I can usually hit what I’m aiming at with a firearm. Primarily, this is because I was taught how to coordinate the basics involved in getting the gun pointed at the target correctly and holding it there while the shot is fired. It’s a process which must be done correctly and practiced over and over until the steps fall into place almost automatically. I say “almost,” because true marksmanship requires effort each time a shot is fired.
Many people struggle with making their shots count. I truly enjoy helping those folks become excellent marksmen. Here are 10 things I have discovered that stand in the way of good marksmanship and some tips to overcome them, some of which might help you become a better shot.
Not Knowing and Using Your Dominant Eye for Aiming
It’s rare that a person would know about eye dominance issues unless they have been to a class in which the topic is covered. We all (at least most of us) have one eye that is stronger than the other. You would think that eye would always be the one associated with your dominant or strongest hand: right-handed = right eye dominant; left-handed = left eye dominant, but that’s not always the case. I am right-handed but have a strongly dominant left eye.
Before I knew about such things, I had a Remington bolt-action .22 rifle; the sights were off. I had to aim to the right, approximately 7 inches, to hit the bullseye. When I was introduced to the concept of a dominate eye and tested for it, my whole shooting life was changed. I tried my .22 again shooting from the left shoulder and discovered its sights were right on the money.
The test we did during my NRA Basic Pistol Instructor class is called the Miles test. To conduct this test, you pick an object across the room, then extend both arms. Bringing your hands together to create a small, triangle-shaped opening through which you view the object. With both eyes open, slowly bring your hands back toward your face keeping the object centered in the opening. If you do this correctly, your hands will bring the opening back in front of your dominant eye.
Another test helped me understand my own eye dominance better. In this test, called the Porta test, you point with your index finger at a distant object with both eyes open. Next, you’ll close one eye. Open it and close the other eye. Usually, your finger will appear to move off the object when you close one of your eyes.
The one in which your finger moves off the object when you close it is your dominant eye. This was a real eye-opener for me (pun intended). At a distance of 12 to 15 feet, my finger appears to move approximately 7 to 10 inches left of the object when I close my left eye. As I mentioned before, I’m right handed.
The results of using the non-dominant eye for aiming will almost always result in your shots being off. So the first step in learning to shoot accurately is to determine your dominant eye and always use it for aiming. For me it works like this. I have learned to shoot long guns from the left side. With handguns, I simply position them in front of me so that my left eye is the one aligned with the sights.
Improper Sight Alignment by the Shooter
Aligning your sights is a two-step process:
- Sight alignment is aligning your front sight centered in the notch of your back sight with equal light on either side of the front site and equal height across the top of both sights.
- Sight picture is aligning those sights with the center of your target.
This is a process with which you must be consistent from shot to shot. Some of the other processes we will be discussing here will help you with the aiming.
An Improper Stance
Stance may vary from person to person, but for the most part a good stance involves:
- Feet shoulder width apart
- Knees slightly bent
- Strong side foot slightly back
- Bend slightly forward at the waist
- Arms extended
If you are shooting from a seated position, the requirements are different. From the waist up should be the same — unless you have some sort of support on the bench or can rest your elbows on the bench. In that case, use whatever resources are available to keep your arms steady and to present the firearm in a position in which your eyes are properly aligned with the sights.
An Improper Grip
If shooting a revolver, grasp the grip as high as possible with your shooting hand Your finger should be indexed along the frame. Your support hand should wrap around your shooting hand.
For a semi-automatic, place the gun in your shooting hand with the web of your hand between the thumb and first finger (as high up on the grip as possible). The trigger finger will be extended along the frame, with the fingers wrapped tightly around the grip. With your support hand, place the heel of your hand in the open space on the grip and wrap your fingers tightly around your shooting hand.
When gripping a semi-automatic pistol, you never want to cross your thumbs behind the gun. The slide comes back with every shot with a great deal of force. It’s very likely that slide will cut your thumb if it is crossed behind the grip of the gun. Once you have your grip, extend your arms so that your forearm is in line with the gun as much as possible. This will help mitigate recoil, as well as giving you a better sight angle on the target.
Improper Breathing
Breathing affects sight alignment. Most people find it’s best to take a breath, let a little out, then squeeze the trigger for the shot. Then, breathe again. Don’t hold your breath too long, just enough to get a shot or maybe two off. It’s a good idea before a shooting session to do some deep breathing/relaxation exercises to lower your blood pressure, calm your nerves, and otherwise prepare yourself for a good shooting session with little or no stress.
Improper Trigger Control
Here’s the classic teaching about trigger control:
- Put the pad of your trigger finger on the trigger, halfway between the tip of your finger and the first joint.
- Putting the finger in too far will result in pulling the shots off to the strong side.
- Putting the finger not far enough in will result in pushing the shot off to the support side.
- To take the shot, slowly squeeze the trigger rearward, so you are surprised when the shot goes off. That way, you won’t jerk in anticipation of recoil.
This is the methodology I’ve taught and practiced throughout my pistol instruction career. But I read an article by George T. Williams that added some useful information to the previously taught techniques. Mr. Williams suggests the tightness of our grip should be just below the threshold of causing tremors. You’ll know there’s too much pressure if the front sight is bouncing around more than usual. Imagine the index finger squeezing to the base of the thumb. This will result in the web of your hand — between the thumb and first finger — pressing tightly against the backstrap, with the tip of the thumb reaching as far forward as possible. He defines this as “Pressing the trigger with the thumb,” which changes the dynamics of the index finger during the trigger press.
Placement of the trigger finger on the trigger is not as important, so long as the base of the thumb is pressed solidly against the top of the backstrap while maintaining a mental image of pressing the trigger with your thumb. Using any part of the trigger finger from the fingertip to the second joint on the trigger works so long as the thumb presses the trigger. Being a long-time shooter, I was skeptical. However, when I tried it, I found my trigger pull more consistent and my shot placement more accurate. Try this. Just don’t describe it out loud to your fellow shooters; they’ll think you’re crazy.
Sights on the Gun are Misaligned
Most of today’s firearms have adjustable sights. News flash: They don’t all come from the factory properly adjusted. Whenever you get a new gun, and your first trip to the range produces disappointing results, it’s a good idea to check the sights. If necessary, adjust the sight alignment.
Front sights are normally what they call “drift adjustable,” meaning you tap them to one side or the other from within their mounting slot using a hammer and a punch. To avoid damage to the sight, a brass punch should be used for sight drift adjustments. Before you make any adjustments, look at the front sight.
Hopefully the front sight is centered over the barrel or centered on the slide. If it’s not, get the front sight centered before making any adjustments to the rear sight. Use a caliper or micrometer for measurements, rather than relying on your eyes alone.
Whether the rear sight is adjustable by turning little screws or via drift adjustments, it’s best to use a boresight to get it right. You can get a caliber-specific boresight, or (the one I like which is magnetic and can be used with practically any caliber). It’s the Firefield Universal Red Laser Boresight Barrel Mount Aluminum Red FF39000, which costs less than $30.
Get one, and if you mess with guns, you’ll use it time and again to align sights, red dots, and telescopes. Once you have aligned the sights on your gun, using a boresight rather than trusting your eyes alone, you can address other areas of accuracy problems knowing your gun is doing its job properly.
Bad Ammunition
Sometimes ammunition is the root cause of stray shots. This is more suspect with reloaded ammo than with factory ammo. However, some factory ammunition is just not up to par. The reason ammunition can go astray has to do with how the projectile is seated in the case. Any seating abnormalities will be amplified downrange. So, before you begin messing with your gun sights, try several types of ammunition. Try to identify brands that don’t leave your gun barrel tracking straight and true.
Flinching
Flinching is a common problem among shooters, regardless of their level of capabilities. Many don’t realize it until they take a simple test to determine whether their eyes are open at the moment the shot is fired. The ejection port (where the fired cartridge exits the gun) is located between the sights where you should see the brass leaving the gun in your peripheral vision — if your eyes are open every time it fires. You should also see the flash and blast that follows the bullet out of the muzzle on every shot. If you don’t see these things, you are closing your eyes, i.e., flinching.
Flinching is an automatic response to the noise and movement of the gun during recoil. This response manifests itself in many ways, but closing the eyes is the most prevalent. It doesn’t take many repetitions of this behavior to create a habit which is reinforced with every shot fired. Once you recognize that blinking or flinching is a problem that needs to be overcome, you must convince the brain there is no danger by taking it through some exercises.
The quickest way I have found is by proving to the brain that the recoil of the gun is of no consequence to the preservation of your vision or your personal safety. This can be done with your gun, ammunition, and a safe backstop to shoot into. Fire your first shots by looking at the left side of the muzzle (if you are right-handed and the right side if you are left-handed), keeping your head from being positioned directly behind the gun.
Watch the muzzle lift and settle for a few shots just to see how little the gun moves when it fires. Then, switch to looking at the other side of the muzzle for a few shots and finish up by looking at the back of the gun as it moves during firing. If all goes well, your brain will figure out that hearing the noise and seeing the flash when you pull the trigger on a loaded gun that is pointed away from you is nothing to fear.
Pain
For some of us it simply hurts to shoot some guns or any gun. It may be shoulder pain, back pain, or hand pain. In most cases, there are ways to mitigate the pain. Shooting gloves may be all the help you need. Another option is to shoot guns of a lesser caliber, or in the same caliber but of a lesser loading.
Maybe you need to sit rather than stand. Maybe you need a brace to shoot from. It may be that you decide to simply suck it up and get on with it, ignoring the pain. But pain is a hard thing to ignore, and if you choose to keep on despite the abuse to your body, sooner or later your accuracy is going to be affected.
Wrap-up
I hope I’ve helped. If you have any other causes that affect your ability to shoot accurately, let us know in the Comment section, and perhaps collectively we can offer some help. We all want to be good shots.
Shooting with both eyes open will reduce eye strain no matter what you shoot with any sight.
I am a 90 yr old shooter ans still like to occasionally go to the range. I have the expected arthritic hands and fingers for someone at my age and have trouble using only my one index finger to fire my newly purchased Baretta Mod. 21A – .22LR. I can fire the gun if I use both index fingers together, but it’s awkward. Can the trigger pull strength on this gun be reduced by some sort of adjustment or will it be less hard to actuate with more use?
Dennis, it is best to shoot with both eyes open if you can. I try that as often as I can but sometimes I just need to close my right eye to bring everything into focus. I think it’s my eyeglasses that get in the way. For many years I’ve worn progressive trifocals but I’ve recently learned that having two different strengths of readers (3 for $15) on Amazon works better. I use one strength for reading and another strength for everything else including shooting.
Mr. Freeman :Excellent article. I would like to add a little on trigger pull. When I was in the service they used the phrase BRASS in reference to trigger pull. I feel you missed a very important point. I use Brass all the time. B: breathe, inhale; R:relax,let out some air; A :aim; S: take up trigger slack ; S : squeeze. Has worked well for me over the years.(All triggers have slack)
Just a thought for you. GOOD SHOOTING jackal
One of my sons is a Green Beret, 18-BRAVO. Needless to say, he is an expert shot with almost any weapon. After seeing how well he taught his wife to shoot, I asked if he could teach me to shoot like that. His reply was “No way. You have WAY too many bad habits.”
Great article! Even near 70, I’m always looking to improve.
Hi I’m a little new to shooting hand guns and have been hearing to shoot them with both eyes open is this true or do you shoot only with your dominant eye open
Hi I a little new to shooting hand guns and have been hearing to shoot them with both eyes open is this true or do you shoot only with your dominant eye open
Thank you, Dave. Cross-dominance is quite common. Da was left handed and right eyed while my brother and I are left eyed and right handed, as are both my daughters. Shooting long guns left handed can be entertaining, as my youngest’s first shooting experience at a weekend Appleseed event impressed the instructor/coaches. One of those gentlemen, mentioned watching the brass from the 10/22 ejecting around her right elbow. Interesting to watch, but I was shooting a bit slower with a mid-1960s LH Browning T-Bolt, both with the same accuracy.
Breath control is very important, as Dad said of qualification with the M-16 in Hawaii before starting a tour with a C-130 unit in SE Asia. Developing muscle memory with the NRA Jr. Rifle Club at Kaneohe Bay MCAS is still working for me 56 years later.
I’m a Veteran and I’ve just got my wife interested in shooting. And I’ve got myself while working with her that close my eyes some and I’ve caught my self flinching. I’ve been around guns all my life. Mostly shot guns, rifles but recently I’ve got into pistols. I thank you very much for these articles . God bless you Chaplain Dale Stearns
Very comprehensive.
Thank you!
The training tips, as well as the comments, were extremely helpful, keep up the great work !!
One Vietnam vet to another
Welcome Home
Goodmorning,
I so much appreciate your article on eye dominance. A few years ago I had cataract surgery in which left my left eye very poor to see out of. I am right handed and found out that I’m right eyed dominant through your test. Since my right eye is pretty good to see out of I’ve realized that it must be something else that’s causing me to miss the target frequently. I’m going to practice learning about the other cases in your article about becoming a better shot.
The eye dominance test you wrote about helped me restore my confidence and I thank you for it.
Many Thanks and have a great summer ☀️.
Dave Boots
In response to Barry: Wyatt Earp supposedly said, “Take your time, as fast as you can.”
“It’s rare that a person would know about eye dominance issues unless they have been to a class in which the topic is covered.” Pretty easy when you are left-eye dominant, and left-handed, and then the public school system, and Uncle Sam, forces you to be right-handed, ah, but still left-eye dominant, so end up being ambidextrous, Left-eye dominant. Ironically, it seems there are many more Left-eye dominant people than the perceived 10%, and may be MUCH higher. Twice now for me, at the same range, but different owners, and a complete change of employees, there are more left-eye dominant employees than there are right-eye dominant. That is why smart firearm manufactures are wise to invest in ambidextrous controls versions, especially the long overdue update for the AR platform. More than once I have seen left-eye dominant people shooting a long gun right-handed, but trying to get their head down further on the stock so they can line up the sights correctly. When I see that I suggest they try doing it left-handed, and after a little discussion, they reluctantly try it, and wow, does there ability ever instantly improve. Tactical training today forces everyone to practice switching out, strong side to week side, and back. It is also a great thing to practice at the range, in the case of the need, arises, no matter what the reason for it.
One way to identify flinching is to randomly load dummy rounds in the handgun and watch the student fire a string of shots. If they flinch I have them focus on follow-through for each shot. This involves keeping both eyes open throughout the entire sequence of firing and holding the trigger to the rear until the student calls out each shot placement. These actions distract the student from anticipating recoil, which appears to be a root cause of flinching. As for gripping a semi auto pistol, I have them keep their thumbs low so they don’t interfere with the slide cycling.
Hello ,
I have several small game firearms & was taught by my Dad , who gave me a 20 ga double barrel at 10 years old . I’ve even had revolvers , none of these weapons did I have accuracy problems. Now I’m a senior and not the best hand strength as years ago . I’m also new to the semi-auto world but as this world gets crazier with shootings at most anywhere you can think of I have purchased 2 9mm pistols . I’m not one to buy the expensive brand for my first of anything , it never seems to guarantee a novice anything ! I also read where folks have a tendency to try to buy accuracy , with big brand weapons , big name ammo , top of the line scopes , etc . I’m too old for that ! This article did provide some good advise why I’m hitting my targets where I am though . I’m very thankful to have found this article in my e-mail this evening ! Flinching ( anticipating ) , & slamming the trigger , are my faults at this point I believe . I will practice again tomorrow with this new knowledge .
Thank You !
Mark Dinwiddie
middle Tennessee
Jack, one of those weird things in life is that I cannot close my left eye alone. It just won’t close. But I can close my right eye alone. That’s why I shoot long guns from the left shoulder. But with a handgun I shoot it right handed but simply shift the location of the gun over until it is aligned with my left eye instead of my right eye. An eye patch over my left eye would work, I’m sure, but I’ve adopted a way of putting the sights in front of my dominate left eye.
One thing I get a kick out of is; People have this perfect stance to get perfect placement, and you have to bend a certain way, feet so far apart, etc. At the range I just lean my shoulder into the booth wall to stabilize my upper motion, I can relax, lean back, or cross my legs even, if I want and just focus on sight picture and trigger control. Not fair you say? Well, in the woods there is usually a tree close by, in a parking lot there is usually a car near by, so pretty much anywhere you may be there will be something to get be hind or lean into. I laugh every time I see someone standing errect, holding a hand gun one handed, at full extended arms length, and think, with enough practice, they can be accurate that way, especially doing double action of a revolver. If you are forced to shoot one handed, rest it on something near by. Best way to become accurate is practice, a lot, test what you learn from others, and see if it works for you, if not, then keep learning, keep practicing, maintain your firearms, and keep practicing.
The only thing I would make note of for newer shooters is that “sight alignment” is not always the same for all guns, so you’ll need to figure out the proper alignment for your specific gun.
Mr. Freeman, I am writing this after only reading the material about dominant eye. I too am right handed but left eye dominant, discovered just a few years ago after decades of shooting right hand and right eye. A few questions. What if you close your dominant eye and shoot with your dominant arm? I shoot with my left eye closed because that’s how I was taught as a kid. Does eye dominance affect shooting if the dominant eye is closed? I can’t hit a target in a pleasing manner using dominant hand non- dominate eye with my dominant eye closed. A story: I started to shoot one pistol mag left handed every time I went to the range just to teach myself how to use my left hand to shoot just in case. I closed my right eye and used my left dominant eye with my left hand. Turns out my shooting was no worse than using my right hand and right eye right out of the box! I genuinely appreciate you addressing this topic.
I believe some times a shooter will rush their shots. Slow down. This is NOT a race. This IS accuracy and could be life or death.
You don’t want to be slow but you ‘Have to be’ accurate !!
Practice ! Practice ! Practice !!
And if your edc varies practice with Everything you carry !!!