Shooting 92 low on DA shot--guidance requested

[fixer]

Took GJM's suggestion and worked ball and dummy drills in DA only.

Wow. I have a massive anticipation problem with this platform. About 50% of the shots had massive front sight deflection downward.

I did about 10 cycles and got a small improvement but not what I was hoping for.

Switched over to G19 with ball and dummy. Had some issues with this as well doing ball and dummy. However it wasn't as pronounced--not even close. The result was that I got 21/30 shots on paper, nice grouping, at 25 yds with G19. The 92 I got 25% of this in DA only. The G19 though had groupings very tight but for some reason clustered in upper right quadrant. Moving to single shot draw and shoots from concealment, I could get decent groupings, centered, and about 8-10" as is normally the case.

The faster I shot the better the groups.

So for various reasons I'm going to stick with the G19 because I don't want to feel like a walking public menace carrying a 92 that I can't hit shit with in first DA shot.

I'm going to clean up ball and dummy with G19 then move back to 92.

This thread has given me substantial insight that I couldn't have seen otherwise. This is why PF really is a great knowledge base.

Thank you guys a billion.

I learned a lot today. I was also humbled a lot today. That is learning.

[Redhat]

Took GJM's suggestion and worked ball and dummy drills in DA only.

Wow. I have a massive anticipation problem with this platform. About 50% of the shots had massive front sight deflection downward.

I did about 10 cycles and got a small improvement but not what I was hoping for.

Switched over to G19 with ball and dummy. Had some issues with this as well doing ball and dummy. However it wasn't as pronounced--not even close. The result was that I got 21/30 shots on paper, nice grouping, at 25 yds with G19. The 92 I got 25% of this in DA only. The G19 though had groupings very tight but for some reason clustered in upper right quadrant. Moving to single shot draw and shoots from concealment, I could get decent groupings, centered, and about 8-10" as is normally the case.

The faster I shot the better the groups.

So for various reasons I'm going to stick with the G19 because I don't want to feel like a walking public menace carrying a 92 that I can't hit shit with in first DA shot.

I'm going to clean up ball and dummy with G19 then move back to 92.

This thread has given me substantial insight that I couldn't have seen otherwise. This is why PF really is a great knowledge base.

Thank you guys a billion.

I learned a lot today. I was also humbled a lot today. That is learning.

Not a long term answer, but for someone beginning the DA/SA journey, you might try concentrating on pinning the trigger to the rear when you fire DA. I also recommend firing 50 rds or so DA ONLY. Concentration should be on sight alignment / sight picture and a smooth uninterrupted trigger press all the way to the rear with reset only after you have recovered sight alignment / picture following recoil (follow-through).

Truth is, if possible, you really need to have someone who knows what they're doing watch you shoot...they can often see things you may not notice.

[scw2]

I did about 10 cycles and got a small improvement but not what I was hoping for.

I don't know what improvement would normally be expected, but 10 cycles doesn't seem like a ton of reps if you're learning a new skill, much more so if unlearning an incorrect skill and replacing it with new mylenation. I'd say keep at it, and if you're seeing consistent improvement those little improvements will add up pretty quickly.

[45dotACP]

I'd keep the dry fire up as well. Is the front sight absolutely motionless? What about one handed or weak handed? It should be totally still and on target in all cases.

For me personally, hitting with the first DA shot is a matter of sort of letting the trigger finger slide across the face of the trigger and I took a while to learn that. Lots of times I was trying to keep the finger in the same spot on the trigger and that would result in shifting of the gun during the trigger press. If that makes any sense.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

[nwhpfan]

The secret to all of it is aiming correctly and/then pulling the trigger until the gun fires without disrupting where the gun was pointed. I think I read that once...

Longer trigger pulls just mean you have longer to think about getting ready for recoil. It's all in the mind. For me, dryfire has inncoulated myself from recoil I only think about the front sight and pulling the trigger. Recoil what?

If you like the Beretta, stay wtih it. Pracitce. If you have trained your self to isolate your trigger pull from other concerns with a shorter pull like the Glock...you don't have much farther to go to shoot the Beretta DA.

[CraigS]

I got a CO2 BB gun to practice draws from Pyramid Air. You want the 92A1 w/ the fully functional moving slide. The similar pellet gun is no where near as nice.
https://www.pyramydair.com/s/m/Beret...BB_Pistol/3659
I see they are out now. This gun shoots so close to the real thing it is crazy. the slide cycles, it shoots DA and then SA. The slide locks on an empty mag. The mag is near identical in size to a loaded real one. The mag houses both the 18 BBs and the CO2 cartridge. Once I oiled every place I could get to the trigger is much like a real 92 w/ a D spring. it is not super accurate so I practice on 3 inch dots at 20 ft. I have modded it some to increase accuracy and also make the decocker more reliable since my practice is a draw and one DA shot.

[Pistol Pete 10]

Grip the gun tightly, concentrate on the front sight, follow thru. Practice shooting double action til you get it right. The Beretta gun is harder to shoot than a revolver, I don't know why. It's even easier to shoot an LC9 than the 92 FS. Practice a straight back pull and remember to keep the front sight in focus til the gun fires.

[OlongJohnson]

Finally got a trade-in P220 out to the range this week. I've probably shot classic P Series triggers more than anything else, and much of my shooting with them alternates DA and SA presses. The P220 has a slightly thinner grip than the double stacks I've shot before. Where the P226 just feels molded to my XL hands, the P220 is like the compact, slim version. It is as light or lighter, and fires a cartridge with more recoil. I found a similar result to the OP, which I haven't had issues with before, but not as severe. I found I'd generally put two in the bull, often close to touching, if I firmed up my support hand grip significantly to where it would prevent the movement all the way through the press. There are some other things discussed in this thread that I'll be trying. The recoil anticipation thing makes some sense.

[HCountyGuy]

I had the same issue sending shots low in DA on my P229, and for me it was a combination of “mis-timing” and over-thinking the whole process. Ball and dummy didn’t really help me much.

The biggest help for me was press-outs from a compressed ready position. Doing that, I was getting consistent hits on the smaller torsos of the SQT-A1 target at 10 yards firing DA only. Whereas before, while overthinking the whole DA trigger, I was sending shots low.

[CraigS]

For me a really tight support hand grip is what helps the most. If I try to add in a tight strong hand grip I have a problem getting the trigger finger to act independently of the other fingers. So I leave the strong hand at a normal grip strength so that I don't mess up the trigger pull.