Welcome to Part I of our Fundamentals series. First, while each part will cover a specific topic or key element of handgun marksmanship, don’t take this as an all-inclusive list of the “[insert number] Marksmanship Fundamentals” you may have seen in some training programs. There is nothing wrong with those, but something you notice after you’ve seen 27 different ways to list the fundamentals is that they’re all essentially the same. Four, five, twelve, however many “fundamentals” you say there are, your understanding of them and ability to execute them on demand is more important. I guess consider this my contribution to the never-ending lists.
Part I is a primer. We will lay some groundwork and go over some misconceptions. This series will mostly be done in the context of practical/performance shooting. Later we will be discussing specific topics such as grip, trigger, vision, stance, etc.
Dogma
During my time in the Army, there was this old habit of treating their list of fundamentals as a linear sequence to be performed in that order, the same way, for every shot. What they called fundamentals became more of a checklist for the shot process. Sounds fine on paper. However, when put into practice with varying circumstances (qualifications, force on force, other live fire ranges, or even combat), the shot sequence of “Ok… stable position, check… Aiming, check… Breathing, steady now, check… aaaaaaaand pull the trigger…” just didn’t cut it anymore (you can see the problem when a guy takes as long to line up a shot as it did to read that sentence). This is an example of old dogma getting in the way of progress.
Remember what we’re trying to accomplish. Whether you are shooting for score, for your job, or defending yourself, marksmanship is simply aiming the gun properly and taking the shot without moving your sights. Yes, there is more to shooting a pistol competitively, professionally, or in self-defense, but this series is not on competitive strategy, tactics, gear, or legal considerations. My goal here is to give you something to take into your performance with a handgun, apply it (legally) as you wish.
"Speed is fine, but accuracy is everything"
-Wyatt Earp, maybe?
-Me
The Shooter’s Solution
Often, naturally and without realizing it, people would sacrifice one or more of those fundamentals to a degree when pressed by the conditions of a given shot. Outside of the shooter’s ability, three elements drive how we will take a shot; size of the target, distance to the target, and time to make the engagement (this is sometimes called the shooter’s solution). When those variables changed, many shooters can and should adapt to meet whatever accuracy and time standard is set. Taking a pistol shot on a short exposure, full size target presented at 10 yards? Your body position and breathing may not matter as much as a good grip and index, an adequate sight picture, and a quick and proper trigger pull, as that target is more forgiving in size and distance but requires immediate shots. Now look at those variables when shooting a small target with a rifle at 200 yards. Maybe you have more time to make that shot on a smaller and more distant target. You get the idea.
Keep these ideas in mind as we head into specific topics of this series. Discussing fundamentals can become very complicated, especially when we go beyond how to hit a soda can with Pappy’s old rifle with no time limit. During this series I may talk in different context at times to illustrate the point.
Let’s end it here for now and I will see you back for Part II. I’m getting settled into my new temporary home and with the power of dial-up speed internet, can get content rolling again.