Shooting Tips

by

John Berta

 

Setup and Fitting a New Target Hand Gun

These tips works just as well for a brand new Pardini out of the box or a used gun for a new owner.

Grips

One of the easiest things a shooter can do to improve his or her scores is to make sure the gun fits his or her hand properly.  This means the grip is comfortable, and the sights line up correctly every time the gun is raised to eye level by lifting the arm. 

One of the major problems encountered by shooters is the requirement to move their wrist to align the sights and create a proper sight picture.  Unfortunately when the wrist is used in this way to align the sights, when the finger begins to squeeze the trigger, the minds' focus turns to a smooth release of the shot and the wrist returns to its "normal at rest" position causing the sights to be misaligned as before sighting and the shot to go astray.

A simple exercise is to take a proper grip on the gun, close your eyes raise the gun to eye level and look down your arm to see if the sights are aligned.  If they are you have nothing to worry about.  If they are not, as it is in most cases, you must begin to adjust the grip on the gun so that you can put a consistent hold on the grip and have the sights properly aligned when you raise your arm every time. 

This may require just a simple adjustment on some guns with ergonomic or adjustable grips or may require some work with a rasp or some plastic wood to make the grip fir your hand properly in order to provide you with a proper hold and sight picture every time you raise the gun.  This is especially true on used or older model of guns.

If you have to resort to reshaping the grip, do so in small incriminates.  It is much easier to remove wood from the grip than it is to replace it.

An alternative is to order a custom grips from a company that specializes in making custom grips, like Nill-Griffe, that are made to specific individuals hand and gun specifications.

Sights

Most new guns made today for target shooting are provided with adjustable rear sights.  Some models even come with interchangeable blade front sights in different heights and widths to provide the exact sight picture a competitive shooter demands or is accustomed to and requires to perform at a top level. 

It is very important that the sights be aligned correctly.  If a shooter does not have the confidence in his or her guns ability to place the shot precisely where he or she is aiming it becomes guess work and the result is invariably poor scores. 

Most new target guns today are provided with rear sights that are click adjustable for windage and elevation.  Some guns have an adjustment for the width of the opening in the rear sight that gives the shooter the ability to provide as tight or loose a frame for the front sight as he or she is most comfortable with.  This adjustment varies with the course of fire being shot and the preference of the shooter.  It is a good idea to try different settings during practice to see which settings provide the best results for you.  These settings may be different in indoor and outdoor shooting conditions. 

It is also highly recommended that all shooters prepare a "Sight Adjustment Card" and keep it handy with your gun in case sight adjustment is required during a course of fire.  Many shooters have lost valuable points during competitions simply by making the mistake of turning the sight adjustment screws in the wrong direction during the stress of competition.

An other handy tool is knowing the necessary sight adjustments required to move the sight picture from 6 o'clock hold to center hold.  This is a very handy tool in Center Fire Shooting as well as Sport Pistol where it is a good idea to change the sights from 6 o'clock hold during the slow fire portion to center hold during the Duel or Rapid Fire portion. 

The shooters ability to make this adjustment accurately and confidently removes the requirement for using "Kentucky Windage" during the Duel or Rapid fire stage where the whole target is black and a 6 o'clock hold is not possible.  So if you did not change your sight to center hold you are guessing at an aiming point on the target that will give you a satisfactory result.  For most competitive shooters this is simply not an acceptable option.  This information should also be recorded on your Sight Adjustment card. 

Trigger Adjustment

Trigger adjustment is one of the most critical aspects of target shooting.  More poor shots result from an improper release of a shot than any other cause.

Most target guns sold today have adjustable triggers.  For many shooters, trigger adjustment is a minefield they do not wish to penetrate.  Their feeling is that if the trigger weight is legal, and the gun passes technical inspection at a competition, they do not want to fool with it. 

I can understand this thinking.  On the older target guns trigger adjustment was a scary proposition.  You were never certain that once you turned the screw to increase or decrease the trigger weight you could ever find the same setting again.  On some guns you had to disassemble the trigger mechanism completely, and there was always the problem of broken springs and re-assembly and it was a time consuming and tedious task.  In most cases not worth the bother.

On the new target guns, not only is trigger adjustment a snap, but fitting the trigger to your trigger finger, and more specifically the exact portion of your trigger finger you like to use to fire the shot is a piece of cake.  You can adjust the position, angle, travel, angel and line of pull as well as the weight of first stage and weight of the second stage as well as length of travel of each.  Or if you prefer just reduce the pull to a single stage depending on your own personal preference, all with the simple turn of an allen key.  Nothing could be simpler.

I know some competitive shooters who like a very light trigger on their Standard Pistols as well as on their Center Fire guns.  On most guns this type of light setting is not possible as a lighter than specified setting in the rule books will not pass technical inspection. 

One method to achieve a light trigger release and still be legal as far as the technical trigger pull requirements are concerned on guns with two stage triggers, is to have the first stage on a two stage trigger set to the required technical specification and have the second stage set for your personal preference for releasing the shot. 

In this way your gun will pass the required trigger weight outlined by the rule books, and you will still have the ability to set the trigger to your personal preference for releasing the shot.