Improving your gun shooting accuracy is a lifelong exercise, even master marksmen can stand to improve here and there.
But if you want to learn how to improve your gun shooting accuracy over the short term, you’ll want to focus on the following aspects.
Tips to Improve Shooting Accuracy
1. Learn to Breathe Correctly
First and foremost, make sure that you are breathing correctly when shooting.
Proper breathing technique involves breathing out when you pull the trigger and breathing in during the space between shots.
This prevents your chest from moving the position of your arms and offsets your accuracy to a minor degree.
Over time, breathing in this kind of pattern will become natural.
The key, as with all things worth doing and learning, is practice.
To get the habit down pat, practice breathing and shooting in this pattern, mainly when dry firing with your pistol or rifle.
2. Adopt a Proper Stance and Grip
Also important are stance and grip. You need to learn the right form for both aspects if you want to become as accurate as possible with your gun, whether it’s a firearm or pistol.
Stance describes how you stand with a weapon and where your various body parts are.
This can determine how recoil affects your body and whether you can make a quick follow-up shot after squeezing off a round.
A good stance usually involves forming a broad base with your body, which can absorb recoil more readily than a narrow base.
Stand with your feet some distance apart, and lean forward into your weapon to offset the recoil you will experience.
Be sure to keep your arms positioned properly, too.
Grip describes where your hands are around your pistol or rifle and touches on trigger discipline.
Good grip involves keeping your finger away from the trigger until you are about to let off a shot, and holding the weapon so that your hands provide a stable platform to cradle the weapon when it kicks as you shoot.
3. Use a Gun That Works for You
Lots of firearm beginners end up buying a gun that they think looks cool or may use something that they got from a family member.
But firearms can be thought of as extensions of their owners – to this end, it’s important to find a gun that works right for you.
For instance, larger guns with higher calibers will produce higher recoil.
This can be difficult to control if you are smaller and don’t have a lot of upper body strength.
On the flip side, smaller pistols may be incredibly accurate and perfect for you, especially if you have a small palm size.
The bottom line: Practice with and use a weapon that fits your body type and size.
4. Determine Your Dominant Eye
This might seem minor, but it’s important.
Everyone has a dominant eye, which is determined by their genetics.
Your dominant eye is the one that you will see out of more clearly when shooting and the eye you should look out of if you decide to close one eye for measurement.
Figuring out which eye is dominant is quick and easy, and we have an in-depth guide about it right on this site.
It only takes a couple of minutes, and your accuracy will see significant improvements as a result.
Practice and Experience Will Help You
Overall, you’ll only improve your gun shooting accuracy through extensive practice.
Focusing on all of the above aspects will allow you to hone your efforts and see more measurable progress across a shorter time frame.
Be sure to hire an experienced firearm trainer if you want the best results.
What are your current issues with your shooting accuracy? We'd love to hear from you in the comments section!
Up Next:
- Accuracy vs Precision: How Do They Differ?
- A Beginner’s Guide to Precision Shooting
- Weak Hand Shooting | 5 Tips And Tricks
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Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on September 10, 2020, and has been updated for quality and relevancy.
