HW45 - Shooting Technique?

[DJP]

So how's it done, then?

I owned an HW45 a while back and couldn't hit a barn door with it. Well, that's not strictly true - I did get good enough to tell that the accuracy was definitely there, but I never really got confident at shooting it.

I've just bought another and have the same problem: This one's dual power. On the half power setting I can get semi-decent groups, but at full power it's all over the place.

It's not the gun, it's definitely me!

So what's the technique?

[magicniner]

Have a look at the bottom of this page:

http://www.targetbunny.btik.com/p_Self_Defence.ikml

The last two PDFs are a guide to full bore pistol marksmanship, the techniques covered are perfect for the HW45 as well as the full bore 1911 automatic
You'll be hitting cans every time at 30 yards and more if you practice ;-)
Regards,
Nick

[Thanaton23]

As above, my shooting improved tenfold after reading the US army pistol marksmanship training manual! Pay particular attention to the concept of the surprise trigger break while focussing on maintaining the sight picture...you'll understand when you read it! Oh, and proper breathing is very important too!

Have fun!

[hwtyger]

Tell us what do you do exactly, step after step?
How do you place the pistol in yr hand?
Where do the shots go? All over? 1 side?
If it recoils, is it straight úp?
Grip the pistol, hold it in front of you, close yr eyes, reopen, where are yr sights?? If yr frontsight isnt about in the middle of the rear 1, yr grip, how you hold it, is wrong. (or the balance but I doubt that with an HW). Change till you get it right. Alter pressure of fingers, alther their placement, etc.

[magicniner]

Read and work with the PDFs I've pointed you at, if I answered your questions I'd just be quoting them!
They are very good and will improve your technique no end!
Regards,
Nick

[Thanaton23]

Nick, hwtyger is asking DJP what HE does, with the intention of coaching him presumably. But as you say, it's all in "the book" isn't it. It's so well writen too, in places it introduces concepts that are somewhat counter-intuitive to a novice, yet explains them in such a clear way, it's easy to start applying the principles to your shooting!

[magicniner]

Nick, hwtyger is asking DJP what HE does, with the intention of coaching him presumably. But as you say, it's all in "the book" isn't it. It's so well writen too, in places it introduces concepts that are somewhat counter-intuitive to a novice, yet explains them in such a clear way, it's easy to start applying the principles to your shooting!

But he's missing so much
Stance
Free arm
breathing
sight focus
target picture
aquiring a good grip
and there's so much to cover and it's well documented in the linked documents, so he's offering help in a way that distracts the OP from the best course to HW45 target happiness - I was making this clear,
Regards,
Nick

[Thanaton23]

I agree entirely, the best way to learn is to read the books and apply the principles...it's all there!

[Thanaton23]

And practice practice practice!



Dry firing is usefull training too, as long as your gun supports it. Doesn't the HW45 have a mechanism for dry firing without fully cocking?

[magicniner]

Yes,
release the trigger-catch & the slide pops up - clip the slide back down again - the trigger is cocked for dry fire.
Simples

[Jim McArthur]

Proper pistol shooting technique, like just about anything in life, is best learned under the tutelage of someone else who both knows what he is doing, and who has the ability and patience to teach you (the two often don't go hand in hand).

The second best way is learing from a book (or video, etc.)

If you can't locate a good live coach, then go with the "book" method.

However, after awhile you may find that you are NOT continuing to progress. At this point, there is no substitute for a live human coach, since futher unassisted practicing will accomplish little but to ingrain the bad shooting habits that are holding you back,

Jim

[Powderfinger]

Jim is right. I would also add: sight picture, sight picture, sight picture. I coach quite a few beginners in pistol shooting and the biggest errors people make are in not understandng the sight picture. It is also very common to grip the gun in some odd ways that may feel natural to the user at first but are not conducive to a consistent aim over a long course of fire.

[hwtyger]

Wrong grip (how you hold it) and triggerfaults are thé most common problems. Free arm etc normally doesnt give widespread problems.
Those info sheets indeed are great, there are several great books as well on AP/AR shooting.
However, I wanted to pinpoint the problem instead of giving him the whole read!If he can tell us where the shots land , how it recoils etc, (questions in my previous post)its far easier to find the problem..

[BigEars]

So how's it done, then?

I owned an HW45 a while back and couldn't hit a barn door with it. Well, that's not strictly true - I did get good enough to tell that the accuracy was definitely there, but I never really got confident at shooting it.

I've just bought another and have the same problem: This one's dual power. On the half power setting I can get semi-decent groups, but at full power it's all over the place.

It's not the gun, it's definitely me!

So what's the technique?

You could come and watch me, do everything I don't and you'll be OK.

The answer in my case was to experiment and practice. The grip, esp placement of the trigger finger seemed to be very important in my case (after I got used to the gun loosening my fillings).

That being said I can only really shoot it 2 handed with any degree of reliability, even then with insufficient concentration, there's that occasional shot that doesn't go in a 17 cm catcher at 10 yds.

[magicniner]

Those info sheets indeed are great,

They aren't Info Sheets
It's the US Army Pistol Marksmanship Unit Training Manual.
I was lucky enough to get a US Army hardcopy from a friend about 20 years ago and can confirm the documents in Target Bunny's pdfs are a match,
Regards,
Nick