Need your help with an article.

[Rob Longenecker]

I'd like your help. What shooting tip(s), exercise(s), concept(s) have been the most helpful to you? I'm compiling an article from your input that will be available free when I'm done. I admit it's an experiment of sorts because I don't know what you will contribute.

I started to write an article myself trying to pull together what I'd learned from Jeff Cooper, Ross Seyfried, Chip McCormick in person and from watching Rob Leatham, Brian Enos, Doug Keonig, Todd Jarrett, etc. I was going to compare the earlier training with recent developments.

I realized that while I have a lot of shooting experience in competition from years ago, I'm just not current, and I don't shoot very often anymore.

I'll bet you all have a lot to contribute. When it's done, I'll make it available online for free. We'll just have to see how it turns out, but I'm betting that you all will make it interesting, valuable and worth reading.

So, if you're willing, let me know what you learned, where you learned it, who said so, what it did for your shooting skill and if there's a link we can post for everyone else to find it.

I thank you in advance for your help.

[seamusTX]

A tip that I owe to ElGato, a member of this forum (I don't know if he wants his real name used), is to acquire the sight picture and squeeze the trigger promptly, instead of staring at the sights until my eyes go bonkers.

Maybe the most unusual and also useful tip was shooting at blank sheets of paper and shooting with eyes closed. KIDS: DON'T DO THIS AT HOME!

The subject has come up several times in rec.guns. You can sort out the sources: http://groups.google.com/groups?as_q=sh ... p=rec.guns

- Jim

[Rob Longenecker]

A tip that I owe to ElGato, a member of this forum (I don't know if he wants his real name used), is to acquire the sight picture and squeeze the trigger promptly, instead of staring at the sights until my eyes go bonkers.

Maybe the most unusual and also useful tip was shooting at blank sheets of paper and shooting with eyes closed. KIDS: DON'T DO THIS AT HOME!

The subject has come up several times in rec.guns. You can sort out the sources: http://groups.google.com/groups?as_q=sh ... p=rec.guns

- Jim

Thanks. The whole "shooting with the eyes closed" thing is very interesting.

[seamusTX]

It is interesting but I feel compelled to repeat It Is Seriously Dangerous If Not Done Right and will get you booted off a range.

- Jim

[nitrogen]

Strangest tip that helped my shooting. Was given to me by a former Marine:

If you're flinching when you shoot, just totally limpwrist. Let the muzzle flip and recoil move your hand after each shot. Let your muscle memory learn what those inputs feel like, and let your subconcious correct them. If you conciously try to correct after each shot, you'll blow it.

[Rob Longenecker]

Strangest tip that helped my shooting. Was given to me by a former Marine:

If you're flinching when you shoot, just totally limpwrist. Let the muzzle flip and recoil move your hand after each shot. Let your muscle memory learn what those inputs feel like, and let your subconcious correct them. If you conciously try to correct after each shot, you'll blow it.

Now, that's interesting.

[KBCraig]

One thing I've taught my wife and daughter (both a little recoil sensitive), is to never lock their elbows. Instead, bring the elbows up, pointing out, slightly bent, so that recoil comes straight back. The arms serve as shock absorbers that way. Perceived recoil isn't nearly as bad without the muzzle flip straining the wrists.

Kevin

[Paladin]

AggieMM has a great document with tons of good exercises in it. He's posted the link to it before, but I don't have it handy.

Suarez's article "Fundamentals of Marksmanship" is excellent as well.

[Rob Longenecker]

AggieMM has a great document with tons of good exercises in it. He's posted the link to it before, but I don't have it handy.

Suarez's article "Fundamentals of Marksmanship" is excellent as well.

Thank you. Maybe someone has the link.
Rob

[therooster]

3 pieces of advice that have always helped my shooting.


slow is smooth, smooth is fast. - Tim Oxley is the first person i heard this from, but i dont think he coined the term.

speed is the economy of motion. - ???

NEVER be afraid to think you know more than them [experts] - John Perretti



there are a ton of other good tips, but these 3 have applied to everything i have ever done in shooting.

[Rob Longenecker]

Thanks for the post.
I know Tim Oxley, too. He and I took a Basic Pistol Course from Jeff Cooper together in 1980, and he taught my wife her first shooting lesson a couple of years ago. Good guy.
Rob

[Paladin]

AggieMM has a great document with tons of good exercises in it. He's posted the link to it before, but I don't have it handy.

Suarez's article "Fundamentals of Marksmanship" is excellent as well.

Thank you. Maybe someone has the link.
Rob

Here ya go:

http://www.woodfam.com/forums/Collectio ... lls_v2.pdf

[hydrashok]

I know this is a fairly old post, but I'm new to the forums, and I'd like to throw in a little input.

There are many great techniques listed here, but one that really helped me out was the bathroom mirror drills.

I would start by clearing my weapon. Standing in front of the mirror with a holstered weapon. I would look at myself in the mirror, close my eyes, and draw my weapon on my reflection while keeping my finger off the trigger. I would open my eyes and check my natural draw against my sight picture. I would repeat this drill over and over a few days each week. By keeping my finger off the trigger, this proved useful in becoming accustomed to holding my weapon that way. This will force a deliberate trigger pull.

This proved particularly beneficial when I had to perform a night-fire exercise when I qualified in the military. I didn't have to worry about using night vision goggles because if I could see the target, I could bring the weapon right up to my natural aiming point without having to visualize the weapon.

This drill also got me accustomed to having a real life person in my sights without putting anybody in danger. While silhouette targets are great, nothing can replace a real live breathing person. Because the image in the mirror had a gun pointing at ME, it helped me with real threat recognition and kind of desensitized me so I could react more calmly when faced with a real live situation.

Another drill I would practice while watching TV was magazine changes. I would have my (cleared) weapon with two empty magazines. I would lock the slide back so I wouldn't have the spring assistance with magazine ejection... when you empty a magazine, the slide (typically) locks back, so that's the conditions you would be facing in a real live situation. I would depend on the magazine to "fall out". When the magazine would land in my lap, I would load the other magazine in my hand. After loading that magazine, I would pick up the other magazine and repeat over and over. I would be watching TV instead of looking at the weapon so it became second nature.

I would like to stress that while these are GREAT drills, safety is VERY important! Make ABSOLUTE SURE you have cleared your weapon.