First of all, the four fundamentals of pistol shooting are: Grip, Stance, Trigger Control and Sight Picture. In order to be a good shooter, all four need to be done well and consistently.

That means the SAME ALL THE TIME!

GRIP:
Hold the weapon comfortably. Firmly, but not so tight you shake the weapon or tire your hands. There are a variety of acceptable styles to grip the weapon, but the important thing is that you grip it the same way each time and that your grip gives you the control over the weapon you need to have. I will presume you have accomplished this fundamental already.

STANCE:
Stability is the goal. If you have to stand to take a shot, I recommend the Weaver stance over the old FBI isosceles stance because it provides more stability. The Weaver stance is performed by standing at a right angle to your target, twisting your left wrist upright to cup the butt of your pistol in, then dropping your left elbow down to rest it against your chest. This forms a kind of rest or tripod from which to fire your weapon and reduces the recoil recovery time when you fire each round. Prone and kneeling positions are the most stable positions. And in battle, you should always seek cover or fire from a prone or kneeling position.

TRIGGER CONTROL:
Trigger control means utilizing a technique that prevents you from jerking the trigger, which in turn jerks the muzzle up or down or right or left each time you pull the trigger. Trigger control can be attained through discipline and practice, but also through a basic understanding of how the weapon works. The trigger is intended to be pulled STRAIGHT back towards you consistently, with the same pattern and same degree of pressure and timing each and every time you fire a round. Develop a pattern. Use it. Once you have that pattern, you can slow it down or speed it up as needed. But you must tune in to the pattern if you want to be in control of the situation. Become ONE WITH YOUR WEAPON!!!! That may sound a bit Buddhist, but it is precisely what has to happen if you want to develop good shot placement.

There are two styles of trigger pull: Pendulum pull and 3/4 pull. Pendulum Pull is where you pull the trigger with an even pull from front to back until the hammer falls. 3/4 Pull is used when you have a revolver or double action style semi-auto that allows you to pull the trigger back 3/4 of the way initially, then continue to pull evenly until the hammer falls. This technique reduces the risk of trigger jerk and reduces the time involved to complete the process. I like 3/4 best. But the most important thing about trigger control is that you must NEVER BE ABLE TO ANTICIPATE WHEN THE HAMMER WILL FALL! The fall of that hammer should be a surprise. If it is not, you will squint or jerk the weapon at that last second, sending that round flying off center. To avoid this, you have to talk to yourself continually to distract yourself from anticipating the fall of that hammer and that explosion. Which brings us to the last and most important of all the fundamentals:

SIGHT PICTURE:
The MOST important part of this technique is FOCUSE YOUR EYES ON THE FRONT SIGHT OF THE WEAPON NOT THE TARGET!!! Focusing on the target will not allow you to establish the degree of accuracy you need. You may THINK it will, but it won't. Only focusing on the FRONT sight will do that. The target must become a blur in the background against the crystal clear image of that front sight. And the rest of the sight picture must be in order as well. That means the front sight must be centered in the grove of the rear sight, with the "light bars" on either side equal and the top of the front sight level with the top
of the rear sight.

And as you begin pulling that trigger once you have target acquisition (meaning your muzzle has been centered in the center mass of the target), you switch your focus to the front sight and begin talking to yourself mentally, repeating over and over, "FOCUS ON THE FRONT SIGHT, FOCUS ON THE FRONT SIGHT, FOCUS ON THE FRONT SIGHT..." Keep saying that over and over, leaving NO room in your mind to anticipate the fall of that hammer, so it is a total surprise when it falls. That prevents you from anticipating the fall of the hammer and jerking the weapon.

Aside from all that, work on maintaining total weapon stability. Imagine that your weapon is set into a block of granite, instead of your hand, and that as you pull that trigger, the front sight is sliding back down the top strap right through the rear sight, centered perfectly in the rear sight.

If you do all this, you will be a good shot, each and every time.

And, practice dry firing your weapon whenever you have a few spare minutes. Take out the rounds and fire the weapon empty to gain and retain the familiarity with the weapon in terms of grip, stance and sight picture. Everything has to be automatic and work smoothly when that moment comes. If you have to stop and remember how to do any aspect of the procedure, you will be dead. Dead Marines don't come home to tell stories.

Practice often, and have a plan to kill everyone you meet!

SUMMARY

1. Remember that shot placement is the primary objective. You always shoot better on the range than you do under fire. So the better shot you are on the range, the better shot you will be on the battleground. But your ability to remain calm under fire and focus on that front sight and perform all the fundamentals will determine the degree to which your battleground shooting degrades. If you are VERY good, it will not degrade at all. That is the goal.

2. Shot placement is demonstrated by the "group" (pattern) your rounds leave on the target. The goal is to get a tight group (only 2-3 inches across) dead center of course. Few attain this goal because they are unable or unwilling to believe or follow the fundamentals. Shooting is 80% mental conditioning and only about 20 % physical conditioning. Once you overcome the mental obstacles and "become one with your weapon" you will begin to move forward. The secondary goal, is to establish a group somewhere on the target. If the group is right, left up or down from center, you can adjust your sights or your grip or trigger finger position to compensate until the group moves to the center.

3. Trigger finger position is the most common cause of the group being right or left of center. If the finger is wrapped too far around the trigger, or not far enough it can pull the muzzle to the right or left as the trigger is being pulled. Either that, or the light bars on either side of the sight are not even.

4. Groups that appear up or down from center of the target tend to be the result of not paying attention to having the top of the front sight even and level. If your weapon has adjustable sights, adjust them to compensate once you have the group.

A pistol has an accurate range of at least 50 yards. I know that may be a bit hard to believe, but it is true. The shooter just has to practice enough to convince himself of his own skill level at that range, that's all. When I was in the police academy we shot half our 60 round course of fire from the 50-yard line and ended up with tight groups dead center of mass all the time. And the last day of qualification I saw our PT instructor take a 2" revolver and fire all 60 rounds from the 50 yard line and end up with a group only 2" across in the 10 ring (dead center). It was pretty impressive, but not beyond the capability of the average person willing to apply himself.

The toughest part is learning to focus on that front sight instead of the target! I can't say that often enough!

-Mike Jaquish