BACK TO THE BASICS: TRIGGER SQUEEZE

      Its been a while since I posted, but you know stuff happens, get over it, I'm educating you some more so feel lucky!

     As far as the 8 fundamentals of pistol Marksmanship we have already covered:
1.  Stance
2.  Grip
3.  Sight Alignment
4.  Sight Picture

(Drum roll) and here we are at #5 Trigger squeeze.

     A good description of trigger squeeze is as follows:

     Placing the upper portion of the pad of the the firing finger on the trigger squeeze back utilizing the entire upper portion of the firing index finger bending at the knuckle.  Squeezing back with consistency of force not jerking or adding additional pressure as you squeeze straight back until the weapon fires.  That about does it.

     I could sit here talk about and demonstrate it, have you dry fire etc, and many people will still have problems.  Since you are taking the time to read this I will share a training technique that I have utilized for years for myself and others to get trigger squeeze down.

     The first step is utilizing your non firing thumb give a thumbs up sign.  Next with a #2 pencil part that is shaped with 6 sides (Hexagon) tape (preferred) or rubber band it to your non firing thumb with a flat side out and a flat side to your thumb.

     Now utilizing your trigger finger using your trigger finger squeeze back on the pencil.  When you squeeze back it should come straight back towards you.  For the amazing Hulks out there "DO NOT BREAK YOUR THUMB"

     If it doesn't come straight back adjust your firing finger in small increments opposite of the direction that your finger went.  Once it comes back straight memorize the feeling on your firing finger where it is contact with the pencil.   This will help you place your finger in the right place on the trigger.

     Now this device is not a one time thing.  I use this to practice my finger placement, and the constant pressure required to pull the trigger and keep the gun on target.  Some might argue that this can be accomplished with dry firing.  However I would argue that this technique actually isolates and improves your trigger squeeze.

Have a great day and I will attempt my next post next week.

Back To The Basics: Sight Alignment and Sight Picture

In previous posts I have talked about The Eight Principles of Pistol Marksmanship and covered Stance and Grip.  In todays post I will talk about Sight Alignment (#3) and Sight Picture (4)

First off for today on Sight alignment we use a weaver stance and grip and aim at our target as close to possible of our natural point of aim.

With the red Horizontal line as our alignment line align the blade or post of the front sight in-between  the dovetail of the rear sight.  Again this is easier done with a target at your eye level as pictured below.

In the above picture these shots were taken at 10 yards with a Taurus 24/7 .45 cal.  The 10 ring or gut was at eye level with me at my firing position and the head shots were above me by about 2 feet.  The hits in the 10 ring are pretty consistent for double taps, with one dropped from the 10 ring.  Only 2 rounds made it to the 20 ring the others were offset to the left and down.  This is consistent with bad sight alignment.

Next is sight picture

First we will attempt to see if you are cross dominant or firing side dominant.  Take your firing hand and make an OK signal with the thumb and index finger and put it to the tip of your nose with both eyes open now focus on something in the distance and bring your ok sign out so that the subject of your staring is in the circle.  Now close one eye.  If the object jumps out of the circle that is your dominate eye.  If it doesn't jump that is your weak eye.

Now if it is your right eye and you are right handed or left eye and and are left handed there is no problem.  However if you are right handed and Left eye dominate or left handed and right eye dominate Just ease the weapon to that side when aiming.

We need to look at the sights and keep both eyes open.  If we close the non firing eye we lose about 90 degrees of vision.  That 90 degrees could hold somebody that needs our attention.

If we look at the above picture.  The Front sight blade/post should be crisp, The clear oval is the target This should appear out of focus and might have a fuzzy halo around it.  The two parts of the dove tail should have the same appearance that the target has.  Out of focus and a has Halo around them.  During periods of instruction I can never stress Front Sight enough.  If you stare it down you will hit your target.

AR-15 Series Weapons Bolt Gas Rings: To stagger or not to stagger

A Friend of mine John Fabriele on Google+ posted this over the weekend.  I had noticed the gas rings on it were not staggered and mentioned this on the post.  Then a Thomas stocker said that they do not have to be staggered.  So with some free time I decided to put it to a test.  Also John had mentioned about oiling the gas rings, and I wanted to see how this would work as well, and also I had surmised that the CLP might cause a carbon build up in that area with the impinged gases.

The first weapon I used was a Bushmaster XM-15 with M-855 A-2 Ammo

With the initial 30 rd Magazine before Firing I put the opening of the gas rings together, carefully placed it in the weapon and fired.  I had no problems.  I took the weapon apart and carefully took the bolt out of the carrier and the openings were now staggered.

I repeated the procedure again aligning the openings, another 30 rounds no problem.  Again the rings were staggered when I took it apart.

I repeated the procedure for a third time.  This time I had 3 failures to extract, then the weapon fired fine.

My next three magazines I had the rings staggered and no problems except for a dud with a dented primer.

The Next three magazines were with CLP on the gas rings.  No problems shooting, and once finished I field stripped the weapon and no evident problems could be seen,  However I did notice that there was not very much CLP evident on rings.

I attempted this again with a Bushmaster Carbon and M-855 A-2 Ammo

I fired the same amount of mags as I did with the XM-15

With aligning the openings I only had 1 Failure to extract on the second magazine.  The rest fired flawlessly.  No problems what so ever.  Each time after firing a magazine the openings were staggered.

Fired 3 mags with rings staggered no problems

Fired 3 mags with CLP on the rings and same as the XM-15 no build up and I found very little evidence of the oil.

I would surmise here that if I was giving advice to someone I would recommend staggering the rings.    3 Rounds out of 90 on the first weapon, and 1 out of 90 on the second, and basically the weapon staggered them any ways.  I also need to add here I put the opening to the top of the bolt.

Back To The Basics: Grip

Pictured above is an example of a good grip when utilizing the Isosceles Stance.

1.  With the firing hand make a "U" shape and place it around the pistol grip of the weapon.

2.  The weapon is aligned with the firing arm so recoil is transferred right down the arm to the shoulder.

3.  The non firing hand is placed in front of the firing hand on the non-firing side of the grip and wraps around over the firing hand.

4.  Wrist and hand are kept straight so that recoil comes straight down the arm to the shoulders.

With both hands on the weapon this gives a very stable weapons platform and plays into the natural way our bodies move and operate.

The basics of The grip with the isosceles stance grip can be used with the weaver stance, 

In addition while grasping the weapon you will grasp your hands and pull away from them causing an Isometric response.  Personally I find this uncomfortable and not very stable.  I find that I have tendency to start shaking while doing this.

In conclusion as an experienced shooter again for comfort and stability I would recommend the isosceles stance and Grip.