What is your top reason for joining a local shooting range? While the reasons might vary from one shooter to another, for most shooters, it is all about improving their shooting accuracy. Shooters want to feel comfortable with their weapons and shoot with accuracy. It is a long journey to become a better shooter.
Marksmanship is one of the simplest skills to learn, yet it is the most difficult to master. Shooting accurately is easy to learn because there are just a few principles to remember. However, mastering these principles is the hardest part.
Tips to Improve Your Shooting Skills
Getting familiar with your guns
It is fun to try new guns at the shooting range from time to time. After all, the range is the best place to test your skills with different guns. It feels great to have an understanding of more guns. However, some of the expert shooters take time and learn about one gun or two. Pick a single firearm and some ammo and learn everything there is to learn about it.
This means investing in your firearm. You will have ample time mastering its controls until you learn everything about it. Owning a firearm of choice will give you enough time to master it. Getting familiar with a specific firearm is something most shooters tend to overlook. This is a crucial feature that comes in handy especially in defensive situations. The last thing you want is fumbling for manual safety or magazine control. In such situations, a second lost can be the difference between life and death.
Spend time with your gun and have the muzzle facing a safe direction. In every shooting session, try and manipulate the controls. You need to safely load and load your gun within the shortest time possible. Apart from having your gun, you also need to invest in personal safety gear. While most indoor ranges provide the necessary shooting gear, you need to invest in your own. These can be ear and eye protection gears.
Build a sturdy foundation
A sturdy foundation is one of the simplest yet effective shooting principles to learn and master. People can shoot in different positions. However, the standing and prone positions are the most common. A prone position is when you lie straight on your stomach and have the torso lifted slightly off the ground. The body weight is then supported by the elbows. You can invest in a quality shooting bench where to rest the weapon.
The dominant hands will hold on to the trigger while the non-dominant hand holds the handguards. Accurate shooting demands you attain maximum stability. Shooting from a prone position requires regular practice. You need to practice regularly until you can line your eyes to the sights without straining.
You also need to practice shooting from a standing position if you face a threat while standing. There is usually limited time to lie down and take a shot. Stability is usually an issue at standing positions. You need to square your shoulders with the hips while facing the targets. As a general rule, the easiest way to shoot at a standing position is to point down the barrel towards the target and shoot with the index finger supporting the hand.
Breathing
Now that you’ve mastered your weapon and have created a solid base, it is time to take that shot. However, before you do that, you need to learn how to control your breathing. It is recommended that you momentarily stop breathing when executing a shot. However, you need to do this when you have fully exhaled. When you execute a shot with the lungs fully exhaled, you tend to be more relaxed. Shooters perform better when they are relaxed when taking a shot.
Trigger squeeze
Is it even that hard pulling a trigger? This is probably what some of you are asking. However, learning to squeeze the trigger correctly can improve your shooting skills. When pulling the trigger, you don’t need to curl your index finger inwards. This causes the finger to contract diagonally making the bullet to ass just outside that target for long-range shooting. You only need the tip of the finger moving straight backward and forward.
Apply gun safety rules
Whether you’re an expert or just starting, gun safety rules must be strictly followed. Treat your gun as if it is loaded at all times. Keep your finger off the trigger and have the muzzle facing downrange. Have a range safety officer to assist in case you doubt anything.
Final thoughts
Improving your shooting skills is a lot easier when you follow our tips above. You need to familiarize yourself with the gun, have a stable foundation, breath correctly and pull the trigger right away. It is also important to respect the power of weapons and handle them with caution. Follow the necessary gun safety rules to avoid unnecessary accidents.
