My Favorite Shooting Technique Will Teach You How to Shoot Your Handgun More Accurately

AC ^ | Dec. 14, 2011 | Dan S. Defense

[fightinJAG]

The author was an IDF officer in a combat unit.

In this article I'll teach you a simple technique that will allow you to shoot your handgun accurately. We'll start with the steps you need to take, I'll explain what happens when you fire a handgun and how it affects you, and then I'll give you a few simple tips to reinforce your new shooting technique. If you follow my steps and tips, and invest a few hours working on this technique at home, you'll be able to shoot your handgun much more accurately. In fact, if you practice for as little as a week, you'll even surprise yourself with much improved accuracy!

The technique comprises of four simple steps: You get into a proper stance, you grip your handgun efficiently, while acquiring a decent sight picture, and then applying your full attention on trigger control. Combine these simple steps with discipline to practice, and basic understanding of what happens when you fire a handgun, and you'll be shooting like a pro in no time.

Let's look at what happens when you fire a handgun. It's important to understand because the forces you unleash affect your ability to shoot well. When you pull the trigger and fire your handgun, you initiate a small, controlled explosion. That in turn generates pressure which propels your bullet, through your handguns' barrel toward the target. The explosion and subsequent travel of the bullet through the barrels' rifling, generates noise, recoil and a twisting motion. Our technique takes this into account, and teaches you how to manage this process with professional ease.

[fightinJAG]

No harm, no foul. So far.

[PapaBear3625]

Because the cooper rules are UNSAFE.

I think you misunderstand Jeff Cooper's rules.

Rule #1 ("Guns are always loaded") generally gets tossed around without background explanation, and can be interpreted to mean "Always keep your gun loaded at all times".

This is not what Cooper meant. I've read his book. What he meant was that one should always assume that a particular gun is loaded until you have personally verified that the chamber is empty and there is no magazine inserted. Even then, if you put the gun down for any reason, when you pick it up again the first thing you do is re-verify its unloaded condition.

A major cause of firearms accidents is the gun-holder being sure that the gun is unloaded, and pointing it at a human (or at a wall which a human may be behind) and pulling the trigger. Then he gets to find out that his assumption was invalid.

Cooper is also talking to a different audience than the audience the NRA rules are primarily for. The NRA rules are great rules for pistol target shooters on the range, who arrive with an unloaded gun, shoot, and then unload the gun to go home. Coopers rules are for people who carry guns off the range (CCW) or who for defensive purposes may keep loaded guns in the home.

[Uri’el-2012]

OBTW, please show us the supposed "research" that you supposedly have seen that supposedly shows that what you call "cooper rules" are "UNSAFE"

I've asked you to actually show that supposed "research" several times, over the years, and have so far seen exactly NOTHING from you.

I have on numerous occasions directed you
to NRA HQS for that answer.

You seem unwilling or unable.

[tumblindice]

“When you pull the trigger and fire your handgun, you initiate a small, controlled explosion.”

He’s right! I’ve always wondered what that noise was ...

[ArrogantBustard]

At this point, you're simply babbling nonsense that has no connection to reality.

Please quit besmirching the reputation of the NRA by associating yourself with it.

Goodbye.

[fightinJAG]

Thanks for adding that discussion.

[ArrogantBustard]

The Four Rules deserve their own thread, for reasonable discussion.

[Excellence]

My son starts shooting class Saturday. This is well-timed.

[Uri’el-2012]

Your points are well taken.

Cooper rules are unclear and thus UNSAFE.

The only organization that I am aware of which has firearms safety in their mission statement is the NRA.

Cooper Rules

RULE I: ALL GUNS ARE ALWAYS LOADED

RULE II: NEVER LET THE MUZZLE COVER ANYTHING YOU ARE NOT WILLING TO DESTROY

RULE III: KEEP YOUR FINGER OFF THE TRIGGER UNTIL YOUR SIGHTS ARE ON THE TARGET

RULE IV: BE SURE OF YOUR TARGET

Sorry but from a learning and retention point of view,
there are a great many differences between Cooper Rules and the NRA rules.

NRA rules are all positive and start with the same positive word.
which facilitates learning and retention.

Cooper rules are random and confusing,
thus difficult to learn and retain.

NRA rules use words that can be understand by all.

Cooper rules use words which are not easily understood by all.

Each NRA rule is one topic.

Cooper rules 2 & 3 each contain two topics.
Sometimes Cooper rule three has two topics

The NRA rules are in a sequence of safety
If rule one is observed rule two and three if violated will cause no harm.
If rule two is observed rule three if violated, will cause no harm

The most violated Cooper rule is rule number one.(I thought it was unloaded)

Some wag stated ""All guns are always loaded!" is a ridiculous thing to say.
What kind of safety rule is a declarative statement which is patently false?

That is why NRA Certified Instructors teaching NRA basic courses teach
"Always keep the gun pointed in a safe direction" as Rule One.
Many thinking shooters, who can move beyond fawning over Colonel Cooper,
understand that teaching a rule which is obviously false doubtless will result
in less than strict adherence to the rule.

I'm sure if you were to call the NRA Training Department, they would gladly assist you in your quest.

NRA Gun Safety Rules :

Always keep the gun pointed in a safe direction

Always keep your finger off the trigger until ready to shoot

Always keep the gun unloaded until ready to use

[Uri’el-2012]

.

[OKSooner]

Fifth Rule of Gun Safety:

Don't run off downrange at the worst possible moment without checking with your rangemaster when the OSU - looking dudes you're sharing the range with are just getting back from having been downrange. (Guaranteed, someone of them is guaranteed to pick up a rifle and point it downrange at you and your kid.)

Sixth Rule of Gun Safety:

If you've ever broken rule number five, or plan on breaking rule number five in the future, (especially after having had the talk about who is taking whom shooting in front of witnesses), don't ever ask OKSooner to take you shooting again.

EV-ER.

(Could say more but let's not narrow it down too much...)

[tumblindice]

I took the NRA gun safety class as a youngster many years ago. One of the best rules I recall is, paraphased: `If someone hands you a pistol, rifle or shotgun—don’t take their word for it that it is unloaded.’
That rule may have saved my life. Good luck to you both.

[RC2]

A couple of tricks I learned while on a shooting team in the Navy. First, keep your little finger off of the weapon. When firing, your little finger will pull the gun down. Relax your thumb and only use enough pressure to help stabilize the weapon. The thumb will rotate the weapon but without the little finger, it won’t impact you very much. When I used these methods, my shooting scores climbed dramatically. Depending on what you are shooting at, try firing three shots, one right after the other. This is similar to the big guns firing for effect. Basically, the brain takes over and the third shot should hit its target. This goes for hand guns and rifles.

Also, try and throw a pop can about 10-15 feet away from you. Then turn your back to it. Turn and fire without using the sites. If using a rifle, bring the butt up to the shoulder but don’t use the sites. If using a hand gun, bring the weapon up about half way and fire at the can, without using the sites. Again, your brain will eventually take over and you’ll find yourself hitting the can. Don’t do this with high powered weapons at first. With a rifle, try starting with a BB gun or 22 at first.

There’s an old quick draw saying about hand guns.....”If you need sites, go to a rifle.”

Just some opinions that worked for me, but there’s nothing like practice, practice, practice.

[LivingNet]

Thanks! How many times can you dry fire against one snap cap before you need to replace it? or does just one last forever?

[Arrowhead1952]

I see you’ve already had the answer of snap caps mentioned. An ex military weapons repairman told me it was OK to dry fire a centerfire, but not rimfire weapons.

[ArrogantBustard]

In the past, I have gotten cheap cast plastic snap caps and they didn’t last very long at all. The firing pin quickly pounded a dent in the “head” that was as deep as the firing pin’s full extension. At that point, the snap cap might as well have not been there. I currently use machined aluminum caps with a piece of silicone rubber where the primer would be on a live round. They show little wear even after heavy use. I have no idea how long they will last, I just check for wear and damage.

[lonevoice]

Would you pass this along to your hubby?

[fightinJAG]

Good stuff.

[fightinJAG]

This is why there were many situations in the military where it was required to fire into the barrel to ensure the chambers were empty.

[Georgia Girl 2]

All good.

[Smokin' Joe]

bfl

[Maverick68]

b

[Justa]

Yeah, the clearing barrel. I distinctly remember a ‘squared away’ officer grumbling while going over to use it after coming off a convoy. Then a loud bang. Woopsie.

Clearing barrels are a good thing!

[Envisioning]

Bookmark for later. (((ping)))

[Chuckster]

I just turn it sideways and yank the trigger while concentrating on maintaining a menacing sneer /s

[Lurker]

For later.

[TalonDJ]

I just turn it sideways and yank the trigger while concentrating on maintaining a menacing sneer

If you are not simultaneously flashing gang signs with your other hands and shouting 'diss-es' at your target then you are doing it wrong. A menacing sneer is NOT enough to keep you safe. Proper taunts essential.

[TalonDJ]

I just turn it sideways and yank the trigger while concentrating on maintaining a menacing sneer

If you are not simultaneously flashing gang signs with your other hands and shouting 'diss-es' at your target then you are doing it wrong. A menacing sneer is NOT enough to keep you safe. Proper taunts are essential.

[philled]

for later...

[ConservativeMan55]

BTTT

[doorgunner69]

bflr

[READINABLUESTATE]

Mark for later

[fightinJAG]

You got that right!

I also remember an incident when the soldier swore up and down he had checked the chamber -— BOOM.

Uh-huh.

The thing is sometimes no matter how hard one tries, mistakes are made. Especially when it’s dark, one is tired and cold as hell, etc.

We had several areas where everybody had to fire into the barrel before entering.

[Luigi Vasellini]

shooting bump

[OneWingedShark]

>Yeah, the clearing barrel. I distinctly remember a ‘squared away’ officer grumbling while going over to use it after coming off a convoy. Then a loud bang. Woopsie.
>
>Clearing barrels are a good thing!

F—ed up thing is that any discharge in a clearing-barrel [at least when I was in Iraq] was grounds for non-judicial punishment.
That’s right, the clearing barrels are for DISPLAY PURPOSES ONLY! [/semi-sarc]

[Justa]

“F—ed up thing is that any discharge in a clearing-barrel [at least when I was in Iraq] was grounds for non-judicial punishment.
That’s right, the clearing barrels are for DISPLAY PURPOSES ONLY! [/semi-sarc]”

Yeah, that sounded like more of a rumor at the time. Remember the amnesty boxes? They were an oddity until they started receiving RPGs, AKs, PKMs, RPKs, etc. Then the whole subject became a, ahem, training opportunity. Seems it was easier to dump confiscated weapons in the amnesty box than catalog, store and dispose of them.

[spetznaz]

Thank you. God bless.

[M1911A1]

Seems to me that a shooter who was so unstable as to be teetering on the edge of disaster due to the confusing nature of the “Cooper rules” and could only be brought back from the brink by learning the “NRA rules” should probably seriously consider something more user friendly than a firearm, like a rock or stick.

Even then, it would be an extremely dicey proposition.

[Gilbo_3]

i aint gettin into this semantics pissin match today except to say that when dealing with the avg adult, or worse yet a 13 yr old [who doesnt think beyond the end of his own johnson] i believe the underlying ASSumption should always be to understand the potential fatal consequences of trusting that a gun is unloaded...the wording of cooper being concrete, whereas the nra wording being a bit soft to drive home the personal responsibility factors [in #3]...

modern firearms are very simple tools to operate, whereas i have many lawn and garden and household tools that require MUCH more study to use properly and safely, albeit that usually a disregard for those doesnt result in harm to others...

a basic 'rules' set is nothing more than age old common sense in a redundant package, designed to be 'lived' as a guard against unintended consequences...

my skill saw has a blade in it, my chain saw is usually 'loaded' as well, they are simply tools that perform certain tasks for my well being, dumbing down the owners manual doesnt enhance safety...

[mad_as_he$$]

If I followed those NRA rules I would be dead. Especially “Always keep the gun unloaded until ready to use
“. Stupid rule.

An empty gun is a club. Jeff Cooper.

[S.O.S121.500]

“”Even then, it would be an extremely dicey proposition.””

Poor chap - obviously educated way beyond his intellect......

[Uri’el-2012]

If I followed those NRA rules I would be dead. Especially “Always keep the gun unloaded until ready to use “. Stupid rule.

An empty gun is a club. Jeff Cooper.

If you intend to "carry", are you ready to use the gun ????

Then load it !

Reading was a skillset lost on Jeff.
Most likey because he was an arrogant blowhard.

[mad_as_he$$]

I was not carrying one intending to use the gun when I needed it. In fact it wasn't even my gun. All my guns are always loaded.

Calling Cooper names will not win you many fans on FR. He taught a lot of people to shoot very well.

[Uri’el-2012]

He taught a lot of people to shoot very well.

Massad Ayoob out-shot him with his weak hand.

[mad_as_he$$]

Ah a Zionist. Well I will put my son up against anyone you want. He has been in over 100 gunfights in Iraq and Afghanistan. He says Ayoob is a pussy.

[Uri’el-2012]

Ah a Zionist. Well I will put my son up against anyone you want. He has been in over 100 gunfights in Iraq and Afghanistan. He says Ayoob is a pussy.

What a hypocrite.

You have no qualms trash mouthing the best firearms trainer.

[fightinJAG]

Target, target, target!

:)

[fightinJAG]

Just wondering if you think this article is worthy of your ping list . . .

[Joe Brower]

Normally I would say so, except that the thread got hijacked and turned into a pissing contest. Unfortunate.

[Uri’el-2012]

CT Senate Bill 1094: "felonize" posession of 10+ round magazines