[sigfla]

After my last range session which was spent primarily working on sight tracking I found myself fighting the gun a bit with my left hand in order to keep the FS in view during recoil. I was doing Bill drills at around 10 yards or so and had no problem keeping my shots in a fairly nice grouping except for the fact that after my 2-3rd shot the rest of the mag would drift into a tight cluster way left of the target zone. I had taken a long layoff this summer and while I shot ok when I came back I didn't feel comfortable on the gun. This is what prompted my last practice session. I found that if I held tight and drove my thumb into the slide while firing my sight tracking was better and my hits weren't as far left.

However I was fighting the gun in recoil and did not feel this was an acceptable solution. I never had this much trouble controlling my gun in recoil as I had during this session. The gun was tracking consistent for this range session but I did not feel it would be the same every time not were my hits satisfactory. During the session I felt maybe my issue was trigger control and grip tension more than anything and I did see some moderate improvement by using more trigger finger. However nothing was presenting itself as a 100% solution and I convinced myself grip tension and trigger control were my problem. With darkness on the way and my buddy and I having more fun in mind than training at this point we moved on to other guns and making bets on who could hit what first.

Tonight I sat down to read an article on one of my gun rags about proper index. I have worked on this before but I realized I had fixated on index as it relates to stance and nothing else. I set about to try an experiment and realized that if I assumed my normal draw with eyes shut my index was off to the left when I opened them, right where my rounds were hitting. If I adjusted my weak hand grip and made a conscious effort to drive my weak hand thumb forward canting my wrist a bit in the process the sights were aligned each and every time I opened my eyes and I felt comfortable.
I need to experiment more at the range with live rounds but I think I am on to something here. I will try to do some eyes shut follow up shots into the berm and see if that confirms my suspicions but I think my weak hand grip caused the left hits under rapid fire simply b/c I did not point my thumb forward enough.

[Flexmoney]

Good stuff.

http://www.brianenos...index+originate

[sigfla]

Finally had a chance to test some of my theories at the range today. I did a few closed eye drills at 6-7 yards and found out 2 very interesting things.
One is that my 1911 doesn't really recoil (muzzle flip) much when my eyes are taken out of the equation. Two is that as long as my grip, stance and NPA are set I could drop 6-7 rounds into the down zero area of an IDPA target in a pretty tight group with my eyes shut, quickly too.

I have found lately that good shooting for me really needs to be reduced to the most basic of elements. Front sight and Press is really the key as I see it. If I try and guide my bullet into the target with my hands and eyes which I sometimes find myself doing I will shoot poorly. My hands should remain still and my concentration should remain on 2 things, the front sight and pressing the trigger. If you do that the round will go where you want it to. I found that to be true by using the eyes closed drill. I also tried some long range work with steel plates at 70, 80 and 100 yards. If your trigger press and front sight control are good the round will hit where you need it. The steel ding offers immediate feedback on the hit. If I tried to guide the round into the target ala "Wanted" Angelina Jolie style guess what, I missed...... Ask yourself sometimes when you miss did you try and force the round where you wanted it to go and pull the shot? I think alot of people either do this OR they just point shoot in afterburner speed and miss.

My next session will again reinforce the NPA and neutral grip I have been using but will also concentrate on keeping my eyes and hands from trying to steer the round into the target. Break the shot and let the front sight and your trigger press allow the round to hit where you want. After the shot breaks let the gun fall back on target without trying to drive that front sight back into the rear notch.

[benos]

Good work!

Find the center of the target, then look right at the front sight and the sights will align themselves. If every aspect of your index is dead nuetral - close your eyes and pull the trigger just hard enough to release the hammer - you can't miss. That's a real eye-opener! (Sorry, couldn't resist.)
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