Struggling with marksmanship using Sig P228.

[Streck-Fu]

I am much more proficient with striker fired handguns and really find myself struggling with the DA/SA hammer fired Sig 228.

I do dry fire and thought things were going well during practice but when I hit the range, my precision is not getting better.

I wanted to ask if I am doing something wrong or if there is an obvious flaw. I do not want to continue practicing bad habits if I can avoid it.

Any advice and recommendations are welcome and appreciated.

Below is a video of me shooting and the resulting target (Black is 5.5"). Range is a basic 10 yards. By comparison, my shots with my Springfield XD 3" were much tighter (no picture, sorry).

Also, I am right handed and left eye dominant.

http://s490.photobucket.com/albums/r...t=123_0816.mp4

[Rob_Frey]

You may want to consider taking a training class so someone qualified can watch you shoot and correct your flaws.

[Streck-Fu]

Originally Posted by Rob_Frey

You may want to consider taking a training class so someone qualified can watch you shoot and correct your flaws.

I plan to.

In May, I took a class with Pat MacNamara through Grey Group and did ok. 15yrds and closer, I was on target and on time but could have done much better. At 20 and 25 yards, I struggled and want to improve overall precision. I just want to get a handle on this DA/SA hammer system.

I have heard from those that took his classes that Larry Vickers is very accuracy focused and good to learn from. I plan to get into one of his classes next year. In the meantime, I plan to work on what I can.

[McNamara]

Grip and stance look ok from what I can see, but keep getting professional training on that.

The big thing I see is this: you're not putting your finger on the trigger until your sights are lined up. With a DA/SA pistol, I place my finger on the trigger at position 3 (muzzle downrange, pistol in close near the bottom of my peripheral vision). As I extend the pistol outward, I am simultaneously pressing the trigger to the rear as the sights line up. By the time sight alignment and sight picture are complete, there's just a few pounds of pressure left to go. This eliminates a lot of the shooter-induced error of a long DA pull; often, you end up chasing the sights and thinking too hard about not anticipating the shot if you do the whole pull at full extension.

Now, if it's not primarily your first shot throwing off the group size, then there may be other things at work. But I find that working the initial DA pull as above helps make the first shot more accurate and faster. Practice lots of DA dry fire going from position 3 to 4 to get comfortable with the long pull.

[Streck-Fu]

you're not putting your finger on the trigger until your sights are lined up. With a DA/SA pistol, I place my finger on the trigger at position 3 (muzzle downrange, pistol in close near the bottom of my peripheral vision). As I extend the pistol outward, I am simultaneously pressing the trigger to the rear as the sights line up. By the time sight alignment and sight picture are complete, there's just a few pounds of pressure left to go.

I do what you describe when doing drills from the holster but admit that when just standing on the line practicing marksmanship, I do not.

Pat had us perform and practice the same technique you describe when coming from the low ready or holster and, I think but have not done direct comparisons, that my first shot is more accurate.

I purposely avoided such movement when filming this video to isolate just the shot. Next time, I can incorporate the draw if it would help to evaluate.

[McNamara]

Ok, so you've already been trained to do the "press-out" or whatever we wanna call it by Pat. Good stuff. I'd just keep incorporating it into your training, whether it's from the holster, or slow fire marksmanship practice.