king' s outdoor world - Index

king' s outdoor world - Hunting Illustrated April/May 2008 - Index

fi ngers should wrap easily around
the front of the grip. The strong-hand
thumb may either be in a “high” or
“low” position. Experiment with your
gun and see what is comfortable for
you. Your weak hand should wrap
naturally around your strong hand
with all of the fi ngers below the trigger
guard. Your weak hand thumb should
lie over the top of your strong hand
thumb. Do NOT wrap the weak hand
thumb around the back of the pistol.
The slide will come back and cut
your hand severely if you do! I saw
a soldier acquire several stitches and
some pretty cool scars by forgetting
this at a competition in Wyoming.
Both elbows should be slightly bent,
but both wrists must be locked.
The strong hand should be pushing
forward slightly, and the weak hand
should be pulling back slightly but not
hard enough to cause undue tension
and shaking.
Sight alignment. Sights on
most auto pistols consist of a square
front post or ramp and a rear “U”
notch. By simply centering the front
post in the rear “U” with an even
amount of light on both sides and
with the tops of the sights level, you
will have an accurate sight picture.
(The pistols we used in the combat
competitions had a three dot system.
Just line the dots up and you’re good
to go.) Do not make the common
mistake of watching the target. The
focus of your eyes should be entirely
on the front sight. Both the rear sight
and target will be slightly blurry. This
also goes for scoped weapons. The
crosshairs should be clear, and the
target slightly blurry. When shooting
the target, imperfect sight alignment
should not stop you from taking a shot.
Nobody can hold the gun perfectly
still. When the trigger breaks and the
gun goes off, it should be a surprise
to you, but if you are aware of what a
good sight picture looks like and can
keep that picture as close as possible,
then, when the gun goes off, the bullet
will hit where you want it to.
Breath Control. Breathing
control is much less important in
pistol shooting than in rifl e shooting
Plenty of practice of marksmanship
fundamentals, and some good
instructors helped the author have a
good summer in the National Guard
marksmanship competitions.
due to the shorter distances shot by
a pistol shooter. However, it is still
important. The technique I have been
taught and use myself is to take in a deep
breath, let it about halfway out and then
hold it. It is tempting and seemingly a
little more comfortable to let the entire
breath out and then hold, but this causes
a need for oxygen sooner than if half the
breath is held. When shooting groups
off the bench or waiting for an animal to
turn and present a shot, those extra few
seconds can make a difference.
This is the best technique for
rifl e shooting, but it doesn’t work so
well for pistol shooting. In combat
competitions you do a lot of running
around and moving - holding your breath
just ain’t gonna happen. The best way
I have found is to take deep measured
breaths while moving, and then taking
shallow “baby” breaths while actually
shooting. These baby breaths keep the
chest movements from affecting the sight
picture. Easier said than done, and again
the best way to accomplish it is with lots
of practice. Practice that involves moving
and getting the heart rate up!
Trigger Squeeze. The key to
trigger control is a steady press of the
trigger, not a pull. (The mantra of our
shooting team is, “Front sight, press.” It
reminds us to focus on the front sight and
press the trigger. No yanking allowed!)
The trigger fi nger should slip into the
trigger guard from its position along
the frame only when you are ready
to shoot. Otherwise, it stays out of
the trigger guard along the side of the
frame. Once inside the trigger guard,
the area on the pad of the forefi nger
between the center of the pad and
the fi rst knuckle should touch the
trigger. Having the trigger touched by
the center of the pad or down in the
crevice of the fi rst joint of the fi nger
will cause the gun to pull to the left
or right and slightly down instead of
staying exactly where the sights were
aligned. (Other than fl inching, this is
the most common cause of misses.)
The trigger press should be a smooth,
rearward, steady motion. Watch the
front sight and align it with the target
while the trigger is being pressed. One
must guard against squeezing with the
entire hand. The action of your fi nger
against the trigger should be totally
independent of the movement of the
rest of your hand. When the trigger
breaks and the gun goes off, you should
be totally surprised. Anticipating the
shot can cause misses. It’s easy to
start looking at the target instead of
the front sight when you anticipate.
You should be able to “call” your
shot by remembering where the front
sight was on the target the moment the
trigger breaks.
So, now that you’ve
mastered the fundamentals, add in a
little running around. Hike up a hill
so you’re breathing hard, (for some
of us, really hard) and try the shots
again. Then, add a little more stress to
your shot. It’s amazing what betting
a dollar a point with your buddies will
do for your stress levels at the range.
After you’ve tried all that, maybe
it’s time to start looking into some
competitive shooting. An internet
search of shooting clubs in your state
should provide you with plenty of
places to start. It’s an addicting kind
of fun and a great way to become a
better marksman. The fundamentals
that you practice in competition will
make the next shot you take at a
trophy buck that much easier. What’s
not to like about that?
5GUNS/OPTICS5 April/May 29