If you've never fired a shotgun before, it's not too late to learn how to do it right. Aiming a gun is easy, in theory, but it takes practice and experience before aiming properly becomes easy. When you do come to the shooting range, here's what you need to aim the gun properly.
Step
Part 1 of 3: Important Points in Aiming
Step 1. Aim with your dominant eye
Aiming with both your eyes is nearly impossible, so you'll need to aim with your dominant eye. Your dominant eye is the eye that shows the most accurate image of your surroundings compared to your non-dominant eye.
- Your dominant eye is usually the same as your dominant hand, but this is not always the case.
- To determine which eye is dominant, form a small circle about 2 inches (5 cm) with your thumb and forefinger. Keep the size of the circle and look at distant objects through the circle.
- Slowly move the circle toward your face with your eyes open, but don't look at it. Naturally, your hand will move toward your dominant eye.
Step 2. Align the front and back
The gun has a front and rear sight. When aiming a rifle, the position of the front aiming point should be midway between the two rear aiming points.
- In the front there is a small pole point and at the back there are two small pole points.
- An equal size of space is required on the left and right of the front sight.
- The top of the front sight must also be at or at the same level as the rear sight post.
Step 3. Focus your eyes on the rifle
When you aim a gun, you need to look at the rear sight, front sight and target. It is physically impossible for your eyes to focus on three objects at once. In aiming your rifle well, you have to make sure that your eyes are focused on the aim of the rifle and not on the target.
- The target should look a little blurry. You can still see it, but it will be in the background and look less clear than the sight on a rifle.
- In particular, you should focus on the front sight. The front sight will let you know the position of your rifle on the target.
Step 4. Define your target point
There are three points to aim at. There's no better choice between the three, so you need to give it a try to see which one suits you best.
- For “center hold” or “center of mass” targets, aim the very top of the front sight in the center of the target. The topmost part should align horizontally in the center of the target.
- For the “6 o'clock” target, aim the very top of the front sight below the target area. If you use a target board, the top of the front sight will pass over the black target point.
- For sub-6 targets, you will need to place the top of the front sight further below the target point. When using a real target, the topmost part of the sight will be in the center of the white section below the black spot on target.
Step 5. Concentration
Aiming the gun requires patience and concentration. Carelessness in aiming will result in sloppy shots.
- Before firing a gun, make sure your shot is aimed correctly.
- Be patient while pressing the trigger. If you feel anxious while firing your rifle and concentrate on increasing the pressure on the trigger, even for a moment, you will lose concentration on your target and will result in a poor shot.
Part 2 of 3: Common Mistakes
Step 1. Identify the angular shift error
Angle shift error occurs when the sight is not aligned properly. You can tell if you are making consistent angular errors based on the placement of your bullets on the target.
- If the bullet hits the bottom of the target's center point, the front sight may slide down from the top of the rear sight.
- If the bullet hits the top of the target's center point, the front aiming part shifts more up than the rear aiming part.
- If the bullet hits the right of the center point, the front of the sight may point slightly more to the right than the rear of the sight.
- If the bullet hits the right of the center point, the front aiming part may point a little more to the left than the rear sight.
Step 2. Find out the parallel shift error
Parallel shift error occurs when you have aimed correctly aligned, but your hand moves while shooting. Keeping the gun in hand makes for an accurate shot, but usually, parallel shift errors don't bother you as much with aiming as they do with angle shift errors.
Parallel shift errors often occur due to your wrist lifting or dropping, so your shot usually hits the top of the center point or the bottom of it, respectively
Step 3. Error holding and holding points
Shift errors aren't the only problem you can run into. Placement of your bullets on the target can also indicate several other problems.
- If the bullet hits away from the center point and tends toward your dominant, you may be pressing your thumb or index finger too hard. Likewise, if it hits the other side of the center point, you may be using too little force on your index finger.
- If it hits the bottom right for right-handed shooters, or vice versa for left-handed shooters, you're tightening your grip too much when you pull the trigger. If it hits the bottom left, you're tightening your fingers too much or pulling the trigger too much.
- If the bullet hits the top right for a right-handed shooter, or vice versa for a left-handed shooter, you may dodge back a little while firing. If it hits the top left, you may dodge backwards while shooting or not follow the guidelines.
Part 3 of 3: Putting All Information Together
Step 1. Hold the rifle by the back with your dominant hand
Your dominant hand should be placed higher with the back grip – the back of the gun grip – with your thumb holding it in the direction of the tube.
- Your middle, ring, and little fingers should tie around the outside and front of the handle.
- The index finger should be outside the safety part of the trigger.
- This position provides maximum leverage against the rifle. When you fire a gun, it jerks backwards, and good leverage is essential to keep your hand steady.
Step 2. Place your non-dominant hand on the unclosed handle
Your non-dominant hand is your assist hand, and the way you place this hand will add help and leverage to the impact when you fire the gun.
- Place the helper hand as high as possible around the handle.
- All four fingers should be under the safety part of the trigger, and the index finger should press firmly on the outside of the bottom.
- Your thumb should point forward and meet your other thumb on the other side of the gun.
Step 3. Use an extended shooting position
Stand with your feet firmly on the ground and pointing at your target. Your feet should be shoulder width apart, and your knees should be slightly bent.
- This position makes it easy to move also gives you stability.
- Take your gun and raise it so that it is in front of you. Your arms should be straight and elbows slightly bent, and the gun should be placed close to your face.
Step 4. Aim the gun
Follow the instructions provided in this article to aim the gun at your target properly.
Step 5. Press the trigger until the gun fires
Instead of "pulling" the trigger, you have to press or squeeze the trigger in a controlled manner.
- Press the trigger straight back with constant pressure. Apply pressure only on the front of the trigger and not on the sides.
- Press the trigger until you feel the moment to release the pressure.
- Keep pressing the trigger in this manner until the gun fires. Try not to anticipate when this will happen, as there are often mistakes at the end of the minute in aiming.
Warning
- Keep your index finger off the trigger until just before you shoot. Your index finger should be placed outside the trigger guard until you consciously decide to shoot.
- Point the gun in a safe direction. You should always keep the gun away from other people, and in a direction where there is no physical injury and minimal damage to property, if any. If on a shooting range, the safest direction to aim the gun is downrange.
- Treat the gun as if it had a bullet, even if it wasn't. This is an absolute must in the world of firearms, and it can prevent a possible tragedy from occurring.
- Be aware of your target, as well as the entire area around and beyond it. In a professional shooting range, precautions are in place to keep others out of the firing area, and the target is positioned at a point that poses no threat to other people or anything in the environment. If you go shooting into a private area, however, you must ensure that there are no residences or companies in your target area.
