AWA Shooting Fundamentals

For those of you who are new to shooting or who don’t have a lot of experience, this article will walk through the fundamentals of shooting, including proper stance, grip, sight alignment, and trigger squeeze. I published this last summer but it’s always good to have a refresher on these basics!

Stance: Your feet should be shoulder-width apart and in line with each other or with one foot slightly in front of the other, like a fighter’s stance. Make sure you have a slight bend in your knees. Your torso should be leaning forward, hinging from the hips, with your weight on the balls of your feet. This will help with recoil management and will make sure you don’t get pushed backwards when you shoot. Your shoulders and arms should be forward and firm with your wrists locked.

Grip: The webbing of your dominant hand should sit as high on the backstrap of the gun as possible as this will help with recoil management and allow the slide to cycle properly. Next, pretend like you’re giving a handshake with your non-dominant hand and cock your wrist down 45 degrees. Now, put your hand on the gun and try to fill as much of the open space as possible. Both thumbs should be parallel with the slide. Try not to grip the gun too tightly as this can often throw off your trigger pull and cause you to miss.

Sight alignment: Bring the gun up to eye level and line the sights up with your dominant eye. To determine your dominant eye, extend your arms out in front of you and create a triangular opening between your thumbs and index fingers by placing your hands together at a 45-degree angle. With both eyes open, center this triangular opening on a distant object — such as a wall clock or door knob. Close your left eye. If the object stays centered, your right eye (the one that’s open) is your dominant eye. If the object is no longer framed by your hands, your left eye is your dominant eye. Once you’ve brought the gun in line with your eyes, you must align your sights properly. Most pistols have a front sight with a single post and a rear sight with two posts with a notch in between. To properly align your sights, make sure the front post is lined up inside the notch of the rear sight, making sure it’s flush with the rear posts and centered in the middle of the notch. Finally, align your sights with the center mass of the target. When you shoot, focus your vision on the front sight, not the target.

Trigger squeeze: Good trigger control can make or break accuracy. When you jerk the trigger you’re likely to miss your target. Instead, the pad of your index finger should gently squeeze the trigger at a constant speed and pressure until the shot goes off. In fact, it’s helpful to be “surprised” by the shot as this will help limit mistakes made by shot anticipation. In addition, it’s helpful to time your trigger squeeze with your natural respiratory pause after you exhale in order to limit excess movement from your body. After you shoot, don’t lift your finger from the trigger immediately. Instead, keep pressure on it as you slowly release it. You should hear and feel a small click from the trigger when it resets. You can now shoot another round. This is a helpful method to reduce the length of your trigger pull, reduce trigger jerking, and improve accuracy.

To find out more about shooting basics, personal safety, gun ownership, and other methods of self-defense, please join us for the Armed Women of America (AWA) Sterling Chapter meeting on June 18th from 9 am to 11 am at the Logan County Shooting Sports complex, 12515 Highway 61/2nd Amendment Way off Highway 61 Sterling.

Prospective members are welcome to attend their first meeting before joining. If you would like to become a member, you can join online at www.twawshootingchapters.org. Women over 18 interested in learning more can contact Andrea Stump at [email protected] or visit TWAW Shooting Chapters, Inc. website at www.twawshootingchapters.org.  You can also like us on Facebook @twawsterlingcolorado or stop by Boondocks Army Surplus at 324 N 4th Street in Sterling and pick up a flyer.