Bad group at 15 yards

[Cguarino10]

I have been shooting for years, I have always been able to hit the target but now I want to get nice tight groups. I have a 4-6 inch group at 10 yards but when I go out to 15 yards I am all over the place. I am nearsighted (can't see that well far away) but I wear glasses to the range. My groups have gotten better since dry firing more often.

Any ideas on how to get a better group? My goal is a 6 inch group at 15 yards shooting my M&P 9 with apex kit. I have a feeling I just need to shoot more and be patient.

Thanks.

 

[OneShallSuffer]

I've noticed that when I start shooting that particular day, my groups are a bit scattered. As I get my load count up, my groups get smaller as I make my adjustments

 

[drgrant]

Shoot the gun off some sandbags to make sure its not the gun that is that terrible. Every now and then I hear someone bitching about how their M&P 9 is woefully inaccurate. You might want to bring along a few different kinds of ammo, too, if you can.

-Mike

 

[Cguarino10]

Thanks. I will try to use the sandbag technique to confirm that it is in fact me. I am also going to try different ammo. It's just hard to come by lately.

 

[Supermoto]

you are shooting all over the place at 15y because you are shooting bad groups at 10 yards. Stay at 10 yards until you are under 2"

 

[scottb]

Shoot the gun off some sandbags to make sure its not the gun that is that terrible. Every now and then I hear someone bitching about how their M&P 9 is woefully inaccurate. You might want to bring along a few different kinds of ammo, too, if you can.

-Mike

This is extremely important - and with another benefit: You will know the mechanical zero of the pistol as well. So many people really don't know where their gun shoots - I mean exactly where it shoots. Over the past few years this has become a big part of my match prep.

 

[M.Nastek]

First, I would have someone else shoot your gun and compare the shot groups?
A good way verify if your sights are off. Or if it's you?
And also watch your shooting. You may be doing something within the trigger press and shot.
Start at 3 yards and concentrate on just your sight picture and trigger press aka The one hole drill.
Gradually move rear 5, 7,10 etc and watch your groups. Having someone critiquing your mechanics will make a big difference in skills.

 

[P-14]

Think about this, too:

 

[Greg Derr]

A few points to consider. What are you shooting at? If you are using an IDPA target, it is hard for some to pick a consitant hold area. You can hone your skills on a bullseye style target to help train your trigger control, then work on the IDPA target. As for the M&P, I get to shoot a lot of them, a real lot of them. Many shooters tend to use too little finger in on the trigger, this gives lots of sots to the left(right handed shooter) Another point, all training should start with some dry firing with and without a target to get your head in the right place. On the men tal side, knowing that you are not pleased with your perfomance can have a bad influence on your shooting. This can happen before and during a training session which can just make you frustrated and send you into a downward spiral.

 

[dustierdog]

I am not the most experience shooter but when I shoot handguns I get fairly good groups. A few important things, probably real obvious.. But assuming the gun is ok this has helped me..

It seems to help to not anticipate the gun firing, but instead gradually squeeze the trigger and let it be a surprise to you when the gun fires.

Keeping my hand up tightly against the backstrap under the slide allows more control. Most people are afraid of the slide biting them, and I constantly see guys hitting dirt because their hands are down on the grip.

Also getting my knees slightly bent and lowering my body, hunching over a bit and leaning my head forward so that my arms are straight out and in line with my shoulders helps a lot with controlling recoil. It drives the recoil more straight back as opposed to the muzzle rising. Feels weird to stand like that but it sure does work.

The final thing I read on here which works great is to tape a laser pointer to the gun so it is always on and practice dry firing. The goal is to dry fire te weapon and practice keeping the laser as still as possible. It does not have to be in line with the sights or anything, just fixed on there so that when you point in a safe direction and dry fire you can work on the trgger pull and actually see how much you are moving.

I can't figure out how to get a link from the mobile version of YouTube but of you search "ruger gun talk tv recoil management" there are some helpful tips. Hope this helped somehow haha

 

[DNTTexan]

If you have vision issues, be sure you are using correction that lets you see the sight picture clearly. A target that you can find a consistent point of aim in the fuzzy background will help as well, but the alignment of the barrel produced by a clear sight picture will matter more than small differences in point if aim on the target. And, if you're interested in grouping, make sure you don't chase your shots (move your point of aim to try to hit the center of the target instead of using the same point of aim for all of the shots).

 

[Cguarino10]

Thanks for the tips. Haven't had the chance to shoot lately but definitely will use the sand bag and see how that works. I have been using the dry fire training, which seems to be helpful.

 

[GreyEyes]

I have been using the dry fire training, which seems to be helpful.

Keep it up. I find dry firing to be VERY helpful, first at developing good habits and skills, but also later on at "shaking off the rust" if I haven't been shooting in a long time. The tough part is, you have to treat it like it's really going to fire, and then when you're actually shooting, be mindful to do it just like at home.

Sometimes I find when I go and do a lot of dry firing at home and do very well, later on when I get to the range I get a little too excited about putting holes on paper and lose a little bit of the benefit (Shooting too fast, pulling trigger too hard, etc). Basically, just do it and take it seriously to get the most benefit.

 

[Wishse]

In my experience as an instructor I have found many people try to shoot at distance before they have mastered super tight groups at short distanced. Here is what has worked for many of my students and for me! Start your next few sessions at three yards. Shoot until you can place five shots in a row in the same hole (or no more than 1"). Ride the trigger reset and focus on the front sight. Remember grip, stance, breathing, front sight trigger press and trigger prep. Once you've got good groups at 3 yards then do the same at 5, 7, 10, 12, 15 yards. I shoot 20-30% of all practice sessions at short range and work the fundamentals.