re: How do you fix consistent shooting errors

When you are building your fundamentals, you should always focus on the front sight. It is your lie detector and will tell you everything you are doing wrong. This is also what is shown in those pictures balancing the penny or casing or the front sight.

Your sights do not have emotion or reason. They take your input (sight picture, trigger press) and produce an output (hole in paper, mark on steel). If you are giving a bad sight picture and trigger press, you will have the same result every time. You need to slow down and focus on that front sight. When you isolate it, you will see what it's doing when the trigger breaks. Dry firing with a casing or penny is a good method of building that muscle memory and trigger control.

Another good experiment is to have a friend come shooting with you and load your magazines. Have him/her randomly insert a snap cap or dummy round somewhere in the magazine. If you have a bad flinch, it will make itself obvious mid-magazine.

You will always be fighting your flinch as a shooter. There may be days where it gets the best of you and there may be days where you can't seem to miss. Learning to slow down and control your flinch is the best way to lessen its effects on your shooting.

My guess just like everyone elses' is that you're anticipating the shot and pulling your sights off target. Lots of dry fire practice, patience, and focusing on the front sight will help.