TargetTalk

Shooting technique

Please reply with possible additions or corrections.

I am slowly developing my technique so as to shot the rounds in a consistent manner. In my studies on shooting I have found that this is important.

I am writing this also to fix it in my memory.

Here are ancient tomes on the subject:
https://bookspublicdomain.com/Shooting/ ... inans.html
https://bookspublicdomain.com/Shooting/ ... inans.html
https://bookspublicdomain.com/Shooting/ ... tcher.html

These are all from other shooters.

Between shots I deep-breathe to steady my nerves and reduce the wobble of the sights. Not to mention my dependence on the oxygen bottle. One author pointed out that when in competition and when the sound of firing begins, a person's adrenaline may rise.

Since Bullseye shooting is usually done with a 45 degree stance, I can look straight down my right arm to make sure it is straight with my elbow slightly rotated counter-clockwise to reduce the recoil bending my elbow. I should tense slightly all the muscles from my wrist through my shoulder. But not so much as to start the wobbling. The wrist, arm, and shoulder act as the stock of a rifle.

The grip should be tight enough to control the recoil; because, a grip that is too loose will cause an automatic to fail to eject the previous empty brass and cycle the next round in. A grip that is too tight will cause extra wobble of the sights. The wobble will never disappear 100%.

Since I use a red dot sight, (an old man's crutch and accepted in competition today,) I locate and orient the dot in the center of the sight. Slowly I raise the gun until the sight is on the target. With a red dot one does not have to concentrate on the front sight, just put the dot on the bullseye. THEN put the finger inside the guard and on the trigger. Most put the middle of the first segment of the finger on the center of the pistol.

Slowly but steadily squeeze the trigger straight back. The sound of the shot should be a surprise to avoid anticipating or jerking the trigger.

Let the trigger reset, take the finger out of the guard, lower the gun, and start the cycle again.

Thanks in advance for your wisdom on this subject.

Your stance should be your own, a 45 degree is a good start though. don't be afraid to adjust your stance throughout the match. In my experience, a more bladed stance will string vertically, a straight forward facing will string horizontally. Moving the rear foot in our out left or right will move your aiming area.

I take a deep breath down on the bench, wrist/arm is straight and gun firmly gripped with finger on the trigger and some depression, then i lift from the shoulder focusing on the target, raising above the target i take an additional breath and being lowering, a quick pause followed by an additional breath right about the 8 ring and begin lowering and applying trigger pressure. On good shots they break right when i have a dwell in the X ring. If you become fatigued, feel like your holding too long, have trouble getting the shot off, think you can still make this a good shot..put the gun down reset and go again.

My grip is is tight, right where it doesn't impede the trigger fingers movement, and doesn't disturb my aiming.

the dot is centered in the tube.

My finger is on the trigger and applying pressure while on the bench. (you need to know where your trigger will break so you don't put one in the bench or ground)
The act of moving the finger into the guard and starting the pressure is going to shift the grip in your hand, and more than likely increase aiming movement

I wouldn't say slowly... you will eventually develop trigger control where at times the press is slower or faster. You will use these tools differently from day to day and shot to shot, depending on many things like fatigue,hold, and any other number of mental or physical things that can affect your shooting. Once you become very familiar with your trigger it won't be a surprise to when it goes bang, you'll know exactly where and after how much force it will break.

Their is nothing wrong with take another slow fire shot fired right after one, i wouldn't recommend coming back on target just to look at everything lined up just to lower the gun. If you're gonna take a second shot know you're going to and execute the process. Pending on hold, fatigue weather you many need to take an additional 1 or 2.

Also mental review the shot after it goes bang, where was the dot when the hammer fell. Call that shot in its ring and clock value(if your calling skill isn't there roughly an idea if it was in the black upper right or something). Then look in the scope to confirm its position.

These are my opinions any many greater shooters would agree or disagree with me.... but i think they will all agree it all comes down to trigger control, and most troubles are between the ears.

Christopher Miceli wrote: I take a deep breath down on the bench, wrist/arm is straight and gun firmly gripped with finger on the trigger and some depression

Since I am on oxygen 24/7 and will be toting an oxygen bottle, I will be taking six to ten deep breaths on the bench between shots.

I strive to read explanations of shooting technique from as many sources as possible. One may learn of things one needs to do in the future.

Here are quotes from the great Walter Winans from his Automatic Pistol Shooting.
G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS
NEW YORK AND LONDON
The Knickerbocker Press
1915

https://bookspublicdomain.com/Shooting/ ... #CHAPTER_V



"Position.The position for shooting which I am now going to describe is the one in which I[Pg 25] shoot and the one which I have found from experience suits me best. This position, however, will have to be modified according to the build of the shooter; a stouter or shorter-necked man than myself might have to stand more sideways.

Stand facing the target; the right foot pointing straight for the target, or perhaps a shade to the left (if the ground is slippery, this gives you a firmer foothold); the left heel distant from six to nine inches to the left of the right foot, according to your height (my distance is eight inches), and about an inch farther back; the feet turned out about as much as is natural to you when standing.


Stances vary with the individual.

Stand perfectly upright, not craning your head forward; the left arm should hang down straight and close to the side in the position of Attention. Some people bend the left arm and rest the hand on the hip; but I think this looks affected, and it is not as workmanlike as if the arm hangs straight down.

If you are trying to hold an especially important shot, and find yourself wobbling off your aim, it is a great help to grip your thigh hard with your left hand; this especially applies in a gusty wind.'''...

Now lift the pistol with your right hand...
Pistol-shooting is good also for the flexors of the forearm and for the dorsal muscles. ...
Now, stand with the pistol in your right hand, just clear of the table; right arm full stretch. The first finger must be outside the trigger-guard (not touching the trigger) during this stage....

[Pg 28]Some Englishmen shoot with the second finger on the trigger and the first along the pistol; but this is a clumsy way, and the first finger is apt to be burnt with the escape of gas from the cylinder, if a revolver is used. The habit was acquired from shooting the Martini rifle, the clumsy grip of which made this manner of holding necessary....

The great thing is to have your grip as high as you can on the stock, in line with the axis of the barrel, or as near this as is practicable. With the Smith & Wesson Russian Model (now no longer manufactured) I have it actually in line with the bore of the barrel....

The pistol barrel, hand, and arm should all be nearly in one line, the thumb along the left side, so as to prevent jerking to the left in pressing the trigger (in the same way as the left arm is fully extended in shooting with the shotgun), and not crooked, as all beginners insist on holding it.

You must be constantly on the watch that you do not crook your thumb, until the extended position becomes second nature to you. Some makes of pistols, however, have the extractor lever in a position which renders this grip with extended thumb impossible....


First take a deep breath, and fill your lungs. Now slowly bring your right arm to the horizontal, keeping your eyes fixed on the bottom edgeat six oclockof the bull; whilst you are doing this, put your forefinger inside the trigger-guard, and gradually begin to feel the trigger and steadily increase the pressure on it straight back, not sideways. Whilst you are doing all this, also gradually stiffen all your muscles so that you are braced up, especially about the right shoulder, as though you were walking along the pavement and saw a man coming towards you whom you meant to shoulder out of your path.

You may breathe naturally until the pistol is levelled, then hold your breath; if you cannot get your aim satisfactorily before you feel you want to take a fresh breath, lower the pistol, take a deep breath, and try again. If you have followed these directions carefully, you will find, when the hind sight comes to the level of your eyes (closing your left eye or not, as you find best, without any lowering of the head), the front sight will be seen through the middle of the U pointed at the bottom of the bulls-eye, the top of the front sight just touching it at six oclock. If everything has been done perfectly, at the moment this[Pg 31] occurs the pressure on the trigger will have been increased sufficiently to cause the hammer to fall, and, after it has fallen, you will see the top of the front sight still just touching the bulls-eye at its bottom edge....

If the pistol had been loaded (assuming, of course, that it was an accurate shooting one and properly sighted), you would have had a central bulls-eye for your shot. Most likely, however, you will find that the pistol came up all of a tremble, and that, as the hammer fell, the front sight was jerked very wide of the bull and perhaps even hidden by the hind sight.

Do not be discouraged, but cock and try again. By the way, it is best to use a dummy cartridge or an exploded one whilst doing this snapping practice, as otherwise the jar may do damage to the plunger and perhaps break the mainspring. There are dummy cartridges, made with a rubber buffer, for this practice.

If you still find your hand shaky (and it is not naturally so), it most probably arises from your gripping too hard.

The action of letting off should be like squeezing an orangea squeeze of the whole hand. Start with a light grip when your hand is down, and gradually squeeze as you come up, the trigger-finger squeezing back; and the hammer will fall[Pg 32] without the least tremor or without the sights moving off the point they covered during the fall of the hammer. The main thing of all in pistol shooting is to squeeze straight back. Whenever you find yourself shooting badly see if you are not pulling off to one side; and in nine cases out of ten you will discover that this was the cause of your bad shooting.

Some men can never squeeze the trigger straight back, and have to allow for this by getting the hind sight set over to one side to correct it; but this is a slovenly way of shooting, and, as the pull to one side may vary according to the jumpiness of the shooter, it prevents his being a really first-class shot.

Keep the hind sight perfectly horizontal; beginners are prone to cant it on one side, which puts the bullet to the side towards which you cant.

After a little practice, you will be able to call your shots, that is to say, you will be able, the moment the cartridge explodes, to say where the shot has struck the target, as you know where the sights were pointed at the squeeze-off."