Shooting Glocks Accurately

[GlockSpock]

So, I think most people are able to admit that Glocks are plenty reliable. However, how accurate would you expect them to be? I am still trying to learn how to efficiently and accurately shoot Glocks. In my opinion, they are plenty accurate enough because Hickock45 proves it shooting long range with them. Any tips or reading materials for shooting Glocks? Now that I have nearly started reloading I can finally practice practice practice! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Mike.357]

line up rear sight with front sight.  Focus on front sight.   Shoot.  Rinse and repeat.  How freaging hard is that?

[TMF]

[quote name="Mike.357" post="1125281" timestamp="1394945792"]line up rear sight with front sight. Focus on front sight. Shoot. Rinse and repeat. How freaging hard is that?[/quote] It's actually pretty hard for folks that are conditioned to a certain grip angle, like berettas and 1911s. It took me two days on a range to break me. Every time I presented my front sight was angled up. Best way to work on that is to practice (with your weapon cleared) sight acquisition over and over again. I do this once every few weeks about 2-3 dozen times. It really helps with the muscle memory of getting your sights lined up to target without having to focus so much on the "front sight, front sight, front sight" stuff. Ideally, if you practice enough, you should be able to close your eyes present your weapon and have your sights lined up when you open them. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Mike.357]

I guess I am lucky.  None of that has ever bothered me.  Line up the sights, focus up front and fire.  Shots go on target.

 

I actually prefer to practice point shooting.  That and aiming without sights.  I might not his the bulleye, but i hit center mass at a reasonable distance.

[TMF]

I guess I am lucky.  None of that has ever bothered me.  Line up the sights, focus up front and fire.  Shots go on target.

 

I actually prefer to practice point shooting.  That and aiming without sights.  I might not his the bulleye, but i hit center mass at a reasonable distance.

 

Well there is a big difference between the types of shooting people do.  I see most folks at the range shooting like they're Aaron Burr lining up Hamilton.  When you take your time to aim and make pretty little groups, you don't have to focus on things like muscle memory, so shooting is nothing more than lining up the sights. 

 

For folks like me, we practice combat shooting.  Accuracy has to be balanced with speed.  In order to be fast and still retain acceptable accuracy, you have to build the muscle memory of lining those sights up.  That doesn't happen overnight, and it doesn't happen easily if you've been conditioned for years on something other than Glocks.  I hated Glocks for this reason, until I had to be a good shot with one to earn my pay.  They are actually way, way more ergonomic for building good muscle memory due to the grip angle, it just takes some getting used to for folks who have grown up with standard angled pistols.  It took me two days and several dozen mags, as well as a couple hours at night drawing with a blue gun Glock before I broke my old ways.

 

I get what you're talking about with point shooting.  It is an effective technique.  Accuracy is more important to me, so I pretty much shoot the same way you're describing, the only difference is my sights automatically line up without though, so I'm not losing any time on my shot, and I'm putting all rounds into something the size of a 3 inch dot.  Everyone here can accomplish that, but it requires practice of repeatedly presenting and lining up your sights.  Once you get that muscle memory down, then it's time to start using live rounds.

[frankmako]

nice thing about the glock you can dry fire the mess out of it and it will not hurt a thing.  so you can get lots of free practice in you home.  

[deerslayer]

What everybody else said about front sight focus, etc. but also...

 

Learn to instinctively take all the slack out of the trigger before focusing on the front sight.  Dry fire from the reset--in other words, dry fire, keep the trigger depressed, rack the slide, and let the trigger out until you feel/hear the click.  This is where the trigger has reset, and all other forward motion is a waste.  Some will say this will only allow you to fire more rapidly and it will, but it will also aid accuracy by gaining familiarity with the feel of the trigger.  Dry fire 5-10 minutes every day--no need for marathon sessions.  Shoot only a Glock or Ruger Mark II for two weeks and grip angle will be moot. 

Edited March 16, 2014 by deerslayer

[jh225]

Learn to instinctively take all the slack out of the trigger before focusing on the front sight.  Dry fire from the reset--in other words, dry fire, keep the trigger depressed, rack the slide, and let the trigger out until you feel/hear the click.  This is where the trigger has reset, and all other forward motion is a waste.  Some will say this will only allow you to fire more rapidly and it will, but it will also aid accuracy by gaining familiarity with the feel of the trigger. 

 

While many people do indeed shoot Glocks that way  (short stroke), it actually slows down a shooter.

 

Guns are designed so that you depress trigger, release, repeat. If you have to actually hold the trigger back, then feel/think about the trigger resetting, it is taking precious time away from a follow up shot(s). I used to shoot Glocks the same way until I heard Rob Leatham say "grip the gun tightly and depress, release, depress as fast as you can". Yes you will have to deal with the Glocks spongy trigger, but the faster you pull, the less you think about it. Try it both ways and you will absolutely notice a difference. If I can save even 2/10ths of a second on a follow up, it just may save my life.

[DaveTN]

In my opinion, they are plenty accurate enough because Hickock45 proves it shooting long range with them.

At what range do you think he is shooting?

[kwe45919]

Everyone is different and anyone who's had their wrist or forearm broken and not have it properly set right can have issues with physically getting sights and the gun lined up. Some people can use the grip angle to their advantage while others just cant get used to it. The old saying goes if it don't feel right, it ain't gona shoot right. Can one adapt to a different grip angle and shoot good? Sure but some just can't. Same thing with the trigger issues people say certain guns have or don't have. I personally don't like the triggers on the XD's or the M&P's vs. the Glocks but that's just what works for came. I can still shoot them just fine but I prefer the Glock triggers. (after a .25 cant polish job)

 

Accuracy....Every pistol is more accurate than we are. It's why they're built. It's why they have "match" grade guns etc. Glocks are just as accurate and any other pistol out there.....it's just the difference in operators of the pistols. There are people who can take a G19 and shoot a mags worth through a quarter size hole and there are others who can barely keep'em all in a 6in hole no matter how hard they try. .

Edited March 16, 2014 by kwe45919

[CQB Elite]

I was consistently qualifying 48 out of 50 long before I heard anything about trigger reset. Depress/release/repeat quickly was how I was taught. I also don't believe this stuff about grip angle, etc. If you are lining up your sites, focusing on the front, then grip angle means nothing. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk

[TMF]

[quote name="CQB Elite" post="1125402" timestamp="1394985442"]I was consistently qualifying 48 out of 50 long before I heard anything about trigger reset. Depress/release/repeat quickly was how I was taught. I also don't believe this stuff about grip angle, etc. If you are lining up your sites, focusing on the front, then grip angle means nothing. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk[/quote] You're missing the point. Grip angle means jack for accuracy. It means everything in regards to sight acquisition, which translates to speed relative to accuracy... this is if the grip angle is something you're not used to. Another reason why first time shooters won't be thrown off by it, but will probably take to being accurate with a Glock quicker than most other conventional pistols, since the grip angle is more ergonomic (as it lines up with the forearm). If I was training new shooters how to sling bullets quickly and accurately I'd be teaching them on a Glock. It would cut half the time off my work. I spent over a decade shooting hundreds of thousands of rounds through a grip angle different to Glocks. It was practically painful to relearn how to quickly acquire sights on such a drastic grip angle when I was forced to change. Now I am a kool aid drinker. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[GlockSpock]

At what range do you think he is shooting?

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ri5AyXzxb4o

 

Far enough that I should be able to keep a full mag within a 2" or 3" group at 15 yards.

[Jonnin]

glocks are fairly accurate.   If you want to be serious with them, replace those sights with actual target sights.   Target sights have a thin front blade and tight rear window --- combat sights have a fat front sight and wide window.  Because one is designed to hit where you aim, and one is designed to get close enough rapidly.  

 

Supposedly you can fix the trigger to get rid of the slop, but if you do that, be very careful with it.  A few ppl have made target glocks, but its dangerous.  There is a third party safety that locks the trigger blocking 'safety' thing with a button to release it like a manual safety, if you tamper with the slop this is highly recommended.

[deerslayer]

While many people do indeed shoot Glocks that way  (short stroke), it actually slows down a shooter.

 

Guns are designed so that you depress trigger, release, repeat. If you have to actually hold the trigger back, then feel/think about the trigger resetting, it is taking precious time away from a follow up shot(s). I used to shoot Glocks the same way until I heard Rob Leatham say "grip the gun tightly and depress, release, depress as fast as you can". Yes you will have to deal with the Glocks spongy trigger, but the faster you pull, the less you think about it. Try it both ways and you will absolutely notice a difference. If I can save even 2/10ths of a second on a follow up, it just may save my life.

 

What did Leatham mean by "release?"

 

When I shot Glocks competitively, I never thought about feeling for the reset--I practiced enough to make it instinct and routinely ripped off accurate .12-.15 splits as a result.  There was no precious time taken away.  Short of a gun "running away" not even the pros shoot splits lower than .10.  Sure, Leatham or Sevigny may be able to get away with slapping a trigger and getting good results, but we humans will get far better results shooting from the reset on most autos.  Admittedly, some autos, especially 1911s, have such short resets that there's almost no point in chasing the reset, but on a Glock, it's fairly easy to learn, as long as one sticks with it.  Lots of shooters won't stick with one gun long enough to get very good with it, though. 

Edited March 16, 2014 by deerslayer

[Spiffy]

Adjustable target sights are the way to go on most guns if you want the whole cover a group with a dime aspect. You can tailor the gun to what you want. You know where to aim and what part of the sight to use. My groups tightened up alot after I put Dawson Adjustables on my G35. 

[jh225]

What did Leatham mean by "release?"

 

He was talking about full release, not reset.

 

Rob isn't the typical shooter as he grips the gun with a death grip, but he surely has had enough success that it was worth trying. I like it his way because anyone can do it and it doesn't take thousands of round to get muscle memory as it would using a short reset.

 

To each his own...........

[TnShooter83]

... practice practice practice!

 

I don't want to sound rude. But you answered your own question there.

Most people that are good at shooting put a lot of work into shooting "good"

And this is coming from someone that has to practice every thing I do.

Very few things in life have come natural to me. Shooting is definitely not one of them for me.

Obviously you're on you way to shooting better, as you come to realize you need practice.

 

I started with watching what other shooter were doing. Not the avg. range guy either.

I looked up many competition shooters. At one point I ran across a thumbs forward grip.

This felt more comfortable for me and help me a lot in automatics. But you should NOT use this in revolvers.

So, now I fell awkward shooting revolvers.

 

My best advice is to ask and watch others that shoot "better" than you.

Try it and see what works for you. If it doesn't, figure out why. And if needed

try something else. Eventually you will find what works and what doesn't.

Like anything it comes at a price, luckily you reload and this will help.

 

Beast of luck to you buddy. I know where you are coming from.

Edited March 16, 2014 by TnShooter83

[Jason in TN]

At what range do you think he is shooting?

Think he says in a few videos the gong is 80yards

[KKing]

[quote name="Jason in TN" post="1125672" timestamp="1395025101"]Think he says in a few videos the gong is 80yards[/quote] He's made gong hits out to 230 yards with consistency http://youtu.be/zFd3kF6LHz4 Edited March 17, 2014 by KKing

[TMF]

I don't think there's ever a question of how accurate Glocks are, or most pistols for that matter.  They're almost always going to be more accurate than the shooter attached.  That is what should always be focused on, not the machinery.  The trick is getting a bag of flesh and bones to figure out how to use that machinery to its full potential, balancing shooter accuracy and speed.  That is harder to do on some pistol designs than others.  Glock is a great, natural design for a person who hasn't been conditioned on a different type of pistol, but for folks who have been conditioned on a different grip angle, they have to relearn the muscle memory.  Unless, of course, the shooter is someone who is only concerned about lining up the sights and not the speed at which those sights can be lined up.  In that case you could apply the logic to an 18th century flintlock.

[KKing]

I'll just add this in here since we've already made mention of Hickock and shooting Glocks at distance. Yesterday I had pistol day at our range. Toward the end of the day I decided I was going to try to make some shots at 50 yards with my 19. I was really surprised to be honest, I could hit a 12" target 40% of the time. Nothing to brag about at all, but I was surprised. I think I was maxing out my ability though. Maybe with some target sights I could do a little better, I was using the stock combat sights. It was definitely challenging, and something I'd like to try more often

[DaveTN]

I'll just add this in here since we've already made mention of Hickock and shooting Glocks at distance. Yesterday I had pistol day at our range. Toward the end of the day I decided I was going to try to make some shots at 50 yards with my 19. I was really surprised to be honest, I could hit a 12" target 40% of the time. Nothing to brag about at all, but I was surprised. I think I was maxing out my ability though. Maybe with some target sights I could do a little better, I was using the stock combat sights. It was definitely challenging, and something I'd like to try more often

Do you have a revolver like a Smith & Wesson L, K, or N frame in 4 or 6”? They will give you a good idea of just how good you are.

Sights are critical on a target gun; not even needed on a self-defense gun. There are not yet (or at least I have not seen) any good adjustable target sights for Glock or M&P’s. Because these are not target guns. I suspect there will be for the M&P in the near future; we can hope.

Hitting a 12” target offhand without the use of a rest is good for any Tupperware gun. However, stories run wild. Bob Munden shot a 6” balloon three times in a row with a S&W Model 60 J-frame at 200 yards. Gives us all something to strive for.

[KKing]

[quote name="DaveTN" post="1128314" timestamp="1395494821"]Do you have a revolver like a Smith & Wesson L, K, or N frame in 4 or 6”? They will give you a good idea of just how good you are. Sights are critical on a target gun; not even needed on a self-defense gun. There are not yet (or at least I have not seen) any good adjustable target sights for Glock or M&P’s. Because these are not target guns. I suspect there will be for the M&P in the near future; we can hope. Hitting a 12” target offhand without the use of a rest is good for any Tupperware gun. However, stories run wild. Bob Munden shot a 6” balloon three times in a row with a S&W Model 60 J-frame at 200 yards. Gives us all something to strive for. [/quote] Afraid the only revolver I have is an LCR. My 19 is my primary carry weapon so I won't go messing with sights on it unless maybe I do some night sights. I was just curious I guess, but I would like to see what I could do with maybe a 6" barrel, single stage trigger. I might try again next time out, it brings another dimension of fun to pistol day, I've never tried anything past 25 yards before that

[jtmaze]

I shoot xd and 1911 because of this same grip angle. 12x12 point and shoot I am on paper very consistently. A buddy's g21 or g22 lucky if I can adjust and hit the paper. JTM We the People of the United States, in order to form a more Perfect Union...... Edited March 22, 2014 by jtmaze