Bad Shooting Tips: Worst We've Heard

Jerry B

It took me a while to figure this out. I shoot a lot of .45 ACP and (finally) learned I was never going to completely control the recoil, so now I simply try to manage it. As for grip, the best advice I've received on grip pressure is to use the same amount of grip pressure on my strong hand that I exert on a softball bat or a golf club – firm, but not a death grip! The gun is not going to fly out of your hands.

Iron Warriors M/C Sovereign

That a pistol without an external safety makes a poor choice for a first pistol. It makes a great choice, just learn and follow the 10 rules of gun safety. This logic makes new shooters rely on their mechanical safety and not on the fundamentals!

Untacticool

First of all, when will everyone learn that it's a muzzle BRAKE, not a muzzle BREAK?
At the risk of painting with too broad a brush, most hunters I've seen/heard/spoken with as well as the Rambo wannabees that'll buy anything black with the word "tactical" affixed to it should hardly be entrusted with a knife and fork, much less a firearm. I see, hear and read of more misinformation and outright ignorance promulgated as knowledge by the over-testosteroned and under-intellected, that it's pathetic. Learn a few buzzwords, read a few catalogs and reviews so one can name-drop gunmakers and model numbers, wear camo, talk tough and be an instant "expert" to those even less informed.
Is it surprising that most gun owners present so poor an image to others?

snipe077

Wow, that is a lot of pent up anger just for a misspelled word.
- dfmf
  
  Don't even get me started on the difference between cement and concrete!
  - http://www.facebook.com/gregbgmc Greg Bgmc
    
    cement is wet and concrete is dry…
    - rich eng
      
      Actually Greg cement is dry and concrete is wet. Pumps on construction jobs pump concrete.Cement is mixed with sand ,water,admixtures and stone/gravel to make concrete.Cement is a powder when it is mixed with the other stuff to make concrete.
    - Tejanojack
      
      True story, Bubba. I've poured enough to cover some states with a six inch slab. LOL!
    - Willy
      
      Cum on, Greg is just messin with you !!!
    - guest
      
      Cement is a dried powder made from fired limestone. Concrete is a mixture of aggregate, cement and water. Sometimes various admixtures are added to alter specific properties.
  - Frank
    
    Or Magazines vs. Clips.
- Untacticool
  
  Isn't it amazing how the real point whizzed right on past you?
- Protocall
  
  I agree a thousend percint
BAL

Hey Untacticool, I agree. They are all such pore spellers all of em, and yet they can prolly still out shute your azz.
- Untacticool
  
  Goodness, aren't you the clever one – or is that actually the way you spell?
  Any time, BAL; any time. .17HMR to .500 Jeffery and anything in between, at any distance you have fingers and toes enough to count to, iron sights or scoped.
  - BAL
    
    If you can read, note that I didn't say I could shoot, I said THEY could. You are the one that started attacking someone that was simply posting a comment and an opinion. I am a stickler myself for spelling and inaccuracies, however, it's not that big of a deal if someone doesn't get a word correct or uses proper sentence structure when posting on a forum.
    - Untacticool
      
      And the point whizzed right on by you too. It's not about spelling, it's about self-styled "experts" who opine without knowledge and pass along their misinformation to those unlucky enough to fall for their self-aggrandising blather. If you could think, you'd have understood that.
      The spelling was just a passing incredulous thought that the editors of a gun magazine would perpetuate an egregious error on their Web site – but then CZ calls it a "break" in their catalog as well.
SgtABN6

You must hate most shooters. You must think you are the only one in this world that knows things about guns. Do you know about "Most Gun Owners"? You obviously are the leading expert on everything. I am a weapons expert. Small Arms as well as Crew Served Weapons. I admit that even I don't know everything there is to know about certain firearms. I have been a military Weapons Instructor for decades.If you have the attitude that you have portrayed in your comment, I am fearful of YOU! Loosen up and try to inform instead of name calling and acting as if you are the only person whom knows about firearms. It is our right to own weapons. Yes, people need to be trained but, jeez, lighten up. You are showing your true colors. They aren't pretty either.
- Untacticool
  
  Where did I say I was an expert? Now that you've strutted your credentials, you might actually reread what I wrote.
  It's about feeling bad for the people who are honestly trying to learn something and are misled by these "experts" into doing something foolish. If you're actually the expert you claim to be, I'd respect that and tell the newbies to ask you, not the idiots that claim knowledge they don't possess.
  The point is to honestly admit what one doesn't know rather than to let ego take over and bluff one's way through. I admire and respect real knowledge and deplore those who allow their desperate need for admiration to take over.
SgtABN6

People so stuck up as you, scare me. Thinking you know everything there is too know doesn't make you an expert. Relax, give helpful advice. Don't cuss people because you think they are ignorant.
- Untacticool
  
  I'd give helpful advice, and if it was a subject where I didn't have the knowledge, I'd admit it and try to point the questioner to someone like yourself who DOES have the knowledge rather than feed them full of half-baked opinions and guesses. THAT's my point.
SGT D

Thunder stealer! This drives me up the wall too. It is a BRAKE. Why do you people insist on BREAKING your muzzles? (OOPS-I almost spelled it muzzel.) I' have seen it called a break in fireams publications, books, and in military manuals. Jeeze! Give me a brake!
JoeHBro

I guess after all this anger its time to take a brake and eat some brakefast… lets just step on the breaks and slow down the negativity, I mean give me a brake, you don't want to brake anything do you?

Tanstaafl2

How about the sheriff in South Carolina who made the national news a couple weeks ago over his advice that all women in his county should get and carry a gun (because of a rash of sexual assaults). THAT advice isn't bad. What IS bad is what he said next – "They should get a .45 because, with a big bullet they don't have to be accurate." IDIOT!!!

Or how about the experts back when the M-16 was first issued who said you didn't have to clean it ? I hear that bad tip got many soldiers killed.

Earl

No he is not an idiot. He has probably seen people hit with a 22 in the shoulder or other non lethal spot. He has probably seen someone hit with a 45 in the same location. HUGE difference in the effect.
- Geoff
  
  And in recoil

Gulftanker

I hate when people spell muzzle brake: "Muzzle BREAK". Nothing on the gun is "breaking", you are "braking" the recoil. Seeing it here is even worse. Sheesh.

Joe

The best tip I've heard is "Someone who expresses an authoritative opinion, yet doesn't pay for the his guns, ammunition, and equipment from 100% personal finances, should be considered a source of entertainment not a source of knowledge".

danny

Joe, they call these people "Shills" (i.e. they are paid for their comments in at least some form)

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=712194865 Larry Ehlert

My friends and I standing in line at the 25 yard shooting range, the range pro and shooter have gone 20 rounds and still not hitting anything on target. They guy leaves the bench to go fetch more ammo, range pro slides into the shooting bench, puts his eye up to the scope, and a profound "wtf" came from his mouth. The guy comes back with more ammo, the pro tells the guy to pack his gun up and don't ever come back….The guy does, and that was the end of the conversation. We asked the pro what he saw threw the scope, he said a tiny target that looked 200 yards away with no cross hairs…scope was mounted backwards.

OK this is a dumb mistake, but who's mistake was it? The guy made it clear that this was his first gun, first time shooting. The pro didn't know who mounted the scope, and in 20 shots, several adjustments, the missing cross hairs never came up in the conversation? "Never come back." I'm sorry, but I think the "pro" should never come back, now we have a gun owner too afraid to get the knowledge he needs to operate his gun safely, he left not knowing his scope was mounted backwards, embarrassed and pissed off. If this man goes out and shoots someone by accident, I'd place the blame squarely on that pro. I could see maybe having a little fun at the gun owners expense, I could have remounted the guys scope on the spot, and got him back in line, set up to learn the right way instead of what happened.

Ashley

I have come across guys like that at the range where I shoot. The "pro" did that to cover up his own mistake of not "knowning" what was going on with the shooter's rifle.
Untacticool

I'd not poke any fun at the gun owner; all of us were newbies at some point, and hopefully found a good mentor to set us right without having to embarrass us to fuel their own egos.
Righting the scope and setting him up correctly as you suggest would make him feel that shooters are friendly, helpful folk, not looking to feel big by making someone else feel small as that "pro" did.
You're right on the money with your analysis – the "pro" is the jerk and a detriment to the whole shooting community.
Tanstaafl2

A lot of newcomers have been chased out of shooting and hunting (sometimes completely into the ANTI-gun camp) by jerks like this guy. Guns are no longer something everyone learns growing up – there are future shooters out there who really do start out that ignorant. Sadly, every range or gun shop seems to have at least on jerk (and at gun shows they absolutely abound!).

Just think how different things would be if the newcomer's excitement and enthusiasm met the friendly voice and helpful advice of a mentor rather than the jerk's derision and sneering condecension?

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=565226471 Timothy M. Lewis

If you use a larger caliber, then you don't have to be as good of a shot. I worked the sporting goods counter at a major retailer (in Southeast Kansas) and saw many instances of people buying a 7mm Rem Mag or .300 Win Mag for white tail, often with the reasoning "because then it doesn't matter where you hit 'em, they'll go down." I can only remember one customer taking my advice to consider a smaller caliber unless they were planning on hunting larger game. The number of uninformed (or down right ignorant) consumers is astounding at times.

Jason fb

"Drag the body outside your home inside, that way it'll be justified" WTH?

jmflynny

Thankfully, that's not even necessary, at least not in Florida. It is assumed that if someone is on the outside of your home, and attempting to break into it, it isn't because they want to cook breakfast for you. That person poses an imminent threat. STOP them where they stand.

Gil Star

It's true, you don't aim a shotgun, as you would a rifle. If the shooter has been taught properly he will have mounted the gun correctly, and it will be pointing where he's looking. Job done.

old .45

Sadly a lot of folks gun knowledge comes from what they see on television. They believe it to br true. While the actuality is the worst gun handling you may ever see is what is on television.

Mark

My cousin from the UK, saw one too many movies. First time firing a 44 mag at the range was a little wobbly,
so he put up his forearm like a benchrest, with his wrists crossed and fires before I can warn him. Flash out
of the cylinder burns the hair right off his arm.

longknife

The best advise that I have heard given was that if you have $500 to spend on a weapon spend $100 for the weapon $400 on ammo and learn to shoot it.

Don

Spell check, "advise", should be advice.

Matt

"Just wait until the sights are close to the target and slap the trigger."

Maarty

One of the best ever, to a new shooter by a clown in a gun shop: "Buy a semi auto and if you miss you can just keep shooting till you hit it" Mine is always to buy a bolt action, single shot if you can to begin with, and learn to hit what you aim at. Leave the spray and pray to the tv heros.

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002274408492 Larry Arnold

Worst advise? "Welcome, Miss First-Time Shooter. Here's a gun you can fire your first shot with. Wait until I get the video camera going and all the guys gather round."

As a first gun, there's worse than the J-frame. Any of the ultra/feather/super-light snubby revolvers. My CHL students have more problems with them than any other gun. Fifty rounds HURT. These guns have a place, but it's never as either a first gun, or as an only gun. How much is the shooter going to practice if it's literally a pain?

Hersfelder

I agree with you, Larry!
Sam

Lots of good stuff in the responses, huh? A G R E E because I think you meant to say there is NOT worse than the J frame. It not only hurts and intimidates, it makes for permanent flinchers, and habitual flinching will persist even if you get them to drop down to something with less recoil. When a cop decides he wants to buy a back up gun to add to his issued firearm they ask for advice basically to decide between a J frame or one of the smaller semi-autos. Adivce is to get either one BUT to also buy a .22 LR of the same action type for practice. One guy sold his scandium SW 357 after it tore his hand (with .38+P's) and bought a .22 Ruger for practice. He has thanked me every range day. He now shoots possibles with his Glock 21 and is also FAR better with his new back up gun.
- http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002274408492 Larry Arnold
  
  Actually I was differentiating between a steel J-frame revolver (bad enough) and the scandium etc. lighter-weight revolvers of the same size. Not only do the lighter-weight guns kick more, you often can't even shoot them with low-power target loads.

Ken

Will someone tell Will Hayden to get his finger OFF the trigger when he isn't shooting and especially when he is getting his picture taken? Professional people should know better.

Mark

But he's an internet expert! Also, worst project manager ever. I stopped watching the show because every time there is a problem he blames his staff and tells them they better figure it out or else….
- Hersfelder
  
  I guess he forgot what we learned in the Army years ago: "The Commander is responsible for everything his unit does and fails to do" – and – "Units only do those things well that the boss checks."

bobbyrlf3

"Just the sound of a pump shotgun racking the slide is enough to scare a way an intruder". Nonsense.

Snug

Nonsense Hell ! How often have you been on the wrong side of that transaction?
- bobbyrlf3
  
  Never, and I don't plan on it. At best, racking the slide gives away your position; at worst, you were carrying on an unloaded chamber, which puts you behind the curve. Understandably, you can't prepare for every eventuality, but any advantage you can give yourself when you're playing catch-up to an intruder in your home only works in your favor.

Frank G in Tennessee

Gray,_One question comes to mind: How BIG are your hands and forearms. You can send a round(s) one handed? I agree with Ken, come on man: at least look at the target like Gary. I do like your show.

Keven John

So this might not be bad advice but is is certainly an example of what not to do with your firearms. One of my best friends and I were at a range one afternoon and had it all to ourselves. A bit later another couple of guys walked in as well. One gentleman was shooting and looked to be receiving instruction from the other. After some time had passed the instructor stepped over to our bay and asked what we were shooting. As normal in ranges we start discussing what guns we each have and when asked what the instructor was carrying he happily removed his Sif from the holster to show us. My friend and I were standing side by side and this so called instructor was facing us. We were caught totally by surprise when this guy swept both of us with the barrel of his Sig. I saw my friend flinch and I was just in awe at what had happened. This guy was supposedly instructing someone else in firearms use and sweeps the barrel of his just unholstered firearm across both my friend and I. I know I should have said something to the range owners but I didn't. I know shame on me. Like I said, not bad advice but not good instruction either!

Sam

On death gripping: This applies to fighting with a gun, not trying to shoot a target. When the adrenalin pumps from fear/anger I guess many might be surprised to find out that people DO death grip the firearm, especially handguns. The associated trembling also has made some hesitate to shoot when they really needed to. Since this does happen (from interviews and real experience) we experimented extensively with it. You absolutely can hit well with the gun vibrating. If you flinch, you will still miss. The bonus is that death gripping also gets you back on target quicker than any "stance". This needs to be practiced to give confidence. Death grip the gun until you are vibrating and shoot anyway. You might be real sruprised. Please try this before running ignorant mouths. On racking the slide: I have scared more than one person into compliance by "racking" the slide. If an intruder hears that sound, especially coupled with a strong warning, and he/she continues, they are making themselves ever more vulnerable to being legally shot. and not too many criminals are ignorant of this.

Don

The death grip phenomenon has been well documented in homicide investigations since at least the 30's. It might not be good for shooting but it happens. Talk to some of the old-time cops where they or friends had shootouts over the hood of a patrol car where 12 rounds were fired going both ways, and no one was hit. Adrenaline can really screw up your shooting skills. I found that the post event shakes could take half an hour to go away. It is hard to be cool when you can't write your own name. It is great to be cool headed during the event, but hard to control when you reach for an ink pen and realise you forgot your vest that morning.

Luther

The first thing that comes to mind is that muzzle breaks are great for first-time shooters, when the noise actually scares them worse then the recoil would have!

This is from a contributing writer? She may know her stuff, but the writing is not up to professional standards. Muzzle Break?? It's a BRAKE, as in slowing down the recoil. "Worse THEN the recoil…"?? Using the comparative, the word is THAN, not then. I submit the writer and editor should do a better job as their credibility suffers from poor writing.

John Doe

I don't care, she's kinda cute with her rifle and kill laying there. Love a chick with a gun.

Worst advice I ever heard was that any 1911 you buy should have a firing pin safety, just in case you drop it.
Or, it should have a magazine disconnect safety. Total BS.

NN.

I think the .410 advice is the only one on the money.
All that other stuff works for me.

Matt

Your .380 is too small: shoot a 9mm. Too small: shoot a .40. Too small: shoot a .45. We get it! You are right! There is no way I could have protected myself and my family with that puny caliber.

Bigger may be better, but 1 is better than none.

Hermando

Racking a shotgun in the dark is bad advice in my opinion . If you are in a truly blackout condition or low light shootout you have just given your position away . You might as well shake a can full of rocks . Why do you think they teach you tob blackout your flashlight and laser and move to another position position after firing a round and light up your oponent and engage from another firing location ? The sound of a shotgun being racked does NOT end a shootout , the load of buckshot , birdshot , or a slug fired into your opponent does .
I was a police firearms instuctor for 25 years . We always taught our officers to "rack "( or chamber a round ) as quietly as possible and then top off the magazine to replace the chambered round . NO armed and determined assailant to my knowledge has ever been incapacitated from the sound of a shotgun being racked .Some of the dirt bags out there cannot tell the difference between a shotgun being racked and a bag of potato chips being stomped on . Think about it . The same goes for pointing lasers at armed opponents .

Sam

This is in regard to having a shotgun available when an INTRUDER was on the way in and causing them to quit and leave so this hasn't much to do with your reference. But, even considering your LE approach, fights of all kinds ARE ended when a perp decided to give up, even BEFORE being shot. So the sound of the round being chambered in APPROPRIATE situations can help to "end it". By the way, if you want "quiet", load the chamber and top off BEFORE you get to the scene. Another by the way: I have been a LEO but also a use of force instructor with all our weapons, for a total of 40 years. I am also involved as an expert witness in defending officers in IA investigations, civil cases and even criminal charges. Previous indications of attitude in written and spoken words can, and have, caused serious damage to many officers.

Roger in NC

These are all good examples (OK, except the muzzle "break" thing), but the one that will make you a better shooter is Mr. Metcalf's advice to use a "relaxed firm" grip. I tried this after reading Brian Enos' "Practical Shooting – Beyond the Fundamentals" book and it has helped reduce my groups very significantly.

sergio cantillo

Worst shooting tip ever ? "+P+ ammo is the best and it won't hurt for your Marlin Camp Carbine … "

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002456771473 David Hinson

Just go shoot! If someone is new to shooting and doesn't have good fundamentals or for that matter, is not new to shooting but has developed bad habits, to just go shoot is bad advise. I understand the premise, eventually you will learn from your mistakes and improve. But isn't it lazy on the part of the advise giver to say just go shoot without offering instruction? Or at least where to find it.

D Flack

The guy I bought my first semi-auto handgun from said, "it don't shoot real straight but if you just unload toward somebody it'll scare 'em off…" Funny, I was real young and didn't know he was wrong.

Don

Closing the "other eye" is sometimes what a shooter needs. Personally I shoot right handed and have a dominant left eye. I close my left eye for rifle or shotgun. I aim my handguns left eyed. I can shoot equal qualification scores with handgun, SMG, rifle or shotgun. I always loved it when an old friend of mine would get told he must shoot with both eyes open, when he has only had one eye since 1946. Some of us do benefit from closing one eye. I rarely hunted in my youth. My adult career involved military and police service in an era when iron sights ruled. We didn't see many quality red dot sights until my twilight came. I am just now starting to use them, but being an old dog it does take considerable retraining to undue 50+ years of closiing the appropriate eye.

QuietOne

I was once told by a guy behind the counter a Springfield GI .45 is exactly the same as the Springfield Mil-Spec .45 and the only difference is the price. I told him he was wrong, he tried to argue with me and I told him "have nice day" and left. Needless to say Ive never been back to that gun shop again( yes I said gun shop).
Some of the worse and dangerous advice Ive heard always came from someone behind a counter sitting on their high horse.

AreS

Im a little disappointed that G&A only came up with eight worst shooting tips, a bit of a let down. Ive enjoyed reading everyone elses posts more than the 'eight tips'. How can you not LOVE the firearms community!

Iron Warriors M/C Sovereign

The point was to only have 8, then we come up with more. There is a chance to win a brand new pair of 3M Peltor Tactical Sport Ear Muffs.

Snug

Think about this……..ONLY ONE……can be worst, the rest are similarly bad.

Edward Ruchala

Worst shooting tip?
Well that would have to be the two kids I encountered walking back to my truck last Deer season .
One was trying to clear mud from his barrel with a stick, with little success.
As I walked up on them, I hear his buddy tell him "just shoot the mud out"..
I was quick to stop him and tell them both of the extreme danger in doing that and the correct cleaning procedure. They both thanked me and went on their way.

weatherby

worst tip would be saying you should be surprised when the trigger brakes
should be you should know exactly when it's going to

spookleo

Im not quite sure what you are saying here but the old instruction of aligning the sights and accepting the wobble area while applying pressure to the trigger until it breaks and supprises you does in fact reduce group size considerably when compared to aligning the sights and pulling the trigger when it looks good! you will almost surely jerk the trigger or otherwise move the gun while trying to get it to go off!! Those instructions took me all the way to the all army pistol team.

Big DS

As bad as getting bad shooting tips is, it's much worse to actually read the comments posted here under the article. A lot, but not all, of you could use a good smack in the mouth.

Untacticool

Ahhh, the voice of reason; "A good smack in the mouth."
Then one wonders why gun owners are viewed as armed Neanderthals…?

I submit that the main reason why comments about pseudo "experts" elicits such vituperative commentary is that most who post here identify with that description and feel personally slighted.
- JoeHBro
  
  ah… I see you learned how to use a dictionary…

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000363546083 Jon Hall

Brake or break? Wow! Can't hardly wait to see these guys get to the clip or magazine.issue.

Untacticool

I see you missed the point too. One sentence about break vs. brake and the rest of the post – which by the way is about pseudo "experts" and the harm they do to the uninformed – seems to be forgotten. Can't anyone out there read more than one sentence with comprehension?
- Iron Warriors M/C Sovereign
  
  So you take call Ms Boddington's excellent advice bogus because she used a heterograph?

Ernie

One of the worse tips I was ever given:
It won't hurt your hearing to hunt without hearing protection.

R J Dobbs

Is Ms Boddington a regular contributor now? Perhaps there is hope that my daughter will go shooting / hunting with me yet.
The MOABA (Mother of all bad advice) – Just rack the action on that pump shotgun, that will scare all the bad guys away!

Kyle

I sense alot of animosity… Did I spell that wrong? If I did let the witch hunt begin.

Rick O'Shey

Why do I get the feeling that some of you folks don't have enough to do??

Streaks

The worst advice I ever heard was from some slob behind a counter when I went to buy some CorBon's for my .45 and they were out. I told him what my second choice was and he said I should just get some ball rounds. Curious, I asked him why and he stated that FMJ rounds are just as or more lethal than any HP round made. I was in bemused, stunned silence for a moment and asked him why he thought so. He then regailed me with a story of his stent in the Marines were he was part of a test project were they shot goats with ball ammo vs HP and the ball rounds "tore craters through them". I tried to argue the point of slower moving projectiles with round shapes not disfiguring organs or not causing a lot of internal bleeding and then….just thought better of it and walked away as he wouldn't be swayed. I wrote an email to the feedback link of the chain's site about the conversation and how silly and perhaps even dangerous it was but never heard back from them.

Also, please forgive any typos you grammar/spelling mongers, I haven't installed a word processor on this machine yet so didn't spell-check

Jib Quinn

I was 22 and just out of the service when I passed on buying a 1911 in .38 Super at a great price because I had just read an article in the most prominent gun magazine of the day. The author, a professional writer and regular contributor clearly stated that the .38 Super was the most inacurate round he had ever fired and saw little reason for it's existence.

Having had a great deal of recent experience with the .45, I was quite familiar with it, but knew nothing of the .38. Regretably, I heeded the opinion of the expert.

oldironnut

Some of these so called experts wouldn't know the difference between a beef pie and a cow pie.