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I saw this last night and thought it was worth sharing. I'll be using this when taking new shooters to the range.
Link to full-size PDF
Link to full-size PDF
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Thanks for sharing Joe!
One other thing when they have their sight picture have them close their eyes for a count of 5 then reopen their eye/s to make sure their body alignment is correct.
If the body alignment is off they will lose the sight picture and have to reacquire it.
If the body alignment is off they will lose the sight picture and have to reacquire it.
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Very bullseye and not really very accepting of different types of shooting or differences in shooter physiology.
Another example of stagnation in NRA shooter education.
Another example of stagnation in NRA shooter education.
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I don't know if your response is ignorance or arrogance but either way it is wrong. They are
good sound basics.
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Let's take a second to put this into context.
Hitting pencil erasers at 50 yards is no longer the dominant activity people use, or intend to use a pistol for. So why is that what the "basics" in the above poster are focused on.
Millions of compact carry guns the top selling pistols and defensive use the primary reason identified as the reason for purchase. A local bullseye match gets maybe 15 people, speed steel has 70-90, IDPA and USPSA or 3 Gun gets 60 . It's time to publicly acknowledge that there are differences in the approach to using a pistol depending on what you want to accomplish.
Now break down "basics" as presented on the poster.
The sight alignment is good but should point out that sight alignment should be looked at in terms of tolerances, as in if the front is within this range of perfect at x distance it will be a hit within an acceptable range. For the purposes that most people seem to be buying and carrying a pistol or competing in what are now the popular shooting sports a group somewhere between 4-8 inches should be what's considered acceptable when executed as fast as possible.
The pictured focus is classic precision alignment to get nice tight groups and perfect consistency. In reality that means that focus must shift off the target and back to the sight which is not a natural thing to do for a human being and also means that it will be harder to see what the target is doing. Human beings are all different and there are lots of other factors that contribute to visual inputs so what an individual needs to do to achieve the necessary level of accuracy varies and needs to be tested. Put a big target out with 3 4" targets on it in a vertical line with at least 16" of separation. Next starting at 3 yrds shoot the top target with a front sight focus, the bottom with a target focus and the middle one just focusing at the target seeing only the back of the slide covering the target. Repeat moving back at whatever interval you chose and note where, assuming the shooter is not flinching, acceptable accuracy fails. Once you know what you need to do to get a hit that's all you need to do, nothing more nothing less. Doing more than necessary typically means wasting time.
The trigger control section is most dogmatic. It would be great if everyone's hand size and grip strength was identical and they could make a pistol with the perfect dimensions to fit that hand. The reality is everyone's a different and pistols vary greatly. It's also where trigger placement over proper, recoil mitigating grip, is great for bullseye/precision shooting and very bad for what people want to learn these days. You can literally hold the pistol so loosely that it will fall out of your hand under recoil but get perfect finger placement and accuracy. If you want to be able to fire rapidly and have pistol recover to target without realigning it consistently you have to use a grip that maximizes grip strength, body mechanics, available friction and minimizes leverage. That may leave your finger hitting the trigger somewhere other than the middle of the first pad. Others may not have the finger strength and will be able to manipulate the trigger better at the first joint or a bit farther.
The trigger only needs to be pressed to the rear without altering the alignment of the barrel. That's all. A solid grip does more to accomplish that than finger placement.
Does anyone think that breathing control would come into play in rapid shooting? From physiologic stand point it's also problematic because the eye is one of the most intensive users of oxygen and without normal respiration visual acuity drops in seconds. The better practice is to just let the pistol move and as long as it's moving within the area you want to hit just press the trigger as it's moving. Not trapping or timing it.
If you tell a new shooter to hold as still as possible they will adopt a stance with weight on the heels that is the opposite of what you would do to facilitate rapid sequential shots. That's just the way human anatomy works. So why focus on that instead of stance and just letting the gun move as noted above.
Follow through is much more about tracking the sights or gun through the recoil cycle and identifying the time it's returned to target and that it's time to shoot again. As long as the trigger just goes to the rear it doesn't matter if the finger comes off it after the reset point. Just about every USPSA B class and above shooter's finger is slapping the trigger yet keeping 90%+ A zone hits at all ranges. If you have a shooter with low hits and video them you will see that it's the wrist and arms, not just the finger that's moving down. Talk to a bunch of high level shooters about trigger manipulation and you will find a lot of differences that all work for them because they just press straight to the rear.
This is all the basics for what most people really want to be able to do, not some ninja advanced super secret squirrel technique. By presenting the basics of bullseye type shooting as the end all be all you are building off the wrong platform and will need to relearn. Nothing is more frustrating to me as a defensive firearms instructor than watching someone take 3 times as long to get a nice 2" center mass group as the guy next to him that got his hits in a 6" group and has already transitioned to the next 2 targets or put 3 times the number of rounds in.
NRA training has been stagnant for a long time now and shows no sign of changing. Not acknowledging that fact does noting to prompt them to change things.
Hitting pencil erasers at 50 yards is no longer the dominant activity people use, or intend to use a pistol for. So why is that what the "basics" in the above poster are focused on.
Millions of compact carry guns the top selling pistols and defensive use the primary reason identified as the reason for purchase. A local bullseye match gets maybe 15 people, speed steel has 70-90, IDPA and USPSA or 3 Gun gets 60 . It's time to publicly acknowledge that there are differences in the approach to using a pistol depending on what you want to accomplish.
Now break down "basics" as presented on the poster.
The sight alignment is good but should point out that sight alignment should be looked at in terms of tolerances, as in if the front is within this range of perfect at x distance it will be a hit within an acceptable range. For the purposes that most people seem to be buying and carrying a pistol or competing in what are now the popular shooting sports a group somewhere between 4-8 inches should be what's considered acceptable when executed as fast as possible.
The pictured focus is classic precision alignment to get nice tight groups and perfect consistency. In reality that means that focus must shift off the target and back to the sight which is not a natural thing to do for a human being and also means that it will be harder to see what the target is doing. Human beings are all different and there are lots of other factors that contribute to visual inputs so what an individual needs to do to achieve the necessary level of accuracy varies and needs to be tested. Put a big target out with 3 4" targets on it in a vertical line with at least 16" of separation. Next starting at 3 yrds shoot the top target with a front sight focus, the bottom with a target focus and the middle one just focusing at the target seeing only the back of the slide covering the target. Repeat moving back at whatever interval you chose and note where, assuming the shooter is not flinching, acceptable accuracy fails. Once you know what you need to do to get a hit that's all you need to do, nothing more nothing less. Doing more than necessary typically means wasting time.
The trigger control section is most dogmatic. It would be great if everyone's hand size and grip strength was identical and they could make a pistol with the perfect dimensions to fit that hand. The reality is everyone's a different and pistols vary greatly. It's also where trigger placement over proper, recoil mitigating grip, is great for bullseye/precision shooting and very bad for what people want to learn these days. You can literally hold the pistol so loosely that it will fall out of your hand under recoil but get perfect finger placement and accuracy. If you want to be able to fire rapidly and have pistol recover to target without realigning it consistently you have to use a grip that maximizes grip strength, body mechanics, available friction and minimizes leverage. That may leave your finger hitting the trigger somewhere other than the middle of the first pad. Others may not have the finger strength and will be able to manipulate the trigger better at the first joint or a bit farther.
The trigger only needs to be pressed to the rear without altering the alignment of the barrel. That's all. A solid grip does more to accomplish that than finger placement.
Does anyone think that breathing control would come into play in rapid shooting? From physiologic stand point it's also problematic because the eye is one of the most intensive users of oxygen and without normal respiration visual acuity drops in seconds. The better practice is to just let the pistol move and as long as it's moving within the area you want to hit just press the trigger as it's moving. Not trapping or timing it.
If you tell a new shooter to hold as still as possible they will adopt a stance with weight on the heels that is the opposite of what you would do to facilitate rapid sequential shots. That's just the way human anatomy works. So why focus on that instead of stance and just letting the gun move as noted above.
Follow through is much more about tracking the sights or gun through the recoil cycle and identifying the time it's returned to target and that it's time to shoot again. As long as the trigger just goes to the rear it doesn't matter if the finger comes off it after the reset point. Just about every USPSA B class and above shooter's finger is slapping the trigger yet keeping 90%+ A zone hits at all ranges. If you have a shooter with low hits and video them you will see that it's the wrist and arms, not just the finger that's moving down. Talk to a bunch of high level shooters about trigger manipulation and you will find a lot of differences that all work for them because they just press straight to the rear.
This is all the basics for what most people really want to be able to do, not some ninja advanced super secret squirrel technique. By presenting the basics of bullseye type shooting as the end all be all you are building off the wrong platform and will need to relearn. Nothing is more frustrating to me as a defensive firearms instructor than watching someone take 3 times as long to get a nice 2" center mass group as the guy next to him that got his hits in a 6" group and has already transitioned to the next 2 targets or put 3 times the number of rounds in.
NRA training has been stagnant for a long time now and shows no sign of changing. Not acknowledging that fact does noting to prompt them to change things.
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Lange
I think you should put out a shooting fundamentals infographic.
Sheldon
I think you should put out a shooting fundamentals infographic.
Sheldon
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Agreed. Walk, crawl, then run. As one of those horrible, useless, stick in the mud, old fashioned Bullseye style shooters I can tell you that those old school techniques have helped me across the board in all my shooting. Am I going to stand there taking my time and putting my hand in my pocket during a shootout? Of course not. Nor will I use a weaver stance to try to do precision shooting at 25 or 50 yards because I'll naturally default to what works for me. Bullseye is a discipline requiring focus and concentration that most people just don't have the patience or the attention span for any more. It's "boring". That's why I like it. I'm contrarian that way.
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90% of what Lange wrote is convoluted.If he is a defensive trainer, based on what he has written I would not let train my pet rock how to sit.
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Hits stop fights.
Hits come from the application of fundementals.
Knowing when or how to compromise accuracy to an acceptable level (whatever that is for you in your situation) requires training and a rock solid foundation in fundamentals.
Great diagram for the new shooter!
Hits come from the application of fundementals.
Knowing when or how to compromise accuracy to an acceptable level (whatever that is for you in your situation) requires training and a rock solid foundation in fundamentals.
Great diagram for the new shooter!
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For "real world" shooting as in self defense , does it really matter how someone shot or held their gun if they survived and stopped the threat?
( I know that one can always improve. And having written many a After Action Report things always could have been done better or differently ... )
I understand about teaching fundamentals and one always needs to have safe firearm handling skills.
After all the whole point of learning to shoot is to be able to safely and consistently hit the target.
The trouble lies is in the fact that folks all shoot differently.
What works for you in the same style or discipline may not work for another shooter.
If the shooter handles their gun safely , has a comfortable form or style of shooting that allows them to make hits ... Then who am I to say that they need to change or learn a new style?
In my experience , being "married" to a certain style or discipline of shooting and saying that it is the best for all is a source of frustration and stagnation.
Being adaptable in your outlook and learning may make you a better shot.
All that being said you gotta start somewhere and the basic shooting fundamentals as posted in the OP are a excellent place to start.
Andy
Edit for pre-coffee typing.
( I know that one can always improve. And having written many a After Action Report things always could have been done better or differently ... )
I understand about teaching fundamentals and one always needs to have safe firearm handling skills.
After all the whole point of learning to shoot is to be able to safely and consistently hit the target.
The trouble lies is in the fact that folks all shoot differently.
What works for you in the same style or discipline may not work for another shooter.
If the shooter handles their gun safely , has a comfortable form or style of shooting that allows them to make hits ... Then who am I to say that they need to change or learn a new style?
In my experience , being "married" to a certain style or discipline of shooting and saying that it is the best for all is a source of frustration and stagnation.
Being adaptable in your outlook and learning may make you a better shot.
All that being said you gotta start somewhere and the basic shooting fundamentals as posted in the OP are a excellent place to start.
Andy
Edit for pre-coffee typing.
Last Edited:
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Exactly the point I was going to make. For new shooters, learn and practice the fundamentals and with time adapt to your individual situation.
it doesn't if they get lucky....
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While nothing beats practice ... Sometimes it better to be lucky than good , as the old saying goes.
But I hear you .. I wouldn't want to rely on luck.
Andy
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