Aiming a gun: what am I doing wrong?

Question

I line up the sight, with the same gun, slightly below, right on, and above the target. It seems that no matter what variation, I am EXCEPTIONALLY bad at aiming. I have had other shooters shoot the very same gun at the very same target with no fail. I know how to line up the sight markers and I've tried using one eye and both eyes in numerous stances. The most effective yet is one hand and both eyes. I'm told that I don't flinch at all, and that it's my strength,

so, do you know what I might be doing wrong?

Answer 1

First off, get a big target.

Next, don't switch the way you aim as far as the frong fight in relation to the target.  Aim dead on straight at the bulls-eye and fire 5 times.  Now, go get the target. Do NOT judge the target by how many bulls-eyes you have, look at your 5 shots.  If they are close together it is simply a matter of adjusting the sights.  If those 5 are all spread out you have some shooting issues.  You say you have no flinch, but maybe you are breaking early, or not holding the gun tight enough, or you are fighting against your natural point of aim, etc etc.

Also, what type of firearm? rifle? handgun?

have you ever thought of switching the sights you are using? Try a scope or peep-sights on a rifle.

Answer 2

what kind of gun are you shooting with?   Could be that you are just not holding the gun very steady, so you might try using a rest and seeing if that helps.   Also, you might try practicing with a bb gun, or airsoft gun.   Repition is the best teacher for accuracy.   and, if you get an airsoft gun, and one of those traps they sell for them, you can literally practice shooting in your living room.

Answer 3

Well it appears that you have already received some very good advice however, given what you indicated I believe you know how to shoot and need to check to make sure you are shooting with your dominant eye. The check is easy and fool proof. The attached website will quickly show you how to do the test and confirm eye dominance. If you are shooting behind you non dominant eye you will never solve your difficulties. Hope this will help.

http://www.archeryweb.com/archery/eyedom...

Answer 4

close one eye. hold it steady ( use a sling) and squeeze the trigger gently like you would squeeze a stress ball. Don't jerk the trigger. try a rest of some sort to steady yourself if needed, take two deep breaths and half way thru breathing out the second breath take the shot, practice with a .22 cal, rifle for a bit to get the technique down and you should be fine.

Answer 5

You are never supposed to know when the gun will fire, thus get a slight surprise when it goes off. This stops you from jerking the d**n thing and ensures the bullet goes exactly where your aiming (as long as rifle sighted in correctly etc). Also maybe try steady breathing, holding your breath, try different ways of holding the rifle, different positions (squatting, prone bench etc) just go back to the basics. Buy a bipod well worth investment and helps you punch those groups we all love. Everyone has their own style just keep experimenting until you find one that works for you. Good Luck and happy shooting

Answer 6

Make sure you control your breathing. You should only use one eye when shooting, that might be your problem.

Answer 7

hold the gun tighter, also see where the grouping is it might not be u it could just be that the sights are off. when i first started shooting a handgun i didnt know what the h**l i was doing wrong but the more u practice the better you get. pull the trigger slowly because if ur pulling it fast it can mess up ur aim. it also just might not be ur type of gun. i was completely terrible with the HK USP but was really good with the glock 17

Answer 8

if your sure your staying steady it could be ( what kind of gun....???) if its a rifle that you have the butt on your arm/shoulder and when it backfires the gun moves. it could also be because of wind? or the way you hold it. you have to hold it the same way every time or the way you view the sight will be different

Answer 9

You have left out so much vital informatin that I cannot tell you want you are doing wrong.  Informatin such as where are the bullets hitting?  Are they forming a group in one location or are they all over the place?  If they are forming a group, where is the group located relative to the bullseye.  What kind of gun are you shooting?  If you are shooting a heavy recoiling gun and are not used to it, you may be jerking or flintching.

To determine of you are jerking or flintching, here is what you should do.  Get a revolver and have someone load it for you.  They will not put 6 rounds in it but they will leave at least two chambers empty.  They should be randomly located so you never know which chambers are empty and which are loaded.  That person will hand the gun to you ready to fire.  Do not cheat and look at the cylinder to see which chambers are empty.  Now, aim and fire just as you always do.  If you are flinching or jerking the trigger, it will be very apparent when you drop the hammer on an empty chamber.  If you drop the hjammer on an empty chamber and the muzzle of teh gun does not jump, you are holding and squeezing properly.  On the other hand, if the muzzle jumps when the hammer drops on an empty chamber, you know that you are flinching or jerking the trigger.  If this is the case, you now know what you need to work on.  Keep doing the unknown empty chambers drill until you can hold the gun absolutely still when you come to an empty chamber.  At this point, you will be holding and squeezing properly and should be shooting a good group somewher on the paper.  All you have to do is to adjust the sights until you are putting the rounds in the center of the bullseye.

I assume from what you have said that you have received training in what a proper sight picture is.  If you have not, this could be a big part of your problem.  If you know how to get a proper sight picture, you have a big part of the problem solved.

Try these things and see if they help.  If this does not help, you shold contact a local gun  range and ask if they have an instructor who can look at what you are doing and analize what the problem may be.  The fee that you pay the instructor will be much less than the cost of the ammo that you will waste trying to solve the problem yourself if my suggestions do not solve the problem.  Do not use a family member or friend to perform this analysis because you need professional help in solving the problem.

Don't worry, the problem is solvable and after you figure out what is going wrong, you can then work on correcting it and start punching out the center of the bullseye.  Won't it be sweet to outshoot your partners after you solve the problem.  Hang in there.  You , too, can be a fine shot.

Answer 10

See the picture in the link...it shows the correct setup.  

Both the rear sight and target are a bit fuzzy,as you are focused on the front sight after front/rear sight alignment.

Hope this helps.

--------------------------------------...

second link is for when you actually hit the target :-)

if there are errors, this diagram may help.

Answer 11

try  slighty under the target  if u seen where u hit it if its off try little higher.. or left or right.. every bodys diff..

Answer 12

Breathe, Relax, Aim, Squeeze*, Fire... And always use a 6 0-clock hold on your target.* For example> If your shooting at a bulls eye target , balance the front sight at the base or bottom of the bulls eye.*

Answer 13

First suspect is trigger pull.  Use the pad of tip on index finger, not crook of first joint.  Slow steady pull.

Second, is practice getting your sight picture quickly and effeciently.  This way you are not trying to hold the gun up-right for too long.  Get a smaller gun or one better balanced for your hand.

Third, anticipating the bang.

With an unloaded weapon practice each step in shooting until it is one natural process: stance, grip, level, sight picture, inhale, 1/2 exhale, squeeze, lower weapon.

Practice, practice, practice.  Archers will do this for hours and begin to look like robots at the range.

Answer 14

DONT squeeze the trigger!!!

Pull the trigger slowly, to where it suprises you.