How do I get better at shooting my revolver? - UPDATE

I've had my MC for over a year now and have practiced with it perhaps 8 times at the range, shooting between 100 to 200 rounds each visit. While at the range yesterday I still couldn't shoot even a 5 inch group at 10 yards. I realize that using 38sp vs .357 will yield different results, and I do shoot both. It doesn't matter. DA, SA. Same results. My friends all say the same thing. We can't hit anything consistently with this gun. I was aiming at a 5" target from 10 yards and emptied cylinders without a hit on target. I'm not a great shooter but usually I can settle down with a .45 or 9mm and shoot reasonably, say 2" groups from the same distance. The wheel gun is challenging for sure.

Mike, the best advice I can give is dry fire practice. A good shooter dry fires as much as live fire. Aim an unloaded revolver at light switch from your easy chair. Control front sight. Keep front sight steady and on target. This helped me greatly. You will see an improvement.

Trying to coach without observing what you do is problematic at best. About all we can do is go over the basics which, not knowing your back ground, risks insulting you. One way to observe your own errors is to have a friend load your revolver leaving a a chamber or two empty so that you do not know when it will go click instead of bang. You can do the same thing without help by not watching while you give the partially loaded cylinder a spin then close it. When it goes click you'll see your sight dip or jump or be aware of your eye lid flinching. After you get better the goal will be to continue watching the sight alignment after the hammer starts to fall then watching the front sight recoil up out of the rear sight. That is called follow through. Nothing else teaches follow through as well as a flintlock but that is another story. Taken seriously dry firing helps a lot. During dry fire you can hang a weight from the barrel to build strength. Hanging your boots by their laces is classic. A coin laid on top of the barrel rib should stay put while you dry fire. When it stays put on top of the front sight through 5 to 10 clicks double action you're ready to kick butt at the matches.

I believe you wind up a better shot in the long run by first practicing with the lowest recoiling cartridges until you get good accuracy then do the same moving progressively up the recoil latter in steps. .22 LR revolvers build great marksmen.

I hope this helps a little.

What k22fan said, but I'll add that while on the range, have someone take videos of your stance, grip, etc. from both sides including zooming in on your hand(s). Then do what athletes do and play them back to study at your leisure. You are your own best critic.

Try it of a bench rest just to see what is going on.

MikeAvery71 said:

We can't hit anything consistently with this gun.

Click to expand...

If it truly is a "we" thing, then it could be the gun. Are any of your buddies good shots? If even they can't make the gun group I'd suspect that something about the gun is out of whack (maybe cylinder alignment or bore condition). Are the holes in the target round or does it look like any bullets are hitting sideways?

Like others have suggested, shoot it off a rest.

Shooting SA or DA?

Training & Practice.

Practice does not make perfect, perfect practice makes progress. 800-1600rnds of poor quality practice over a year likely did more harm than good. Get with an instructor who is intimately familiar with shooting revolvers (not as many out there as there used to be), do a few train up sessions, and then practice what they preach.

What is an MC?

Luckyducker said:

What is an MC?

Click to expand...

I believe Match Champion, but I could be mistaken.

Yes, MC is Match Champion.

If no one in the group could shoot it well, first find the best shooter in the group and have him (or her) bench rest it to see exactly what is going on. If you're not sure exactly how to do this with a handgun, there are a lot of tutorials on the web. Find the one you are most comfortable with at go at it. Start close up, then move back until the groups open up.

You said you can shoot ok with a .45 or 9mm. Shooting semi autos versus shooting DA revolvers is miles apart. What k22fan says is a good start, you really need someone who is VERY familiar with DA revolver shooting (versus DA semi-auto shooting) and have them stand at about your 8 o'clock position (for a right hander, 4 o'clock for a lefty) so he (or she) can watch your hand/finger movement and any changes in your grip as you squeeze the trigger. They will also be able to watch the barrel to see any incorrect/unnecessary movement. Also, are you shooting both eyes open, one closed, etc? What stance are you using? Also, do you know which is your dominant eye (this is not necessarily the eye you use when shooting a rifle). I am right handed but left eye dominant so to shoot my handguns the best I can I had to modify my stance and head position so I had the best sight picture for me (but I shoot long arm differently depending on whether it is a shotgun or rifle).

Doing the video taping thing would also help as you can review with your "coach" and they can point out those things during the video review (especially in the zoom mode so you can see what you're doing best).

Also, don't shoot as fast as you can, slow down, take it easy, there is a saying in competition "Slow is smooth, smooth is fast". Fire a round, lower the gun, rest for a couple seconds, raise the gun, fire a round... Get used to the trigger pull and when you raise the gun to shoot the next round, think about the mechanics of what you are about to do. You can also do this while dry firing, and dry firing the Ruger will not hurt it and actually will help smooth up the trigger/sear/hammer.

As you can see, there is a lot to do to be come proficient in shooting a handgun, especially when you are new to a different platform.

Sounds like something is wrong with the gun. Call Ruger and explain the situation and see if they will send you a shipping label so you can send it back and have it checked out. Their repair dept is first rate.

All great suggestions, especially having someone on hand at the range who is qualified to provide guidance. I may be flinching. I absolutely know I do sometimes. I may just need more training. Because something isn't right with my relationship with this revolver. I'm more leaning towards a user deficiency rather than blaming the firearm. Good discussion though and thank you everyone for the feedback. There are a number of ranges in my area that do offer personal assistance. So I will go that route.

"10 yards and can't hit the target" with MC, shoots 8 times a year
"can make 2" groups" with semi-auto

I can not believe it's the shooter (although he says double action at times). It's got to be the gun (although it's a MC).

Is he doing mag dumps with his semi-auto; or double taps?
Is he trying to do that with the revolver shooting DA. That can take several years to learn.

Shooting 5" at 10 yards is not horrible. It's not even bad if shooting DA with trigger pull above 8 lbs. My Ruger SP101 came from the factory with a 15 lb DA pull. That MC should by reputation have a sweet trigger in SA and DA.

I would not even imagine shooting double action (DA) until your SA is where you want it. Can you measure it?

Normally asking friends to shoot your firearm will quickly tell you if you are the problem, or the gun is the problem. That is if you know the friends can shoot other revolvers well.

If your friends haven't shown they can shoot, then you need to watch and talk to some folks at your range about shooting it for you. You need to take a variable, you, out of the equation. You need to benchrest the gun for the same reason.

Myself,
I would expect most revolver shooters could produce a 2" group at 10 yards with a reasonable SA trigger (3-4 lbs) benchrested with most any revolver. I have a couple of friends who can put 5 out of 6 in the same hole standing. That's a .5" group. So there's a range of expectations. Without a doubt, the Match Champion by reputation should be able to do that at 10 yards.

Update us.

Prescut

I was shooting my glocks and 1911 pretty good. I can work on a clay bird or water bottle on the 25 yard berm pretty good. I always wanted a GP100 after I shot one years ago. I finally found a new one at the gun store and got it. I couldn't hit much anything. I am left handed. I had to move the sight all the way to the left and still was off. Then I picked up a Blackhawk. Same thing. I thought that is too weird. I bought a cheap rest to sight it in. When I got done they were both back on center again. It was me. What I found is that I was using too much trigger finger. I always shot at the first joint on my finger. I started just using my trigger finger pad. Now I am very much improved. The revolver is a very different animal. I found I can shoot better with a bigger grip so I can just use my finger tip. If the grip is too small I get too much finger in there. A rest is a must to see if it is you or have one of the really good shooters at the range shoot it.

I think the best piece of simple advice I could offer is for you to get with a QUALIFIED instructor that shoots a lot of DA revolvers.
Proper instruction can go a LONG way in solving a problem like that.

I definitely second Contenders advice ! You may also look at a Wilson's spring kit for your gun. Most Rugers I own came with a lawyered 5-6# SA pull and a DA pull in excess of 10#'s. At 10 yards the gun should shoot thumbnail sized groups , with ammo it likes ! Another variable is the ammo you are shooting. You should try some quality hollow based wad cutter ammo and see how the gun will group. The gun will have a significant variation in how it will group based on the ammo you are shooting. The MC "should" shoot very decent groups. If it will not group from a sand bag rest contact Ruger and see if it can be evaluated, at their expense, for mechanical problems.

In addition to dry firing, I found a great way to reduce flinch is after firing six rounds, only reload *one* cylinder. Then give it a spin before closing it. Don't look at it while closing. You have no idea where the live round is. Then sight your target and practice a smooth pull. If the first couple of cylinders are empty cases, you definitely will see a flinch. Learn to count your rounds, so if you get to five without the live round, stop and re-spin the cylinder.

My groups tightened right up, and although this drill only works with revolvers and not autoloaders, it has improved my groups with my pistols. I find when my accuracy falters, I do this drill for a few rounds. This especially works well when shooting heavy loads with my .45 Colt.

Lot's of good advice here. Important thing is to settle down before you start shooting. Spend some time dry firing, take your time. I'm sure someone has mentioned it, I didn't see it. The same grip from shot to shot is important. Not just the hand in the same exact position, but the same amount of grip from shot to shot. It needs to be about the same as a good firm handshake. If you are shooting S/A Use your off hand to operate the hammer.

Best thing I ever did for revolver shooting is to copy Jerry Miculek's grip and trigger control. There are videos and tutorials on how to do it.