‘Better Shooting Through Science’

Gun Nuts Radio last night was ostensibly about shooting epiphanies. Something a shooter does, figures out, tries, and there is break. The time, before the epiphany, and the time after when you were markedly better.

I don’t have an epiphany. Not a big one. Lots of little epiphanies with marginal improvements.

Squeeze 20% harder. Start with a firm grip, then squeeze 20% harder. I had a bad show of it squeezing VERY hard to start. So it took a while before I believed, because harder didn’t work. The harder, initially, was, “squeeze so hard you start to shake, then back off.” That didn’t work at all. But starting with a ‘normal’ regular grip, and improving it by squeezing 20% harder, and, if necessary, a bit later squeezing THAT 20% harder…

One epiphany I had is lining the pistol up where the sights are in line with my elbow. This required a slight rotation in my grip. Once done the pistol then points wherever I am looking, and I don’t have to hunt around for the front sight. It’s just there, in my field of view.

The conventional wisdom is to focus on the front sight. This was never an issue with me. It seems I naturally want to focus on the front sight. It may impact my accuracy as the target is ALWAYS blurry to me. I shoot at a big blob instead of a dime sized spot on a target. Hard to aim-small/miss-small when the smallest I can aim is the size of a dessert plate. Always hitting a dessert plate isn’t a bad thing, as long as it’s ‘always.’

A new one I learned at conceal-carry training that I haven’t fully applied and realized the most benefit from… yet… Is how much interference the base of the trigger finger is causing. What am I talking about? Hold you ‘invisible pistol’ in one hand. Touch the spot on your hand where the finger meets the meat of your palm. Now squeeze the invisible trigger a few times in quick succession. Feel all that movement?! That can’t be good if that part of your hand is touching your grips!

Seeing the effects of a true surprise break is an epiphany. Achieving that surprise in consistent application is the hard work. It may be why I shoot Double Action better than Single Action. I like the 1911 trigger, but I know when it’s going to let go. So anticipation flinches happen. With a revolver, heck, with that much travel I really can’t get a feel for the exact breaking point. Same with the DA only SIG of mine. I like all three pistols, though. A lot. Good pistols all 3. P229, Springer 1911, S&W 686. Add the Colt Pocket Hammerless, and man… I really have to be careful and not get some marginal pistol and sully that exceptional record on pistol acquisition.

Natural point of aim is a neat little epiphany. It, like my others, help a bit, but not an order of magnitude improvement. I notice better results with the rifle than the pistol. In case you are unfamiliar with the term: Assume your position or stance and aim at the target. Relax, close your eyes for a few seconds, and aim again, blind. Open your eyes to see if you’ve drifted off bulls eye. Reposition and try again until you are pointing at the bull when you open your eyes. The position you are in then is your natural point of aim for that target. The firearm ‘wants’ to be aligned properly for that situation. VITAL for target shooting.

Slow is smooth, smooth is fast is another not-yet-universally-applied-but-has-great-potential epiphany.

I’m still waiting for the ‘A-HA!’ moment. It’ll come. With practice. I imagine it’ll be when my groups tighten and center up one day, away from my current loose and low and right shooting. You know you’ll hear about it the second I achieve that plateau.