Fundamentals of Handgun Marksmanship

Marksmanship is a term that seems to have a fluid definition. To the average person, simply hitting a target is proof that they have at least some semblance of marksmanship skills. Serious shooters, however, have a very high standard of what they consider true marksmanship skills. And while every firearm platform offers its own set of challenges, none is as challenging as the handgun. It is small with a short sight radius and generally has a trigger that requires more pressure than the gun weighs. Almost always found with “open sites,” it requires the shooter to master its many moving parts. The handgun is also the most commonly found weapon in America and, being such, is the center of countless discussions on how to improve accuracy. While a deeper dive down the rabbit hole can generate countless subtopics, there are six fundamentals of marksmanship.

First up we need to look at stance. Now before I start a war here, I will further clarify that I am discussing defensive marksmanship as opposed to competition. The stance I subscribe to is the fighting stance. It is the same stance you would use if you were getting ready to go to “hands on” with a threat. Your weight is evenly spread with your support side foot slightly forward. This stance allows you to be easily mobile should the need arise. It also allows you to manage recoil from your weapon more easily.

The next point is grip. The correct grip is essential to not only the initial shot but to get a good follow-up shot as well. Your strong side hand should grip the gun firmly but not with crushing power. Because of how the muscles and tendons of the hand interact, over-gripping will affect the mobility of your trigger finger. The hand should be set high on the grip with the web of the hand sitting high into the beavertail of the gun. The support-side hand should now wrap around the strong-side hand and lock it into place. This portion of the grip is very firm and will have the support-side thumb pointing down the slide. The strong-side thumb should sit on top of the meat of the support-side hand. Additionally, there should be no gap between the hands at the back of the gun. This will allow you to better manage the recoil and muzzle rise of the gun.

Now that we are standing and have a good grip, we need to aim in on the target. In this section, we are going to address two aiming options: traditional iron sights and red dots. Iron sights on firearms have been an effective aiming solution for hundreds of years and continue to evolve and improve today. To be successful with these sights you need correct alignment. This is achieved by aligning the front sight in the rear notch of the rear sight. The top of the front sight should be level with the top of the rear, and there should be equal amounts of light on each side — hence the old sing-song admonition, “Equal height, equal light.” If you are using a red-dot optic, life is simpler. Looking through the optic, place the reticle on the target you want to hit. With a properly zeroed sight, it really is that simple.

The next part of our aiming equation is the sight picture, or what we are seeing. With fixed iron sights, you want to have a partially blurry rear sight, crystal clear front sight, and a partially blurry target. This gives us the greatest control over the closest thing we have as a midpoint between us and the target – the front sight. With a red dot, things are different, however. With a pistol optic, we want to focus on our actual target and not the dot. As we look through the optic, we will superimpose the dot on our target and break our shots. This is counterintuitive to those who have spent a great deal of time on iron sights. It is, however, very fast and accurate.

Trigger control is our next item in the lineup, and it is critical. The trigger should be set in the middle of the first pad of the index finger. Too much finger on the trigger will cause the gun to move and our shots to be off. Now, we want to press the trigger to the rear in a smooth and continuous motion. We do not want to jerk the trigger or pull it hard. I equate it to the way you press the shutter on a camera. The smooth and steady motion will give you the best results. 

Following the press, we get the reset. This occurs when the shooter releases pressure on the trigger and the trigger mechanically returns toward its starting position. At a certain point during this arc of travel, the gun’s firing mechanism is reset and ready for the next shot. While a common instructional method has shooters practicing releasing the trigger until they feel the reset, it’s important to know that this is simply a teaching aid and not a recommended technique for defensive handgun use. Better to work toward a quick and natural release of pressure so that the trigger resets during recoil while all the slide movement is also occurring. The evolution is learning to release and re-prep the trigger during recoil so that, when the gun settles, you are already ready to break the next shot.

That leads up to the last part of our marksmanship formula, which is follow-through. Follow-through is the act of maintaining a steady platform to send follow-up shots on target. The challenge faced comes in the way of anticipation or flinching. Especially true with newer shooters, the anticipation of the next shot can cause a flinch response as the shooter preemptively tries to combat recoil. This causes the muzzle dip before the bullet clears the barrel and is never any help to accuracy. If I could summarize the mental state you want to have while shooting, it would be to embrace the blast. Do not fear the gun going off but welcome it and accept it as part of the process. In time you will become desensitized to the shot and your accuracy will improve.

A second part of follow-through is getting your sights or optic back on the target in the event you need to shoot again. For every shot we take, we have two sight pictures. The initial picture, which was followed by a shot and a second follow-up sight picture in case we need to shoot again. Avoid firing your gun and immediately dropping it down to evaluate your work.

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Shooting a handgun can be challenging. One minute you may be shooting bull’s eyes and the next you are off. As with all shooting, it always comes back to the fundamentals. By practicing these core principles of marksmanship, you can improve every aspect of your shooting. In the end, like all complex motor skills, shooting is a perishable skill. Practice must be ongoing, but the fruits of our labor will make it worth our time!