There are many things that can ruin a good shot, hopefully some of this article will assist in the shooter getting round some of those issues. Some of the things to consider are, correct functioning of the weapon and ammunition, Properly adjusted sights, Weather and Lighting conditions and of course and the person...

Now, the weapon and ammunition and the adjustment of the weapons sights side of things is down to you the reader but read on, maybe the rest may be of some use and help :)

Lets look at some of the issues that affect accurate targeting and sighting of the weapon to the target.

Weather and Lighting:

The problems caused by weather and lighting conditions are as varied as the lighting and weather conditions themselves. Wind will have little effect on the shot indoors obviously but outdoors a strong wind can have a dramatic effect on the fall / swerve of the shot, especially after 5-6 metres.

Bright Sunshine:

Not only can this affect good vision and sight pictures when the sun is shining into the eyes of the shooter but it can also affect the judgements of distances.

Rain:

Obviously no great at the best of times! But obviously will affect the drop of a shot, even over shorter distances.  Rain can also affect the ability to accurately judge a distance and obtain a good sight picture.

Darkness:

Primarily, for me anyway my pistol is used as either a backup if my main goes down or for enclosed tighter situations where invariably the lighting is poorer.  The same issues can be found when the weather is poor, fog or entering a darker building whilst in daylight conditions.  These conditions obviously make you more aware of noise and the adjustment to night vision.

 

Assuming that the weapon and ammuntion are functioning properly and the sights adjusted accordingly the fundamental ingredients for accurate aimed shooting and a good kill must include :

A good Sight Picture - the relationship of the eye to the rear and front sights as well as the target,

Trigger Control - the ability to apply increasing pressure on the trigger and fire your weapon without disturbing the Sight Picture,

Grip - the ability to hold the weapon firmly and correctly and to fire the weapon accurately and repeatedly without changing grip,

Stance and Position - that allows the least amount of body and weapon movement.

 

So, lets go through the process......

1. Adopt a correct grip on the weapon and assume a stance that allows the least amount of body and weapon movement, basically an Isosceles triangle.  This is made up of a straight back, head up, weapon bought up to eye level and arms pushed out to form a triangle with the weapon at the apex.  The hand holding the weapon should never be used to hold or placed onto any cover, this is the role of the supporting hand.  Should you find this stance too high then you can drop your height by flexing your knees, but keeping the upper body in the triangle shape.

2. Bring the weapon up to eye level and point at the centre mass of the target, all movement should stop before operating the trigger.

3. Operate the trigger smoothly and under control until there is no longer a live target in front of you.

 

It is not always possible to use the sights but it may still be possible to obtain a "flash sight picture", or a RASP (Rapidly Acquired Sight Picture) and refers to the foresight only.  In these circumstances the shooter migt just be able to acquire "flash" sight picture of the foresight.

The most effective close quarters distance is at a range of around 10metres.

 

So, how to overcome the most common faults and get more accurate on target shots:

 

Concentrate on every shot, all of the above ingredients need to be present to get a good shot off and on target!

Snatching can be the death of a good shot, but knowing your weapon could negate this problem.  Its often caused by failing to operate the trigger smoothly and cleanly with the minimum amount of movement to the weapon.  Even before the round has left the barrel.  Some shooters consistently fire low and left, why is this?  The term pulling the trigger is wrong for starters, the trigger should be squeezed not pulled and back towards the web of the hand (the fleshy bit betwen the thumb and the trigger finger) that is gripping the as far up the back strap (rear of the butt) of the weapon as possible.  Basically Squeeze the trigger smoothly and gently!

Anticipation - noise and recoil.  We all know that when the trigger is squeezed there will be a bang and some degree of recoil and two wrong ways of anticipatin this are:

Breaking the wrist down in a vain attempt to control the recoil resulting in low hits on target OR

Anticipating the bang and tightening the two handed grip in order to control the recoil, this can put shots anywhere depending on the shooter! So use a firm steady consistent grip.

Sight Picture.  There has been a load written about this already so its hard to know where to start but a correct sight picture should be:

Target - already identified and should appear blurred and out of focus in your master eye

Sights - the foresight should be in sharp focus with the tip level to and parallel with the shoulders of the rear sight.  There should be equal amounts of light either side of the fore sight.

The sight picture at the moment when the shot leaves the barrel must be correct and be aimed at the target at the area to be hit.

So, only the right sight picture at the moment of firing will ensure accurate hits on target.

 

I guess if the 4 rules are followed then every shot fired will hit the target at the point of the aim.....well hopefully!