The main use of a pistol or revolver is to engage an enemy at close range with quick, accurate fire. Accurate shooting results from the knowledge and correct application of the fundamentals of marksmanship. The elements of handgun marksmanship are:
Your weapon must become an extension of your hand and arm. It should replace your finger in pointing at an object. A firm, uniform grip must be used. Proper grip is one of the most important factors in being able to place multiple shots on your target, quickly.
To establish a good grip, form a "V" with the thumb and index finger of your firing hand. Place the weapon in the V with the front and rear sights in line with your firing arm. Wrap the lower three fingers of your firing hand around the pistol grip, putting equal pressure with all three fingers to the rear. Allow the thumb of the firing hand to rest alongside the weapon without pressure. Grip the weapon tightly until your hand begins to tremble, then relax until the trembling stops. At this point, you have applied the necessary pressure for a proper grip. Place the trigger finger on the trigger between the tip and first joint so that it can be squeezed rearward. When firing, your trigger finger must work independently of the other fingers.
Using both hands allows the shooter to steady the firing hand and provide maximum support during firing. Two-handed grips are recommended whenever possible for all handgun firing. To use a two-handed grip, first put your firing hand on your weapon as described above. Then put the thumb of your non-firing hand together with the thumb of your firing hand and wrap the fingers of your non-firing hand around the fingers of your firing hand.
Do not place the non-firing thumb in the rear of the weapon. If you do, the recoil of the weapon, especially semi-autos, could result in personal injury.
To continue onto stance, click here.Most people use one of two stances for two-handed handgun firing: isosceles or Weaver. For both stances, begin by standing with your feet shoulder-width apart.
Both arms are extended outward, with the elbows at their natural extension. This puts the axis of recoil more or less along the centerline of the body. The stance is so named because a path drawn along your extended arms and connecting your shoulders forms an isosceles triangle.
The Weaver stance is named after Jack Weaver, who came up with it as a way to utilize isometric tension to control recoil. The supporting arm is bent with the elbow pointed downward. The firing arm is extended with the elbow and wrist locked. Then, apply forward pressure with the firing hand and rearward pressure with the non-firing hand. This is isometric tension. Do not apply so much pressure that it causes trembling.
Which one is better? I recommend that you try both and use whatever gives you better results. I personally prefer Weaver stance, because I find that it gives me more stability and more control over recoil. And, it just feels more comfortable to me. Some food-for-thought: the U.S. military used to teach isosceles, but abandoned it in favor of Weaver. Take that information for what you will; your mileage may vary.
Sight alignment is the centering of the front sight in the rear sight. The top of the front sight must be level with the top of the rear sight. To align your sights, first center the front sight and then raise or lower it to make the front and rear sights level.
Sight placement is correctly placing the front sight on the target where you wish to hit the target, without disturbing your sight alignment. For target shooting, the "six o'clock" hold is generally used. This is done by placing the dot on top of the aligned sights. For defensive shooting, your point-of-aim will generally be your point-of-impact. In other words, after properly aligning your sights, cover the point you wish to hit with the front sight. The eye can only focus on one distance at a time. Your point of focus should be the front sight. Not the rear sight, and not the target. This will result in the rear sight and target appearing hazy, but it is the only way to maintain proper sight alignment.
In order to achieve maximum accuracy, a shooter must learn to hold his breath properly. The procedure is simple but requires practice. Take a breath, and then exhale. Right after you exhale, do you have to take another breath right away? This momentary stop in breathing is called the natural respiratory pause. Do the following to adapt this knowledge to shooting. Take aim at your target, breathing as normal. When you are ready to take the shot, wait for the natural respiratory pause and then hold your breath. When you start holding your breath, you will also start squeezing the trigger. The shot must then be fired before you feel any discomfort from not breathing. When multiple targets are presented, you will have to hold your breath at any part of the breathing cycle. Breath control can be practiced using dry-fire exercises until it becomes second-natured.
Improper trigger squeeze causes more misses than any other step of marksmanship, so pay attention. Poor shooting is caused by the aim being disturbed before the bullet leaves the barrel of the weapon. This is usually the result of the shooter jerking the trigger or flinching. A slight off-center pressure of the trigger finger on the trigger is all it takes to move the weapon off-target. Jerking is an effort to fire the weapon at the precise time when the slights align with the target, and flinching is a reflex caused by anticipating recoil. Trigger squeeze is the independent rearward movement of the trigger finger without disturbance of the sight alignment until the weapon fires. First, the slack in the trigger is taken up. You will then hit the break point of the trigger. Continue applying steadily increasing pressure until the weapon fires. If the trigger is squeezed properly, you will not know exactly when the weapon will fire; thus, you will tend not to flinch or jerk. This is calledletting the trigger surprise you. Beginners must work hard to overcome the urge to anticipate recoil, which usually results in low shots (as you attempt to counter the upward movement of the muzzle after firing). Another common beginner error is moving more fingers than just the trigger finger. The trigger finger should apply rearward pressure and the thumb should apply forward pressure. That's it. Applying pressure with the other fingers will tend to disturb the sight alignment. A good shot holds the sights of his weapon as nearly on the center of the target as possible while squeezing the trigger with increasing pressure until the weapon fires. (Whew! Long sentence!)
Follow-through is the continued effort of the shooter to maintain a proper sight picture before, during, and after the firing of the round. The shooter must continue the rearward movement of the trigger finger even after the round has been fired. Releasing the trigger too soon after the round has fired results in an uncontrolled shot, causing a missed target.
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