The level of frustration with my 1911 finally got to the point I reached out to a local instructor and asked him if he could “fix me and the gun”. I’m guessing this isn’t the first time he’s gotten a request like this.

I’ve taken the gun to a gun smith and it showed improvement for about 6 months, but then I had an ongoing set of evolving issues and I needed to know if my shooting was contributing to the malfunctions or if it was an issue with the gun. I’ve been told I was limp wristing more than once lately by shooters in my squad. I thought I might be riding the slide. In any case, I felt that selecting an instructor that could work with me and diagnose the gun at the same time would be the best way to get past these constant malfunction drills I’m doing mid-match. And then move on to improving my shooting.

I had my first session last night. The gun will be in a box and headed to S&W shortly with a request to fix a “failure to eject” issue. Several issues with the extractor were pointed out to me and I was told I’m not limp wristing. I’m pretty excited by that. The potential of a well functioning firearm is thrilling!

As for my shooting, I learned a few things that made perfect sense now that I’ve been shooting a few years and I’m ready to hear them. I have some work to do but I see the possibility of improvement.

I haven’t asked the instructor’s permission to post my experience online so I haven’t mentioned a name on purpose. But my gun and I will be back for more coaching as soon as S&W ships it back.