Went desert shooting

[iwannadie]

A friend of mine picked up his first pistol, springfield armory xd40. We took my jeep out into the desert a bit onto some national forest land to do some Legal shooting.

We setup a nice dirt berm backstop and paper targets down in a nice canyon. My friend went first with his gun(the first ammo put through it). He could not Hit the paper target at 25ish yards. I ran off my xd9mm having not shot it in 2 years keeping mine all in the red. He was instantly unhappy with the gun lol.

I took his gun and put my 2 shots in the red showing the gun is just fine ha. The recoil wasnt bad at all I thought, felt almost the same as my 9 just louder. He tried my 9mm and couldnt hit the paper with it either.

After 40ish rounds his .40 started to make it onto the paper at least 1outa10. The bad thing, the paper just blew up basically using white box target ammo. 1-2 shots and his target paper was in shreds. We need to figure out something better for targets I guess, maybe a better paper holder or something.

All in all, good shooting fun!

 

[drunk_medic]

Maybe your buddy is assuming that if he is left/right handed that he should shoot that way? He might fare better lining the sights up with his other eye. Maybe he is nervous. Maybe he is placing the wrong part of his finger on the trigger, and is not getting a nice, smooth, even squeeze. Hell, maybe he is jerking, and not squeezing at all.
It's important to keep the sights lined up throughout the trigger squeeze, not just "Okay, they are lined up. It's time for me to pull the trigger!"
If you are doing well with his gun, teach him what you know.

 

[Doward]

And good backup to my policy of 'better to be accurate, than tote a big gun'

 

[iwannadie]

And good backup to my policy of 'better to be accurate, than tote a big gun'

That was my point...

Something that will just take time hopefully for him to adjust and become accurate. I tried showing him proper technique and everything as the best of my knowledge. We plan to go out more so I hope his aim gets better as we go...

The gun was fine, as I said I put my 2 shots right in the red having never fired that gun before either. I also thinks he knows hes right handed lol be crazy to be 20something and not know your dominate hand.

 

[drunk_medic]

That was my point...

Something that will just take time hopefully for him to adjust and become accurate. I tried showing him proper technique and everything as the best of my knowledge. We plan to go out more so I hope his aim gets better as we go...

The gun was fine, as I said I put my 2 shots right in the red having never fired that gun before either. I also thinks he knows hes right handed lol be crazy to be 20something and not know your dominate hand.

It's not crazy at all. I am left-handed, play most sports right-handed, shoot rifle right, shoot pistol left.

 

[Jaguar_5]

I'm right handed but my left eye is stronger, so sometimes I switch it up and shoot left-handed for those long distance targets

 

[Dunckel]

Eh, being a good shot takes practice. Especially with a new pistol. He needs to learn to breath, and remember to squeeze the trigger, not pull. After a few he gets used to that, and the feel of the gun in his hand, and the recoil, he will be fine. I am going to go shoot my new S&W MP40 in an hour or so. I don't expect to be as good as I was with my S&W 4013 on the first shot, but by the end of the day, I'm sure I will be right on target. I will take some pictures/video and put it in the Gun Thread when I get back.

 

[Shytheed Dumas]

Why start at 25 yards? It's pretty long for a self defense gun. The vast majority of self defense shots are fired at or under 7 yards, and when I go to the range I see a lot of people practice at this range, myself included for 75% of the time. If he can at least hit the target at a shorter distance, he might be able to start seeing improvements and push himself to a longer distance then. Just a suggestion.

 

[iwannadie]

Good suggestion, Ill pass everything alogn for sure.

I tried to keep suggesting alot of stuff without over critiquing him or making him feel he was just doing Everything wrong. Once he started to hit the paper all the shots were low to the left. Ive always been told thats because your pulling not Squeezing the tigger.

I think his whole attitude going in was 'I dont need to aim I have .40 stopping power', Now its more 'practice, practice, practice and hit the target'.

Any suggestions for portable target holders? We used some sticks but they didnt hold up to well lol. Im thinking coat hangers bent to hang the paper from might work...

 

[MDCmotorsports]

Do this simple test - hand him a loaded gun.

(No not really)

Load a mag for him. Second round from the top, put a snap cap in.

OBSERVE what he does.

Chances are when he "expects" the shot, he will be pushing the pistol down and forward.

 

[iwannadie]

Do this simple test - hand him a loaded gun.

(No not really)

Load a mag for him. Second round from the top, put a snap cap in.

OBSERVE what he does.

Chances are when he "expects" the shot, he will be pushing the pistol down and forward.

I had a range master tell me on my first day shooting; every time the gun fires should be a surprise. Meaning you just squeeze the trigger keeping it aimed and not anticipate the gun shooting. Its worked pretty well for me I think but I am by far no expert lol.

I think people try to anticipate that shot or hit a sweet spot on the target and want it to fire that split second by pull on the trigger.

 

[Poodles]

can't always have the mindset with high powered guns...

Do that with a .50 cal Desert Eagle and it's gonna hurt. No comments on DE's as I know they're garbage...

If you squeeze instead of pull, you naturally tense up to handle the recoil.

I haven't fired any high powered guns (.22 is the biggest I've done and my pellet guns recoil harder), but the basics are useful for all weapons...