FUNDAMENTALS OF PISTOL MARKSMANSHIP

By PSMS JOEY M CABADING

 LESSON GOAL:
To provide the participants the knowledge and
skills about the fundamentals of Pistol
Marksmanship.
 LESSON OBJECTIVES:
1. Define the meaning of Marksmanship
2. Enumerate the Fundamentals of Marksmanship
3. Differentiate sight alignment and sight picture
4. Identify Half Lungs and Empty lungs breathing
techniques
5. Compare the 2 kinds of proper stance
6. Demonstrate the proper grip of handling a
pistol
 MARKSMANSHIP
Is a skillfull art of shooting and hitting the target
within a given or known distance.
 STANCE
When attempting to accurately shoot a handgun, no matter how
good your sight alignment, breath control and other skills are, if your
stance doesn't provide you with a stable shooting platform, you’re
destined to be inconsistent with your shot placement. Consistency in
all aspects of shooting is the key to accuracy.

When it comes to shooting stances, you have three choices:

1. Isosceles
2. Modified Isosceles

*Weaver
ISOSCELES STANCE

In the past, the standard taught was the

Isosceles Stance. The shooter faces the
target squarely, the feet are set shoulder
width (or slightly wider) apart. The toes
face the target and are aligned. The
knees are flexed at an angle that varies
somewhat and the shooter leans forward
from the waist towards the target. The
shooter’s arms are extended and form
an isosceles triangle, hence the name.
 Isosceles

Pros: The positives include the fact that it feels like a comfortable
and natural position to most shooters. In addition, the body
positioning seems to have a positive effect on accuracy.

Cons: The predominant problem with the Isosceles Stance is that

while it has side-to-side stability, it lacks front-to-rear balance
due to the positioning of the feet.
Modified Isosceles

It was developed in the military in the special forces community. It

made its way into law enforcement training and became popular
because it allows officers to defend themselves with their hands,
baton or firearm all from the same platform.

It’s also a great advanced technique for civilian shooters. In the

Fighting Stance, the shooter is square to the target. His feet are
shoulder width or slightly wider and the firing side foot is slightly
behind the support side foot.

A good landmark is for the toe of the shooting foot to be at the instep
of the support foot. This offsetting of the feet eliminates the forward-
rear balance issue of the Isosceles Stance.
The knees are flexed to
absorb recoil and to act as
shock absorbers when
moving in any direction. The
shooter leans slightly
forward and extends the
arms straight out, bringing
the sights to the eyes. The
head is kept level to
maintain balance, especially
when moving.
Pros: Any weapon can be fired effectively from this stance,
although a case can be made for the traditional shotgun stance due
to the recoil.

Cons: With the this stance, there really isn't a downside. By

modifying the Weaver and Isosceles stances, it eliminates the
common drawbacks of the other two stances.
WEAVER STANCE

The Weaver Stance has become very

popular and replaced the Isosceles as
the standard taught to most new
shooters. The shooter blades his body,
placing the foot on the firing side back
and turning the support side towards the
target. The shooter’s strong, or firing
side, arm is extended and the support
arm’s elbow is bent. This allows the
shooter to employ a very stable push-
pull grip. The shooter pushes with his
firing arm and pulls with the support arm
to stabilize the weapon.
Pros: The biggest plus is the push pull grip which is effective in controlling recoil
and weapon control in general.

Cons: A major problem with the stance for the law enforcement community is
that by blading the body, an officer is exposing an area of his torso that isn’t
completely covered with body armor. A right-handed shooter exposes his left
armpit, which is an entryway to the heart. In fact, many officers have been
fatally shot in this area in spite of body armor.
Pros: The biggest plus is the push pull grip which is effective in
controlling recoil and weapon control in general.

Cons: A major problem with the stance for the law enforcement
community is that by blading the body, an officer is exposing an area of
his torso that isn’t completely covered with body armor. A right-handed
shooter exposes his left armpit, which is an entryway to the heart. In
fact, many officers have been fatally shot in this area in spite of body
armor.

Another problem with the Weaver is that movement while attempting to

maintain the bladed position is awkward and problematic. Additionally,
post shooting studies have shown that the majority of Weaver shooters
reverted to a form of the Isosceles Stance during actual shootings.
GRIP

A proper grip helps better manage recoil and muzzle rise, and helps a
shooter with accuracy, speed, and retention. The hands should be as high
on the gun as possible. The pistol should fit in the hand to be straight like
an extension of the shooter’s arm. The support hand’s fingers should
wrapped around the front of the strong hand, so that all four fingers
overlay the three lower fingers of the strong hand. While the strong hand
squeezes the pistol with front-to-rear pressure, the support hand clamps
pressure from the sides. This gives 360-degree pressure on the pistol
providing a stable grip.
NOT RECOMMENDED
 DANGEROUS

Gripping a pistol with thumbs behind the slide is extremely dangerous and can result in serious
injury.

The movement of the slide across the hand can have devastating and permanent effects.
 1 2 3 4 5

SIGHT ALIGNMENT

The proper alignment of the front sight to the rear sight.

In order for the bullet to hit the center of the target, the shooter
must aim the pistol and give the barrel a definite direction relative
to the target.
SIGHT PICTURE

The RELATIONSHIP of proper sight alignment to the target in

relation with the shooting eye.

PRINCIPLE OF SIGHT PICTURE: BLURRED, CLEAR, BLURRED

BREATHING CONTROL

If you breath while shooting you will definitely might not hit the
target.

TWO KINDS OF BREATHING TECHNIQUES:

1. Empty Lungs
2. Half Lungs
TRIGGER CONTROL

Trigger control is critical for an accurate shooter. The shooter should

press the trigger smoothly so that the sights remain on the target.
With the pad of the index finger on the center of the trigger, pull the
trigger to the rear to fire the first shot.
FOLLOW THROUGH

Follow-through occurs when you keep contact with the trigger and
get your sights back on target. For slow, controlled courses of fire,
only let the trigger release to the “reset position” between shots;
do not allow the trigger to come forward after a shot any more
than is needed to reset the trigger.

“The cycle of firing a shot does NOT end at “Bang!”; it ends when
you are back on target, trigger is reset, the sights are realigned,
and you are ready to fire again.”
Any Questions?