identifying if its the shooter or the firearm

[SnakeEye]

I got my range key at the MRA today and after many months of not shooting I happily spent the morning putting 300 rounds through my SW99 9mm on the Loeb.
Other than happily not having a single failure of any kind, the only other constant of the morning was a persistent low/left grouping. I bought this pistol used, and im a lefty...So its likely safe to say that the pistol was and is sighted for a right handed shooter.
Essentially all of my shots inhabited the lower right hand quadrant of the paper.
Frustratingly...
When i took my first classes i was shooting 3" steel targets at 25'-50' consistently with the same caliber. So im a bit confused.
Can i safely assume its the sights?

 

[second]

In my case I consistently shoot low and left, I am left eye dominant and shoot right handed. I figure its either my eye hand coordinaton or I am gripping to hard with my left hand and pulling left and low.

 

[SiameseRat]

if you're consistently getting a nice group then it's your sights.

 

[SiameseRat]

ps- Snake, which guy were you?

 

[SnakeEye]

i was the cue ball shaved head, goatee with the black gloucester hooded sweatshirt..
Fresh meat

 

[tele_mark]

In my case I consistently shoot low and left, I am left eye dominant and shoot right handed. I figure its either my eye hand coordinaton or I am gripping to hard with my left hand and pulling left and low.

This is my situation exactly.

 

[Lugnut]

This is my situation exactly.

This is very interesting. I too am left eye dominant and shoot right handed. But when I shoot my Sigs and Glocks with two hands- I clearly align my sights with my left eye- tilting me head to get my left eye behind the sights.

I also used to (and sometimes still do shoot left and low) BUT when I focus on the fundamentals now- like pulling the trigger straight back and not slapping it back, front sight focus, good grip, etc I shoot dead on. When I get sloppy it goes low left.

So IMO I'm not so sure it's the sights, could be but not so sure. Flinching and too little finger on the trigger can and likey is the cause for this in many cases.

To make sure- have someone else try shooting it and/or fire it from the bench. Good luck.

 

[Swift River Rob]

another left eye, right hand, same with my 92FS. Now I have an excuse!

 

[tele_mark]

I'm going to try shooting right eye next time at the range and see what happens.

 

[SiameseRat]

i was the cue ball shaved head, goatee with the black gloucester hooded sweatshirt..
Fresh meat

Hmm. I don't think I noticed you then. I was on the Loeb from about 11-11:30 on lane 10. Maybe we were there at different times- unless you were wearing a cap and shooting with a buddy.

 

[Ray P]

In my case I consistently shoot low and left, I am left eye dominant and shoot right handed. I figure its either my eye hand coordinaton or I am gripping to hard with my left hand and pulling left and low.

That could be a combo; Down may be anticipating recoil by pushing the gun down as you fire. A snapcap in the cylinder or mag will help you see ifd that is the case.

To the left may be using too little trigger finger; effectively pushing the pistol to the left as you fire. This has often been my biggest error to overcome any given day at the range.

Do you have a copy of the error-clock target? I thought I saw it posted here recently.
Edited to add:

Found it. It is about half-way down the page on C-Pher's link. (Thanks again, C-Pher!)

 

[PistolPete]

For a right handed shooter low and left is the first sign of a flinch. If you're a lefty and shooting low and right it is a flinch. Try sand bagging the gun on the bench and getting proper sight alighnment and pressing the trigger slowly until the gun fires. This will help to see where the gun is sighted in. Also, if possible try having an experienced shooter shoot the gun. It could be a combo of the gun and you but I would lean more towards you. Don't adjust the sights to compensate for a flinch. I've known shooters to do this but it never helps in the long run.

 

[drgrant]

Low-left to me, is classical trigger jerking for a person who is right
hand dominant. it's all about the trigger control. Making your
left hand grip firmer than your right also seems to help the situation in
some instances... but most of it is about consistently modulating the
trigger without jerking it. Some would call this flinching, but.... full blown
flinchers usually miss completely, and they flinch constantly. Jerking, on the
other hand, can be intermittent. I find im more liable to jerk the trigger if I'm
not well rested, stressed, or if I've just transitioned from one gun to another.

The other thing that helps a LOT ... is lots and lots of dry firing.... -good- dry firing.... where
the muzzle doesnt move AT ALL when you follow through on the shot. Doing good dry fire practice 5-10 minutes
a night will do wonders. A friend of mine rarely gets out to the range.. but he dry fires every other night
practically.... he can shoot a lot of his guns better than I can, and I have way more "live" time than he
does!

-Mike