200th Blog Post!
I must have been little more than a toddler when my father told me “you don’t pull a trigger, you squeeze it.” He had been trained this in the army and so deeply ingrained was this that he felt obliged to pass it on even though I was knee high and using a toy.
Many years later I was visiting Los Angeles and my hosts took me to shooting range. My hostess was very proud of the fact that she had been on a firearms training course run by well know trainer and gun writer. In a passing I mentioned something about “squeezing the trigger” and got a blank look. She had been on this intensive and expensive course and yet the concept of not jerking a trigger was new to her.
The other day I came across this article posted up on scribd. It is well worth a read and has some interesting ideas. It could have used an illustration of the recommended one handed grip, but you can probably work this out once you have mastered the two handed techniques. The idea of balancing things on you pistol while dry firing to check stability is kind of neat. I will also note that if you suspect your gun may not be suited to dry firing you can always chamber an empty casing or acquire some dummy/drill rounds.
Another article I recently read suggested ways to improve your instinctive aiming. I don’t have a weblink for this one since it was rather old. The idea was quite simple.
With an unloaded gun you close your eyes, aim at the target and then open your eyes. Correct your aim and then repeat the process again. The idea is to improve and educate your “muscle memory” to improve coordination of where you point and where you want to aim. The author suggests progressively making your target smaller as you improve. The latter echoes something I observed when I learn knife throwing. Throw at a man sized target and soon you are hitting a man sized target most of the time. Put a chest sized mark on the same target and soon most of your blades will stick in that area. Put a simple X on the target and most of you blades will hit within a few inches of here. It is all a question of focus. Often I would end up hitting knives I had already stuck.
If your gun has a laser spot system this can be a useful training aid in using the above techniques. Toy guns such as Airsoft pistols can also be useful training aids.
If you have enjoyed this article or it has been helpful to you please feel free to show your appreciation. Thank you.The Books
