High And Left

[cdnpuck]

So I went to the range today and this is what I left with. (pics attached)

At 25ft I am pretty much center. (not counting the one really low one)
At 50ft I seem to be high and left.

Comments? Suggestions?

[tozan]

Your sights are fine, just work on your trigger pull to get them back on center. The high is pretty normal for when you are sighted in at 25. I was once told the reason is most larger pistol calibers are getting a little rise from the muzzel flip and for my guns the longer the barrel the higher they shoot. Now somewhere past 50 plus the bullet will start to drop...

[HighLander51]

What gun, and what ammo? That's pretty damn tight on both targets. Why do you think anything is wrong?

[locosway]

So I went to the range today and this is what I left with. (pics attached)

At 25ft I am pretty much center. (not counting the one really low one)
At 50ft I seem to be high and left.

Comments? Suggestions?

You're consistent, so I would suspect it might be the ammo/gun you're shooting. Getting someone to be consistent is usually the hardest part when teaching new shooters. You've got that part down, now just fine tune your technique.

[cdnpuck]

Sorry, should have included that info. Glock 17 - 9mm. About 70 rounds on each target.

I was just wondering if the high and left is a grip thing or trigger pull issue. I have been playing around with making minor adjustments to both.

[Iggy]

I just shot my 34 yesterday and I was shooting the same way. High and left, my sights are adjustable so I can tweak that, but it did get me thinking. What ammo where you using? I was shooting bulk pack UMC ammo.

On my M&P 45 I was shooting dead center though.

[tacticalcity]

After looking at your targets, I would say who cares? You're doing great!

Why so much attention on such long range pistol shooting? I mean it's great on the range but doesn't translate as well to real life.

I'm much more interested in balancing accuracy and speed to win and thus survive a gun fight.

7, 10, 15 yards I would worry about both speed (fractions of a second to draw and fire a controlled pair or failure to stop or non-standard response) and accuracy (hand size grouping).

If my grouping gets too wide (bigger than a hand with fingers spread wide) I need to slow down and do some drills to fine tune the fundamentals, if my groupings get too close (smaller than a balled up fist) I need to speed up and go much faster.

When guys show a super tight group I think...wow they took entirely way too much time. I see it as poor shooting, not good shooting...unless of course it was some sort of trigger control drill in which case they accomplished the set goal. In a gun fight, that kind of supreme focus on accuracy and complete lack of focus on speed gets you killed. You need a balance of both. Yet most new shooters think it is all about making a pretty target (not accusing you of that just voicing a general gripe).

At 25 yards I allow myself a hair more time. Beyond 25 yards I allow myself even more time, in fact it is something I rarely practice. Why? It would be very hard to sell a DA on it being self defense. It is a nice skill to have in the tool box, but on the list of importance long range marksmanship with the pistol ranks much lower than being really smooth/fast up close...and I still have a long ways to go in that critical area so it gets the bulk of my attention.

It's cool to be able to hit the wings off a fly at 50 yards. But off the range, speed at closer distances matters much more. It is nice to know you can make those long shots if you have to, but if you can't do the short range stuff fast enough...that is a real problem.

What is my point? I think you are doing just fine at 50 yards. I wouldn't worry about it too much. There are a lot more important things to focus on.

[cdnpuck]

I was just shooting range ammo.

[Bw511]

Unless you had an optic of some kind, I would be perfectly happy with these results!

[lordres]

After looking at your targets, I would say who cares? You're doing great!

Why so much attention on such long range pistol shooting? I mean it's great on the range but doesn't translate as well to real life.

I'm much more interested in balancing accuracy and speed to win and thus survive a gun fight.

7, 10, 15 yards I would worry about both speed (fractions of a second to draw and fire a controlled pair or failure to stop or non-standard response) and accuracy (hand size grouping).

If my grouping gets too wide (bigger than a hand with fingers spread wide) I need to slow down and do some drills to fine tune the fundamentals, if my groupings get too close (smaller than a balled up fist) I need to speed up and go much faster.

When guys show a super tight group I think...wow they took entirely way too much time. I see it as poor shooting, not good shooting...unless of course it was some sort of trigger control drill in which case they accomplished the set goal. In a gun fight, that kind of supreme focus on accuracy and complete lack of focus on speed gets you killed. You need a balance of both. Yet most new shooters think it is all about making a pretty target (not accusing you of that just voicing a general gripe).

At 25 yards I allow myself a hair more time. Beyond 25 yards I allow myself even more time, in fact it is something I rarely practice. Why? It would be very hard to sell a DA on it being self defense. It is a nice skill to have in the tool box, but on the list of importance long range marksmanship with the pistol ranks much lower than being really smooth/fast up close...and I still have a long ways to go in that critical area so it gets the bulk of my attention.

It's cool to be able to hit the wings off a fly at 50 yards. But off the range, speed at closer distances matters much more. It is nice to know you can make those long shots if you have to, but if you can't do the short range stuff fast enough...that is a real problem.

What is my point? I think you are doing just fine at 50 yards. I wouldn't worry about it too much. There are a lot more important things to focus on.

There is a lot more to shooting sports than tactical. You don't need to shoot fast for bullseye shooting or hunting.

[NorCalK9.com]

I wish I could shoot my glock23 that good lol. Wanna trade skill?

[cdnpuck]

Thanks to all for the positive feedback. Yes I understand the difference between tactical speed and accuracy at close range in an emergency situation but I am also getting interested in the sport of recreational shooting. I guess I've been recently inspired by History Channel's Top Shot. Since the odds that I am going to have to fire my weapon in self defense are thankfully pretty low until the zombies take over, it feels pretty damn good to put a round exactly where you want to from a reasonable distance away.

[Nightron]

High And Left

Sure sounds like liberal, marijuana California... on a rev without a governor. :-)