I can usually hit what I’m aiming at with a firearm. Primarily, this is because I was taught how to coordinate the basics involved in getting the gun pointed at the target correctly and holding it there while the shot is fired. It’s a process which must be done correctly and practiced over and over until the steps fall into place almost automatically. I say “almost,” because true marksmanship requires effort each time a shot is fired.
Many people struggle with making their shots count. I truly enjoy helping those folks become excellent marksmen. Here are 10 things I have discovered that stand in the way of good marksmanship and some tips to overcome them, some of which might help you become a better shot.
Not Knowing and Using Your Dominant Eye for Aiming
It’s rare that a person would know about eye dominance issues unless they have been to a class in which the topic is covered. We all (at least most of us) have one eye that is stronger than the other. You would think that eye would always be the one associated with your dominant or strongest hand: right-handed = right eye dominant; left-handed = left eye dominant, but that’s not always the case. I am right-handed but have a strongly dominant left eye.
Before I knew about such things, I had a Remington bolt-action .22 rifle; the sights were off. I had to aim to the right, approximately 7 inches, to hit the bullseye. When I was introduced to the concept of a dominate eye and tested for it, my whole shooting life was changed. I tried my .22 again shooting from the left shoulder and discovered its sights were right on the money.
The test we did during my NRA Basic Pistol Instructor class is called the Miles test. To conduct this test, you pick an object across the room, then extend both arms. Bringing your hands together to create a small, triangle-shaped opening through which you view the object. With both eyes open, slowly bring your hands back toward your face keeping the object centered in the opening. If you do this correctly, your hands will bring the opening back in front of your dominant eye.
Another test helped me understand my own eye dominance better. In this test, called the Porta test, you point with your index finger at a distant object with both eyes open. Next, you’ll close one eye. Open it and close the other eye. Usually, your finger will appear to move off the object when you close one of your eyes.
The one in which your finger moves off the object when you close it is your dominant eye. This was a real eye-opener for me (pun intended). At a distance of 12 to 15 feet, my finger appears to move approximately 7 to 10 inches left of the object when I close my left eye. As I mentioned before, I’m right handed.
The results of using the non-dominant eye for aiming will almost always result in your shots being off. So the first step in learning to shoot accurately is to determine your dominant eye and always use it for aiming. For me it works like this. I have learned to shoot long guns from the left side. With handguns, I simply position them in front of me so that my left eye is the one aligned with the sights.
Improper Sight Alignment by the Shooter
Aligning your sights is a two-step process:
- Sight alignment is aligning your front sight centered in the notch of your back sight with equal light on either side of the front site and equal height across the top of both sights.
- Sight picture is aligning those sights with the center of your target.
This is a process with which you must be consistent from shot to shot. Some of the other processes we will be discussing here will help you with the aiming.
An Improper Stance
Stance may vary from person to person, but for the most part a good stance involves:
- Feet shoulder width apart
- Knees slightly bent
- Strong side foot slightly back
- Bend slightly forward at the waist
- Arms extended
If you are shooting from a seated position, the requirements are different. From the waist up should be the same — unless you have some sort of support on the bench or can rest your elbows on the bench. In that case, use whatever resources are available to keep your arms steady and to present the firearm in a position in which your eyes are properly aligned with the sights.
An Improper Grip
If shooting a revolver, grasp the grip as high as possible with your shooting hand Your finger should be indexed along the frame. Your support hand should wrap around your shooting hand.
For a semi-automatic, place the gun in your shooting hand with the web of your hand between the thumb and first finger (as high up on the grip as possible). The trigger finger will be extended along the frame, with the fingers wrapped tightly around the grip. With your support hand, place the heel of your hand in the open space on the grip and wrap your fingers tightly around your shooting hand.
When gripping a semi-automatic pistol, you never want to cross your thumbs behind the gun. The slide comes back with every shot with a great deal of force. It’s very likely that slide will cut your thumb if it is crossed behind the grip of the gun. Once you have your grip, extend your arms so that your forearm is in line with the gun as much as possible. This will help mitigate recoil, as well as giving you a better sight angle on the target.
Improper Breathing
Breathing affects sight alignment. Most people find it’s best to take a breath, let a little out, then squeeze the trigger for the shot. Then, breathe again. Don’t hold your breath too long, just enough to get a shot or maybe two off. It’s a good idea before a shooting session to do some deep breathing/relaxation exercises to lower your blood pressure, calm your nerves, and otherwise prepare yourself for a good shooting session with little or no stress.
Improper Trigger Control
Here’s the classic teaching about trigger control:
- Put the pad of your trigger finger on the trigger, halfway between the tip of your finger and the first joint.
- Putting the finger in too far will result in pulling the shots off to the strong side.
- Putting the finger not far enough in will result in pushing the shot off to the support side.
- To take the shot, slowly squeeze the trigger rearward, so you are surprised when the shot goes off. That way, you won’t jerk in anticipation of recoil.
This is the methodology I’ve taught and practiced throughout my pistol instruction career. But I read an article by George T. Williams that added some useful information to the previously taught techniques. Mr. Williams suggests the tightness of our grip should be just below the threshold of causing tremors. You’ll know there’s too much pressure if the front sight is bouncing around more than usual. Imagine the index finger squeezing to the base of the thumb. This will result in the web of your hand — between the thumb and first finger — pressing tightly against the backstrap, with the tip of the thumb reaching as far forward as possible. He defines this as “Pressing the trigger with the thumb,” which changes the dynamics of the index finger during the trigger press.
Placement of the trigger finger on the trigger is not as important, so long as the base of the thumb is pressed solidly against the top of the backstrap while maintaining a mental image of pressing the trigger with your thumb. Using any part of the trigger finger from the fingertip to the second joint on the trigger works so long as the thumb presses the trigger. Being a long-time shooter, I was skeptical. However, when I tried it, I found my trigger pull more consistent and my shot placement more accurate. Try this. Just don’t describe it out loud to your fellow shooters; they’ll think you’re crazy.
Sights on the Gun are Misaligned
Most of today’s firearms have adjustable sights. News flash: They don’t all come from the factory properly adjusted. Whenever you get a new gun, and your first trip to the range produces disappointing results, it’s a good idea to check the sights. If necessary, adjust the sight alignment.
Front sights are normally what they call “drift adjustable,” meaning you tap them to one side or the other from within their mounting slot using a hammer and a punch. To avoid damage to the sight, a brass punch should be used for sight drift adjustments. Before you make any adjustments, look at the front sight.
Hopefully the front sight is centered over the barrel or centered on the slide. If it’s not, get the front sight centered before making any adjustments to the rear sight. Use a caliper or micrometer for measurements, rather than relying on your eyes alone.
Whether the rear sight is adjustable by turning little screws or via drift adjustments, it’s best to use a boresight to get it right. You can get a caliber-specific boresight, or (the one I like which is magnetic and can be used with practically any caliber). It’s the Firefield Universal Red Laser Boresight Barrel Mount Aluminum Red FF39000, which costs less than $30.
Get one, and if you mess with guns, you’ll use it time and again to align sights, red dots, and telescopes. Once you have aligned the sights on your gun, using a boresight rather than trusting your eyes alone, you can address other areas of accuracy problems knowing your gun is doing its job properly.
Bad Ammunition
Sometimes ammunition is the root cause of stray shots. This is more suspect with reloaded ammo than with factory ammo. However, some factory ammunition is just not up to par. The reason ammunition can go astray has to do with how the projectile is seated in the case. Any seating abnormalities will be amplified downrange. So, before you begin messing with your gun sights, try several types of ammunition. Try to identify brands that don’t leave your gun barrel tracking straight and true.
Flinching
Flinching is a common problem among shooters, regardless of their level of capabilities. Many don’t realize it until they take a simple test to determine whether their eyes are open at the moment the shot is fired. The ejection port (where the fired cartridge exits the gun) is located between the sights where you should see the brass leaving the gun in your peripheral vision — if your eyes are open every time it fires. You should also see the flash and blast that follows the bullet out of the muzzle on every shot. If you don’t see these things, you are closing your eyes, i.e., flinching.
Flinching is an automatic response to the noise and movement of the gun during recoil. This response manifests itself in many ways, but closing the eyes is the most prevalent. It doesn’t take many repetitions of this behavior to create a habit which is reinforced with every shot fired. Once you recognize that blinking or flinching is a problem that needs to be overcome, you must convince the brain there is no danger by taking it through some exercises.
The quickest way I have found is by proving to the brain that the recoil of the gun is of no consequence to the preservation of your vision or your personal safety. This can be done with your gun, ammunition, and a safe backstop to shoot into. Fire your first shots by looking at the left side of the muzzle (if you are right-handed and the right side if you are left-handed), keeping your head from being positioned directly behind the gun.
Watch the muzzle lift and settle for a few shots just to see how little the gun moves when it fires. Then, switch to looking at the other side of the muzzle for a few shots and finish up by looking at the back of the gun as it moves during firing. If all goes well, your brain will figure out that hearing the noise and seeing the flash when you pull the trigger on a loaded gun that is pointed away from you is nothing to fear.
Pain
For some of us it simply hurts to shoot some guns or any gun. It may be shoulder pain, back pain, or hand pain. In most cases, there are ways to mitigate the pain. Shooting gloves may be all the help you need. Another option is to shoot guns of a lesser caliber, or in the same caliber but of a lesser loading.
Maybe you need to sit rather than stand. Maybe you need a brace to shoot from. It may be that you decide to simply suck it up and get on with it, ignoring the pain. But pain is a hard thing to ignore, and if you choose to keep on despite the abuse to your body, sooner or later your accuracy is going to be affected.
Wrap-up
I hope I’ve helped. If you have any other causes that affect your ability to shoot accurately, let us know in the Comment section, and perhaps collectively we can offer some help. We all want to be good shots.
Have you experienced any of these causes of inaccurate shooting? Share with us in the comments.