Marksmanship principles

No matter what your weapon is, whether it is a bow and arrow, cross bow, pea shooter, shot gun, or artillery piece, there are four basic rules that must be follow and correct at the time of firing if you want to hit your target. These are known as the four marksmanship principles, and are as follows:

1.      The position and hold must be firm enough to support the weapon.

 This means that if the firer is struggling to hold the weapon still then its position will be moving and neither of the subsequent principles will be followed. Therefore the correct technique for each firing position should be applied.

2.      The weapon should point naturally at the target without any undue strain or effort.

If the weapon is being force to point at the target, when the shot is released the recoil will cause the weapon to revert back to its natural position. This will cause the shot to be pulled off target.

3.      Sight alignment (ie aiming) must be correct.

There are many different types of “Iron” sights (the main being square, V, or round aperture) and as many optical sights. However in each case for “Iron” sights, the sight picture should be the same. The firers eye should be directly behind the rear sight (or aperture).  As the human eye can only focus on one subject at a time the tip of the fore site should be the point of focus and should be in line with the top and in the middle of the rear sight posts (the center of the rear aperture).  Additionally it should of course be in the center of the visible mass of the target. As stated the human eye can only focus on one object at a time so the target should also be blurred.  Figure 1 shows a simple square sight picture and the displacement of shot in respect to the errors.

With most optical sights the same principles will apply, however with reflex or “Red Dot” sights the eye does not have to be directly behind the optical aperture, and so long as the Red dot is on the target that is where the projectile should land. Some “Laser” sights project a beam of light onto the target, however unlike in the movies this can be difficult to see by the firer especially if he is some distance away. So using this as an aiming point is next to useless. Additionally firing from the “hip”, or just pointing and shooting is also more likely to miss than hit the target, unless the firer is very lucky or very well practiced.

4.      The shot must be released and followed through without disturbing the position.

With this principle all movement should be reduced to an absolute minimum or negated altogether. The correct trigger action should be applied, and the pressures of  the trigger overcome smoothly. The firers breathing should be stopped, but not for so long as the body begins to feel the effects of not breathing. Even the heart beat needs to be reduced so that each pulse does not disturb the position.

If any of these principles are not followed it is unlikely that the target will be hit at the point of aim.

Figure 1 Sight pictures