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Basic Pistol Marksmanship




This compendium should serve as a foundation for new shooters to build from and is based solely on my experience, though not intended to abrogate other teachings.



Sight Picture

  • The focus should be placed on the front sight, slightly blurring the rear and target.
  • The tops of the sights should be aligned with the front blade spaced evenly between them.
  • The amount the rear sight is blurred will depend on your vision and the diameter of your iris at the time of focus.
  • Place your intended point of impact directly over the front sight blade. Most pistols are sighted for this method, while few are sighted for a twelve o'clock hold where the target is covered by the front sight blade.
  • The sight picture should be consistent across all shots.
  • The non-dominant eye should not be squinted closed, but remain open. If your dominant eye and dominant hand are not on the same side, of course, this will lead to complications.

An example of a proper sight picture:



Blinking

  • Don't. Train the reflex out of yourself, observe the muzzle flash and keep your eye on the front sight when the muzzle rises. This will both improve the speed of your followup shot and assuage your flinch.


Grip

  • Wrap your dominant hand around the grip as high as possible to lower the axis of the bore to mitigate muzzle rise and increase controlability.
  • Wrap your off hand around secondly, thumb over thumb, both pointing forward.
  • Grip the pistol tighter with your off hand and try to relax your dominant hand. Too much tension applied with the dominant hand will affect your trigger squeeze.
  • Do not apply pressure to the side of the frame with your thumbs, your shots will be thrown in that direction.

An example of a thumb over thumb grip:


An example of the webbing of the hand being high enough on the grip :



Trigger Control

  • Placement of the trigger finger on the trigger is paramount for a straight pull. Place the trigger on the center of the pad of your finger, not in the crease of the knuckle. Improper placement will pull the pistol to one side.
  • Squeeze, don't pull. Pulling precipitates compensating for recoil, blinking, flinching, and other undesirable traits that don't lend themselves to accuracy. A shooter should be prepared for, but surprised by the hammer dropping.
  • A proper trigger squeeze should be paced while breathing normally; holding your breath, while initially productive, will shortly lead to shaking.
  • Feel what your trigger is doing. A well practied shooter can feel the initial takeup, trigger engaging the sear, sear sliding along the hammer's notch, and the breaking of the sear which fires the pistol.

An example of proper trigger finger placement: