What’s Up Sheepdogs? Ryan here with Tampa Carry.

Today I headed out to the range with Jason. Jason attended one of our Concealed Weapons Permit Courses in Tampa. He has been shooting a few times and is extremely competent in firearm safety. What he needed help with was improving his accuracy.

Jason brought a Walther PPS 9mm and a Smith & Wesson BodyGuard .380 ACP. I gave Jason a few basic tips and asked him to fire two mags down range so I could watch him.

Mistake #1 - Jerking the Trigger

What I noticed is that Jason has a tendency to jerk the trigger, this causes the round to impact randomly on the target. This is pretty common with newer shooters. Remember we want to pull the trigger slowly and smoothly to the rear until the trigger breaks. I also recommended that Jason practice taking up the slack in his trigger then aligning his sights and finally pulling slightly until the round discharges. Taking up the slack refers to pulling the trigger until you can feel resistance, this is usually half way. By doing this you're reducing the distance that you must pull the trigger for each shot, therefore reducing the possibility of pulling the sights off target.

Mistake #2 - Lowering the Gun Between Shots

After every shot Jason likes to lower the firearm, losing sight picture, to see where his round impacted. This is never something we want to do. When I'm shooting my goal is to pull the trigger, allow the recoil to push the firearm up and then fall right back on target. This allows me to make very quick follow-up shots and maintain a high level of accuracy.

Mistake #3 - Closing One Eye

I didn't realize Jason was doing this until I reviewed the footage from our time together. Its natural for people to try to close one eye when shooting. However, by doing this, you're losing 50% of your vision and I a self-defense situation I need every advantage I can get. I know it can be a little hard to get used to but you need to push through to develop your eye's ability to focus.

To learn more about our Private Range Instruction or to book your training visit our private firearm instruction page here.

That's all I have for today. So until next time keep training and stay safe...

Ryan G. Thomas