Suppressors .40 ammo sugestions

[Ohioan]

I got a Sig P229 elite in Jan. Went to an indoor range a couple of times with CCI blazer (both brass and steel cased) great groups for the first time out-4" @ 21'. I went to an outdoor a few months later with Winchester white box and it was like a shotgun- 8-10" @20ish'. I don't think that my sight alingment was THAT off. Anyone have an experiance with either ammo? Is the CCI that good or is the Win that bad?
Thanks

 

[Spazz.]

Re: .40 ammo sugestions

I think you've developed a flinch. I would say that more than 9 times out of 10, it's not the sights on the gun, and more than 8 times out of 10, it's not the ammunition - especially with distances like those. I get less than 2" 10-shot groups at 7 yards (21') out of a Smith and Wesson M&P with a 3.5" barrel using 165gr Winchester white box FMJ. I do the same with the 180gr JHPs from Winchester. I get similar groups with CCI Blazer 180gr.

It's not uncommon for shooters to have awesome groups the first time they shoot a new gun, and then accuracy decreases as they shoot it more. You flinch, you anticipate recoil, you jerk the trigger, you use an inconsistent grip, etc. The list goes on, but work on squeezing the trigger and watch your stance. The 3 pointers I give to people when I'm teaching them how to shoot with handguns are: hold the gun tight, stand correctly, and <span style="font-weight: bold">squeeze</span> that trigger.

Print off some of these targets if you're a righty, or these if you shoot lefty. They've helped me and several other shooters figure out what's going on. Practice shooting well, and correct your errors as they pop up. Above all, have fun with that nice gun!

 

[TXTransplant]

Re: .40 ammo sugestions

+1 on Spazz's comment.

There is a 1% chance it's a gun, 1% chance it's the ammo, but...

Either of those ammos should be shooting one hole groups at 7 yards. I mean all of this to be helpful, rather than a critique, as we've all been there.

Basically, you're shooting a notoriously snappy, flinch-inducing caliber. As Snappy said, it's not unusual to shoot snappy guns very well at first, and watch your group sizes open up as your brain gets more and more punished by the explosions going off in your face.

The fix here is dry firing, dry firing, and more dry firing. Build the neurological pathways in your brain that perfect front sight focus and perfect trigger squeeze do not lead to big explosion in your face. Eventually, those habits (of maintaining both eyes open, perfect front sight focus, and perfect trigger squeeze) get so ingrained that even a big noise right in front of your face won't disturb them much.

Also, double up on earplugs with ear muffs over them--if you aren't already. This may help.

I'd say that most folks agree there are four components to shooting well:
1. Front sight focus
2. Trigger control
3. Sight alignment (easily and quickly grasped by most people)
4. stance (matters, but as long as it's reasonable, most people are fine.)

Most shooters learn 3. and 4. fairly quickly. What really differentiates a master pistol shooter from a novice is that they do 1. and 2. perfectly, every single time, at whatever speed they're shooting. It ain't much more complex than that. If your bullets aren't going in the same hole, and at that distance they should be, it's probably 75% trigger control and 25% lasering your eyes onto that front sight before, during, and after the gun goes off.

PS--having an expert pistol shooter there to help you is about 1000% more useful than internet diagnosis

 

[Ghogs Nightmare]

Re: .40 ammo sugestions

In addition to the other dry fire technique would be to put a penny on top of the front sight.With practice you should be able to complete the firing sequence without the penny falling off.
.
It'll take some practice but will improve your results in the long run. Same can be done with your bolt gun barrel an a penny (jus in case u wanna try that too)