Rapid fire not close to target fire accuracy

I have been getting decent groups at target practice with my S-W 642 snubby. Whoa, then I went to a practive police officer qualification run just for the fun of it. It had quick draw, reload and rapid fire.

What an eye opener. I was way low and to the left and some did not evern
hit the target. And this is not even with a BG shooting at me. So real world
accuracy takes a beating. If you can, try rapid draw, rapid fire and reload practice, it will open your eyes to how badly you may shoot.

Any suggestions on beter accuracy. I think I am jerking the trigger to get the shots off in the requried time and pulling down. The trigger pull is heavy on the new 642, so maybe it will get better. I know the Glock 19 that I sampled did not have the strong trigger pull, but never did a rapid fire with it.
Anyway lots of fun and makes me need to practice.

Comments????

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Any suggestions on beter accuracy.

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Practice....

i would agree that you are jerking the trigger and/or flinching. it happens much more easily when rapid firing.

i've got two pieces of advice for ya:

1. dry-fire...a lot. this ingrains not flinching into your "muscle memory". this should include some drawing from a holster while dry-firing.

2. slow down. do the "rapid fire" drills at whatever pace you can do them accurately...even if that means at a crawl. do not try to go faster. you will naturally go faster as you do it correctly over and over and over again.

as you start to feel more and more comfortable you can consciously try to speed up a bit, but as soon as your accuracy suffers, slow it back down and clean it up. for starters, though, do not worry about speed at all. worry only about accuracy.

"slow is smooth. smooth is fast."

"speed is fine but accuracy is final."

etc. etc.

while these are nifty catch-phrases, there is much truth in them, too.

(on the other hand, though, you are only looking for combat accuracy, not trying to shoot the eye out of a fly at 50 yards.)

littlereditgenerallytakesmewaylongertogetthroughip scstagesthanmostpeoplebutmyhitsarenearlyallalphasa ndgraduallythetimegapisshrinkingtoyota

Don't take the shot till you see your sights on the target.

With practice you'll see your sights get back to the target faster and faster.

I never heard of anyone who missed fast enough to win a gunfight.

Trying to do something quickly just means you'll do it sloppily. Take as much time as you need to line up your next shot, and just take the shot when you see the sight picture you need.

Enroll in a training course from a competent instructor.

So your about normal then for a police officer . . . actual gunfight about 85% of shots miss the target, forget where I read this, one of the gun buyers annuals somewhere

Low left shots are a classic indicator of jerking the trigger (for a right handed shooter). Most all of the suggestions given are worth listening to. Especially the advice to practice dry-fire. While you're at it, practice double-action only and learn to "stage" the trigger. That is as you squeeze the trigger and the hammer comes back to the "cocked" position find the place in the squeeze where the hammer is just about to break and fall and stop and hold your squeeze, pick up your "fine" sight picture and then complete the squeeze. Practice this at "slow fire" pace until you learn how the pistol stages, then practice to develop your speed.

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Originally Posted by TonyF

Enroll in a training course from a competent instructor.

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Excellent advice. People say that practice makes perfect, but this is not entirely correct. Practice makes permanent, perfect practice makes perfect. Practicing poor technique is worse than no practice.

If I were to take a guess, I would say you are likely 'milking' the grip because of the added stress of shooting under pressure. Try some mental relaxation. Practicing with Airsoft or something similar could help but I highly recommend a training class as a strong foundation to build your individual training from.

You could also try shooting some practice IPSC or USPSA, youll get some adrenaline moving, be forced to move to and from cover or locations and forced to reload and oh yeah...your accuracy matters too.

I'd like some training myself but it's out of my budget for the next 30 years likely now that a mortgage is imminent.

i also agree with getting training if you can.

FIRE institute here in pittsburgh offers a 1-day class that i think is only $45 or so. i haven't taken that particular class, but several people on the forum have and they all rave about it.

i did take a 3 day class put on by the FIRE institute and it was awesome.

their website is:

www.fireinstitute.org

TonyF is part of the FIRE institute (i think he might actually be the instructor for the 1 day class) as is PeteG (another PAFOA member).