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Jesse's Hunting > Gun Room Articles > The Gun Room > Learn to Shoot Your Handgun
Learn to Shoot Your Handgun
Andy Moe - JHO ProStaff
- Someplace in Montana
March 07, 2006
There is nothing so sad as watching a novice handgunner who has had no instruction in proper marksmanship. They’ve invested time and money into a handgun –usually one too advanced for their skills level- but just don’t know the basics of handgunning. More often than not, they don’t get in enough practice; and the practice they do get is spent compounding bad habits. Far too many would-be handgun enthusiasts get pretty discouraged when they find that TV and movies made it appear all too easy.
With that in mind I thought I’d write down a bit of info on Basic Handgun Marksmanship. I’ve taught many people to shoot handguns and if you follow these guidelines you will be on your way to becoming a proficient handgun shot; to what extent depends on the reader.
A good gun to start with
You want to start with a gun that won't break your pocketbook, and that won't teach bad habits due to recoil. |
The first rule in handgun selection is being able to afford a lot of ammunition. If you really want a 480 Ruger as a first handgun, you’d better reload or be a person of Substance because learning to shoot that cannon well will set you back a goodly bit of hard earned pay in ammo. Think of this when you believe you’ve found your gun: If you can’t afford a single 50 round box of ammo per week it’s not the right one… perhaps later, but not now – not while you are learning to shoot.
It wasn’t too very long ago a person could pick up commercially reloaded .38 Special ammunition at a very reasonable price. This made a .357 Magnum or a .38 Special a reasonable choice for a first handgun. A good .38 Special also meets one of the criteria for a good first handgun: it’s generally very accurate.
The best choice for the beginner is a 22LR. There are a few good reasons for choosing a 22LR as a first handgun. The ammunition is inexpensive, the 22LR round itself is inherently accurate, and new or used handguns in this chambering are plentiful. Additionally, recoil is nil. For home use, it would do as a self defense gun in the unlikely event that it should be needed as such.
While a 22LR might not be what you had in mind, think of this: Most experienced gunners have at least one 22LR pistol in their safe for target shooting or small game hunting. A quality, used .22 pistol won’t bankrupt the budget either. In preparation for this article I took a drive around my locale to scout prices on used handguns in .22LR. The prices for a likely candidate ran from $150 to $350. (A Ruger Standard Auto and a S&W Model 17 revolver, respectively.)
As you shop think of these things. Sights must be distinct and highly visible. The gun should be full sized so that you may learn proper grip; avoid small autos. The pistol of choice should have a decent trigger. Shooting a handgun is tough enough for the beginner without having to wrestle a gritty trigger into submission while trying to keep the sights aligned. If the gun that tickles your fancy has all these qualities and you can afford to shoot at least 200 rounds a month, then you are in business. Go get your gun; and some ear and eye protection while you’re at it.
With all your gear gathered, and your owner’s manual memorized, you can begin to get acquainted with your gun at the range. How far will you be shooting? Ten yards, to start. If your range doesn’t have backing boards that close, get some kind of target stand as well. Which reminds me: For target selection, choose a target that has a black bull on a white or tan background. A two to four inch plain round bullseye is what I’m taking about. No bunny targets. No fluorescent orange. No “bad-guy” targets. I suggest something you can see without actually looking at it. A round, black center works well.
At this point I’d like to remind all shooters that if you aren’t able to completely understand the working of your gun from reading the owner’s manual –or if your gun was a used item that came without one- you should seek instruction in the safe operation of the firearm in question. Ask around. There will be someone willing to either teach you or point out someone who can. That being said…
So you are ready to shoot. No matter whether it’s an auto loader or a revolver, load only five rounds. The reason is because novice handgunners –even the manly and muscular kind- get fatigued easily through a long string. Five rounds are about all you want to handle. 
Hold it right!
A proper grip makes all the difference. Forget what you see in the movies and TV. |
This next step is one of the keys to pistol marksmanship: The Grip. You want to have your hand in a position on the grip that allows the trigger finger to run as close to parallel to the axis of the bore as possible. This isn’t possible with many firearms but you need to avoid choking-up on the grip. Once you have the hand location on the grip established, it’s often helpful for the beginner to place the gun into the proper position with the left hand. Soon, with practice, your hand will automatically arrive at the proper grip, but until then it’s good to actually place the gun into its position with the left hand. This will ensure a consistency of grip. As you close your fingers around the grip, relax the thumb on the shooting hand. As a superb International Pistol shooter once told me; “All pistol shooters should have their thumbs amputated!”
For the purposes of accuracy, the thumb is not used. I shoot my Ruger Redhawk .44-magnum without the use of my gun-hand thumb so don’t worry. What you are going to use to grip the gun are the remaining three fingers on your gun hand. Squeeze just tight enough to cause a slight shake when the on target and then back off the grip just enough to stop the tremor.
I know! Mel Gibson puts a ten-fingered stranglehold on his Beretta in “Lethal Weapon” and it worked fine for him, right? Hollywood shooting styles – including the sideways and inverted “gangsta” grip - don’t work in the real world. The three fingered, no thumb approach will have you hitting paper if you stick with it. When you rest your shooting hand on your “off” hand in a two handed hold remember to just rest the grip on your palm. Never close your fingers over your gun hand. Your “off” hand is just a platform.
With your proper grip established we now come down to the hard part… aligning the sights and squeezing off the shot. These are the most important aspects of pistol shooting and they can’t be emphasized enough. Well, “Duh-uh,” you say.
Sounds simple and it is. The unfortunate thing is that if you look at the target you’ll miss. And that’s the truth. When you shoot a handgun, sight alignment is so critical that you should really focus on the sights not the target. Remember a few paragraphs back that I said you needed a target you could see without looking at it? This is why.
Proper handgunning requires that your primary focus be with both eyes on the front sight. Period. You simply stare at the back of the front sight. Your secondary concern is on the alignment of the rear sight with the front sight. Is the top of the front sight aligned with the top of the rear sight? Is the space left on either side of the front sight blade equal, meaning that the front sight is centered in the rear-sight notch? These alignments are of supreme importance when shooting a handgun. I’m too lazy to work the trigonometry for you but I remember well that the old rule in match shooting: A .001” (one one-thousandth of an inch) error at the rear sight will be a 1/10” error on the target at 100 yards using a rifle with a 32” sight radius. So imagine that an eight inch (handgun) sight radius would generate four times the 100 yard error per .001” of sight misalignment; or .4 inches per .001” of sighting error. A misalignment of a mere ten thousandths of and inch would mean a 4” error at 100 yards. Or two inches at 50 yards, or an inch at 25 yards. Ten one-thousandths of an inch is a very little amount of error. Add the error from sight misalignment to the inevitable shooter wobble –or worse, that eye closing flinch - and you could find yourself readily missing a 12 inch circle at 10 yards.
While I never took the time to verify the math of this old sighting error axiom, it does illustrate the need for the handgunner – whose sights are far less refined than a match rifle, and whose hold is decidedly less steady than a prone rifleman - to keep sight alignment of paramount importance when shooting for accuracy. You need to constantly focus on that alignment during the shooting process. Now you see why highly visible sights are a must for the beginner.
So what about the target? Forget it. Well, you shouldn’t forget it but you need to give it only as much attention as necessary and, for heaven’s sake, don’t look at it. When you are doing things correctly the sights and their alignment should be in sharp relief and the target should be out of focus above the sight picture.
To hit the target you apply pressure to the trigger when your sight picture in under the fuzzy bullseye and don’t apply pressure when it strays away from it. My 19 year old Philosophy-major son just got his first shooting lesson with his Model 28 S&W .357 magnum and he commented that it becomes a Zen thing. He’s right. If you do everything correctly the gun will fire without you being entirely conscious of squeezing the trigger. Sight alignment won’t guarantee you’ll hit the “X” ring every shot but without it, you’re bound to miss, for sure.
During the actual ignition, it’s a hard thing to keep from shifting your vision from the sights to the target. If you do you’ll make a poor shot. Stay focused on the sights during the ignition and initial recoil. This is what’s known as follow through, and the lack of it will hurt your marksmanship.
So that’s it. A gun you can handle and afford to shoot. No thumb, a three fingered grip, sight alignment, and trigger control. If you follow these simple instructions you will be shooting well in no time. You must practice, practice, and practice some more. If you have a centerfire revolver such as a .44 magnum, you can reap great benefits by dry-firing at a miniature target in your home every night. (Make sure the gun is unloaded!)
Smith and Wesson once included a small “dry –fire” target with their handguns. The practice is harmless but need not be taken to an excess. Just a few shots every night with an honest self-critique after each shot. And remember: You must practice. It can’t be said enough.
How long a road is it to proficiency? My son shot 250 rounds of mild reloads through his S&W and over a week’s time his off hand groups went from shotgun patterns to 1.5 inches at 15 yards. On our last outing he was knocking down bowling pins at 25 yards with every shot. He is a diligent student though, and focused on every single shot. How well you do will depend on how hard you want to work at it.
Get your gun and get to it. Next month we’ll talk about doing some hunting.
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