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Helpful Hints
| Suggestions, Tips and Observations |
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Proper firing grip (Left)
| What is often termed a high" thumb" or "thumbs up" technique. The gun hand holds the firearm directly in alignment with the bone structure of the arm and the firearm is seated well and firmly into the web, letting the fingers pull it to the back of the hand to limit movement under recoil and to aid in recovery in recoil. The exposed remainder of the firearm is covered by "mating" the other hand exactly to overlap with the gun hand and fingers while the gap is closed to cause a "seal" between left and right hand with no air or pockets existing. Thumbs are raised to bring the web of the hand as high (and behind the gun as possible so as to control recoil by putting the axis of the bore in alignment with the hand as much as possible. Once achieved, firm pressure is applied inward to the frame by rotating inward at the wrists, (NOT the slide) and tension is applied in a push/pull to arrest further movement. The final aspect is to lean forward slightly to put the weight of the body forward, thus enhancing the operation of the firearm, decreasing recoil, faster recovery times, less fatigue, better overall control and ultimately a more consistent shot to shot result. Meaning better accuracy. |
| Trust me when I say I personally "cringe" when I am called an "expert" because I think there are many out there who feel as I do, that there are many ways of doing things right (per se) and we can (all) always learn something new, but that being said, I do have quite a bit of experience and offer my suggestions to those who are not enjoying as much success as they would like and seek a possible solution. If you shoot well and feel confident to hit on demand when called upon to do so, then so be it. If not I only offer my personal observations, mostly from watching literally thousands of shooters over a decade, work and have an assortment of recurring problems and me having the benefit of being in a position to not only observe (often without their knowledge), but frequently stepping in and offering my assistance. It was often my assertion that with just a few pointers and roughly 15 minutes I could have them shooting to a proficiency better than 95% of the population, and that included regular shooters! I gear my instruction with a approach toward repetition, consistency, time management & economy of motion. In other words "cutting the fat away" from the event. Pressing the trigger is easy, everything else takes time and concentration to bring it all together into one cohesive compressed logistical "firing solution" D. |
Lone Star Civilian Defense Technologies
| A word on eye dominance... A common ailment and detriment to shooting well is "cross dominance" of the eye in relation to the hand we take for granted is our normal utility hand (writing, eating, etc.) and in most cases has little impact on the task we are engaged in,...until it is marksmanship and consistent accuracy. To the practiced eye it is not hard to spot as (typically) when the firearm is brought up to eye level the head and neck will contort in an unnatural way so as to put the dominant eye behind the rear sight (always opposite to the hand used) Never mind it just looks wrong, but also puts the shooter in a dilemma of holding and maintaining that position all while trying to complete an elongated string of complex tasks as well as having to do this under recoil, as well as auditory stimulus. If you add the factor of a stressed environment (gunfight!) than all the problems become magnified. Typical problems most encounter at the range is if they are printing any diagnosable groups they are usually off laterally about 2-3" at 7 yards (consistent, but off...) Often blamed on the sight being off when in reality it is a parallax effect of the body/eye conflict as it is hard to consistently maintain a locked position when you are fighting the bodies natural tendencies to use what it is comfortable with (NOT what you are comfortable with. The answer is easy, the solution, not so much. The NRA has long maintained that the gun hand is dictated by the dominant eye, thus putting the eye behind the sight. For many, this is awkward, weird, and unnatural. Those who have attempted this and succeeded admit the transition is more in the head than in the hand and just requires moderate determined commitment to achieve. A side benefit is typically an adopted quasi-ambidextrous ability to transition from one hand to the other with little effort and comes in handy in off hand as well as barricade/cover work. Think about it, D. |