# Shooting too low



## longbow

Fellow shooters,

I have a problem. I always hit a few inches lower then where I aimed (depending on the distance). When I fire quickly I notice is shoot even lower then when I aim every shot very precisely. It's with several diffirent pistols, so it can't blamed on the gun.

Does anybody know what I'm doing wrong?


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## Steve M1911A1

Just low?
Low left?
Low right?
Which is your strong hand, right or left?
Which is your master eye, right or left?
What caliber(s)?

Could be that you're jerking the trigger, or "milking" the pistol's grip, or flinching, or the sights of all of your pistols are maladjusted (for which, I guess, those sights would need the services of a psychiatrist).


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## milquetoast

Could be a lot of things, but commonly caused by unconsciously looking over the gun to see where the holes are.


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## RightTurnClyde

Happens to me a lot too. For me, it happens when I anticipate the recoil and unconciously push the gun down as the trigger breaks. I have to learn to love the recoil, welcome the recoil, ride the recoil... Don't try to stop the recoil, just manage it.

Or, could just be yanking the trigger. :mrgreen:


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## Steve M1911A1

If you want to correct the fault, mere speculation won't do it.
Where the holes actually appear on the target, in conjunction with your "handedness" and "eyedness," and the type and caliber of your pistol, can closely zero-in on the exact cause (or causes) and suggest a means of correction.


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## Baldy

Maybe this might help you understand a little better. 









It's not a cure all but it helps.:smt1099


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## longbow

Thanks for your advices, very much appreciated.

It's just low, not low left or right.
Both my right hand and my right eye are dominant.
The calibers are 9mm and .22Lr.

It are not my own guns, but the weapons I borrowed from the range. For other people they work just fine, so I guess it has to do with me.


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## BeefyBeefo

Practice, practice, practice.... 

-Jeff-


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## Steve M1911A1

Thanks, *Baldy*! I didn't have ready access to that image.

*Longbow:*
If the same thing is happening with both .22 and 9mm, and you're hitting low but centered, then (as you can see from the diagram) you may be "limp-wristing" or indeed looking up at the target to see the hit.
First thing to do: hold on tight and follow through.
Hold the pistol as tightly as you can, keep focused on its front sight, and don't worry about where the shots are going.
After you've finished shooting a string (a few shots), then stop, put the pistol on safe, lower it to waist-level ready, and look at the target from wherever you're already standing. You should see an improvement.

Although the .22 doesn't recoil enough to count, your experience with the 9mm may be making you flinch. I doubt it, though, because if you were flinching, your hits would be somewhere else.
Nevertheless, pay attention to a clean trigger _press_ (not "pull"), and just hold on to the gun as tightly as you can. That will eliminate any possible flinch or limp-wristing.
Focus on the front sight, and not on the target.

You know, we all forgot to ask you where you're holding your sights!
If you're holding at "six o'clock" (at the bottom of the black bullseye), and the pistol is sighted for a center hold, you'd shoot low no matter what you did.
Try aiming for the center of the bullseye, and see what happens.

Further, if your pistol is sighted-in for 10 or 15 yards, and you're shooting at 25 yards, you'll also necessarily shoot low.
But that's a remote possibility, and it wouldn't make a lot of difference anyway.


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## Sig Al

Baldy said:


> Maybe this might help you understand a little better.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It's not a cure all but it helps.:smt1099


 That's a neat diagram you got there.


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## Charlie

Longbow, don't know exactly what you're doing but my recommendation would be to shoot higher! :anim_lol::anim_lol::anim_lol::anim_lol:


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## Mike Barham

Low hits in two-handed shooting are almost invariably the result of "mashing" the trigger.


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## Steve M1911A1

Mike Barham said:


> Low hits in two-handed shooting are almost invariably the result of "mashing" the trigger.


Yeah, but wouldn't a right-hander push 'em leftwards as well as down? (I've done it often enough myself.)


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## Mike Barham

It may be somewhat stance-dependent. I shoot from modern isosceles, and when I jerk the trigger, hits go directly low. Ages ago when I shot from Weaver, however, my "mashed" hits also went directly low, which led to some head-shaking from Chuck Taylor.


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## 1911 driver

*shooting low*

SLACK OUT....PRESS..!! You could do with a lot of DRY PRACTICE before shooting again. Dry practice until you master the trigger control technique. Sometimes "shooting is bad for shooting" !


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## milquetoast

Press the trigger harder, so the bullet goes faster, and gets out of the barrel and on its way to the target before it has a chance to be misdirected. ;-)


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## JeffWard

Movie Bullets go faster still... When you punch your hand forward as you mash the trigger, you get an extra 8-10 ft per second. That "jab-shot", that usually results in a one-shot-stop of a banana republic foot soldier...

Along with the nasty leg hit, turned simple flesh-wound, that makes running impossible when getting away whilst getting shot at... but feels just fine whilst kissing the hot girl after you've saved the day... 

Sorry....

JW


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## Steve M1911A1

Wait a minute..."Kiss the hot *girl*"?
I thought the chaste and manly hero is supposed to kiss his *horse*!
That's what they did in the cowboy movies, when I was a kid.


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## milquetoast

Steve M1911A1 said:


> Wait a minute..."Kiss the hot *girl*"?
> I thought the chaste and manly hero is supposed to kiss his *horse*!
> That's what they did in the cowboy movies, when I was a kid.


When you were a kid, you didn't happen to live in Enumclaw, Washington, did you? :mrgreen:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002382718_horse15m.html


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## Steve M1911A1

*milquetoast:*
When I lived in Los Angeles, I had a close friend who was born and brought up on a ranch in Montana.
He said that where he came from, girls were so scarce that they had to make do with the available animals. Almost any animal would do.
I asked, "Horses?" He replied, "Of course."
I said, "Sheep?" He said, "The best."
I asked, "Cows?" He replied, "Yeah, but it's difficult."
I asked, "Chickens?"
He got very upset, and replied indignantly, "Chickens? Not on your life! Just what kind of person do you think I am?"


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## glock27bill

How does the gun fit your hand?

I have this problem with guns that have grips that are too large for my hand. They always shoot low.

I'm dead-center with guns that have smaller grips, so I don't think it's my technique.


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