Recoil Control Part 3: Completely Confuzzled Now

So first a big thank you to Dave Salyer for working on my wife's and my 1911s and putting in match bushings .  Triggers feel AMAZING and the guns certainly still shoot much better than me.

So I took them to the range today to sight them in for the Eastern Games, and to enjoy the nice, crisp triggers.  I shot some 22 to warm up and work on my workbook (two 100s in a row slowfire at 25y).  Didn't have a good day with 22, still shooting high shots.  I'm also still getting used to a heavy 5in barrel for my Model 41.  For those not caught up on parts 1 and 2, I'm having trouble dealing with recoil.

After shooting 22 onto the targets, I decided to shoot some 45.  I figured I'd still be putting shots at 1oc with 45.  NOPE, killed it! I had a 10 shot string of 99-7x, the few wide shots I know I put there and were completely on call, and drilled lots of 10s and Xs during my 100 rounds of practice. 

My best guess is I know when the 2lb .22 trigger is going off better than the 4lb .45 trigger.

Anyone have any ideas on why my 45 groups would be significantly better than my 45 groups (I'm using 185gr bullets on top of 3.8gr of Bullseye). 

Maybe I should just have Dave work on the Model 41 too...

Soupy44 wrote:So first a big thank you to Dave Salyer for working on my wife's and my 1911s and putting in match bushings .  Triggers feel AMAZING and the guns certainly still shoot much better than me.

So I took them to the range today to sight them in for the Eastern Games, and to enjoy the nice, crisp triggers.  I shot some 22 to warm up and work on my workbook (two 100s in a row slowfire at 25y).  Didn't have a good day with 22, still shooting high shots.  I'm also still getting used to a heavy 5in barrel for my Model 41.  For those not caught up on parts 1 and 2, I'm having trouble dealing with recoil.

After shooting 22 onto the targets, I decided to shoot some 45.  I figured I'd still be putting shots at 1oc with 45.  NOPE, killed it! I had a 10 shot string of 99-7x, the few wide shots I know I put there and were completely on call, and drilled lots of 10s and Xs during my 100 rounds of practice. 

My best guess is I know when the 2lb .22 trigger is going off better than the 4lb .45 trigger.

Anyone have any ideas on why my 45 groups would be significantly better than my 45 groups (I'm using 185gr bullets on top of 3.8gr of Bullseye). 

Maybe I should just have Dave work on the Model 41 too...

I shoot my 45 better then my 22 and they both have the same grips, triggers, and optic.  For me the 45 just shoots better.  I am shooting the same load as you and I enjoy shooting it.  Don

Grip the .22 just like you're holding (gripping) the .45.  You might be surprised how much just a little extra firmness on the .22 will help.

Secondly, some people like the "straight" back trigger operation like the 1911 better than a "hinged" trigger like the 41, Beretta 92, etc. This part goes to finding the best place for the trigger finger with each gun.  And a little bit from getting as close to the same trigger reach as with your .45. Again, the grip can make a difference here as well.  Might try some Herrett .45 Trainer Grips for you Model .41.   I've got an arched set if you want to try them out. 

Lastly, check out the front sight to rear notch ratio for the gun you shoot best.  Eventually, you might find that modifying your sights to be consistent will help as well.  Different widths of the "bars of white" between the front sight and rear sight notch can sometimes make shooters raise or dip the front sight due to the ratio being too small (very little white bar) or too large (great big white bars).  

Personally, I found that finding the right ratio was more important that the size of the sights and made it easier to let the centering horizontally (bars of white) happen subconsciously, while I was more actively focused on keeping the front and rear sights level vertically. 

There are some other older posts and lots in the shooting books about sight ratios.  But in this case I would check out the grip consistency first.

CR