pistol accuracy GUN OR SHOOTER ?

[jacks44mag]

I bought a new ruger p95 9mm and when I shoot it it looks more like a shotgun pattern than a pistol group I am using new federal 115gr ammo @ 20 yards
I also have a 45acp I shoot and do alot better with than the 9mm
My queston is what is the best way to tell if it is the gun or the shooter or both.
Or what is the best way to hold a hand gun to see how accurate the gun realy is

[bulletstuffer]

Make sure you squeeeeeeeze the trigger and your sights line up exactly on the target.  Sounds simple but you really have to concentrate on each shot.  Use a small target dot too.  Aim small hit small

Good luck,

Bulletstuffer

[guzzijohn]

Have a couple of other experienced handgunners shoot and compare results. Outside of a Ramson rest there is really know exact way to tell how accurate the individual gun is.
Guzzijohn

[twoshooter]

From your post, it did not seem like you had tried a variety of bullet weights and brands. If that is a wrong assumption, pardon me. However, if not, I would say you need to do quite a bit of experimenting, you dont just buy bullets, and then get a gun to shoot them.

[Graybeard]

In this case likely some of both. I suspect from a machine rest like the Ransom Rest you'd find the gun with ammo it likes can do about 4" or maybe more. Unless you are a really good shooter you'd be hard pressed to shoot a free hand group much less than 2" if the gun was perfect and added nothing to group size.

Combine the two and you have groups that don't keep all shots on an 8.5"x11" target.

I USED to be a darn good shot one of the top in the state in my competition days. These days, well let's just say time has not been kind to me or my shooting skills. At my prime I could keep five or six shots from my S&W revolvers in an inch when I was having a good day. Yeah off hand and that was 25 yards I'm speaking of.

Today even with my most accurate revolvers that I'm sure are as capable as the S&Ws I used to could shoot an inch group with at 25 free hand I do good to manage an occasional 2" to 2.5" full cylinder from the bench at that distance.

Most semiauto self defense type guns are intended for use primarily at spitting distance and are not very good target shooting guns. Trigger pulls generally are horrible and most double action not a clean crisp SA pull. With mine I figure if my groups are double what I can do with my revolvers at 25 when I fire the SD guns at 15 yards I've having a good day.

[mcwoodduck]

My guess is it is the shooter.
Somepeople can not shoot some guns.  I can not drive a Glock 17 well.
If you ar having trouble with the handguns there is only one cure.
Get a 22 LR and shoot it, and shoot it, work out your squeezing your hand, trigger jerking, recoil anticipation, too much rtrigger finger, squeezing with your off hand, when shooting one handed not keeping your non shooting hand tied down, ........ We can go on and on.  A few hunbdred for a semi auto handgun and $25 for 500 rounds are going to be a cheap way to learn to shoot well.  Or spend twice that on 9mm ammo.
it is just like golf, it is not the clubs or the balls it is all about you developing the skills needed by spending time on the course and the range. 

[Ladobe]

As Bill said, consistent repeatability (accuracy/precision) is a product of the firearm, the ammo, the trigger jockey, etc, and all are more critical with handguns by design.   They all play large rolls in the end product.   And like him, as a very serious handgun hunter and fairly serious competitor from the mid 60's, I was very experienced and successful at both with a long list of handguns on many different platforms.   So to expect more you have to do more... buy/build handguns that are capable to start with, match ammo to them and practice, practice, practice your shooting techniques with each one of them until it becomes second nature.   As for "holds", its an individual thing where some shooters will do better with one hold than another simply because they will have more confidence with one than another.   Which one you have to find out yourself by trying them all.   Not in one day, but over time switching between them.   All said and done, many handguns can match rifles to surprising ranges in confident hands.
 

[NickSS]

With a new pistol I always shoot it from a bench using a sand bag under my wrists and a two hand hold.  This takes out a lot of shooter induced wiggle and gives a much better idea of how well your gun shoots.  I too have had better days shooting than I do now and in general my groups have opened up with both rifle and pistol when using iron sights.  Howver, I own a Ruger P89 which is build similarly to your gun just an older revision and it will shoot into 2 inches at 15 yards for me fireing 25 rounds into the group from a wrist rest using the same ammo you used.  My guess is that you are used to the trigger pull and feel of your 45 and not the rugger which tends to have a little creep in the triggers.  I know I can shoot my 1911s into tighter groups than my Ruger but just not as many rounds without reloading.

[coyotejoe]

To evaluate the accuracy of any new gun I like to try out a wide variety of ammo. I find that especially in 9mm the specific ammo can make a great deal of difference. It's not a question of which ammo is best but which is best in your particular gun. It is also entirely possible that your gun is just not very accurate, but you need to try a variety of ammo before you make that judgement.

[williamlayton]

This is a complicated answer.
The pistol will always outshoot the man. Even sights that are off are consistant. When i grew up with old fixed sights you had to figger out the point of aim--which was not much of a chore. Once you had that figgered out--if you could put the sights on, the shot would be good.
We didn't have any competition back in the sticks where I was raised--well ceptin between us boys.
Now, in a pinch, when the heat is on, it is tough to find a sandbag or a steady rest. That is where instincts and knowledge with the gun comes in handy.
Blessings

[mcwoodduck]

Hand your gun to another shooter that is doing well next to you on the range and ask then to shoot it.  If they make a group rather than a shotgun pattern, I would say it is the shooter.
You may want to find a range and take a lesson.  I know everything and I still listen and try out things other people tell me to see if it helps my shooting.
A coach did a whole lot for me learning to shoot.

[Tom W.]

I took my girlfriend to the range last Saturday. She's never fired any firearm in her life.
After a short review in sight picture, as well as a refresher on the operator controls, she rested the pistol and fired three shots @ 25 yards, all high. I finished the magazine on a corner bull and did well, so I knew it wasn't the pistol.
She calmed down a bit, after seeing that the pistol wasn't going to jump from her hand, and
 the next three shots had one in the X and two touching just to the left in the 10 ring.
Of course, as she tired she did a bit worse, but all of her shots were on the paper.