I have a predicament that I hope I might get a little help with. I currently own three handguns, a sig P238, Walther PPX, and Glock 17. I currently carry the P238, but I have been looking for a larger caliber/higher capacity handgun to carry. I don't feel comfortable with the PPX as it has no safeties and a very light trigger.
Which is why I bought the Glock. As it turns out, I hate the Glock trigger and I tend to pull rounds to the side when firing it.
What do you hate about the Glock trigger? The out-of-the-box Glock trigger can be improved considerably with a little jewelers rouge, a Dremel tool, and a polishing wheel. Google "glock 25 cent trigger job" (without the quotes) and you'll find plenty of videos with pointers.
You said you pull rounds to the side when firing it - which side? Left is one thing, right is another. Make sure you're using the middle of the pad of your trigger finger to pull the trigger straight to the rear, moving only your trigger finger and no other part of your hand (don't squeeze your whole hand/fist as you near the point when you know the trigger will break).
But here is the crux of my problem:
When I shoot any of the full size weapons I shoot low approximately 6 inches at seven yards. I have shot several other full size guns that friends have but I always shoot low. My friend and I went to the range and at the end of the session I put the target at 25 yards and tried to hit the head with his beretta Px4. I hit the chest with every round. I had 4 rounds left in .380 and I attempted the same thing with the P238. Hit the head once and missed close with the other 3 rounds all at head level but to the left and right.
I've heard that this can be due to anticipating recoil. I have considered this, but the PPX is the softest shooting firearm I have. The P238 has some muzzle flip and the perceived recoil is next to nothing on the PPX. So, I don't know.
Most likely answer is "anticipating recoil" but can also be from squeezing your whole hand just as you break the trigger. Easy way to find out what it is is to have a friend surreptitiously hide a snap cap somewhere in your magazine before you shoot. When you "fire" that round (which of course results in nothing but a "click") you and your friend will see you do something that disturbs your sight alignment or sight picture before the bullet has left the barrel -- most likely pulling the gun down in anticipation of recoil.
But I would like to carry a 9mm. If all else fails, I guess I could go with the P938. Everything I've heard is that it is virtually the same weapon as the P238. If I'm comfortable with the P238 I should do ok with the P938. But I really would like a higher capacity firearm.
This makes me think lots of things. First, I wouldn't carry any firearm in public if I wasn't confident that under the comparative calm of range conditions I could hit anything I want with it, on demand. Conventional wisdom says that in a defensive shooting, due to adrenalin and other factors, you'll shoot only half as well as you do on the range. If you're 6 inches from where you want to hit on the range, you may be a foot from where you want in a defensive shooting. Of course we want to hit the bad guy where we intend to (for maximum chance of stopping the fight) but we also want to make sure that it's the bad guy we hit and not some innocent bystander. A foot variance from point of aim makes doing both of those things a lot less likely.
Next, the bigger concern about P238 vs. Glock 17 (or whatever) is that the P238 is a .380. Unless you need a micro gun for concealment purposes I'm not a big fan of .380 for defensive use if there are other options. Yes, the P238 also has a small "capacity", but the rounds you'd be carrying are also quite anemic (compared to a decent defensive 9mm round, or better yet a good .40 S&W round).
Don't take offense a this next part, but how did you learn to shoot? A lot of folks teach themselves, or have "always been around guns" or were taught by a friend/relative that doesn't actually know proper shooting technique, etc. I'm not trying to be condescending -- many moons ago I was one of those gun owners that "liked to shoot" but actually had no idea how to shoot properly. The more you practice shooting incorrectly the harder it is to unlearn those bad techniques and replace them with good ones. If possible try to find a qualified instructor in your area to spend a little time with. It's amazing what even a couple hours of quality instruction will do to solve the kind of problems you describe.
It is my opinion that actual shooting generally makes you a worse shooter - especially when you're new. What makes you a better shooter is plenty of "perfect dry practice". With an unloaded gun you work on the fundamentals of shooting: sight alignment, sight picture, trigger control, follow through (add in breath control, speed, etc. once you've mastered those). Get your brain used to the idea that when the trigger breaks, nothing "bad" happens (gun doesn't go boom). You can practice that perfect follow through -- sight alignment and sight picture remain perfect until the hammer/striker has fallen -- because there is no boom to disturb it. Then when you do go do some live practice to validate your dry practice, if you can keep the "gun won't go boom" mindset it makes it easier to do proper follow through with a loaded gun.
When I have students that have the problems like what you mention I'll put snap caps randomly throughout the mag and watch the gun closely to see what they do when they "fire" the dummy round, or I'll manipulate the gun and pretend to chamber a round when I really haven't, etc. Once I've "fooled" them several times and they've dropped the hammer on an empty chamber (and flinched or whatever they're doing wrong) eventually they are not flinching anymore. Then I'll manipulate the gun and tell them it's empty when it's really not. Nine times out of ten, when they fire the "empty" gun (that isn't) then they'll score a perfect hit and realize they can do it.
I'm an NRA instructor and tend to recommend NRA classes simply because I know what their content is. Certainly there are a ton of other qualified instructors and/or programs out there. Consider taking the "NRA Basic Pistol Shooting Course". You can use
this page to see if there is one near you.
I could have written a thousand more words of advice on the topic, but this is already too long.
Good luck!