first, a bit about me.
I'm not ambidextrous, I am more what you'd call.. confused.
I use my right hand to-
write, play tennis/ping pong, shoot a long gun
I use my left hand to-
throw a ball, hit a baseball, play golf, arm wrestle
My left hand/arm is definitely stronger, as I favor it for tasks requiring perhaps more strength than precision (when doing pushups as I tire I often find myself favoring my left arm)
My right hand/arm, while not as strong as my left, has always worked much better for more precision tasks such as writing.
my history with pistols equally odd. Since my left hand/arm is stronger, as a brand new pistol (G19) owner in 2007 (really only shot .22 pistols when I was much younger) I naturally started out as a left handed shooter. Eventually I bought a sig 226, since the mag release could be reversed (and the SEALs use it!), and I began competing in IDPA and took a couple of practice sessions at the NRA range", which were my first formal class experiences. However, I did not shoot much, was definitely much more of a 'gun owner' than 'shooter', and as such my skills were firmly in the "beginner" category.
At some point I decided to try and shoot right handed, as I clearly believed I was right eye dominant since the "look through a hole then cover an eye" test clearly shows it. Also, I was getting very good at trap/sporting clays, which I shoot right handed, and figured I'd be better at the pistol right handed after getting used to controlling recoil with what I perceived as my slightly weaker hand. I think my pistol skills barely got better upon my switch, as I still did not practice with any regularity and had many bad habits.
But I was a right handed shooter now! I could use the mag release on my glock with my strong (right) hand, and drop the slide using the slide release! High speed low drag! and the legions of holsters and other gear I would eventually buy were often in stock, and didn't have to be special ordered! Life was sweet.
Over the past 15 months, I have absolutely transitioned from 'owner' to 'shooter'. I have practiced with regularity and worked up a regimen of drills with known standards. I've taken many great classes and shot more matches.
*********
While I have learned to shoot quickly and accurately enough at 'handgun realistic distances' with 'combat effective accuracy' (say, high probability targets inside 10 yards), pure accuracy has always been my fatal flaw.
My shots group to be left. It does not matter how fast or slow I am shooting, even if I'm in the target zone, its to the left. Not usually the classic low and left, just left.
The following examples illustrate a typical group on a 2 inch dot, shot as slowly and as accurately as I can.
at 3 yards.
Most rounds are hits though the tendency to group left is apparent even at this distance. Keep in mind in these examples I am going as slow as possible, giving myself a perfect sight picture and trigger press.
5 yards-
lots of shots out. the left POI shift is becoming more apparent.
7 yards-
horrible. you can see how clearing a plate rack at 12 yards while holding center can potentially be an infuriating and time consuming experience.
Its been like this for months. It is very frustrating. at this distance I have no idea if I'm going to get a hit on a 2'' dot. The groups are usually pretty tight, just to the left. My good friend JConn can vouch for this, as he's seen it many times. I have even benched the gun, and still experienced this. A very tight one ragged hole group, to the left of where I was aiming. I have tried putting less finger on the trigger. It does not seem to help, and sometimes causes me to throw shots even further left.
I sadly got in the habit of simply holding somewhat right on low probability targets beyond around 5 yards or so, or high probability targets beyond about 15 yards. I can't shoot a 25 yard group unless I am holding on the right edge of the target. I even drifted my sights on one of my guns (I have many guns, and shoot them all to the left) to the right, though it didn't really help much.
Since I (believe) I am right eye dominant, I don't think there is some failure to deal with a cross eye dominant-type issue.
****
Fast forward to the last couple days. For months I have always noticed that shooting weak hand only (left hand only) I was very accurate. Like small 5 round groups in a 2 inch dot perfectly centered, often out to 5 yards. In other words, far superior than my normal 2 handed supported. Something is clearly amiss.
With this in mind, for shits and giggles I went to the range tonight with a CCC versa clip holster. Its universal, meaning you can put it anywhere (left, right, OWB, IWB). I configured it left handed OWB.
...and I proceeded to shoot more accurately than I ever have in my life.
at 5 yards on the same 2 inch dot thats been my nemesis for so long, I was getting this-
I think the vertical misses were probably due to me simply not being used to gripping the gun this way. Still, this is a huge improvement and I couldn't believe it. A couple times I switched back to my normal right hand 2 handed grip, and got the terrible left POI I've come to except.
I shot around 250 rounds left handed (2 hand supported) and by the end the improvement in my accuracy was unreal. I was drilling 2 inch dots at 7 yards, while holding my front sight in the center. I thought I was going to cry. I mean, it was the damnest thing. Line up sights, slowly press trigger. bullet goes where I tell it. not to the left of where my front sight was when the shot broke. It was...so.... easy.
I am not yet declaring myself a lefty and holding the Great Fuse Holster and Mag Pouch Fire Sale just yet. This will have to be repeated many times. I am not thrilled about being a lefty, since glocks don't have a ambi slide release and I have a few gen3 glocks with non-reversible mag catches. But if this improvement appears to be constant I'd be a fool not to change over.
So, esteemed forum readers, WTF? what is causing this left POI shift when shooting right handed?
my theories-
1. Like your car's side view mirror, I am seeing things differently than they appear when shooting right handed. Perhaps I am not right eye dominant? Or, perhaps I am somehow not looking through my dominant eye?
2. my grip sucks. I am torquing the gun somehow.
3. bad trigger control
4. Anticipation/flinching.
5. I got lucky. as soon as I get more and more used to shooting left-handed, the same flawed habits will come back and I'll be back where I started, but with much slower reloads.
Thoughts? Advice?
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Originally Posted by warlord260
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