First Time gun owner

[Pokerfish]

Greeting everyone. First time gun owner. Just recently bought a Springfield xd 40. Getting used to it. Alway seem to fire left and low. Guess i have to put more rounds in it. Put in about 500 rounds so far. Getting a little better but need to see more youtube videos so i can get my aim spot on. Tried a sig p226 9mm with about the same aim. Oh well, gotta keep practicing. Usually go to Oak Tree in Santa Clarita.

[Litespeeds]

Welcome to CalGuns. More than likely you are anticipating the recoil and jerking the gun

[Pokerfish]

Thanks for the info. Need all the help i can get

[BigFatGuy]

Welcome, and congratulations!

firing a gun is easy to "get started", but somewhat harder to master. The good news is, you can get there.

If you can, I'd suggest a basic pistol shooting class. This doesn't need to be a long, involved thing: most ranges and trainers will have some form of 2-hour-long (ish) "first steps" class.. This will get you set up with gun safety, and the basics of firing so that you don't pull the gun low and left every time. :-)

My own "first steps" class was taught as a private lesson by Mike at OC Indoor. He was a very good, patient teacher, and if he's still there (this was a while ago) he has my vote... but there are many good instructors in the world.

[BigFatGuy]

Also, just in case you (or someone who reads this thread later) are female and prefer to be in an all-female class, there are organizations such as "The Well Armed Woman" and "A Girl And A Gun" who do that very kind of thing.

[osis32]

you're definitely anticipating the shot and pulling down and to the left. that's about the most common pistol occurrence with new shooters.

[OCEquestrian]

First time gun owner....
need to see more youtube videos

Get some professional training so that you; 1) dont develop any bad habits and 2) develop muscle memory with correct technique...there is nothing worse than being penny wise and dollar dumb!

[rvr350]

Welcome! Dry fire alot, many tips on the subject. Once you have a good posture, trigger control, sight picture, the rest is easy.

[bmk20398]

When you take photo, you don't move your body and arms, and you don't press shutter button very hard.
shooting gun is same as shooting photo, if you press trigger too hard or if you move body or arms when shooting, photo will be shaken / bullet goes wrong place.

[JTROKS]

Welcome to CalGuns. More than likely you are anticipating the recoil and jerking the gun

^This^

Try a 22LR pistol and try shooting small groups at 10 yards. Then try the same with your XD. I usually open my range session with a 22LR pistol before shooting centerfire pistols. I go back to the 22LR pistol when my grouping with the centerfire pistols become unacceptable.

[smak28]

Greeting everyone. First time gun owner. Just recently bought a Springfield xd 40. Getting used to it. Alway seem to fire left and low. Guess i have to put more rounds in it. Put in about 500 rounds so far. Getting a little better but need to see more youtube videos so i can get my aim spot on. Tried a sig p226 9mm with about the same aim. Oh well, gotta keep practicing. Usually go to Oak Tree in Santa Clarita.

Stop practicing! You'll just be wasting your ammo if you continue to practice without understanding the fundamentals of shooting, so take a class. You will learn the basics, trigger discipline, etc. and will understand why your shots are the way they are. Then you can correct it. After learning the fundamentals, trigger discipline, etc., then practice what you learned and you improve and will become a good shooter. Eventually you will be able to pick up ANY gun and shoot well. Just remember, it's not the gun, but it's the shooter. Again, stop wasting your ammo

[scotty99]

[Litespeeds]

Doesn't help that his gun is a polymer in .40S&W. Definitely a lot more snappier.

[dragon7]

The human finger is poorly designed to pull the trigger of a handgun. Untrained, the shots from a right hand shooter generally go left and down just because how our fingers articulate ( vice versa for left handlers). In your endeavor to shoot to point of aim then concentrate your effort to pull the trigger straight back throughout the entire pull of the trigger. Do this slowly and deliberately. Avoid the urge to take up the trigger slack then quickly pull the trigger to complete the motion. Dry firing as suggested is a good exercise to practice this. Good luck.

[FF90]

Please look at the target analysis and position chart at http://blog.gunlink.info/2012/03/04/...ction-targets/ th help determine the problem, it can help everyone , you don't actually have to shoot the target, just compare it to where you do shoot.