Controlling a shaky hold/pistol choice questions

[trboat]

Rover- thanks for that.
As I was writing the above I was busily designing a self centering variable slot blade.

I think to start I will just chop out a fixed one a few hundreds over what I have now.
Low on the list I know, but I do find the greater slot width on my Izzy to be easier to hold.

[mr alexander]

trboat,

Wouldn't it be quicker and easier to just narrow the width of the front sight instead of modifying the rear sight's notch?

Even removing a total of only 0.010" from it will allow quite a bit more daylight to be present when aiming.

[trboat]

Forgive me as I know the target shooters practice is to modify as needed..
This is a classic pistol in perfect condition- I would more happily make new parts for it than modify existing.
The rear blade is a simpler part to make than the front post....
Of course I could just buy a new old stock front post and mill it down to suit.

My collectors and shooters instincts are often at odds

[EdStevens]

I do find that I have a hard time seeing the front sight in an indoor range where the lighting conditions are not as bright as outdoors and as my eyes age. My guns do have adjustable rear sight gaps, and my Hammerli SP-20 has an adjustable front sight width as well (really clever rotating triangle post design with three different widths). I find that a narrow front sight increases the diffraction of the light around the post, making it even harder to see clearly indoors as the light "bends" around the front sight. Be cautious of this if you decide to thin your front sight.

I think widening the rear sight is preferred in most cases. This lets more light in around the front sight and seems to really reduce the diffraction. However, if you make it too wide, your group size will increase. This is just a factor of it becoming more difficult to accurately centre the front sight in the gap. And sight alignment is critical to accuracy.

[Dipnet]

I think you will find that practice, including dry fire practice, will eventually cause shakes to diminish (they never disappear). Although I ignored this advice when I first started, dry firing really help improve precision shooting skills. By focusing on stance, body alignment, grip, breathing, and trigger control, you are developing the very skills that counter shakes.

You can make a temporary dry fire plug for a .22 by using a plastic drywall screw anchor. These wear out and have to be replaced, but are inexpensive. Use snap caps for centerfire dry fire practice. Enjoy the addiction. dipnet

[trboat]

I just wanted to provide a update.

First off, I am enjoying the shooting. I don't think I really applied myself in a meaningful way to a sport before.
It is a rewarding experience.

All the advice given is spot on.
I have been weight training, dry fire and hold practice plus a study of the craft.

One string illustrates where I am at.
During a rough 900 I couldn't get ahead of the work and the gun was pushing me around.

I was at the first rapid fire string of the National Match set and just told my self to square away and shoot straight.
I managed to firm up and tossed sting of a ten and four x's in enough time left to check the scope and see the strong group.
I still couldn't hold up the rest of the match but that one target told me what I need to know about what I can do and that the gun is accurate.

I have started to enjoy slow fire and can mostly call shots.
I have had that remarkable experience of knowing a shot is perfect and seeing a round dead center of the X ring as the result.

I am now seeing how much of a mental game this is.
I can toughen up and shoot brief periods of concentration- a work in process..

So a target.
The 1:00 ten and the four X's of a strong five shot string:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/131348023 ... 499858188/

Shooting 700's and squaring away for good shots.

[m1963]

It is a process.

Over a decade ago I had the same question. A then 'young' Sgt. James Henderson told me, quite simply, that I had to accept the wobble/shake. It took me a long time to get there, but when I finally did accept it and my scores improved dramatically.

[Houngan]

Am I correct that a wobble is the aligned sights moving in relation to the target, and a shake is the sight alignment itself moving? I'm just getting back into it as well and I swear I used to be able to hold the front sight in the rear, but now I'm twitchy as heck after a few shots (primarily due to fatigue, I believe.)

[trboat]

I can post to the vocabulary as I am using it.

When my hold is "shaky"- the whole gun and forearm is jumping about - shaking, trembling etc.

A wobble is simply the movement of arm about in the hold area

BOTH conditions can be present at same time..
Neither strictly effects sight alignment- I can be quite 'shaky' and if I control the trigger and shoot within my hold area- the shot is still fine.

One of the league members quite simply put it to me as I was trying to sort this out- "the shaking will not matter so much"

When I started this thread- my hold was disturbingly shaky, hold area large but not understood and I was trying to snatch shots while winging past the bulls which was causing even more shakes as I tensed up- not a pretty picture :)

For me- I am gaining strength which is reducing my hold area and understand the directive of releasing shot with clean trigger work within hold area, and am strictly holding sight alignment.

So- sight alignment-release trigger without changing sight alignment within hold area.

Just now in my training- I am concentrating on sight alignment and hold area on blank surfaces without disturbing alignment with the trigger release.
I am nearing the point where I will add a target and impose centering hold on target.

[Isabel1130]

Adding the target with the bull will draw your eye to the bull. You will also have a tendency to hold too long trying to perfect the shot as the sights move against the bull.

Many, but not all, top shooters use a sub six hold, so that the black of the sights, appears totally in the white below the bull.

Try this, as it will better approximate the dry fire training you have been doing against a blank piece of paper.

[Deigeh Nisht]

Two (2) ounces of Vodka and those jitters will disappear.

[C. Perkins]

Two (2) ounces of Vodka and those jitters will disappear.

Hey Rover, did you change your name and location ?

:)

[Rover]

Nah, Clarence; it's purely Universal Folk Wisdom.

[jackh]

To stay off the target and stay on the front sight, you need to make seeing the front sight as easy as possible. Your eyesight, Rx, the lighting, the relative widths of the post and notch, notch depth all are important. And on most of them you can make adjustments. If you really can and do stay on the front sight, a lot of the alignment and stability will fall into place much easier.

[PDX_AIR]

Your numbers are neat but useless. Just eyeball it.

While I know such practical empiricism works- it offends my machinist and statistical sense.

Once "eyeballed" the result is measurable- and the answer to the question.
I would think that the sport has the maturity to know that a front post of .125" is well paired with a rear slot width of x for a given range of shooters.
No?
Perhaps you mean this is only a important design element for OEM and the end user should just file away till it suits?

I have a machine shop so will mill a new plate or two.
Maybe if a each shooters need is unique- I could quickly fashion a variable rear..
Has the sport changed in the ideal of optimal or did I just by happenstance get a narrow rear sight plate out of the range offered by High Standard?

http://www.pilkguns.com/c9.shtml
Read the section on sights. Also, I know I've read in one of my shooting books what the ideal sight relation\size should be. I'm trying to find it now. It might be antal's book competitive pistol shooting, or a.a yur yevs book competitive shooting. Although it could be any one of the several pistol shooting books in my library. I'll find it and let you know