Basic pistol marksmanship is a must for any new handgun shooter. It is generally divided into two seperate phases of training: prepatory training and range firing. Each has its own seperate set of skills that must be mastered. Always remember to follow the four rules of gun safety whenever you are handling or shooting a firearm.
First we start with fundamentals:
Grip
Aiming
Breath Control
Trigger Squeeze
Target Engagement
Positions
Grip
The weapon must become a part of you. An extension of your hand and arm. A proper grip is the basis of all accurate shooting. There are two types of grip with subtypes for each.
One handed
Gripping the pistol with one hand leaves your other hand free for other uses but also hampers accuracy. The pistol must be gripped firmly with the lower three fingers of the hand and the thumb, leaving the trigger finger free. Apply pressure until you begin to tremble slightly and then release pressure until it stops. This is the proper amount of pressure for accurate shooting. The trigger finger has to be independent of all other for smooth pull and accuracy. Compact pistols only allow the use of two fingers for grip (middle and ring fingers) and thus requires more pressure to control the weapon.
Two Handed
Using two hands allows the shooter to control the weapon much better than one and allows maximum accuracy. There are three types of two-handed grip:
Palm supported
Fist Grip
Weaver Grip
Palm Supported
This commonly known as the “cup grip”. The strong hand grips the pistol as in a one handed grip, the off hand cups the strong hand while wrapping the fingers around the back of the strong hand and the thumb crosses the middle finger of the strong hand.
Fist Grip
Grip the weapon as in one handed. The non firing hand aligns its fingers with the firing hand and the thumb is laid alongside the firing thumb.
Weaver grip
Same as the Fist grip but the non firing thumb crosses and interlocks with the firing thumb.
Part of correct grip is the natural point of aim. When gripping the pistol take aim at a target and close your eyes for 5-10 seconds. When you open your eyes the pistol should still be on target. If not, try a differnet grip or alter the pressure you hold the pistol with until your natural point of aim does not move.
Aiming
Aiming is correct sight alingment and placement of sights on the target. The correct alignment is centered around teh rear sight being stable and the firer moving the front sight to align on the target. Sight placement is the positioning of the sights on the target at a point of the shooters choice. Focusing on the front sight while squeezing the trigger is the best way to resist the urge to yank the trigger when the sights are on target.
Breath Control
The shooter must learn to control their breathing to attain a high level of accuracy with any handgun. While a simple procedure it requires alot of practice to attain profiency. The breathing cycle for most accurate firing at a single target is the following: In, Out, In, Out, hold breath, squeeze trigger, In, Out.
The breathing cycle for accuracy at multiple targets is the following: In, Out, Hold Breath, Fire, In, Out, Hold Breath, Fire. Repeat as needed.
Trigger Squeeze
Incorrect trigger squeeze causes more marksmanship problems than ayn other part of firing a pistol. Flinching is the natural human reaction to the anticipation of recoil and jerking is the qick pulling of the trigger as the sights cross a target. Both will result in inaccurate fire. Proper trigger squeeze is the independent movement of the trigger finger relative to the rest of the pistol. Ideally the shooter should never know when the gun will discharge. The trigger pull should be a slow steady increase of pressure until the hammer drops. Done correctly, a smooth trigger squeeze will allow the shooter to keep the sights on target and assure a hit. Double action semi-auto’s and double action revolvers have a heavy trigger pull of up to 6 pounds as the act of pulling the trigger also pulls back the hammer. This can cause aiming problems and can only be overcome with range practice with the chosen weapon.
Target Engagement
Engaging a target uses all of the fundamentals we discussed above and adds the process of decision making to shooting process. We will ignore any moral decisions about shooting and conentrate on the mechanics of it. The first decision is, is th target a single or multiple target? If it is a single target, align the sights on center or mass and fire. How many shots you fire will be dictated by the situation. Usually a single target will only require one shot, but be ready for a follow-up shot. If you engage multiple targets you have to decide which target to engage first and what order to engage the rest of the targets in.
Positions
Pistols are usually fired from one of three positions: standing, kneeling, or crouched. By far the most common is standing.
In standing position the feet are placed a comforatable distance apart (usually about sholder width) and the shoulders are kept square and back. The arms are extended with elbows locked and the pistol gripped as the shooter finds comfortable.
Kneeling position the strong side foot is on the gorund and the elbow of the strong hand rests on it. the weak knee is placed on the ground for stability.
Crouched position is a variaition of the standing position that allows the shooter to move rapidly in any direction and is the most versatile in tactical shooting. The knees are bent and the feet a slightly farther apart than in standing position. The body is leaned slightly forward and the arms are pointed in front of you with the elbows locked.
Range Firing
Range firing is simply live fire practice using all of the above techniques. I shoot a variety of targets from 12″ bullseye targets to IDPA “paladin” targets from 5 feet to 25 yards. Fast and slow fire. And remember to always have fun!
