Are SD40VEs just not good range guns?? for the past 2 weeks it just seems like my gun has been terribly inaccurate shooting at even 10 yards. Today I left someone else shoot it and had the same results.
A "double action only" trigger is just not the most conducive to learning to shoot. A pistol with a single action pull or at least the ability to cock the hammer is a better way to learn the fundamentals of trigger control and sight picture.
It takes a high degree of skill to slowly operate that long double action trigger, all the while holding the sights carefully on target, but it can be done.
Brand new shooters with a long pull double action type of pistol, in my experience, can hold "minute of B27" at about 5 yards.
The combination of lack of hand and finger strength, together with anticipation of the shot (flinch) just creates havoc on group size.
On the other hand, the same shooter with a good double action revolver, cocked, or a 1911, can hold "minute of paper plate" at the same distance.
One way to test for anticipation of the shot is to get a 6 shot revolver, let a friend load it with only 4 while you are not looking, so you don't know when the empty comes up. Then, cock and fire six times. Unless you are either lucky or very good, you will see the sights jump enough to throw your shot off by a foot or so, easily, when you drop the hammer on that empty charge hole (that is, if you are looking at the sights at all). It is easy now to have that friend take a video of it on his cell phone so you can replay what you did wrong.
The same thing can be done, perhaps not as efficiently, by letting a friend load magazines for you and inserting, in an unknown order, some dummy cartridges. You can make your own dummy rounds by resizing some cases and inserting a bullet, leaving out the powder and primer. I do not like this method, however, as it may lead to other safety issues if your dummy rounds get mixed in with your real rounds. That could be bad in a gun fight, unless of course, you enjoy making it easier for your assailant by putting in some unanticipated malfunction clearance drills into your gunfight.
Only after you see and feel what you are doing wrong can you work on fixing the issue.
The other thing to remember is that, as good as they are, the SIGMAs, the SWVE Series and the SDVE Series are "service accurate," which is four inch groups or so at 25 yards from a machine rest. So, don't expect match accuracy from that pistol. If you want true match accuracy, get a Performance Center 952 or 945.
