I bought my first 1911 about a year ago and have been practicing about 4 days a week. I have asked some club members with help on the grip, etc. to get started but otherwise have been on my own. I started setting my target up at 6 yds shooting 4" bulls eyes on a NRA 50 yd rifle target (5 to a target) and kept moving my chair back when I could consistently keep all rounds in the bullseye. Today I moved back from 18 yds to 25 yds at the end of shooting and shot a 3.18 and a 3.75 group back to back. I was not using my target gun but shooting a Nighthawk Talon with "straight eight" sites.
When I shoot I focus on my front site as I bring the gun up and slowly squeeze the trigger while holding my breath. When my front sight "cuts" the X ring I complete the pull and go to a "half pull" immediately on the trigger and fire again when back on target.
A friend shooting with me who is also new to 1911's likes to hold his breath and pull the trigger as you would a rifle and take his time making the shot. He likes to have the hammer fall when he is not expecting it to just as you would when shooting a rifle. He also has "creep" in his trigger which I recommended he have a smith correct but he says it helps him because it tells him where he is in his "pull" like a revolver which he has shot for many years.
What is the correct method for trigger pull? I hope I have not been shooting 15 boxes or so of ammo a week to create a bad habit I will have to break...Any help would be most appreciated!

If you're shooting groups like that at 25 yds, me thinks you're ok with the trigger.

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me thinks so too.

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Me thinks so, three.

Your friend needs to have his pistol serviced. Creep does not make a 1911 trigger "like a revolver," It makes it like a creepy trigger. If he wants a trigger that breaks unexpectedly, he doesn't want creep.

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Thanks guys..out of curiosity; what is the correct breathing, focus and pull method for a 1911. Pretend you are trying to explain it to someone who has never shot a 1911...Thanks

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First, I don't worry too much about breath management. If you're a precision shooter, i. e., something like bullseye or metallic silhouettes, I'm sure it can be important. But I've shot mostly action games, IPSC, with the pistol; and too much other stuff is going on to worry about breathing. But when shooting a rifle I've been taught to first take a deep breath and release it and to then take another and let it our about half way. That's when to take the shot.

As for pistol shooting in general, the following is how I usually explain it:

The first principle of accurate shooting is trigger control: a smooth, press straight back on the trigger with only the trigger finger moving to a surprise break. Maintain your focus on the front sight as you press the trigger, increasing pressure on the trigger until the shot breaks. Don't try to predict exactly when the gun will go off nor try to cause the shot to break at a particular moment. This is what Jeff Cooper called the "surprise break."

BY keeping focus on the front sight and increasing pressure on the trigger until the gun essentially shoots itself, you don’t anticipate the shot breaking. But if you try to make the shot break at that one instant in time when everything seem steady and aligned, you usually wind up jerking the trigger. Of course the gun will wobble some on the target. Try not to worry about the wobble and don’t worry about trying to keep the sight aligned on a single point. Just let the front sight be somewhere in a small, imaginary box in the center of the target.

Also, work on follow through. Be aware of where on the target the front sight is as the shot breaks and watch the front sight lift off that point as the gun recoils – all the time maintaining focus on the front sight.

Also, while practice in very important, remember that practice doesn’t make perfect. It’s “PERFECT practice makes perfect.” More frequent practice shooting fewer rounds, but concentrating hard on what you’re doing, will be more productive than less frequent, higher round count practice.

Practice deliberately, making every shot count, to program good habits and muscle memory. Dry practice is very helpful. You just want to triple check that the gun is not loaded, and there should be no ammunition anywhere around. When engaging in dry practice, religiously follow Rule 2 - Never Let Your Muzzle Cover Anything You Are Not Willing To Destroy." As you dry fire, you want to reach the point where you can't see any movement of the sight as the sear releases and the hammer falls.

Think: front sight, press, surprise.

DVC

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Frank- thanks for taking all of the time for that excellent advice/instruction. I could not have asked for more. All I do is shoot at bullseye targets in a sitting position mostly because of a bad back. The only place I might be missing your feedback is the actual time of the break. I do everything you say except I consciously pull the trigger which I already have reset to a "hair" of pull and when the front site comes back down and "cuts" the bullseye from the previous shot I complete the pull again. Hope this makes sense. Should I not be doing this? Thanks

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Hi

I agree that you are doing just fine with what you are doing.

The common wisdom is that you try to fire at the "bottom" of a breath (breath out, before you start to inhale). I don't think that's something you need to worry about a whole lot in normal pistol activities.

Bob

Based on the results you report, you're going fine.

IME the single most common problem new shooters have is jerking the trigger. They tend to try to force the shot to break at just that moment when everything looks right, or they dip the muzzle in anticipation of the recoil. And either one always leads to jerking the trigger -- at least for a new shooter.

So I teach new shooters the surprise break. By building pressure on the trigger until the shot breaks by surprise, while focusing on the front sight, the new shooter avoids anticipating or forcing the shot. It also helps program a smooth press of the trigger without jerking it or dipping the muzzle.

As someone becomes more practiced, the time gap between the beginning of the press (after taking up any slack to after a proper reset of the trigger) begins to shrink. Finally, the shooter reaches a point in his development at which there is pretty much no perceptible time gap.

Because you are shooting good groups, I would have to believe that you have good trigger control. And you have probably gotten good enough so that you can "know" when the shot breaks without anticipating or having to force it.

One thing tht you might want to consider doing, and I do myself from time to time, is to end a practice session with 10 to 20 rounds slow fire consciously using a surprise break. I find that doing so seems help refresh my muscle memory.

DVC

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adapt, improvise, overcome
"Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.", Carl Sagan
"One should shoot as quickly as one can -- but no quicker.", Jeff Cooper

Hi

Having somebody watch what you are doing at the range can be informative. It's amazing the things that you do without noticing them. You focus on the target and everything else "goes away" ...

Bob