Editor's Note: Today, a refresher course on making precision shots with a pistol by Tactical Wire editor Rich Grassi. The original feature first appeared in February of 2011, but the good advice is timeless. We all have our own ways of making that precision hit with a handgun; our own tricks or special way of seeing things to make a tight shot. I'm not talking about hitting a silhouette somewhere inside the "-0" ring; We're speaking of the shot that hits the previous bullet hole, that cuts a card edgeways, that breaks the button on the other guy's shirt. Why would we ever need such precision? Because we can't always set the conditions under which the shot is taken. Maybe it's a survival situation where taking a small game animal means the difference between living and dying. Maybe it's the shot we pray we'll never have to face. Regardless, absolute precision is a skill set that needs to be secured and in the toolbox, ready to be used when needed. The most important aspect of the precision shot - or any shot - is your control of the trigger. Far too many people concentrate on what they see they forget to handle what they feel. It takes careful, controlled, constant pressure on the trigger with no hesitation, pauses or bumps to make the accurate shot. Once the slack is out and you feel resistance through the trigger P-R-E-S-S straight back. Try to push the trigger back through the trigger guard's rear. You may see the gun moving and waving around. Okay, you've proved you are alive. No living human being can hold a firearm completely still. The sights should be aligned (indicating that the slide is pointed straight and true to the target), but the aligned sights will move about. Don't make them move more, just press through the arc of movement. I've seen people on the range with holes scattered across a target and listened to their instructor give two bits of really crappy advice: "Front sight! Focus on the front sight!" as well as "Take your time." Take your time . . . have someone tell you that when gunfire is inbound! Of course you have to take your time. Just be quick about it! I think what we sought to do by invoking the "take your time" order was to induce calm in the trainee; as in, "See? I don't have a stop watch!" A better way to put it is "Don't rush. Take the time you need but don't be horsing around either." Visual focus on the front sight is a relative thing. If you're not a very experienced shooter, ask a champion what he/she has to see to make a hit in the "A" Zone or the "-0" circle (IDPA). The answer is, "At what distance?" If I have to hit the "A" at 75 yards with the Robar-Colt Stainless Government, I'll be intensely involved in the visual aspect of the proceedings. If I have to hit the "A" at ten feet, I'll have some perception of the slide in front of me. I can't remember the instructor who passed this along, but he's right. If the gun is optically "slimmer" that the target you seek to shoot, center the gun on the target and control the trigger. That's it.

Look at the picture above. If it's not clear enough, use a twice-verified-empty gun pointed in a SAFE direction (one that stops, retains bullets without allowing personal injury). The front sight is in focus, the rear is a blur. Center the front in the notch of the rear. Look at the sharp top edge of the front sight -- that's what you want to see. The information you need is at the TOP of the front sight. The gun's still moving. It will. Let it happen.

When the target can be covered up by the front sight and become invisible, we have to back up some. Remember the playing card on edge? "Use the force, Luke." That sharp top edge tells you what you need to know. It cuts the target in two. Maintain constant pressure on the trigger while keeping sights aligned and you'll make the hit. --Rich Grassi