What Am i doing wrong. I aim my 357 Magnum perfectly at my target at the range and still miss my target?

Question

What am i doing wrong?

I am aiming perfectly at my paper target at the local range. Looking down the barell of my smith 357 magnum perfectly lining up the aim. I breath then shoot and miss.

Is it the recoil? Should I aim higher? Lower?

Newbie here but learning fast. Dont get me wrong I make my targets alot but when I know I have my target in perfect aim I end up missing my target. I am shooting my target thats approx 35 feet away.

Whats the best way to get a perfect Aim? or a better one

Oh and God Bless the second amendment

Answer 1

Are you using .357 ammo for practice?

You might find it helpful to practice with .38's at first,

the lower recoil and reduced muzzle blast help you to learn to keep from flinching or blinking inadvertantly causing your aim to change at the last second.

Are you shooting double action or single action? Are your shots more accurate firing single action than they are double action? If so, You may be torquing the gun slightly because of the longer and heavier double action pull.

To prevent this, get some snap-caps and practice dry firing at a target. Whether firing single or double action, you always want to smoothly squeeze the trigger streight back. You should not anticipate the moment at which the hammer drops! It should just happen. Jerking the trigger or pulling it suddenly will throw your aim off at the last second as well.

My suggestions for starters are, in addition to the above,

1)Buy and use headphone type hearing protection if you don't already. This helps you avoid being distracted by noise, and protects your hearing.

2)For now, start practicing with mild .38 loads. Flat nosed (Double ended) wadcutters would be excellent if you can find them.

3) Practice single action for the first half of your range session. This will help you concentrate on sight picture and the light trigger pull will help your accuracy. This will help you build confidence in your ability.

4)Start out at a little closer distance, say, 15 to 20 feet.

Most gunfights in the home take place at distances of 15 feet or less. As your groups tighten up, move the target farther back.

5) If you notice your shots are missing consistantly, say, high and to the right every time, adjust your sights(or have someone at the range do it for you) or, if your gun is a fixed-sight model, aim in such a way as to compensate for it. In the above case, low and to the left.

I hope this helps you.

Don't you dare give up.

You'll get it.

Answer 2

Move the target closer till you can hit where you are aiming consistently. Then, move the target further away a few feet at a time. Also, what is the length of the barrel on your 357? If it's a snubby, you're doing fine.

Answer 3

Miss is a broad term

Are your groups consistent or are they all over the place

Are you missing high and right or low and left or some other combo or do you even hit paper

Sight adjustment seems to be the first thing people jump to when it should be the last

You may be flinching or pulling or you may not really have your sights lined up like you think

I believe your problem will be trigger control

Answer 4

Start out at 10 yards.* Breathe, Relax, Aim, Squeeze, Fire*... Try using real ammo instead of Blanks.* > just kidding<*

Answer 5

thats a good question i haven't shot a 357 but i have shot a 44.mag so i see what you mean. it may look like your aiming at the target but there is a couple of things

1. revolvers a lot different from pistols so its sights are different (unless you have a scope on it)

2. i am guessing that with the recoile the bullet dosen't go directly straight but at an angle.

p.s i know i suck at spelling

Answer 6

if you are new to shooting, start by sighting in your gun at close range first. 35 feet is too great a distance for this if you are a new shooter. begin at 5 yards and work back from there as you get better. most defensive situations happen at a distance of 10 feet or under anyway, so don't worry about the longer shots until you have mastered closer ranges.

also, you may need to work on trigger control. if you do not have a smooth trigger pull, it will throw your sight alignment off, and you will miss the target! breathing and sight alignment are important, but they are not worth a cup of coffee if your trigger pull is no good.

also, .full 357 magnum loads are not good for a beginner to start practicing trigger pull! recoil is fierce, and recovery is too much for most beginners. you should begin with .38 special loads and work your way up to more powerful loads as you get better. remember one of the golden rules of learning to shoot..."you should not start shooting with more gun than you can shoot comfortably, and learn to shoot well". be safe, and scale back a bit. i believe full .357 loads are too much gun for you at this point. not trying to be critical, but i was in the same boat once, and it takes time and practice! the .357 is a great gun! and you should be proud to have one that is so versatile. there are probably more loads available for .38/.357 than any other, so enjoy and be safe!

Answer 7

Thjere are two basic reasons for missing a target.  First, make sure your sights are correctly adjusted.  Once you have them adjusted, make sure that the ammo that you are using is something that your gun likes.  Have a freind who is a good shot with a handgun, test it out for you.  If you are not grouping, and the sights are correctly adjustead and tight on the gun, it could be your ammo.  Try a different brand to see if it improves your performance.  If it is not the gun or ammo, the problem is YOU.  If you are the problem, here is a way to stop flenching and jerking the trigger.  Have a friend load something less than six rounds in your chambers but leave at least one or two chambers empty.  Have him hand the loaded gun to you in such a way that you do not see the chambers and cannot know which ones are loaded and which ones are not.  Then you carefully aim at the target and fire each of the six chambers.  When you come to an unloaded chamber, you will immediately see if you are jerking or flenching.  If the gun doesn't move when the hammer snaps on the empty chamber, you are holding and squeezing correctly, if the gun muzzle makes a sudden jump when the hammer falls on an empty chamber, you are flinching.  Do this drill many times and do it often.  Soon you will be holding and squeezing correctly because you don't want to see your muzzle jump on an empty chamber.  It works, give it a try.  You can also use some empty shells or Snap Caps in your cylinder to do some dry fire drill at home.  Just pick a spot on the wall and aim at it and squeeze the trigger.  Do this every day and soon you will be putting every round in the bullseye.

Answer 8

you might be pulling the shot from anticipating recoil.

a good way to tell if you are is have a friend load a few rounds in the gun, like 3 or 4, without you looking. That way you wont know where the blanks are and if you land on an empty chamber and your gun goes up, then your pulling your shot. Or if you dont have someone to load it just dont count your shots and see if you pull on the 7th. thats how i did it and now that i know im a lot more accurate.

Answer 9

use a larger paper target so you can see where the round is hitting, then adjust the sights or your aim to get the round in the canter. I can easily hat a golf ball with mine at 50 yards with a steady rest so it probably isn't the gun. also, put one empty round in the chamber, spin it so you don't know where it is then shoot the gun. if you jerk when you hit that chamber, you have a flinching problem and are jerking it out of aim.

Answer 10

first of all, if you keep missing at 35 feet. move to 15 feet, with a large target. aim at the same spot and fire 6 or 12 shots at it. now look at where the bullets hit. it does not matter if the are where you aimed. you want them to be close to each other. if they are then you need to adjust your sights and practice, if not have someone else try, you still may just need practice. if they can not get a good group, then it is the gun, send it to a gunsmith or back to the maker and have it checked. better to start closer and build your skill then to shoot at a distance you want to be able to shoot from and miss all the time. you will get better with good practice.do not waste bullets.

Answer 11

Very simple, you need a firearms instructor to work with you and get the bugs worked out. 38 Special wadcutters and some range time with an instructor. Why not learn it right the first time?

Answer 12

are your sights adjustable? If the gun is new, or even used by someone else the sights may be off.

as far as aiming you should steady your trigger arm with the other arm and squeeze the trigger slowly. also some revolvers are hard to squeeze off if you don't **** the hammer back first.

Answer 13

they way I learned hot to shoot bir revolvers like that, is, I bought a laser. the nice thing is if you go with someone, you can tell them to whatch where the laser is going, is it jerking or dropping fast before the shot, and where is the red dot going after the shot. Then you just correct yourself.