Shooting a single action

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  • firemn260

    Active Member
    Sep 15, 2015
    354
    Harford County
    I have had my super Blackhawk for a few months now and I have had a blast experimenting with different bullets and powder combos. I’ve loaded from mild all the way up to some pretty stout loads and love exploding milk jugs of water with them.

    Here is my issue maybe I could get some advice about. This is my first single action. I’ve done some reading on proper grip of the pistol but I am consistently hitting about 10 inches to the left. I have the rear sight adjusted almost all the way to the right and it comes back to point of aim but I’m thinking something is up with me not the gun.

    I have had this issue with a few of my plastic pistols and it was really apparent with my m and p shield. It took a good bit of work on my trigger control to fix it and even so I still have to concentrate to get it right. The grip angle on a SA is still a bit foreign to me but it does roll up a bit mitigating some of the recoil.

    I do have big hands so the Ruger grip doesn’t quite fill out my hand. I refuse to go to one of those hideous rubber grips.

    Thanks
     

    Art3

    Eqinsu Ocha
    MDS Supporter
    Jan 30, 2015
    13,267
    Harford County
    Best way to rule out you vs. the gun is to have another experienced shooter put a few rounds through it. If it shoots straight for them, it's you ;) Recoil hides a lot of user errors. Dry fire, or have the other shooter load 2 to 4 rounds randomly in the cylinder (so you don't know whether it will click or bang) and watch, maybe even video, whether you push it left when you are expecting a bang but get a click. Also note whether you shoot it straight when you don't know if it will go off or not.

    For me, pushing left has to do with too much or not enough finger on the trigger. You need to find the just right amount that only moves the trigger straight back. The right amount may be different for different people and different guns.
     

    linkstate

    Ultimate Member
    Jan 26, 2013
    1,407
    Howard County
    I’m far from a great pistol shot and this may be academic but a single action revolver typically has a slower lock time than other types of handguns. Which could exacerbate flaws related to grip, trigger finger position and flinching.
     

    Occam

    Not Even ONE Indictment
    MDS Supporter
    Feb 24, 2018
    20,239
    Montgomery County
    Agree with Art. Dry firing will reveal all.

    That, and bench resting! Get it nicely snugged up on a sandbag or other appropriate rest, and dry fire a few times to prove to yourself you’re not curling it to the left with too much meat on the trigger. On that test, you can take an hour to slowly squeeze that trigger.

    Remember, with a revolver, that you’ll get dangerous gasses from the cylinder/barrel interface. Don’t forget that when bench resting, and leave your other hand or another easily damaged item where it’ll catch that.

    Almost certainly you’re allowing your grip and trigger pull to crank the gun to the left. Could also be a flinch, but more likely just the wrong part of your finger on the trigger. I have to shoot my cowboy style guns with an entirely different set of muscle memory than I do my modern style stuff.

    BTW, you can get to the bottom of this using all light loads. Save the powder and the wear and tear until you get it sorted.
     

    Bisleyfan44

    Ultimate Member
    Jan 11, 2008
    1,758
    Wicomico
    Agreed with the above, most likely your trigger finger pushing the gun to the left as it pulls rearward. Experiment a little until you find out how much finger to place on the trigger for YOU. very individual thing. Some shoot better with the trigger on the pad of the finger, some with the first joint of the finger. Whatever allows YOU to perform a straight back pull is desired. Repeat until learned.

    You say you have big hands? How big? The reason I ask, some shooters prefer to shoot single actions with their pinky is curled under the grip frame to help fill their grip hand and give more control. Your SBH has a larger frame, but if your hand is large enough, that may be a solution. Good luck, single actions are among the hardest handguns to master.
     

    cstone

    Active Member
    Dec 12, 2018
    842
    Baltimore, MD
    Borrow a ransom rest and make certain the pistol groups well at 15 yards. Blackhawks are pretty sturdy and given the adjustable sights, they have a reputation for being very accurate. I have run some very stout. 357 Mag reloads through mine and I have no concerns about the durability or accuracy of mine.

    Once you have verified accuracy from a rest see if you can find some grip stocks that make the pistol feel comfortable for you. Only you will know what works for you. The Hogue and Pachmayr rubber grips are inexpensive and good first tries for a better grip.

    Having others shoot it and try different ammunition are additional ways to test the pistol but I would start with bench resting it first.

    Good luck and be safe.
     

    brucaru

    Active Member
    Sep 14, 2011
    150
    Silly question? Are you left handed or right handed? All of the above is true for right handlers. If you are left handed you are squeezing the gun grip and trigger causing you to pull it to the left
     

    Biggfoot44

    Ultimate Member
    Aug 2, 2009
    32,881
    With a Single Action , it makes a big difference in POI as to how hard you grip with the fingers of your gun hand . Experement with squeezing tighter , or holding looser , and watch the POI .

    With a fixed sight SA , if you are using standard for caliber loads , start out assuming the sights are pretty close, and tweak your grasp to move the rounds .

    **********************

    For any " normal" handgun , ie not a T/C Contender,
    XP-100, etc , actually hold the gun with both hands as typical , and have wrists, or forearms, or both braced/ rested . This will have the least deviation from POI of two handed standing .
     

    jimbobborg

    Oddball caliber fan
    Aug 2, 2010
    17,112
    Northern Virginia
    Single action revolvers have to have their barrels timed properly from the factory to have the front sight in the right place. If it is off that much, that tells me that the barrel needs adjusting. I had a barrel replaced by a gunsmith. He let me know, if the gun is shooting off either way, he'd adjust the barrel to get it shooting right. I suggest you get in touch with Ruger and have them fix the problem.
     

    Blaster229

    God loves you, I don't.
    MDS Supporter
    Sep 14, 2010
    46,409
    Glen Burnie
    Trigger finger placement means nothing. If your finger is pushing or pulling the pistol, a stronger group is needed. How dare that tiny finger bully both hands.
    Now the grip with a revolver lends itself to a little more influence because the grip basically rotates in your hands. Unlike a semi auto where you get much better support from the support hand.
     
    Feb 28, 2013
    28,953
    Trigger finger placement means nothing. If your finger is pushing or pulling the pistol, a stronger group is needed. How dare that tiny finger bully both hands.
    Now the grip with a revolver lends itself to a little more influence because the grip basically rotates in your hands. Unlike a semi auto where you get much better support from the support hand.

    Can ya do with a wheel gun what Ive seen ya do with a Sig?
     

    Bisleyfan44

    Ultimate Member
    Jan 11, 2008
    1,758
    Wicomico
    Trigger finger placement means nothing. If your finger is pushing or pulling the pistol, a stronger group is needed. How dare that tiny finger bully both hands.
    Now the grip with a revolver lends itself to a little more influence because the grip basically rotates in your hands. Unlike a semi auto where you get much better support from the support hand.

    Trigger finger placement does matter on a single action revolver. The grip rotation you mention makes it critical to get a straight back pull to avoid pulling or pushing the gun at firing. They do not tolerate "a stronger grip" well and just gripping one harder will make things much worse. You can't grip a Blackhawk like a Glock.
     

    Blaster229

    God loves you, I don't.
    MDS Supporter
    Sep 14, 2010
    46,409
    Glen Burnie
    Trigger finger placement does matter on a single action revolver. The grip rotation you mention makes it critical to get a straight back pull to avoid pulling or pushing the gun at firing. They do not tolerate "a stronger grip" well and just gripping one harder will make things much worse. You can't grip a Blackhawk like a Glock.
    That's why I mentioned it.
     

    Bolts Rock

    Living in Free America!
    Apr 8, 2012
    6,123
    Northern Alabama
    I have an older Herrett grip marked Blackhawk that may fit, I know it fits an Old Army. Herrett long ago stopped making these. It may or may not fit a Super Blackhawk, I can call Ruger tomorrow and ask, they might need your S/N to be sure.

    Just FYI I loathe Ruger single action grips because they're too small for my hands so this larger grip might work for you. PM if interested.
     

    Biggfoot44

    Ultimate Member
    Aug 2, 2009
    32,881
    The 7.5 inch Super Blackhawk with 7.5 inch with squareback triggergaurd will NOT fit . The 4.625 inch with rounded triggergaurd Will fit .
     

    firemn260

    Active Member
    Sep 15, 2015
    354
    Harford County
    Thanks for the replys. I’m sorry it’s taken me a few days to get back on here. My youngest sons seizure problems have reared it’s ugly head again

    Best way to rule out you vs. the gun is to have another experienced shooter put a few rounds through it. If it shoots straight for them, it's you ;) Recoil hides a lot of user errors. Dry fire, or have the other shooter load 2 to 4 rounds randomly in the cylinder (so you don't know whether it will click or bang) and watch, maybe even video, whether you push it left when you are expecting a bang but get a click. Also note whether you shoot it straight when you don't know if it will go off or not.

    For me, pushing left has to do with too much or not enough finger on the trigger. You need to find the just right amount that only moves the trigger straight back. The right amount may be different for different people and different guns.



    Agree with Art. Dry firing will reveal all.

    I do like to dry fire practice a lot just to get a feel for a trigger. I used to set a spent casing on my glocks and my sheild to dry fire until the casing dosnt move.
    I have dry fired the sbh probably a thousand times. Enough to annoy my wife watching tv. Click snap click snap click snap........

    That, and bench resting! Get it nicely snugged up on a sandbag or other appropriate rest, and dry fire a few times to prove to yourself you’re not curling it to the left with too much meat on the trigger. On that test, you can take an hour to slowly squeeze that trigger.

    Remember, with a revolver, that you’ll get dangerous gasses from the cylinder/barrel interface. Don’t forget that when bench resting, and leave your other hand or another easily damaged item where it’ll catch that.

    I unfortunately learned that lesson at a early age with a friends single action 22. Surprising how much lead flyers out between the cylinder and forcing cone. For all I know it was out of time but I did have to pick bullet fragments out of my fingers.

    Almost certainly you’re allowing your grip and trigger pull to crank the gun to the left. Could also be a flinch, but more likely just the wrong part of your finger on the trigger. I have to shoot my cowboy style guns with an entirely different set of muscle memory than I do my modern style stuff.

    BTW, you can get to the bottom of this using all light loads. Save the powder and the wear and tear until you get it sorted.

    I have been loading a bunch of light lswc to blast away with.

    Agreed with the above, most likely your trigger finger pushing the gun to the left as it pulls rearward. Experiment a little until you find out how much finger to place on the trigger for YOU. very individual thing. Some shoot better with the trigger on the pad of the finger, some with the first joint of the finger. Whatever allows YOU to perform a straight back pull is desired. Repeat until learned.

    You say you have big hands? How big? The reason I ask, some shooters prefer to shoot single actions with their pinky is curled under the grip frame to help fill their grip hand and give more control. Your SBH has a larger frame, but if your hand is large enough, that may be a solution. Good luck, single actions are among the hardest handguns to master.

    My pinky does hang off the end and I was wondering what the cure for that was besides putting a longer grip on.

    I also noticed my trigger finger will touch the side of the frame unless I position it in a awkward way on the trigger. I’m sure that would contribute to pushing the gun.

    Silly question? Are you left handed or right handed? All of the above is true for right handlers. If you are left handed you are squeezing the gun grip and trigger causing you to pull it to the left

    I’m right handed.

    With a Single Action , it makes a big difference in POI as to how hard you grip with the fingers of your gun hand . Experement with squeezing tighter , or holding looser , and watch the POI .

    From what I have learned shooting most handguns, I squeeze just enough to where the weapons starts to shack then back off until it steadies. I figure this would work for consistency.

    With a fixed sight SA , if you are using standard for caliber loads , start out assuming the sights are pretty close, and tweak your grasp to move the rounds .

    **********************

    For any " normal" handgun , ie not a T/C Contender,
    XP-100, etc , actually hold the gun with both hands as typical , and have wrists, or forearms, or both braced/ rested . This will have the least deviation from POI of two handed standing .

    I do need to try shooting on bags or braced. All off hand so far.

    10 inches left at what distance ?
    Around 25 ft

    Trigger finger placement means nothing. If your finger is pushing or pulling the pistol, a stronger group is needed. How dare that tiny finger bully both hands.
    Now the grip with a revolver lends itself to a little more influence because the grip basically rotates in your hands. Unlike a semi auto where you get much better support from the support hand.

    That makes sense. I have to concentrate on pulling straight back on the trigger?

    I have an older Herrett grip marked Blackhawk that may fit, I know it fits an Old Army. Herrett long ago stopped making these. It may or may not fit a Super Blackhawk, I can call Ruger tomorrow and ask, they might need your S/N to be sure.

    I will PM you. Thank you

    Just FYI I loathe Ruger single action grips because they're too small for my hands so this larger grip might work for you. PM if interested.

    They sure are good looking wood though. Are there grips that extend below the grip frame for us folks with bear paws? Or are they just wider?
     

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