Marksmanship tips, etc.

Nice weather is upon us, at least in most of the country, and it's time for hunters and target shooters to get back to school for safety and accuracy. The best accuracy training remains dry-fire. Dry-fire is actually better than live-fire because live-fire is not as easy to read. What I mean is the instant the hammer drops during dry-fire, the shooter will know exactly where the round would have struck the target. Live-fire requires greater alertness to see the sights prior to the hammer actually striking because recoil will move the firearm to some small degree. Dry-fire remains the purest, most accurate measure of marksmanship. Faults are more easily spotted. Of course, live-fire is used for training, too. Reading targets, and reading the sights at the instant the round is discharged, and immediately after discharge, is not as accurate a measure as proper dry-fire. Dry-fire is explained in  The Perfect Pistol Shot and you'll find it previously addressed in this blog.

We still get assaulted over the principle of using a light grip but most often, apparently, by those who have never applied the principle but are certain it would not work if tried. Again, this is in the book and throughout this blog. I'm trying not to abuse reader patience by continually repeating myself but marksmanship is simple in scope, just exacting in execution. Meaning, there's only so much to talk about because these simple precepts are mastered through understanding and application, not continual revision. 

The term "gun nut" appears in my writing from time to time and is not meant to disparage those that like guns. Rather it is meant to label those who chase after products at the expense of foundational skills. Marksmanship requires work; there's no shortcut but the diligent student can grasp the principles in one session. Consistency, skill, and knowledge will take awhile but the average shooter can double proficiency without much effort within a couple of hours. Its not about guns. A marksman with a bad gun beats a poor shot with a good gun. Treat marksmanship as a learnable skill and ignore talk of "born-marksmen", and "best guns." 

The new book Practics: Handgun Defense System is on sale at the big on-line retailers now. It is not a marksmanship book. It is a defensive skills book for advanced shooters. I mention this because the first book called The Perfect Pistol Shot was occasionally berated for having little defense application. Please read the blurbs and reviews before purchasing any of my books, I do try to be as clear as possible about the limits of my knowledge, writing, and offered materials.