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the largest determining factor in training

I don't want to complicate things but it's attitude. Let me try to explain. First off, I shoot a lot. I have two Dillons set up. One is to the left of the picture and you can see the other on my profile page. Once you condition your muscle memory with GOOD practice, everything comes together. Practice what you wish to do and it will eventually work. Muscle memory allows your to line the sights up immediately and muscle memory allows you to pull the trigger when your on target without thinking about it. How you hold the pistol[I'll stay with pistols for this] is important. On a 1911 the strong thumb rests ON TOP of the safety. In other words, the hand holding the gun has to be as high as can be to the bore and pushes forward. The same idea as an M-16 to control muzzle flip. The weak hand pushes back for a push pull. Your recoil should only be about an inch or so for a good second shot. Back to attitude. I know a guy who takes small revolvers and shoots clay birds on a dirt bank form 60 yards away and then works on the pieces. His revolvers can do that because they are well made and he knows they can do that. He has confidence in his equipment. That's one thing. Here's the other. Every once in a while when we're trying to shoot, we start to shake. It's fear. It's not being weak. Here's how to overcome that: No one cares. You're shooting because it's fun. It's not a macho thing or a dangerous thing. It's fun but no one cares what you do. You"re doing for you. Here's a fun thing. You will never be the best shot in the world but every once in a while you will make an incredible shot. You will be very pleased and you will mention it to people and they won't care. Never. Ever. Then you find out that as soon as they could, they told everyone they could about what you did. That's fun.

Thanks for the response.

I shoot at least once a week. Handguns only. And I do it because I enjoy it. It is a great stress relief for me, and a good social activity. There are a group of us that go at lunch to the local indoor range. ( hot as H--- this time of year, but we go )

Because I started out as the worst shot in the group, and have improved steadily, the macho thing went away for me very early in the process. I knew that everybody was better than me. It was quickly very obvious that, "No, shooting a bullseye on every shot is NOT an innate ability of every american born male."

Thumb placement. I shoot an H&K USP Fullsize 45, a P7, and a Ruger 22. On the P7 there is no safety. But, I grip it as high as I can with the weak hand thumb in front of the strong hand thumb.

On the 45, the slide release is right where my weak hand thumb would be in the same grip. If I put my thumb there, at times the slide will not lock after the last round. If I keep my thumb elsewhere, it never happens. So I usually lock the thumbs together ( weak thumb over strong thumb ) with the strong hand thumb off of the safety. But, with my hand as high as I can get it.

On the 22, I use the "thumb in front" grip as on the P7.

60 yards is a heck of a shot to do consistently.

Yup, some days I shake, but I find that my main problem is that I will still jerk at times. Usually its when I stop concentrating, and always with a new gun. I get to that last bit before the trigger breaks, and instead of continuing to squeeze, I jerk. The shot is usually down about a foot from the aim point.

On a good day, I have everything in the black, but on most days I have a few of them, in that same spot, about a foot below the target.

I also know absolutely that my guns are much more accurate than I am. It is me that has to work to get to a level that can do them justice.

It’s just going to take time.