Pistol Coaching Via Email

[frostfire]

To be clear the first problem occurs with and is exclusive to me shooting my Glock 19 and occurred consistently before the new gun purchase.

I recently purchased a HK USP 45, not in small part to the rave reviews provided by TS. I suck with it. Plain and simple. The week before I bought it I shot hole in hole with a stranger's gold cup on an indoor range.

I'm by no means expert or experienced or live by the gun. However, since I can relate to your endeavours I'd like to share my .02 baht worth of input.

I started out with months of theories before tyring a used 9mm full size USP. I was able to put 10 rounds in a ~.75" hole from 10 feet (yeah I know, lame). All I can remember from that time was gripping very tightly and having muscle fatigue in no time. However, that intro gave me a spark of confidence.
I then shot Glock 19 as well for a while (can't remember why I switched). I dried fired through the fundamentals zillion times w/ it. I did not get consistent group from time to time.
I tried my friend's tricked-out Kimber .45 and shot hole in hole at 5 and 7 yards. Along the way, I also occasionally tried P226, P99, XD, and P239. I suck with 'em except for the P226. I'm hoping to save enough and get P226R one day.
I then moved on to USP compact .40. The last session yielded 1.5"-2.5"-2.75" triangle from 3 rounds at 25 yards, and all rounds touching at 7 yards. Slow fire, ~2 seconds between shots.

I would assume that the USP .45 you bought is full size or tactical. That may be a big change for grip angle, feel, etc. My hands were conditioned to Glock 19 (from all the dry firing) and yet when I transitioned to USP .40, that pistol fit like a glove. No matter how I picked it up, pointed it out at eye level, 2 hands, 1 hand, the sight picture was always perfectly alligned.

My current problem is focus often subconsciously switched from frontsight to the target (both eyes open) as well as the common recurring ones such as slapping/jerking the trigger.

I too, at this point, feel stuck as far as progress goes. I've been thinking of attending basic, practical, and IPSC training class etc. However, when it comes to the shooting skills I covet, I fully and humbly accept TS' advice

Originally Posted by Team Sergeant

If you desire to keep the world a safer place, try out for one of the many SOF positions available in today’s military.

With all those ramblings aside....in a nutshell, I would suggest you try the USP compact.

[Tubbs]

One of the things that I have noticed about this thread is that there seems to be a focus on what type of pistol the individual is using. Weapons familiarity is a good thing, but if you are practice the fundamentals of pistol marksmanship proporly you should be able to pick up any handgun and fire it accurately within its effective range. By accurately I don't mean 1" groups, I mean that out to its max effective range regardless of the type of fire (i.e. advancing, retreating, stationary) you should be able to dump 90-100% of your rounds into a chest sized target.
There are a few exceptions to this rule (I have a norinco tokarev re-chambered for 9mm, that only the son of God could shoot accurately and consistantly with), but shooting accurately reflects more on the individual than on the weapon.
I have a BB gun that I practice with in my back yard on days that I can't make it to the range. I think done appropriately this is also a wonderfull training tool along with dry fire practice.

[Buffalobob]

A very interesting old thread. Lot of effort put into it and some really good information. Seems a shame buried way into the back.

Quantico Shooting Club is going to try and put together a two day session in March on how to shoot different kinds of pistol competition and I think I will give it a try.

can we get into grip some more? Just read this thread and was wondering what grip techniques people employ. I remember talking about this with another QP on the forums and he mentioned various techniques he's seen. The support hand is my major question, where and how you place your support hand in order to achieve maximum control.

[Buffalobob]

You can go to these links and download enough information to keep you occupied for several weeks.

http://www.saveourguns.com/Ar_Marks_...rain_Guide.pdf


http://www.globalsecurity.org/milita...-35/index.html

Originally Posted by Buffalobob

You can go to these links and download enough information to keep you occupied for several weeks.

http://www.saveourguns.com/Ar_Marks_...rain_Guide.pdf


http://www.globalsecurity.org/milita...-35/index.html

Wow, thank you. Never even knew those existed. Everytime I googled my question all the hits came back with AR15.com and other forums with similar questions. Thank you sir very very much appreciated.

[dr. mabuse]

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[Team Sergeant]

Originally Posted by dr. mabuse

Here's a picture that TS posted awhile back regarding a proper grip.

Works very,very well and if TS using it, well...nuf said.

Hey hey hey!!! It's ten bucks for anyone that looked at the grip!

[nmap]

Not that I would ever look at a certain grip which must remain nameless...but it seemed to work well on a SIG 239. Or does it need to be used mainly on full-sized pistols such as the USP?

[uplink5]

Originally Posted by Team Sergeant

Hey hey hey!!! It's ten bucks for anyone that looked at the grip!

Here ya go TS...TEN BUCKS


egads........the boss sure drives a hard bargain....

[dr. mabuse]

*

Originally Posted by dr. mabuse

A bargain @ $10.

Though it's gonna cost me a second mortgage. How many thousands of students have seen an in class demo of "the grip" since first seen here.

thank you for the picture sir, definitely helps a lot as well. And along with the information BB linked me to I have all my questions answered.

And in that case I guess I owe you 10 bucks TS. I guess I have a reason to make it out to SHOT now.

thank you again gentleman.

[PSM]

I have an HK USPc .45. My hands are on the, male, small side, but I found that, from the first dry-fire practice, my support hand index finger grabbed the recurve to bring my support hand fully onto the pistol grip. I've never been trained to do that, it was instinctual. The last time shooting at 21', outdoors, I had a clover leafish hole as seen from the back of the cardboard. It looked like one hole from the front.

ETA: That was 4 shots. The first, DA, was an inch Northwest of dead center. The other three, SA, were at about 4 o'clock and 2 or 2 1/2 inches.

Pat

[Team Sergeant]

Originally Posted by uplink5

Here ya go TS...TEN BUCKS


egads........the boss sure drives a hard bargain....

LOL, [bastards.]

[WholeManin2010]

Originally Posted by Team Sergeant

Hey hey hey!!! It's ten bucks for anyone that looked at the grip!

Plenty more where this came from if you're willing to learn us more, TS...