Any tips to steady your hands?

[6500rpm 670]

I've always been a good rifle/shotgun shooter and have exceptionally good point and shoot skills but pistols tend to humble me-especially at distance. I've been playing with a CZ 52 project, in general I never mount anything more than a red dot on anything, but this time I installed a green laser for shits-n-grins and it may have turned out to be a good tool. As it turns out, with a pistol my hands are no where near as steady as I gave them credit for which equates to my piss poor groups. This wasn't live fire, just simply static pointing at targets around the house.

So now that I've identified a general problem, just keeping my hands steady and not related to trigger pull, what can I do to correct it? I'm a mechanic by trade and always prided myself on my hand skills so this seems a bit out of character-any tips you guys care to share......

[Paulyski 2,227]

Relax.

If you grip tight, or tense your muscles they have slight movements.

You're steadier when relaxed.

 

ETA;

not to say limp wrist, just don't keep your muscles tense.

(if that makes sense.)

Edited March 14, 2011 by Paulyski

[DogMan 2,343]

Focus on breathing. I line up my sights and fire as I'm exhaling. I don't know if it's just a psychological effect or not, but it works for me.

Edited March 14, 2011 by DogMan

[ARCHANGEL 104]

I used to be a poor at pistol accuracy . I discovered a few techniques that allow me to now shoot a " Smiley face " on a target at 25 yards . 1) Make sure you are gripping the pistol exactly the same way each time you draw 2) Assuming your right handed , have your right armed pushing slightly up and forward , while your left is slightly countering by pulling back and down .Both force vectors should cancel each other out . 3) Slowly squeeze the trigger but be sure not to anticipate when the weapon will fire. Have someone watch you from the side to see if you're flinching. By the way do this for target shooting NOT if holding on a perp , unless you're actually forced to shoot them . 4) Focus on the intended target with your front sight and be sure to use your dominant eye .

 

Hope these tips help , I'd like to hear your feedback .

 

Archangel

[Marc 147]

when targeting something, does your gun slowly wander around the target or does it look like you kinda got the shakes?

[BronCobraJet 80]

Wide grip - ie, double stack mag pistols help? I can't hold and shoot a 1911 for anything, but a glock fits me and hits the targets.

[Spartacus 1,619]

I have a habit of going to breakfast with my shooting buddies before we go to the range and drinking too much coffee. Wakes me up good, but not good for steady hands.

[MT Predator 2,294]

Focus on the front sight not the target. What everyone else said regarding grip, breathing, trigger squeeze, (NOT TRIGGER PULL). Your stance will steady you as well. Follow through after the shot.

You can practice you trigger squeeze with dry fire training. Have someone stand an empty casing on your slide and see if you can squeeze the trigger without it falling off.

A good one if you are anticipating the recoil is a "ball and dummy" drill. You face the target and your buddy "prepares" the weapon" out of your sight whether it is actually chambering a round or dropping the mag a bit, racking the slide, reinserting the mag and making you think it is hot. You'll see if you are anticipating it if the chamber is empty.

Good luck!

[rob-cubed 74]

Good advice here. I have a coffee problem myself

 

Make sure your grip is good (thumbs parallel, no tea cupping). Then confirm you aren't holding the gun too tightly. I've heard a lot of people recommend "hold it as tight as you can without shaking" but my best groups are with a locked wrist and arm but fairly loose hands. Enough to control muzzle flip but that's it.

 

Breathing is important, as is a good stable stance (nose over toes). A lot of wobble actually happens below your shoulders. See if leaning against a wall to steady your body helps you keep it on target.

 

In the end, pistol shooting is a very difficult skill to master and even the best can't keep the muzzle still all of the time. It's important to watch the front sight and make that last gentle squeeze just as it enters that zen moment where it covers the target. It's timing as much as stability. And don't kick yourself if you can't chew a small ragged hole in the paper, defensive shooting isn't about pinpoint accuracy but speed and control.

Edited March 14, 2011 by rob-cubed

[Koljec 37]

A lot of balance is strength. You might try doing arm exercises.

[XdamagedX 248]

Adding iron to your diet helps too.

[6500rpm 670]

Thanks-a lot more and better advise than I expected right off. As a lot of you picked up on, this is just a general static exercise not taking trigger pull or recoil anticipation into play (all of which could be additional factors but watching that green dot move around really concerns me in terms of something I'm fundamentally doing wrong). My brother was 33 years PD and shot for his department - think I'm going to give him a chance to beat up on his younger brother when the weather breaks.Anything else you guys think of, especially those who are proficient with handguns, lay it on me.