P.E. Kelly's offhand rifle technique applied to pistols

[GLB]

Using the "accept the wobble" technique seems to work the best for me. Building strength through dry practice to be stronger holding will make you steadier.

[P.E. Kelley]

I really believe in Robbie Leatham's "stop, aim, jerk the trigger" method of shooting, and overall believe more shots are missed because people don't stop the gun and aim. However, another reason people miss is they really jerk the trigger, regardless of how much stopping and aiming they do. Patrick's method, that he demonstrates shooting ten inch plates at 175 yards offhand, uses movement to "trick" the shooter to avoid crushing the trigger. Guess it is good to have a bunch of tricks up your sleeve depending on what you are trying to accomplish.

Precisely!!! (in bold)

[P.E. Kelley]

Using the "accept the wobble" technique seems to work the best for me. Building strength through dry practice to be stronger holding will make you steadier.

I find that technique more difficult, but mandatory for uber precision. I called it "Honest Trigger" when I shot into Master and the NRA 2600 club
in Conventional Pistol (aka Bullseye). I resigned myself to the fact that wobble happens and if I broke the trigger honesty I would get
a score no worse than my wobble. Lost WAY too many "cleans" early on before I came to this understanding.

[guymontag]

I really believe in Robbie Leatham's "stop, aim, jerk the trigger" method of shooting, and overall believe more shots are missed because people don't stop the gun and aim. However, another reason people miss is they really jerk the trigger, regardless of how much stopping and aiming they do. Patrick's method, that he demonstrates shooting ten inch plates at 175 yards offhand, uses movement to "trick" the shooter to avoid crushing the trigger. Guess it is good to have a bunch of tricks up your sleeve depending on what you are trying to accomplish.

Either a new "technique" or a Enos "trick of the day". In any case it's a valuable tool and I appreciate Kelley for contributing to this forum - and the shooting community in general.

[YVK]

Comfort in shooting with the sights/gun in motion, is huge - rather than grasping fruitlessly for stillness.

There is a haiku somewhere in there.

GJM, I would love to give you three likes for this post. First, for the content. Second, for wanting to shoot an LEM although I do understand that you're kind of forced to, with RMR'd Glocks and CZs not holding up to Alaskan rain. Third, for the irony of a multiple RSS advanced qualifier being unhappy with his WHO shooting.

Wholly agree on Patrick's videos being a great resource.

[GJM]

The rain eased up enough in intensity, that I put my rain pants and jacket on, and grabbed a sacrificial, iron sighted G4 Glock 19 to test some of this stuff.

First, let me report in the rifle shooting. Eight inch steel at 100, 6720 with a tube and Kahles 1-6, set on 3X. I first experimented with trying to reduce the wobble, as GLB referenced, and I see a lot of room for improvement there. Interestingly, if I lean against the tailgate of the truck, I get way steadier, reminding me to wear my mid height hiking boots for more support, and probably I could put some rolls of quarters in my pants pockets. I use a sling off hand, but as I transitioned to Patrick's method, it seemed to be interfering with a steady push of the rifle on target. The good news is I went six in a row with Patrick's method, and I see a lot of upside to refining this method, too.

Next, I went to the Glock 19 at 50 yards on the eight inch steel. Coming from below and breaking the shot with the gun moving wasn't working for me at that distance. I think the reason is the sight picture becomes as important as the trigger press at that distance, and the movement didn't allow me to refine the sight picture satisfactorily. I do want to repeat it with a pistol with a RDS, and see if the ability to target focus and simplify aiming, makes that method more viable. What did seem to work, though, was a variation where I got the sights steadied, and then worked the entire trigger travel as one variable speed motion. This is different than prepping to the wall, and then working the rest as you might do on a tough shot. I think the longer trigger movement effectively "tricks" me, just as moving the carbine does.

More experimenting to follow.

[Clobbersaurus]

GJM, Thank you for posting and taking the time to test this concept with a pistol. I'll have to give this a try at 25 on my next practice session.

[45dotACP]

I feel like this is a far more practical approach to shooting at the 25 yard line than the "stop, aim, jerk" method. Realistically, I'm moving around in a match, my blood is pumping, complete and total stillness on the target has probably gone out of the window...hell it goes out of the window after I have a strong cup of coffee...And honestly, trigger control is king, though at 25 yards, I'm guessing the proper sight alignment is an important part.

I'll need to try this sometime soon.

[coldcase1984]

Many thanks to P.E. Kelly and GJM! This thread literally changed my life. I've been watching those Franz-Albrecht Aimpoint hog hunting videos and realized this is the technique he's using.

Hotcha ! Cannot wait to get to The Ranch tomorrow.

[RJ]

I find this thread really interesting. For whatever reason, accuracy at 25 yds is kind of an aspirational hobby of mine.

I have a Wobble question: if you were to somehow able to get a perfect trigger press, and perfect sight picture, how big would your groups translate to due to wobble alone, in your case?

So, for instance, a USPSA metric target head zone is 15 cm x 15 cm. A B-8 repair center is something like 5 3/16" for the black part of the bull, at least for my printouts.

In other words, can one generally keep inside a A zone/B-8 bullseye just by managing trigger press and sight alignment?