Front sight drooping before shot break

[seamaster]

Front sight drooing before shot break.

Ever so slightly.

Shooting notes tell me I am not focus on the front sight. Notes said I am looking at the "twin peaks".

But I am looking at the front sight, I am focused enough to see it drooping before my very eyes (or eye). Just can't do anything about it.

What gives?

[Gwhite]

Sounds like you may just be tired... If so, remember that practicing shooting poorly is not a good path to success. Some days it's better to hang it up & get some rest.

Can you call your shots? If so, you can't be completely losing focus on your sights. Although I think I'm looking at my sights, if I devote too much concentration to my trigger squeeze, I can lose some precision in my alignment. I often only notice as the shot breaks. I can call the shots just fine, but the results aren't that great...

If I'm losing focus a lot, I put a random orange chalk mark on my front sight to give myself something a bit more interesting to look at. You don't want to just cover the sight. An orange rectangle can be just as boring to look at as a black one. It needs some character that you can see if you are REALLY focused on it. I had a mark that looked like Florida for a while...

Another possible option would be to tweak your grip slightly to make the pistol naturally point a little higher.

Another tweak is to work on getting your shots off a bit faster. As I've gotten older, my ability to really stay focused on my sights get shorter & shorter. The vast majority of my good shots break very quickly after I've settled, and it's WAY less tiring on my eyes & arm. To do this, you MUST start your squeeze on the way down into your hold.

[Coolmeester]

Gwhite is right.

Other tips: Dry fire more. Longer follow through after every shot.

[Rover]

You're letting your eye go to the target as you break your shot. Concentrate on the front sight and go for a better follow-through.

[Gwhite]

I doubt it. If you are shooting with a six o'clock or sub-six hold, the front sight will typically drift UP when you look at the target. Low shots are very rarely the result.

Again, an important clue is whether the low shots are called accurately or not. If you are really not looking at the sights, you can't call your shots for beans.

[C. Perkins]

Be conscious of your stance/posture.
Keep your head upright and focus on the sight and also the follow through with same same posture before and after the shot.
I think you are dropping your head and your sights/pistol will follow suit.

Give it a shot.
It is what I discovered after being told about this from Steve Reiter back when I got into precision pistol shooting.

It worked for me.
YMMV

Clarence

[David Levene]

There is the other possibility, especially with modified grips, that the "attack angle" of the finger on the trigger is pulling the front sight down.

It would be easy to prove by a Scatt session with the eyes closed.

[tozman]

David L is right on the mark!!

I am recovering from a wrist injury which has severely affected my shooting.
After some acupuncture, there has been a significant improvement, so I have returned to training.

All is ok with my air pistol and .22 semi-auto, but the drooping front sight is a real problem with my .32 revolver.

Last week I started to closely look at the last period (last 1 second before firing) on the SCATT. Almost without exception, that period showed a downward movement. Observing the sights closely, it became obvious that this movement began as I increased pressure on the trigger.
For me, this could be caused more by my wrist not being fully up to strength, with the angle of the grip possible also contributing - something I had not thought about.

2 thoughts there, hope they help.

[deadeyedick]

You're letting your eye go to the target as you break your shot. Concentrate on the front sight and go for a better follow-through.

The remedy Rover has described will definitely help prevent drooping before shot release as well as reinforce technique.

[hundert]

your wrist is relaxed, don't relax your wrist and your front sight won't move, you need to lock your wrist and it doesn't take much strength. My front sight won't drop even if a bird lands on the barrel

[David Levene]

How many people on here have seen seamaster shooting.

If you haven't then how can you say "you are doing this" or "you are doing that".

They are possibilities, nothing more and nothing less.

[seamaster]

Took everyone's recommendation in. I understand full well this is internet recommendations, you don't know if the recommendation is from an Olympian coach or just a hung-ho novice.

Use many of your recommendations. Shoot 20 shots ( still stuck in the days of old modern pentathlon when I started shooting). Ten 10's, rest still all over, mostly lower. I do know they are low.

Keep giving me your recommendations. Many are excellent refresher, reinforcement.

[deadeyedick]

If the majority of your shots are low then turn your sights up until the "group" is at the right height. Good technique and practice, combined with coaching suggestions will tighten the group.

First it makes sense to find a good coach to identify technical errors. All the suggestions you have received to date have been soundly based, but don't compare to the benefits of "one on one" issf coaching.

[Chia]

If the majority of your shots are low then turn your sights up until the "group" is at the right height. Good technique and practice, combined with coaching suggestions will tighten the group.

First it makes sense to find a good coach to identify technical errors. All the suggestions you have received to date have been soundly based, but don't compare to the benefits of "one on one" issf coaching.

I'm certain if this were an option it would have been taken. Lord knows I would take coaching if I could get it.

[deadeyedick]

It is an option Chia. I am a coach and the reason for raising the sights to initially move the group into a more expected position is to then work on technique and then readjust again when necessary.

Sights are there to adjust for variances in light or technique deficiency on any given day with the purpose of keeping the group central, followed by as small a group as an individual can achieve.

I have noticed that in many cases the moment someone purchases a pistol they either/or immediately become an expert in coaching or an instant gunsmith.

Sea master.....check credentials before accepting advice.

[Chia]

I apologize, I mistyped. I only meant that coaching on AP here in the US is very difficult to come by. I didn't mean my comment to apply to your entire post. Quite the opposite actually

[seamaster]

Deadeyedick，

Could you expound on what you mean by "raising the sight until expected position and smaller group is achieved"?

[deadeyedick]

What I meant was that if the general group of shots is low, then adjust your rear sight upwards until without changing anything else your group is more central on the target.

Following this pay attention to the basic technique to consistently achieve a good shot.

Stance
Grip
Sight alignment
Breathing
Trigger press
Follow through.

If you master all these points correctly, the area or size of a group of shots will undoubtedly reduce in size.

Once correct technique is used repeatedly for every shot, you may find that you will need to once again alter your sights to move to the groups position on the target as your technique now delivers a more repeatable and correct result.

Best advice.

1 search out the most capable ISSF coach I your area.
2 read through the above technical steps to fire a precision shot correctly.
3 Practice one step at a time until all are automatic.
4 Remember that a competition is one competition at a time x 60.
5 Do not dwell on bad shots but try to visualise what caused the result..good or bad.
6 Become a robot that executes only the technical requirements and nothing more.
7 Don't think too much as It will undermine the development of your confidence.

Lastly...refer to your coach regularly for an assessment as the time it takes for you to develop a bad habit will take 10x to remove.


This will provide excellent coaching material. http://www.australiancynic.com/shooting.htm

[seamaster]

Thank you for your kind reply.

I thought you were going to say keep front sight somewhat high to get your attention on the front sight, then adjust the elevation to center the group.

Now THAT would be unpedantic, that would be refreshingly novel.

[seamaster]

Thank you for your coaching link.

Good stuff. Good stuff.