Glock 19 Gen 5 2nd time practice shooting

Great to see you care enough about being a responsible and competent gun owner to be out practicing. 

Your target, looks like it was 7 yards away, reflects:

1) reasonable sight alignment as evidenced by not an overly wide horizontal dispersion of hits.
2) slight left bias as most right handed shooters do...too much finger in trigger, right hand squeezing more than left in grip/grip issues
3) clearly flinching, hence all the low shots but not a over wide dispersion. Research and study "surprise break". You are shooting waaay too fast.

Comments/observations after watching you shoot ( from what I could see with limited angle)

1) Gun is jumping around in your hand too much on recoil...grip issues
2) Early high shots were you breaking your wrist.
3) Space between web of strong hand and tang of pistol
4) Had finger in trigger guard when you reloaded and let slide forward on new mag
5) Improper technique for inserting mag into mag well. Mag base should be in palm and index finger extended up to be resting on nose of first round. 
6) Your knees looked locked...
7) Mismatched overall body position; arms are in isosceles and stance is modified Weaver/combat stance.


- Remember when you are training and you see a round go anywhere but where you intended...SOMETHING needs to change. Its not the gun or the ammo...it is you. “Insanity is doing the same thing (at .50/round) over and over and expecting different results.”

- It has been my observation over the years that all the gadgets/accessories/lasers etc.. will never overcome a failure to master the basics of handgun marksmanship. 

I suggest you save money on ammo going to the range by yourself and invest in some professional tactical training. Ammo is just too expensive these days and if you learn proper technique now, it will save you a lot more time and money trying to get it down later.

Lord Newport gave a pretty thorough analysis, and I appreciate him for doing so. It is so common to find people online who will disrespect you or even your gear, but real champs recognize we all start somewhere and offer helpful advice.

I think my only point of disagreement is trigger finger placement during the firing cycle. Knowing your hand size, my guess is you didn't have much finger on the trigger in order to get the bore axis into the V of your thumb webbing, so you may have been pushing left against the side of the trigger slightly as the shot broke.

ABSOLUTELY practice trigger finger discipline, though, and keep your finger out of the trigger guard unless sights are on-target and you are ready to shoot. Developing and reinforcing that safe habit now is not only the safe thing to do, but by burning it into your muscle memory now you are less likely to get into trouble as you progress to more advanced stages. For example, finger in trigger guard (even if not touching trigger) when reholstering is a recipe for a bad day. Build that habit of indexing along the frame, outside the guard, and you'll be setting yourself up for success.

It may sound strange, but pistol marksmanship is a whole body process. That's a lot to monitor and control as a beginner, so trainers or experienced shooting partners can help by observing. I agree you should bend your knees a bit, lean forward slightly, and try rotating your elbows outward like a hug. If you have proper grip, this helps transfer recoil through the arms more linearly to the shoulders, then at a slight downward angle towards the hips, then through the legs to the ground. All of this reduces muzzle flip.

I suspect your support hand grip could be improved as well. Look up "thumbs forward" grips. Ideally the meat of your support hand will be filling the gap on the left side of the grip, giving you a 360 degree wrap. Also, if your left wrist is already mostly broken forward so you're pointing at the target with your thumb, that locked position will help reduce flip. Recoil happens, it's something you learn to ride rather than fight. Fighting leads to flinch.

In addition to competent training, the most important advice I can offer is lots and lots of dry-fire practice. Find a space or room where you forbid any ammo from occupying, and always check your chamber and mags before practice. I am lucky to have a room where I can do drills and clean, and NO ammo enters that room. One simple drill is to balance a penny on the front sight as you press, press, press the trigger to the rear for a surprise break. If you can do this consistently without the penny falling, you know you are introducing minimal movement into the gun during the firing cycle. This is also good to build muscle memory against flinch.

The dry-fire drills can help prevent flinch and build muscles. I noticed you struggled a but racking the slide and dropping the slide release. Dry-fire practice is a cheap way to build those muscles. Also, personal preference but I never use the slide release on pistols. I use an over-the-top grip to rack and release. That takes a little extra time, but works EVERY time. As someone who used to sell firearms, I've handled easily over 100 different models (I honestly lost count) and having 3 firearms I may choose to carry depending on season and needs, that is one less mechanism to worry about when transitioning between using different platforms.

A final note. It also looked like you were a bit nervous. There is nothing wrong with that, it's sane. You understand and respect the potential of the equipment you were operating, which is preferable to carelessness. As a minor flag (more worried about trigger finger, as Lord Newport noted) watch your muzzle when you reload. Now, that range was set up safely, but you muzzled the ceiling and a good bit of the left wall. Again, the range was built to absorb those impacts safely, but I mention it more to ask if you were aware you were doing it. If nervous, slow down. We aren't at the phase of stress drills yet. Take your time, be mindful of your weapon manipulation, build those good habits. Speed comes later, no rush.

Again, major kudos to Lord Newport for his solid and easy to understand analysis. Also, huge respect for posting a video of your range trip. That takes guts, and I hope you view our critiques as encouragement. We see a responsible firearms owner and fellow community member and we are cheering for you to have fun and improve. You've come a long way and I know you will keep bettering yourself as a marksman.

As always, safety first!

I'm glad to hear you have a good prognosis and should be recovering well. My thyroid is a bit jacked too, indicating hypo with symptoms, but doc's are just shrugging for now.

FWIW, most people struggle with rack and slide release at first. That's totally normal. Repetition helps, and you get a lot of that recocking during dry-fire. That's one of the reasons I suggested that be introduced into a regular routine.

A side note about lasers. I likewise don't love them on carey guns, but think they are great for training. Instead of the penny trick, you can have your laser on while dryfiring. Don't AIM with it, focus on your front sight. But, DO notice the dot moving in your peripheral vision. It can helpM identify how and where you are introducing movement into the firearm. It can also keep you aware of muzzle discipline. Then, with the fundamentals more muscle memory than tool use, you can remove the laser for range and carry if that's your style.

That's a very good start, and may need no change if you have good control of the firearm. You might benefit from pointing your support hand thumb even further forward, to fully lock out the left wrist.

Good picture and fair article here. Also note her elbows rotated out like a hug.

www.thetruthaboutguns.com/get-a-grip/amp/

A possibly helpful video by a prominent competitive shooter on recoil management. I like a lot of her perspective on maximizing your own physiology:

Excellent video. This one is one of my favorites to show to new(er) pistol shooters...

Agreed, the reference was to better highlight the whole body nature of the hobby, and what I meant by elbows out.

Also, I do NOT recommend the NRA for courses. Took a couplw of those, terrible waste of time and money. Lord Newport may be able to help you find a qualified trainer in your area.

Make sure you do some research on how to safely shoot that revolver before you go out for the first time.  The mechanics/ergonomics do not easily translate from an auto to a revolver.  About a month ago, at the range, a brand new revolver shooter ended up with some nasty burns because she fired the gun with a support hand, thumb forward grip.  Nobody was watching her and she had her support hand thumb forward of the cylinder.  

Oh absolutely. Revolvers are a totally different beast. I've heard stories of people losing fingers from some of the bigger hunting revolvers.