is. Then begin firing. You'll know when you hit the snap cap because your front sight will disappear behind your rear sights. Like Nike said, Just Do It!!!

This will work^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Good idea.
As stated above, some guns just seem natural in a shooters hand and some do not. I prefer the 1911 as it fits me and my "Rock Ape" shooting style. I can use a Glock but the transition takes a few mags to assimilate due to the trigger and grip angle.

 

[davedolli]

I am also a 1911 shooter, and had problems with a Glock. I had a G19 and struggled with it, and sold it. I later bought another G19 and practiced more until I could shoot it the way I wanted to. I like My G19 and am glad I took the time to be able to shoot it well, but will always be a 1911 guy.

Dave

 

[khangoc]

Trust me (the random guy on the internet). Try the snap cap practice (I don't have any .40's or I'd loan you some) and the slow dry fire drills.

so there.

To OP, you said your bother shoots better with it, which means that you must go shooting w/ him. If you don't have snapcaps, brass casing works just as well. Just have him load your mags w/ a few real rounds and some empty casings = poor man's snap cap drill.

I'm using #3, that's what I was trying to describe earlier. Wouldn't #2 just make me shoot even lower though?

Referring to the 3 sight pictures: Firstly, your 7 yard distance is not significant enough to make "that" much of a difference between point of aim and point of impact. Secondly, it's [generally] a good idea to stick with sight picture 2 (front sight bisecting the target) on any firearm. Thirdly, factory Glock sights are typically dialed in to shoot ~2" HIGH (within reasonable margin of error) at 25 meters from point of aim. Meaning that if you kept sight picture 2 at 25yards and negated any human error, your hole should be ~2" above bullseye. Hope that helps.

 

[scottka]

To OP, you said your bother shoots better with it, which means that you must go shooting w/ him. If you don't have snapcaps, brass casing works just as well. Just have him load your mags w/ a few real rounds and some empty casings = poor man's snap cap drill.

Hmm... Never tried that. I guess I always assumed they wouldn't feed well or at all. If that really works, that's a great idea for someone who doesn't have or doesn't want to buy snap caps.

 

[Double T]

Are the sights the same? Stock rear height and potentially a +1 front? Measure em and compare to what the 9mm/40 are supposed to be.

 

[Glock21]

Where is a good place to get some inexpensive training on topics like this?

We have an Inrto to Defensive Pistol Class scheduled for Nov 3 in Rochester, IN.

Cost is $135

 

[Glock21]

To everyone here, this whole "missing" thing is WAY overthunk.

Shooting is about self-control. Controling the urge to shoot with a convulsion - a flinch.

We all have one, and much like diabetes it will never be cured. However, we can manage it.

We have 4 points we are aligning in a straight line when making a shot: Our eye, the rear sight, the front sight and the target. If any one of those 4 things is out of alignment when the shot breaks, we will miss. It's just that simple.

So, if we are missing, something is moving, and that is usually a direct result of our own inability to control ourselves as we are pressing the trigger. Every handgun I've ever met is more "accurate" than I am - it's RARELY the guns fault that the operator is missing, regardless of anything Brownell's might try to sell you to "fix" your problem.

The human brain cannot focus on two things at once, and when we are shooting we need to do two things: Align our sights and press the trigger. So, you can only know one of two things when making a shot: 1) Where your sights are aligned 2) When your trigger will break.

Which would you rather know?

Personally, I want to know where the sights are. Because of that, I have to ignore my natural instinct to predict when the gun will fire and try to compensate the recoil. I have to ignore the trigger break and let the gun do what it does, all-the-while focusing on my sights.

Those who cannot exercise self-control will never make hits.

 

[ddb40]

Handgun shooting is 80+ % trigger control. I have a class this coming Sunday (October 28th) at 2:00 PM. It's the basic handgun class that concentrates primarily on marksmanship. It's three hours long costing $60.00. If you are near west central Indiana check us out and contact me at ...proteq.us

 

[IndyGunner]

.40 isnt the best caliber for a noob... I wasn't good with it right away, thats for sure.

 

[Daturbokat]

If you are lining your sights up even and covering your target with the front dot, you should be shooting over the target. With the Glock sights aligned you should place the bullseye directly on top of your front sight. If you are shooting low, I would place a bet that you are having trouble with the breaking point of the glock trigger. Light and smooth triggers tend to mask this problem, however I believe their is no substitute for conscious practice.

 

[RMC]

I would first determine if the particular gun is capable of shooting as accurately as expected. If it is then technique and practice is needed. If it isn't then all the technique and practice isn't going to give the shooter anything other than frustration and a large ammo bill.

 

[ncthorn]

I am no expert by any means, but is your support hand really forcefully pulling back on the grip/shooting hand? By that, I mean is your off-hand and arm too extended and tense, causing you to pull shots down in anticipation of recoil?

I used to do this all the time when shooting my M9. I had seen many experts lock both arms out and tried to emulate that with very little success. By extending my primary arm/hand out and rotating my forearm and elbow slightly counter-clockwise (right handed), I am able to form a sufficiently rigid shooting platform. My support hand and arm are then more relaxed with a slight downward bend in the elbow, but still serving to stabilize the handgun for both the shot and the recoil. I also try to avoid having a finger from my support hand on the trigger guard as I find that causes me to pull shots down at times too and does not seem to help significantly in managing recoil.

 

[Spike_351]

Practice, Practice, and wait for it......practice, when i first bought my favorite handgun that i had always wanted ( a Jericho 941 ) and i sucked with it at first, being a noob ( no offense ) there is still a lot ot learn about marksman ship, dry fire practice to help with trigger control, and in your spare time read as many articles on marksman ship as possible, i never really had the time to get professional training due to work or budget restrictions so i have always had to practice until i found what works for me and what doesn't. Doing a lot of research and reading and getting advice from those here on INGO will go much further than you can probably imagine at this moment. Good luck and be safe please.

 

[evsnova74]

I had no idea I should be using sight picture #2. That should mean I'm shooting way low then.

I am no expert by any means, but is your support hand really forcefully pulling back on the grip/shooting hand? By that, I mean is your off-hand and arm too extended and tense, causing you to pull shots down in anticipation of recoil?

I used to do this all the time when shooting my M9. I had seen many experts lock both arms out and tried to emulate that with very little success. By extending my primary arm/hand out and rotating my forearm and elbow slightly counter-clockwise (right handed), I am able to form a sufficiently rigid shooting platform. My support hand and arm are then more relaxed with a slight downward bend in the elbow, but still serving to stabilize the handgun for both the shot and the recoil. I also try to avoid having a finger from my support hand on the trigger guard as I find that causes me to pull shots down at times too and does not seem to help significantly in managing recoil.

Yes I do that now that you mention it. I'm gonna pick up some snap caps and one of those bore sight tools.

I would first determine if the particular gun is capable of shooting as accurately as expected. If it is then technique and practice is needed. If it isn't then all the technique and practice isn't going to give the shooter anything other than frustration and a large ammo bill.

My brother shoots it fine and no offense to him but he's more of a gun noob than I am at this point. I've ruled out any problem with this particular pistol.

 

[Southwind]

Can anybody recommend a trainer in the Evansville area. I have much the same problem as the OP. Had been thinking of taking one of Guy Minnis' classes but some of his recent comments dissuaded me.

Prefer Glock-specific trainer.

 

[rvb]

https://www.indianagunowners.com/forums/tactics_and_training/239915-will_dry_fire_help_me.html