I'm a finicky shooter too,some work just great and others I never can get to shoot good.
XDs.45. Taking the pledge!
Ok. Some of us suck as shooters. My manhood forces me into denial. But no more - I am taking the pledge. My name is Mablt and I am not a gifted natural shooter.
I owned an XD.40 and shot it well enough. I can hit the broadside of a barn first time every time. I can even hit the narrow ends. (10 ring at all CCD testing distances.). But it was a big pistol to carry concealed so I went out and bought an XDs .45.
Truth, it ate me up first 100 rounds. It literally bit me two places!! It tore a thumb nail on slide recoil, and my soft trigger finger got pinched between trigger guard and bottom of trigger!!
I fired 6 rounds at a silhouette target from 30' and could only find 3 holes in the paper. WHAT!?! I shot at 21' and was still just 5/6 in paper! WHAT!!?? I shot at 15' feet - 6/6 but only 3/3 in the body!?! Oh my God. The rangemaster will pull my mancard!!!!
It must be the gun! (Oiled, cleaned. Damn it cycles just fine).
It must the fool who put the large caliber in a small gun! (Wait that guy on You Tube is shooting it just fine! What faked video is that!!?)
It must be my small hands!!! (What, girls shooting better than me on you tube?!)
It must be the grain load!! (A box of 125g, 165g, and even a 230g!! And I still suck as bad on each!!).
It must be the phase of the moon!!!
Ok I realize I need to sell this POS!!
But damn, I bought it at the post Sandy Hook bubble peak, and can't sell it for what I got in it! And I really really like how it feels in my hand; and, I really really like the big bang of the .45 round. Oh woe is me!!!
It dawns on me, selling it would be quitting. I don't do that.
Time to look in the mirror. I need to admit I need to improve as a shooter. It starts with the pledge "My name is Mablt and I am not a gifted natural shooter."
So, I added a Talon grip skin. That helped my grip. The big chunky factory grip marks were uncomfortable on my office worker keyboarder hands. The Talons smoothed things out and make more grip surface with my skin. (I own Hogue's on other pistols, just went with Talon for thinness as this is conceal carry pistol).
I re-worked my two handed grip. This guns dimensions and weight are very different from my XD.40 and I realized I was holding them the same. I worked out adjustments in my grip to get my thumbs outta the slides way. And I practiced the grip over and over. I got some muscle memory so it came automatically.
Then I practiced my trigger pull. Yes. Yes. I was anticipating the big hand jarring boom as I pulled past the reset. So I focused on a firm initial grip - much firmer than I needed with my XD.40, and practiced that.
Then I worked on a steady trigger pull with that firmer grip.
And the anticipatory flinching began to fade.
One day I realized "hey, two mags and all 12 are in the 9 ring!!" "This gun is MY gun now!!" Then I stuck one through the x.
My name is Mablt and I am not a gifted natural shooter. It has been three months since I last thought I was.
I owned an XD.40 and shot it well enough. I can hit the broadside of a barn first time every time. I can even hit the narrow ends. (10 ring at all CCD testing distances.). But it was a big pistol to carry concealed so I went out and bought an XDs .45.
Truth, it ate me up first 100 rounds. It literally bit me two places!! It tore a thumb nail on slide recoil, and my soft trigger finger got pinched between trigger guard and bottom of trigger!!
I fired 6 rounds at a silhouette target from 30' and could only find 3 holes in the paper. WHAT!?! I shot at 21' and was still just 5/6 in paper! WHAT!!?? I shot at 15' feet - 6/6 but only 3/3 in the body!?! Oh my God. The rangemaster will pull my mancard!!!!
It must be the gun! (Oiled, cleaned. Damn it cycles just fine).
It must the fool who put the large caliber in a small gun! (Wait that guy on You Tube is shooting it just fine! What faked video is that!!?)
It must be my small hands!!! (What, girls shooting better than me on you tube?!)
It must be the grain load!! (A box of 125g, 165g, and even a 230g!! And I still suck as bad on each!!).
It must be the phase of the moon!!!
Ok I realize I need to sell this POS!!
But damn, I bought it at the post Sandy Hook bubble peak, and can't sell it for what I got in it! And I really really like how it feels in my hand; and, I really really like the big bang of the .45 round. Oh woe is me!!!
It dawns on me, selling it would be quitting. I don't do that.
Time to look in the mirror. I need to admit I need to improve as a shooter. It starts with the pledge "My name is Mablt and I am not a gifted natural shooter."
So, I added a Talon grip skin. That helped my grip. The big chunky factory grip marks were uncomfortable on my office worker keyboarder hands. The Talons smoothed things out and make more grip surface with my skin. (I own Hogue's on other pistols, just went with Talon for thinness as this is conceal carry pistol).
I re-worked my two handed grip. This guns dimensions and weight are very different from my XD.40 and I realized I was holding them the same. I worked out adjustments in my grip to get my thumbs outta the slides way. And I practiced the grip over and over. I got some muscle memory so it came automatically.
Then I practiced my trigger pull. Yes. Yes. I was anticipating the big hand jarring boom as I pulled past the reset. So I focused on a firm initial grip - much firmer than I needed with my XD.40, and practiced that.
Then I worked on a steady trigger pull with that firmer grip.
And the anticipatory flinching began to fade.
One day I realized "hey, two mags and all 12 are in the 9 ring!!" "This gun is MY gun now!!" Then I stuck one through the x.
My name is Mablt and I am not a gifted natural shooter. It has been three months since I last thought I was.
1 - 17 of 17 Posts
Glad you're man enough to admit that. God blessed me with the natural ability to shoot, and while I certainly don't consider myself the best, I am good. But whenever i fire a new gun of any type, i have to get used to it. My wife, she's like you. I started her off with the SA-XD in 9mm. She could barely hit the back stop, much less the paper. Give her my Baby Desert Eagle in 45, she was lethal. (much heavier gun) It took me 6 months to get her shooting good with her 9. She took her CHL class with it and did very well. Enter the xds 45 she just had to have! We were right back where we started. It didn't take her as long with it, but she finally has it down. She can put them all in center mass. Her hand is still sore, but she is confident with it and carries it daily. I guess the moral to my story is.... nobody will shoot a new gun perfectly right out of the box. You need a few hundred rounds or more to get used to it. Keep practicing, and have fun!
Oh ya... I hear a lot of people saying bad things about that XDS 45... I don't understand. I love my wife's so much, I intend to get my own.
I wish my wife would get her own so I could have mine back.I love my wife's so much, I intend to get my own.
I wish my wife would get her own so I could have mine back.
Good luck with that... my wife won't knowingly let me touch hers!
Good luck with that... my wife won't knowingly let me touch hers!
I just shot the XDs 45 for the first time yesterday and I was straight but really low each and every time. It also didn't help that I was jumping to my new XD9 mod 2! I really want that XDs so I'm not going to give up on it just yet and lucky for me there are 2 ranges near me that rent them. But the 45 is a big round with not a lot of gun around it and it will require some getting used to.
I am so glad you bumped this excellent post! I'm sure I would never have seen it otherwise. I sure hope the OP discovered the thumbs-forward grip - Crossed thumbs will never work right. I was trying to demonstrate a two-handed weak side (left hand) hold and fired off a shot with my thumbs crossed... That was two weeks ago and my thumb still hurts. Went right to the bone.
I shot a rented XDs 45 again yesterday with my wife. The 3 and 7 yard lines I did fine with, but the 15 yard was another story. But the good news is it was much better than the first time I fired it, so it gives me hope.
I am not a fan of the crossed thumb grip either, actually I have never used grip ever... it just does not feel natural.
The XDs is a gun that I will own very soon.
I am not a fan of the crossed thumb grip either, actually I have never used grip ever... it just does not feel natural.
The XDs is a gun that I will own very soon.
Hard to tell from the pic, but is your wife's right hand pushed right up under the rear extension of the gun? It looks like she may be holding a little low. The gun is much easier to control with a good, solid, high grip.
Be sure to try a variety of guns before you plunk down. Definitely test-drive the CZ 97 if you can.
Be sure to try a variety of guns before you plunk down. Definitely test-drive the CZ 97 if you can.
Let me start by saying, I am not a plastic gun fan. However, my son has an XD-45, which 'he forced me to shoot' one day. I actually like the trigger and feel of the gun. Not enough to buy one, but certainly more then other DA's I've tried.
Then SA released the XDs. Then I saw it was going to be in 45, and small, and concealable. No, I haven't bought one, yet. But, I have held/fondled one more than once.
Hmmm, this could be my first plastic gun.
Then SA released the XDs. Then I saw it was going to be in 45, and small, and concealable. No, I haven't bought one, yet. But, I have held/fondled one more than once.
Hmmm, this could be my first plastic gun.
I am very fond of my XDs 45. I bought it about 1.5 years ago and had to send it in for the recall, but have never had one complaint. I added some Talon Grips to it and it has become one of my favorites. I wish and hope Springfield would come out with the 4" XDs 45 with a fullsize grip, i.e. 7 or 8rd single stack. I would buy 2.
Well, I've got the coolest wife. She suggested going to the gun shop/range for my birthday the other day to shoot my Sig and I left as a proud new owner of the XDs 45! I about gave her a heart attack on the drive there when I started talking about how I wanted the XD Mod2 in the .40. While we were shooting before the surprise she was all over the place on her target, which wasn't at all like her, she thought she'd got wrong gun. We laughed about it on the ride home.... I don't think there's a wrong Springfield and I love the new gun, it was a great birthday!
1 - 17 of 17 Posts
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