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Old 06-02-2018, 10:34 AM
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BE Mike BE Mike is offline
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Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Indiana
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Pisgah View Post
I'm not picking on BE MIke -- I could have chosen any number of similar posts that illustrate part of the problem.

The problem is -- folks are quick to blame the pistol, often refuse to blame themselves, and -- many folks don't understand how sights work in the first place. If BE MIke's pistol was shooting a bit left, he just made it worse by drifting his rear sight left. He doesn't understand how the sights work. Drifting the FRONT sight left would move his groups right -- and moving the REAR sight RIGHT would move his groups right.

But the fact of the matter is -- the sights may be fine as-is, and it may be the shooter causing the problem. Yes, I know -- "I've shot for years, blah, blah, blah..." Well, I don't doubt it, but now you are shooting a new and different gun. Very slight differences in grip configuration, barrel length, trigger type and weight, etc., etc. can drastically alter where the interface of your hand and gun, combined with your own visual acuity, causes your groups to fall.

If you have a new gun that consistently shoots low-left, or whatever -- the first thing to do is not adjusting the sights, not benchresting the gun, not getting someone else to shoot it. No, the FIRST thing to do is try some carefully-observed diagnostic dry firing. Watch to see what direction your sights move when you break the shot. I will bet that front sight moves in the direction your shots are going. If so, what you need to do first in order to correct the problem is -- correct your technique.

Now, correcting your hold/trigger pull may not cure the problem 100 per cent -- you may still not be quite on the mark. THAT'S when sight adjustment comes in to the picture.
Thanks for pointing out that I misstated how I adjusted the sights. Of course, I meant to say to adjust the point of impact to the right, I drifted the rear sight right. When I noticed that my group was left at the range and I came home and noticed that the rear sight was left in the dovetail, I deduced that maybe the rear sight needed adjusting to the right. Apparently, you probably would have taken a different course of action. Interesting how making a flub when typing can generate such a long response!
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