due to a recent right elbow injury, i find i can no longer hold a handgun in my right hand. i can get by in a modified weaver, seems the straight arm is the problem. anyway wishing to shoot one handed i am switching to my left hand. i have shot left handed occasionally and have always had some disappointing groups. i will be shooting 22 until i can get the hand coordination needed for consistant groups. any tips or advise?
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switching hands
- Thread starter birdshot
- Start date
Are you talking one-handed, weak hand, shooting double action? That's a very tough combo, so don't set your bar high at first. I started shooting one-handed double action (bullseye style) about a month or 2 ago just for the challenge. Of course, I was shooting using my normal right hand. I've also been practicing 2-handed shooting from my weak side, and now I'm starting 1-handed weak side, double action.
What I found is that my brain already wired correct site picture and steady trigger pull, so I just needed to strengthen my left trigger finger and continue focusing on the fundamentals. My advice, then, in no particular order, would be to:
1) Do lots of dry fire with your weak hand. You'll be amazed at how quickly it'll feel more normal.
2) Slow down when shooting and focus on the fundamentals. It's gonna be darned tough to get any kind of respectable grouping at first, so just slow down and do your best. Speed up only after the group size decreases and your trigger control gets better.
3) Be patient & don't set your bar too high. When I started shooting 1-handed on my strong side, my groups were at least twice my 2-handed group size. Now, they're about equal.
4) As you aim with 1 hand, your hand should be able to keep the sights aligned, but you'll notice your arm & body can't hold the gun steady around your POA, and there will be a tremendous amount of "wobble". Don't try to correct the wobble. You won't be able to, and the only thing you'll end up doing by focusing on fixing the wobble is to lose focus of the front site and disrupting your sight alignment. Just shoot. With time, your arm will get steadier and the wobble will diminish and your groups will get smaller. In contrast, if you go for small groups right away by trying to "fix" the wobble, you'll pick up bad habits that will hurt you later on.
5) Since you posted this in the revolver forum and you mentioned a .22, I'm assuming you have a .22 revolver. If so, great! Look into buying some Aquila Colibris. These are primer-only rounds that have the muzzle energy of an air pistol. You can shoot these outside or in your garage from your revolver. A cardboard box with a phone box taped onto the back makes a good trap. Just a box a day along with your dry fire will help tremendously.
6) What you're trying to do is essentially bullseye shooting. Read up on it. You may not have aspirations to compete or to be as slow and accurate, but the basics of bullseye shooting will help.
http://www.bullseyepistol.com/
What I found is that my brain already wired correct site picture and steady trigger pull, so I just needed to strengthen my left trigger finger and continue focusing on the fundamentals. My advice, then, in no particular order, would be to:
1) Do lots of dry fire with your weak hand. You'll be amazed at how quickly it'll feel more normal.
2) Slow down when shooting and focus on the fundamentals. It's gonna be darned tough to get any kind of respectable grouping at first, so just slow down and do your best. Speed up only after the group size decreases and your trigger control gets better.
3) Be patient & don't set your bar too high. When I started shooting 1-handed on my strong side, my groups were at least twice my 2-handed group size. Now, they're about equal.
4) As you aim with 1 hand, your hand should be able to keep the sights aligned, but you'll notice your arm & body can't hold the gun steady around your POA, and there will be a tremendous amount of "wobble". Don't try to correct the wobble. You won't be able to, and the only thing you'll end up doing by focusing on fixing the wobble is to lose focus of the front site and disrupting your sight alignment. Just shoot. With time, your arm will get steadier and the wobble will diminish and your groups will get smaller. In contrast, if you go for small groups right away by trying to "fix" the wobble, you'll pick up bad habits that will hurt you later on.
5) Since you posted this in the revolver forum and you mentioned a .22, I'm assuming you have a .22 revolver. If so, great! Look into buying some Aquila Colibris. These are primer-only rounds that have the muzzle energy of an air pistol. You can shoot these outside or in your garage from your revolver. A cardboard box with a phone box taped onto the back makes a good trap. Just a box a day along with your dry fire will help tremendously.
6) What you're trying to do is essentially bullseye shooting. Read up on it. You may not have aspirations to compete or to be as slow and accurate, but the basics of bullseye shooting will help.
http://www.bullseyepistol.com/
I recently had reason to rely on my support hand for several weeks. Some tips which helped me:
Bounce a tennis or rubber ball off the floor
Throw a ball against the wall and catch it with the support hand
Draw, holster, dry fire - exclusively with support hand
Punching speed and heavy bags with support hand - power shots
Doind most everythign with support hand
It was ackward at first, then improved.
Bounce a tennis or rubber ball off the floor
Throw a ball against the wall and catch it with the support hand
Draw, holster, dry fire - exclusively with support hand
Punching speed and heavy bags with support hand - power shots
Doind most everythign with support hand
It was ackward at first, then improved.
thanks
i had not thought about the trigger pull, my 22 is a H&R 949, ive had it since i was 15, painted a guys house and he bought me the 22 and a leather holster. i digress. the 949 has a terrible DA trigger. i might try to cheat someone out of a k-22. i have seen the aguila colibris, i thought they would be fun. western nebraska phone books are not really books more like a list, but i have found a couple of cabela's catalogs will stop 22 long rifle as long as you alter the POI every few shots.
Thanks.
i had not thought about the trigger pull, my 22 is a H&R 949, ive had it since i was 15, painted a guys house and he bought me the 22 and a leather holster. i digress. the 949 has a terrible DA trigger. i might try to cheat someone out of a k-22. i have seen the aguila colibris, i thought they would be fun. western nebraska phone books are not really books more like a list, but i have found a couple of cabela's catalogs will stop 22 long rifle as long as you alter the POI every few shots.
Thanks.
A K-22 would be a fine choice, indeed. A good trigger is a big plus. K-22s may be the best .22 revolver made, but they can be tough to find (at least at bargain prices), but there are other good .22 revolvers out there. I have a 1951 6" K-22 and a new 10-shot 4" 617. I like them both, but I'd say the trigger stop, longer sight radius and serrated trigger of the K-22 makes it easier to shoot accurately. To whet your appetite, while standing, shooting 2-handed offhand in double action mode, I can shoot 2-2.5" groups with the K-22. I can now shoot about 3" groups 1-handed in double action. I think the gun itself is capable of sub-1.5" at this distance.
A note on shooting a .22 revolver: While I'm not a fanatic about giving my guns a thorough cleaning every time they get touched, I do clean the chambers of my .22 revolvers every time they get shot. I found if they aren't kept clean, the rounds have trouble seating completely, in which case the case hits the frame when the cylinder is rotated, and mess with your double action trigger pull. You might check your H&R to see if the rounds are seating completely. If not, give the chambers a good (but careful) scrubbing with some Hoppes & a brass bore brush. Be sure to clean under the ejector star as well. If you're able to open the gun to expose the lock work, you might also clean it out with Brakleen, and re-lubricate.
A note on shooting a .22 revolver: While I'm not a fanatic about giving my guns a thorough cleaning every time they get touched, I do clean the chambers of my .22 revolvers every time they get shot. I found if they aren't kept clean, the rounds have trouble seating completely, in which case the case hits the frame when the cylinder is rotated, and mess with your double action trigger pull. You might check your H&R to see if the rounds are seating completely. If not, give the chambers a good (but careful) scrubbing with some Hoppes & a brass bore brush. Be sure to clean under the ejector star as well. If you're able to open the gun to expose the lock work, you might also clean it out with Brakleen, and re-lubricate.