Pt. 4, Driving the Gun

[Doc Shapiro]

How many times have you watched someone fire a shot and not have the gun go off?  It happens to us all occasionally.  How many of those instances have you observed the shooter pushing the gun down just after the hammer falls and thought to yourself "looks like he has a flinch?" Chances are, the shooter isn't flinching, but is driving the gun back down as if the shot had actually fired. This is the first aspect.

When you fire a shot, the recoil forces the muzzle up and sometimes to the right or left, depending on the caliber and twist rate and direction. In order to make an accurate 2nd shot, you have to wait for the gun to settle back down in your grip and the front sight to return to the center of the rear sight. Once it has, you can fire the next shot. If you are shooting on a dump target, this is one way to learn how to place 5 shots accurately.

The "settling back down" is actually done actively by using the muscles in your hands and arms to counteract the recoil. With proper grip and stance, your body does this naturally. It becomes especially apparent when transitioning from one target to the next. After firing the first shot, you will control the recoil by forcing the gun back down and into the next target. Once the sight alignment is verified, you fire the shot.

Now we get into how to move the gun from 1 target to the next. You don't move the gun with your arms or shoulders. The entire platform from your hips up should remain stable. You move from the legs. You can test this by:
•   Holding a gun out and aimed at a target, make sure that you are in an athletic and balanced stance.
•   Now pick a target that's on the other side of the room.
•   Turn your head only so that you are looking at the target.
•   While rotating at the legs, bring the sights in line with your vision.
•   If you've done it right, you will have proper sight alignment without having to make any adjustments.

It's tough to describe, but this is generally what is referred to as "driving the gun."

Once you master this, any target array and target size will be easier to shoot. Your eyes will drive the system and everything else will happen on its own. Target sizes, shapes, distances all become the same. Making the shot is as simple as verifying sight alignment on the target as you squeeze the trigger.

[SIR WILLIAM]

Good points.  Would you mention eye dominance and its impact on the shooter?

[Prof. Bullspit]

This may be your best post (for me) yet Doc! Thanks! I really appreciate these tips and suggestions and I can't wait to try them out. I especially want to pay attention to this information on moving the platform. I suspect that when I have shot well I have done this and there have been a few times when I KNOW I just  moved my arms to get onto a pistol target and I can remember the feeling of being out of balance.

I haven't thought about the eyes going to the target first before. I'm going to practice this before  go to the range this weekend.

Great info!