Enter to Win a Free Gun Friday from IWI > IWI’s soon-to-be released Masada Slim Pistol and Caldwell Emax Shadows Pro Close The 10 Commandments: How to Improve Your Shooting – No Healing With record gun sales, many new shooters have never taken a pistol class. Many have never been taught the basics of shooting. Many people who own guns for many years still struggle to accurately use them. These 10 tips will improve your pistol shooting skills, and increase your range time. RELATED STORY Gun owners: Get our complete ‘Gun Primer for FREE. 10 Tips to Improve Pistol Shooting Skills When it comes to hitting the target, we all have the same problems. Here are 10 “commandments” that will help you hit the target with every pull of your trigger. 1. You must focus on your grip. The grip is the first problem that shooters face. The gun should be held with the same force as a hammer to ensure a firm grip. Your gun will not slip out of your hands, but your knuckles won’t turn white. It’s important to establish your grip while the gun is still in its holster. This will ensure that you don’t lose your grip while you draw. You should also grip the gun with your thumb and index fingers in the middle of the web. Your hand should be as high as possible on the backstrap. It is important to remember that your finger should not touch the trigger while you grip the gun. This will become second nature if you make it a routine during all shooting drills. Gun safety should always be your first priority. Once you have a firm grip on the gun, draw it and then bring it up to your support hand. The number one problem I see in gripping the gun is the placement of the support hand. The “thumbs forward grip” is what I use and recommend. Your support hand should be at a 45-degree angle. This means that your support thumb should point directly at the target. Next, place your support hand on the side of the gun. Your shooting thumb should rest on top of your support thumb. Both thumbs should be pointed forward. This grip provides a stable shooting platform and puts a lot more flesh on the gun. A good grip will also improve your accuracy. 2. Make sure your trigger finger is properly placed. This can make or break a shot. People press the trigger with the first crease of their finger. This can cause right-handed shooters sometimes to pull their shots to one side. Some people use the tip of their finger to trigger the trigger. Others don’t have enough finger pressure. This results in a lack of control and sending shots all over the place. For the best shooting accuracy, it is best to place your finger on the trigger pad. The thing about finger placement is that although the pad works well for most shooters, it may not work for you. We all have different-sized fingers so you might prefer a different placement. You can also try pressing the trigger with other parts if the pad doesn’t work. 3. The Trigger Pull: After you have found the perfect finger placement, you need to think about how you pull the trigger. Many novice shooters, as well as many more experienced shooters, either slap the trigger or jerk it. Proper trigger control can greatly improve your pistol shooting skills. The solution? A lot of dry-fire practice. Try to get 25 perfect trigger presses every day. If your front sight is skewed to the right or left, it doesn’t count towards the 25. You should focus on a drill that will help you maintain your sight alignment and point-of-aim throughout each trigger pull. 4. Keep Even Finger Tension Dry firing is a good practice to maintain finger tension. Many people tighten their fingers when they pull the trigger to prepare for the shot. For right-handed shooters, this causes the bullet to go lower and to the left. It is important to keep the same solid grip throughout firing. 5. Do not Anticipate the Recoil. If you have ever taken a new shooter out to the range, then you know that their first shot is often a great shot. They are often right in the middle of the target. After a while, their shots start to fall. They are anticipating the recoil. They are worried about the loud bang next to their heads. They lose focus on the front sight, sight image, and smooth trigger press. They flinch, and the shots go low because they dip the gun down. There are two ways to solve this anticipation problem. The first is the “ball-and-dummy” drill. Before you go to the range again, make sure you have some disposable dummy rounds. When you reach the range, load your gun with a mixture of live ammunition and dummy rounds. You’ll see the front sight dip if you anticipate the shot on the dummy round. You can see the front sight dip if you unload the gun and perform five perfect trigger pulls in dry fire mode. Continue to do the “ball-and-dummy” drill, the five trigger pulls, and keep anticipating until you stop anticipating. Another common solution is to keep repeating the phrase “press, press and press …”” while pulling the trigger. 6. Avoid “Heeling” when You Shoot. Heeling is a less common problem for shooters with recoil anticipation. Instead of making shots go low, shooters will make their shots go high by driving the heel of their hand into the gun at just the right moment. This causes the front sight to rise. If you do this, go back and practice the “ball-and-dummy drill” by pressing the “press” key repeatedly. These drills will improve your shooting skills every time you do them with your pistol. 7. Keep your Eyes on the Front Sight. Once you have aligned your rear and front sights, keep your eyes on the front sight. Jim Cirillo, a gunfighter who died in 2012, said that he used to focus so hard on his front sight that he could see tiny scratches. Keeping your eyes on your front sight will help you solve many of the shooting issues I’ve already mentioned. 8. Follow through after each shot As if you are always going to take one more than you planned, pretend that you do. This means that you want to retake the sights as if you were taking a second shot every time you pull the trigger on your shot. It’s a great habit to develop. 9. A solid stance is key to good shooting. Standing straight up or leaning forward on your heels makes it difficult to control recoil and take quick follow-up shots. Modified isosceles is a common stance that many shooters use. This stance has your feet about shoulder width apart, your shooting hand positioned about 6 inches back, your knees bent slightly, your arms straight out (as though forming a triangle), and your head and shoulders slightly forward. Modified isosceles allows you to control the gun rather than the gun controlling you. 10. Avoid creating bad habits due to exhaustion. Can someone shoot too many? This may sound absurd, but it is important to remember that shooting requires a lot of concentration. You should take a break if you are shooting well at the beginning of the day, but then you find yourself struggling to hit the target’s center. You are likely exhausted and will soon become frustrated by shooting. Trust me on this one. Sign up for the Personal Defense World newsletter today to stay in the loop! Sign up for our newsletter I have read and understood the Terms of Use, Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy and I hereby accept them. Athlon may collect, store, process, and transfer my Personal Data and Non Personal Data for the purpose of signing me up for the email newsletter. Next Real Talk: What are some solid, less-than-lethal self-defense methods? Some physical assaults do not warrant a lethal response. There are ways to improve your pistol shooting skills. These 7 Pistol Night Lights will help you get on target fast in low light. Identifying and clearing pistol malfunctions. Even the most reliable handguns can fail or malfunction. Pistol malfunctions are rarely caused by shooters. There are many types of malfunctions, including improper grip placement and loading and/or inserting of the magazine improperly. Clear Your Pistol Malfunctions Quickly and Get Back in the Fight!
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