Glock Help

[Paulinski]

Ok

I'm a new handgun shooter, so please excuse the newbyness:(

I have terrible time getting any accuracy out of my Glock 17. At 7 yards (meters) my target looks like a shotgun blast:confused: not a pistol group. Most of the shoots are low.

What is the proper grip with the G17 (I'm left handed)? I can shoot tight groups with my 1911 .45ACP at the same distance but not the Glock.

Its stock G17 with Trijicon Night Sights and captured guide rod.

Its definately not the gun as other experienced shooters get great groups with it.

Ammo is mostly 115 and 147 grain American Eagle (ball)

Thanks

Paul

[Tommy Vercetti]

The best advice I could give you would be to grip it firmly enough so that the skin between your thumb and forefinger form a ridge or hump around the back of the grip. After that just make sure the bore is aligned with your ulna, or forearm, and you should be GTG.:)

[carshooter]

Paul,

If you're shooting tight groups with your 1911, it must be something in either the way you're holding the gun, or in the trigger pull.

The difference in trigger pulls is probably it. For me, 1911's are the easiest centerfire handguns to shoot accurately, but Glock's are a close second. For one reason, only: The trigger reset is shorter on both than on most other handguns.

Try this: Quadruple check that your Glock is unloaded, and practice dry firing it. The initial takeup on the first trigger pull is long and what I'd best describe as "springy". After the striker fires, hold the trigger to the rear instead of releasing your trigger finger. Continue to hold your trigger finger to the rear and cycle the slide to reset the striker. After the striker is reset, slowly release your trigger finger until you feel it click. That minimal amount of forward movement is all it takes for the trigger to reset. When you pull the trigger rearward, you'll get a much shorter, cleaner, lighter trigger pull, making it much easier to shoot tight groups.

Make sense?

[wlptpd3]

For starters grip your pistol in the dominant hand and get your hand as high as you can on the backstrap of the pistol, I dont know if you shoot thumbs forward or with thumbs locked down. Try both and see what works for you, The key with most shooter problems is a combination of sight alignment, trigger control and follow through. Dryfire, Dryfire and more Dryfire, make sure you have a perfect sight picture as you press the trigger straight to the rear with every shot and then make sure your sight picture remains the same after the shot is pressed off.

Another good exercise is load a combination of live rounds and dummy rounds in your mags and then run your drills at the range, You will see if and when you mash the trigger doing this. Good luck I'm sure everything will work out for you.

[baffle Stack]

Yeah I sucked too when I first got my G19. I thought the damn thing was broken:) So I asked around and what I constantly heard was 1: get all the trigger time I can and 2: pay attention to what I was doing, i.e. learn some proper technique. I couldn't group when I 1st got it, now with a little time and effort I can keep a 6 inch group at 10 yards. Still not great but hey it’s a lot better than where I was a year ago.

The Glock trigger is pretty tough to master. Take a look at this link.
http://glockfaq.com/trigger.htm
It helped me immensely

Good luck!
Ants

[baffle Stack]

For starters grip your pistol in the dominant hand and get your hand as high as you can on the backstrap of the pistol, I dont know if you shoot thumbs forward or with thumbs locked down. Try both and see what works for you, The key with most shooter problems is a combination of sight alignment, trigger control and follow through. Dryfire, Dryfire and more Dryfire, make sure you have a perfect sight picture as you press the trigger straight to the rear with every shot and then make sure your sight picture remains the same after the shot is pressed off.

Another good exercise is load a combination of live rounds and dummy rounds in your mags and then run your drills at the range, You will see if and when you mash the trigger doing this. Good luck I'm sure everything will work out for you.

I can't even begin to tell you how much dryfire has helped my glock shooting

[Robb Jensen]

A good friend of mine Luis (Looey here) is left handed and damn good shot. His grip looks like this. The Glock in no way is inaccurate.

Luis is a Marine and a former USMC HRP and Blackwater instructor, as I said earlier he's a hell of a shot. If I don't plan and pay attention he'll take my lunch money at matches. ;)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v408/gotm4/luisgrip.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v408/gotm4/Luis-1.jpg

[carshooter]

I can't even begin to tell you how much dryfire has helped my glock shooting

Me too. Until I mastered the different feel and reset of the trigger, I couldn't group with one either. As soon as I figured out the short reset, I noticed an immediate improvement.

[Paulinski]

Thanks for the info and especially the pictures. I'm going to practice my grip and dryfire the heck out if it. :)

[Looey]

everything said is good, there are as many techniques as there are colors. i am still trying to fine tune my techniques, a lot of dry fire practice is the best advice.
a couple of pointers:
-two different platforms that you are shooting(1911-G17), they point different.
-totally different triggers. sweet single action VS light double action, i don't shoot to trigger reset because i owned to many different guns with different types of triggers. but that is just how I do it.

I was always taught to shoot sights and press triggers no matter the platform. Press the trigger as soon as you see what you need to see.

You can stop by VA Arms if you live close to the area, i will show you a couple of things i learned to do as a lefty that helped me.

[SuicideHz]

Luis- what holster is that?

[Robb Jensen]

Luis- what holster is that?

Luis and I both use Safariland 560/561 holsters.

He has the Gucci 'carbon fiber' ones cause he's thinks the chicks dig it! http://smilies.vidahost.com/contrib/ed/laugh.gif

[Business_Casual]

Do you have a range buddy that can help you? If so, have them load or unload the Glock with your back turned. Then you take it, not knowing if it is loaded or not and shoot. If you have a flinch, it will show up when the gun is unloaded. This is called the ball and dummy drill.

Either that or randomly mix inert rounds into your magazine before you go to the range. Then when you are shooting if you jerk the trigger on a dummy round you'll see it. The problem is that live ammo covers the flinch so you don't realize you are doing it - until you see the group.

M_P - aka El Snacho Supremo

[scubie02]

depending on how attached you are to the Glock, you could always swap it for a Springfield XD. I would suspect the problem is the difference in grip angle between a Glock and a 1911, the the XD's grip angle is much closer to that of the 1911. You get the same rugged dependabilty in a polymer gun with the additional safety of the grip safety with the advantage of more similar pointing characteristics. Plus to me they tend to be shockingly accurate for a "service gun" type of gun. My 4" shoots as good or better than many of my 1911's, and better than ANY other pistol besides 1911's I have fired except for a CZ-75 I used to own. It shoots rings around the Sig, Walther P99, Hipowers etc I have owned or used. And the compact model I own isn't far behind.

Please note, I have nothing against Glocks, I just think you would find it MUCH easier to transition between a 1911 and an XD than a 1911 and a Glock.

[Looey]

Luis and I both use Safariland 560/561 holsters.

He has the Gucci 'carbon fiber' ones cause he's thinks the chicks dig it! http://smilies.vidahost.com/contrib/ed/laugh.gif

Rob is just jealous that i got the holster first. :D
Dude the holster is awesome, as fast as you can become out of it.
Lots of dry fire practice, you have an awesome gun just learn it.

[graffex]

Out of the 560/561 which do you prefer? I don't have any experience with holsters. I'm curious what the advantages and disadvantages are for paddle style and belt loop style holsters. Seems to me the belt loop style would tend to stay in place better.

[Robb Jensen]

Out of the 560/561 which do you prefer? I don't have any experience with holsters. I'm curious what the advantages and disadvantages are for paddle style and belt loop style holsters. Seems to me the belt loop style would tend to stay in place better.

I prefer the paddle (560) for IDPA and for USPSA if not using a CR speed race belt, it positions the gun a little away from your body for smoother draws. For use with a race belt I prefer the 561 (it's the same holster but with a belt attachment).