by Jay Chambers

Jay Chambers at Minute Man Review is a passionate shooter and hunter. He also knows his stuff, having tested and reviewed hundreds of rifles, scopes and various setups. Read his article below, and also check our his site Minute Man Review.

Marksmanship is all about maintaining proper form. Developing the required habits that promote accuracy will ensure you are on target each and every shot. In this article, you will learn the tips that will help you build confidence and hit your targets.

To aim a target and achieve desired result, the first step is to learn how to hold your gun steadily.

Here are the proven tips that would enable you achieve success;

Tip #1: Develop a Steady Position

You need to master the rudiments or basics of steadying technique, to help you aim accurately. Consequently, you can maintain steadiness when holding your sights, regardless of the position. Here are some tricks that would help you in developing steady position;

• Experiment with various positions – this is a great way to discover what works best for you and at the same time offers you the most comfort. For instance, some people are more comfortable with a seated position, while some shooters find it an uncomfortable position, especially those with bad hips.
• Also, master the hand that works for you when it comes to firing. Often, right-handed people are most comfortable firing with their right hand, while left-handed people’s “firing hand” is their left hand.
• The role of eye dominance in steadying your gun and aiming accurately is very important. Typically, when shoulder-fired weapons are involved, a shooter engages his or her dominant eye. The same also applies to cross-dominant firers.

Tip #2: Learn to Steady the Handgrip

In steadying your handgrip, you should use your non-firing hand. Your forefingers and thumb will create a “V” and your gun’s hand-guard needs to relax or lie in the “V”. Avoid tight grip – make your grip as light as possible, while ensuring your wrist stays straight, fingers naturally curled around your hand-guard. Here are additional tips to help you steady the handgrip;

• Always ensure you steady the gun with your non-firing hand.  Your gun should get most of its support from your position as well as your firing hand, while your non-firing hand should be focused on steadying your weapon.

Tip #3: Learn How to Place the Gun’s Butt

Your gun’s butt should be firmly placed in your firing shoulder’s pocket. Ensure you steady the butt against your shoulder. When you make sure the butt is firm in the appropriate pocket, your entire body will be able to absorb the recoil. This will prevent snapping back that results in inaccurate and painful shot.

Tip #4: Use Your Firing Hand to Grip the Gun’s Grip

Also, in learning steadiness as one of the major steps towards successful rifle aiming, you should master using your firing hand to grip your rifle’s grip. You will either adopt the tapered shot-gun style grip or the full pistol grip – it all depends on the firearm you’re using.

Whichever gun you’re using, endeavor to grip it firmer than the way you’re gripping the other hand (the non-firing hand). Also, you should apply some backward pull when you grip, so that the gun is pulled back on a firm manner into your shoulder. Consequently, when it’s time to fire, the rifle won’t move as you squeeze the trigger, hence your accuracy will not be jostled.

Keep your trigger finger straight and avoid curling it around except you’re set to fire. Keep this finger rested on the trigger guard’s side. Alternatively, you can grip the stock with it along with other fingers.

Tip #5: Learn to Relax Your Body

Learn to relax your body, and your breathing rhythm should be calm – this is a proper technique for achieving steadiness, hence accurate aiming of your target. There should be no tension when you grip the rifle – the grip should be firm on your rifle. The best way to ensure accurate shooting is to assume a relaxed and comfortable position.

Tip #6: Determine Your Natural Point of Aim

This tip is quite helpful when it comes to shooting with accuracy.  Now that you know how to attain steadiness and you are familiar with the direction of the target, you should also ensure your gun orients largely on-target with less effort coming from you. This is a pointer to proper technique – it is known as the shooter’s “natural point of aim”. And, endeavor to align yourself properly at all times.

Tip #7: Align Your Firearm’s Sight Correctly

Also, shooting with accuracy requires proper alignment of your rifle sight. Don’t even bother about your target if you have not first aligned the bead so that the gun becomes sighted. If there’s error in alignment, the error becomes much more once you fire the bullet.

Having decent cheek-to-stock weld will enable you achieve well-aligned sighting post with little effort. If it would be helpful, change the position of your neck slightly.

The principles above virtually apply if a scope sight is involved. Ensure proper sighting of your scope before the bullet leaves the rifle. And, your front sight post should be non-reflective, but matte and blackened. You can blacken with a pencil lead or gun blacking.

Additional Tips

Focus your eye – Eye focus is an important step towards achieving shooting accuracy and ultimately getting your game as a hunter. So, make sure your eye is aligned with and focused on your firearm’s front sight post. Here’s a vital question – what exactly should a shooter focus on? It is not the target, it is the bead. Ensure you assume the right position, and that your body is relaxed. Also, must make sure you are focusing on the bead.

Your target as a shooter ought to be in the aperture – however, this can only be the case if your sight is properly aligned and you have assumed a proper position. You don’t have to worry about the blurry appearance – when you focus on the bead, you will be able to keep up a proper sight alignment while releasing the bullet, helping you to achieve a perfect shot picture.

Finally, to aim at your target successfully and shoot with accuracy, you should learn to control your breathing. As you embark on sights training, learn to control your breath, bearing in mind that your breathing affects your aim.