What I Learned At The Range

On Wednesday I had to deliver a shirt to Double Tap and, conveniently, the delivery spot was at a range.  Since we were going to be there anyway, why not put some rounds downrange?  I've really been strugging with accuracy lately, which had never been a problem in the past, so I wanted Double Tap to watch me shoot to see what the heck I was doing wrong.  Having a friend who is both an experienced shooter and an experienced instructor is definitely a benefit.

I know about "the wheel" - a diagram that helps shooters figure out what they're doing wrong based on their shot placement.  Here's a really good explanation of the wheel that's a little more in depth.

Google images

According the the wheel, I was tightening my grip while pulling the trigger.  Only, I wasn't.  I was sure of it.  Maybe if I was a new shooter, or if it was a new gun, but nothing had changed other than I was shooting low and right.  Double Tap watched carefully and agreed that I shouldn't be throwing my rounds.  We checked my sights to see if they were loose or had drifted. The sights were still tight, so I had Double Tap shoot the Para.  Dead freaking on.  Every round. 

Back to square one, it had to be something I was doing, so he watched me from several angles to make sure I wasn't doing anything wrong.  After three or four rounds he asked, "Which eye are you shooting with?"

Suprised, I answered, "Right.  Why?"

He asked if I could shoot with my left eye, so I did.  Guess what?  Dead freaking on.  Every round.

I am strongly right eye dominant, so I was surprised that I was shooting better with my left eye.  We picked out a different area on the target and I shot using my left eye to sight in, dead on.  I lowered my gun to the low ready to check the target, brought it back up and threw the next round.  Double Tap asked which eye I had used.  I had to think about it for a second and realized that when I brought my gun back up on target I'd automatically switched to my "strong" eye.

I'd been complaining for a while about not being able to see my front sight, but I blamed it on the color I'd painted my sight.  But I can see the sight with my left eye and can drill the hell out of one hole left eyed, so we ruled out the color being the problem. Before I spring for a new front sight, I want to try out several colors so I know which color to buy.  Currently my sight is a bright red.  That my right eye can't see!  I'll try a neon green next.  My intention is to buy a Hi-Viz or something similar, but for that kind of money, I want to make sure I can see the sight every time.

We ruled out a mechanical issue with my stance and grip. 

We ruled out loose sights. 

We ruled out the color. 

That leaves me with crappy eyes.  Well, one crappy eye.

Guess who is going to be heading back to the eye doctor in short order? And if she tells me one more time that it's because I'm "forty now", Ima punch her in the nose.