Pistol Shooting Tips for Beginners
Shooting a pistol with accuracy is all about practice, as it takes beginners quite a few hours of shooting time to move on from the novice stage of shooting. Whether shooting with a loaded gun or dry-shooting, shooters must practice, practice, and practice some more. Of course, practice alone will not be helpful unless shooting mechanics are on point. A great shooter goes through a number of steps prior to using a pistol, and all of these steps must be carried out flawlessly. Read on for a few of the most important tips for beginner pistol shooters.
Holding the Pistol
Make sure you have a tight grip on the butt of the pistol. Although shooting experts disagree a bit on exactly how a pistol should be held, there is pretty much unanimous agreement that the gun should be held tightly. Pressure placed on the trigger can deflect your aim. A tight hold on the butt ensures that pressing the trigger will not cause the gun to shift in your hand. For double-action guns, this is even more true.
Along with a tight grip, you also want to hold the pistol as high on the butt as possible. This means the part of your hand between your pointer finger and thumb should be as high on the pistol as you can get it and still feel comfortable. The lone exception is if you are shooting a revolver on which the hammer flies back when you shoot, as this can pinch your skin. If this is the case, you can place your hand a bit lower to prevent this action. Otherwise, a high grip on the pistol helps with accuracy.
Aligning Sights
Beginners must learn to align their sights as quickly as possible. This does not mean to simply fire prior to an accurate alignment, but rather to take as much time as is necessary to align the sights, practicing to reduce this time. Experts can align a pistol almost immediately, but it can take some time for beginners. In general, though, you want to shoot no more than 10 seconds after you have raised your pistol. At that time, your hands will begin to waver and an accurate shot will become almost impossible. If the sights cannot be aligned within 10 seconds, bring your hands down and rest before trying again.
Leave Rapid Shooting to the Pros
Many beginners want to work on rapid shooting, but this activity should really be reserved for more advanced shooters. Many beginners will align their sights and then shoot their pistol multiple times without realigning, not realizing that rapid shooting actually involves the quickly realignment of sights between each shot. Until a deliberate sight alignment is mastered, rapid shooting should not take place.
Wide Stance
Many people forget that the legs are nearly just as important as the arms while shooting, as lower body movement will move the gun just as much as upper body movement. To compensate, use a wide stance that reduced leg movement and allows for an accurate shot.
