My target shooting stinks!! need help please.

BlackPowderJam

I need help understanding what is wrong with my shooting, I have a FNP45 with Trijicon night sights installed (non OEM) I am shooting paper at about 20 yards and it seems I'm hitting low (point of aim)(very low, 12" ) It does not seem to matter if I back up I still hit low. Is there a procedure I could use to find out where I'm hitting and what to adjust correctly so I'm on sight. Maybe a big paper target 4'x4' ?? Thank you. I'm almost to the point at saying here take this thing and this ammo and dial it in please.

rufe-snow

If your hitting low. You either have to raise the rear sight, or lower the front sight.

I'm not familiar with Trijicon sights? If they were aftermarket. Perhaps whoever installed them. Didn't realize the rear sight had to be higher?

Call up the customer service folks at Brownells. See if they sell various heights of Trijicon sights? You are probably looking at .062 = 1/16 of a inch, higher rear sight.

TooBig

move the target in and get your sights lined up and then move the target out. If you can't hit it close you sure won't hit it at a distance.

perry shooter

99% of people that have hits lower than expected are expecting recoil at the shot going off and try to beat this recoil by Jerking the pistol
Down Just a split second BEFORE the hammer drops. My suggestionis to get some snap caps take a friend to the range and Have them load magazine or cylinder with some Live rounds and some snap caps Then hand you the pistol and watch you shoot the pistol You will also be able to see the pistol jerk downward when the hammer drops on a empty Round. then practice with the pistol by dry firing with a Penny scross the top of the slide when the hammer falls and the penny stays on the slide this is what you are looking for when You do the live and dummy round drill with ammo in the gun at the range

BlackPowderJam

FYI
The sights are fix'ed so no adjustment there, I will try again to move the target (me in/out) I was doing that today but nothing seem'ed to improve.

andrewsw16

Fixed sights complicate your situation a bit, but if you can be sure you aren't yanking the trigger (by using the methods stated above) the problem remains that your front sight is too high and/or the rear site is too low. You can also try different ammo. Different bullet weights and velocities will result in a change in the vertical impact point. If you stick with this ammo, and you have confirmed it isn't YOU yanking the trigger (strongly suggest you let an experienced shooter try your gun), then you need to modify the height of either or both of your sights. The front sight is easiest. If you have a plain metal front sight, you can shorten it with a medium and fine flat file. Sit down at a rest and fire three shots over a sand bag or something similar. Then use the files to take a TINY bit off the top of your front sight and fire again. Repeat. Each time, your point of impact will rise. When it hits your point of aim, you're done. Take a Q-tip and a dab of cold blue and darken where you filed. (A black Sharpee pen works pretty good too.)

rufe-snow

Both the front and rear FNP sights are dovetailed to the slide as shown in this photo. You are going to have to either get a higher rear, lower front, or a combination of both to alter point of impact.

RCrosby

Once you know exactly how low it shoots at a specific distance it's an easy matter to determine just how much higher your rear (or lower the front) sight needs to be.
Divide distance between front and rear sights by the shooting distance in inches.
Now multiply the answer by the distance you want to change your P.O.I.
Example: If you're 12 inches low at 25 yards, divide 7 (assuming that's your distance from front to rear sight) by 900. (25 yards expressed as inches.) This gives you .007777778. Multiply this by the 12" you want to move your P.O.I. and you get .09333334"; almost 1/10". It gives you a place to start.
Hope this helps. (and that I've got the math right. ;-)

charliemeyer007

What is your group size now? What loading are you shooting? Sometimes a lighter loading will shoot higher.

Perry's penny training works.

Do you shoot well with some other pistol?

Txs

The first thing to do is determine if the pistol is zeroed correctly. In other words, is it you or the gun that's the problem.

Have someone of known, good skills fire a magazine through it to determine this.

I realize your sights are fixed, but you see many who use adjustable sights as a crutch to bring their handgun in alignment to them. That's completely backwards thinking and you won't be doing yourself any favors by addressing the symptom rather than the problem.

mcaso

I think perry shooter has it correct.
Can anyone post the pie chart that tells why the bullets hit where they hit? I can't. There is one 'type of' in the NRA "The Basics of Pistol Shooting", see #6.