Shooting has been called the great American pastime. Others have gone further, calling it our original and forever national sport. My father taught me to shoot in the woods of upstate New York in the 1960s. Born in Brooklyn, the only reason my father owned a gun was because he exceeded his sales quota, and his employer gave him a Remington Model 551 semi-automatic .22 as a reward. How times have changed!
What doesn’t change is the look on someone’s face when you introduce them to shooting and they score their first bullseye. No matter who they are or where they are from, the expression of glee is universal. For me, it was shooting cans off a log. I specifically recall that it was a Schlitz wide seam beer can. Boy, those things really jumped when you hit them! The memory of that day and making my dad proud is what made me return to shooting decades later. I used the same rifle to introduce my son to shooting.
When I wasn’t teaching my son basic firearm safety and rifle marksmanship, I was teaching myself how to shoot a handgun. Like so many of us, I started off with a Ruger MkIII. My club had a Bullseye league, so many of my sessions were spent practicing for that. Standard NRA slow fire and rapid-fire targets, at 50 feet, one-handed, with a spotting scope at the ready. My first perfect shot is clear in my memory because of the feeling I had—not when I looked in the scope, but after the gun discharged and I was in follow-through. My mind was clear, and although alone, I uttered the words, “That was perfect.” I looked in the scope, and the X was gone. I share this story with new shooters to stress the importance of follow-through and demonstrate how we can develop our intuitive shooting abilities.
In golf, bowling, or frisbee, there is no mechanical intermediary, so instructions to “feel it” or “be natural” are easier to understand. Even though we are pressing a trigger, rubbing on a sear, releasing a spring-loaded striker, and starting a chemical reaction, we can still “become one with the gun.” Visualize the bullseye, breathe, squeeze, and follow through. Here’s a fun video of one of my clients splitting a playing card!
