Improving My Trigger Control

[Spartikus]

I've been shooting for about 5 months or so now and have improved a bit but honestly I walked away frustrated that I was still struggling to have tight 2 inch groups. Typically my groups are probably closer to 4 inches at 25ft. It didn't help that my buddy who doesn't ever shoot came with me and was hitting everything he wanted to almost.

I am very steady but I tend to either jerk the trigger or squeeze my hands when I pull the trigger I think. I tend to hit just left and then a little high or low depending on the shot. I have used the target that tells you what you are doing but I'm just struggling to get it consistent. Anyone have any suggestions or tips on some things I can do to correct these issues?

I know it's practice, practice, practice which is why I shoot 2-3 times a month but willing to try anything. I could use some tips on breath control as that is not something I have really tried to work on yet.

P.S. I am using an M&P9c with an Apex trigger

 

[jbull380]

Dry fire, dry fire, dry fire! The best shooters spend more trigger time on dry fire than live ammo. It works wonders.

 

[Crab Bait]

A better grip helped me...

The Combat Grip

 

[Armed Babysitter]

A better grip helped me...

The Combat Grip

Helped me too. I use a push-pull method, push forward with your strong hand, pull back with the support hand. Combine that with the thumbs forward grip, and my shooting improved greatly. I'm no Rob Leatham, but it helped me be a better shooter than I was.

 

[cracker57]

I believe it was said somewhere to dry fire dry fire dry fire. then dry fire some more. if your front sight is somewhat flat try to balance an empty case on it while you dry fire it should not fall off. Google dry fire practice and you should have enough info and drills to keep you going for a while. Most of my practice is done in the basement with snap caps. I can practice trigger control, drawing for concealed, mag changes, and all the other things I do so poorly.
Cracker57

 

[RussC]

Dry fire, dry fire, dry fire! The best shooters spend more trigger time on dry fire than live ammo. It works wonders.

+1 Focus on the target as you dry fire. I found as a right handed shooter I was pulling to the left. If I kept my wrist straight and pulled straight back my groups improved.

Russ

 

[Silversmok3]

This comment will ruffle feathers. If one is a brand snob, hit the back button now.

Still with me?

For the OP, id recommend using a handgun with a Double Action trigger component for genuine improvement. The problem with using a light-trigger handgun for shooting is that it can mask fundamental problems with one's grip. Shooting my M&P9 and 1911 model I was getting really nice groups. When I transferred to my 5906 , not so nice groups.

Turned out I was pulling the weapon to the left as I shot. With the light trigger weapons the shot broke before the leftwards pull influenced placement. In Double Action the awful truth was revealed. Had I continued with light trigger weapons that flawed grip and trigger control would have never come to light.

 

[125JHP]

Dry fire is fine but if you are doing something wrong with your grip or your finger position or several other aspects of it then all you will be accomplishing is reinforcement of bad habits.
Sorry to say, but IMO real practice is what is needed but it is expensive to shoot enough 9 or 40 so what you need is a .22 and a couple bricks of ammo for under $50 then get some good instructions on proper grip and trigger control and go to the range and practice each element in turn until you develop a concept of the proper techniques that work for you. Once your satisfied you know you are getting it right THEN dry fire to build muscle memory. and transition to the larger calibers. You should dry fire some at first along with the book instruction to get the idea of what you will do at the range, but don't over-do it until you see the results on paper. Don't dry fire a .22 without snap caps.
If you don't have a 22 as of yet, get one to match your M&P. You might have to spend a few bucks up front but it will save you a lot of $$ and frustration over your lifetime instead of pay-as-you-go.

 

[SurgicalShark]

^ Great advice, thank you!

S&W M&P40, M&P40 PRO, M&P 40C

 

[RobzGuns]

Dry fire is fine but if you are doing something wrong with your grip or your finger position or several other aspects of it then all you will be accomplishing is reinforcement of bad habits.

True... IF the person is just sitting around blindly pulling the trigger, as opposed to paying attention to what the barrel is doing, using the Dry Fire drills mentioned above.

My other pistols have accessory rails that I could slip a cheap laser onto and incorporate into dry fire practice. Focusing on keeping the laser steady during trigger press will help show what you're doing (pulling down & left?, etc). With the shield though, since it doesn't have a rail, I'm resorting back to the old penny drill and other snap-cap drills.

Also... Starting at closer distances and staying at those closer distances until you're satisfied with your grouping helps too. It's sometimes easier to see what's going wrong at shorter distance than it is at 25'. With every new pistol I shoot, I start off at 10' and don't move out to 15', or 20' until I'm satisfied at 10'.

 

[125JHP]

True... IF the person is just sitting around blindly pulling the trigger, as opposed to paying attention to what the barrel is doing, using the Dry Fire drills mentioned above.
...
Also... Starting at closer distances and staying at those closer distances until you're satisfied with your grouping helps too. It's sometimes easier to see what's going wrong at shorter distance than it is at 25'. With every new pistol I shoot, I start off at 10' and don't move out to 15', or 20' until I'm satisfied at 10'.

Which is what a lot of new shooters end up doing, since they are not familiars with what to do in the first place

good tip on the distance

 

[Fat B]

A couple suggestions that are pretty basic because I have no idea how experienced you are. First, what stance are you using? Have you tried other stances/grips? I use the weaver stance as the isosceles is uncomfortable for me and the weaver is much more natural. A good friend of mine is the opposite, he hates the weaver stance. Don't let anyone tell you everyone should hold a gun this or that way. Pick one and pay attention to how you're supposed to grip the gun with each.

This article does an o.k. Job at explaining the stances but not really the grip so I'd suggest looking it up elsewhere.

Choosing a Handgun Shooting Stance

Second, a lot of quality dry fire. Even a little at the range before you shoot live fire. Maybe a couple in between live fire to to see if you're flinching.

Robzguns has an excellent suggestion, start at 10 feet and see if you can get the holes of 5 rounds to all touch each other.

 

[RussC]

Overcoming Recoil Anticipation (Flinching)

True... IF the person is just sitting around blindly pulling the trigger, as opposed to paying attention to what the barrel is doing, using the Dry Fire drills mentioned above.

My other pistols have accessory rails that I could slip a cheap laser onto and incorporate into dry fire practice. Focusing on keeping the laser steady during trigger press will help show what you're doing (pulling down & left?, etc). With the shield though, since it doesn't have a rail, I'm resorting back to the old penny drill and other snap-cap drills.

Also... Starting at closer distances and staying at those closer distances until you're satisfied with your grouping helps too. It's sometimes easier to see what's going wrong at shorter distance than it is at 25'. With every new pistol I shoot, I start off at 10' and don't move out to 15', or 20' until I'm satisfied at 10'.

RobzGuns:

Thanks on the laser idea.

When I am low from bull's eye I believe it is flinching. Overcoming recoil anticipation is very difficult without range time and that is one reason outside increased ammo cost I would not consider a 40 caliber in a small weapon.

I have 2 cases of 9mm practice under my belt shooting pocket rockets but flinching is still a constant battle.

If there are any good remedies to eliminate flinching please, your feed back would be appreciated.

Russ

 

[Spartikus]

A couple suggestions that are pretty basic because I have no idea how experienced you are. First, what stance are you using? Have you tried other stances/grips? I use the weaver stance as the isosceles is uncomfortable for me and the weaver is much more natural.

I took a handgun safety class and really discovered that I like the weaver stance by far the best (though I have experimented with the isosceles). I also am pretty sure I have the correct grip as I am doing what most people have suggested or I have seen in the articles suggested and it lines up with what I was taught in the class. I have thought about maybe getting a few lessons just to have someone observe what I am doing so they can help me identify what I'm doing wrong.

As for dry firing, I do that a little but because I am unsure if what I am practicing is actually correct I'm not sure it's really helping me. I have thought of buying a revolver (which someone suggested in this thread) because it would really help me improve my trigger control and I truthfully I just want one.

Lastly I know that I anticipate recoil a fair amount so that's at least one part I know I can focus on. I like the idea of having someone load my mags and mixing snap caps in so that I don't know when it will fire. Thank you all for the good info. Guess I need to just keep working on it.