PURSUIT PERFECTION

WORLD OF FIREPOWER 123122 WORLD OF FIREPOWER

T’S SIMPLE, YET POWERFUL.SINCE ITS FOUNDING, THE RANGE COMPLEX

(TRC) HAS BUILT ITS REPUTATION FOR HONINGTHE MARKSMANSHIP SKILLS OF SOF (SPECIAL

OPERATION FORCES) INSTRUCTORS ON A SINGLE,ESSENTIAL TENET: BRILLIANCE IN THE BASICS. This concept of pursuing perfection through relentless

practice of the fundamentals under increasing stress

originated in the operator training course of Delta Force

(1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta), and it

remains the underpinning of every course taught at TRC.

In the following story, three veteran TRC instructors—

with different backgrounds, tactical/shooting experience

and perspectives—explain how getting back to basics

can take your shooting to the next level.

STORY AND PHOTOS BY SUZANNE MOSS MULLEN

I

n Instruction at The Range Complexfocuses on the basics, which leads tooverall improvement.

The Of

3 ELITESHOOTERS

REVEAL20 TIPS TOSHOOTINGSUCCESS

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INSTRUCTOR: EDDIE

1. Regardless of the weapon (pistol or rifle),you must have solid fundamentals if you expect to

progress as a shooter. Distance, speed and accu-

racy will come with mastery of the fundamentals.

2. In regard to your stance, it’s critical to estab-lish a solid base, because your foundation is essen-

tial. You should have a strong, aggressive stance

that allows for better control of the gun. This also

allows you to better manage recoil, because your

body will be slightly forward of vertical.

3.With your grip, control the weapon withoutadding torque, because that creates side-to-side

impact. Keep your hand placement high on the

gun, and remember that you will have better con-

trol if your hands are closest to the axis of recoil.

4.When using the clamshell grip, the majorityof your strength comes from your support hand,

and this allows for the isolated press of the trig-

ger.

5. You must have a consistent, repeatable sightpicture. Make sure the iron sights are flush across

the top and equally light on the sides. If you’re

using a red dot, keep the dot in the center of

the sight.

6.Whether the trigger is light or heavy, youneed a smooth, consistent pull straight to the rear.

Take any slack out of the trigger as the gun is pre-

sented to the target, and never break finger con-

tact with the trigger. Begin applying pressure to

the trigger once you have fine tuned the sight

alignment and controlled your breathing. Once

you start applying pressure to the trigger, con-

tinue to press until the gun fires. Don't start and

then stop the squeeze every time the sight moves

around on the target. Accept the wobble, and

continue the squeeze.

7. Present straight to the target. All othermovement is excessive, wastes time and can

add torque.

8. Follow through properly. Maintain focuson your sight throughout the shot until the

round impacts. If your focus shifts from thesight,

you tend to move the weapon, and your accuracy

suffers.

INSTRUCTOR: GREG

9. Dry firing is essential to be-coming a better shooter. It allows

you to identify a lot of problems

without the distraction of live fire.

However, you should limit your dry

fire sessions to a reasonable time

limit that allows you the maximum

concentration; once you start get-

ting distracted, take a break. Strive

for perfection each time.

10. For most shooters, rangetime is precious, so make sure it

counts. When you go to the range,

have a plan for what you want to

achieve during that session. I have

a plan long before I go to the

range. I may work on accuracy,

trigger control or speed. My train-

ing and all the drills I do for that

particular day support the goals I

am trying to achieve.

11.When working on accuracy, I

normally practice at 25 yards on an

NRA B-8 bull’s-eye target. (These

are the inexpensive, easy-to-find,

25-yard timed and Rapid Official

NRA targets.) First, I do 10 shots in

five minutes and then score it;

then, five shots in 20 seconds

twice; and then five shots in 10 sec-

onds twice.

12. For speed, I do what’s calledthe “Bill drill,” which is six shots on

a single IPSC target, fired as quickly

as possible while keeping all the

shots in the A zone. Do this while

using a timer, shooting as fast as

possible until you start losing accu-

racy. This helps develop trigger

speed, sight tracking, trigger ma-

nipulation and recoil management.

13. It is important to employproper technique and engage in

perfect practice. Remember: Prac-

tice makes permanent. Perfect

practice makes perfect. When you

n Dry firing allows you toidentify problems withoutthe distraction of live fire,says Greg.

n Greg advisesthat when yougo to the range,have a plan re-garding whatyou want towork on.

n Eddie points out thata strong, aggressivestance allows for bettercontrol of your gun.

n For accuracy, a smooth,consistent trigger pullstraight back is essential,says Eddie.

“DIAGNOSE MISSES AND HITS, STRIVING TO ALWAYS CORRECT OR SIMPLY IMPROVE

EVERY ACTION TO BE MORE EFFICIENT OR MORE PERFECT.”

124 WORLD OF FIREPOWER

are practicing a technique or drill,

make sure you’re doing it cor-

rectly, even if it means you have to

slow down to what you think is a

crawl. As you perfect a skill, you’ll

be able to increase your speed or

accuracy, depending on what you

are working on that day.

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INSTRUCTOR: ALAN

14. Get competent instruction from a rep-utable instructor. Most people don’t realize what

they don’t know, and it is very hard for them to

self-diagnose their flaws or mistakes. Plus, they

can’t see past the results of their behavior and

don’t fully understand or know how to correct

the behavior that produces the results.

15. Apply an outcomes-based trainingmethodology that allows you to achieve quanti-

tative and measureable results. In other words,

have measurable goals and metrics so you can

measure your progress. Focus on the subtasks

(fundamentals), and the overall task (shooting)

will improve. Break down the complex task of

tactical shooting into smaller, less-complicated

tasks. For example, decrease the time on a three-

target transition drill. Start with a single shot

from the ready position with a rifle or from the

holster with a pistol. Do this until you are able to

consistently deliver the single shot to the “A”

zone until just short of your “point of failure”

(when you have lost accuracy). During a six-shot

string, do two shots on a single target in the A

zone, maintaining accuracy. This will give you

your split time. Then, move on to three targets,

using an aggressive transition between targets.

This is nothing more than a crawl, walk, run

process. You must focus on accuracy by executing

all the fundamentals; this is a constant endeavor.

You can then focus on your ability to place one

well-aimed shot at speed and progressively chain

other skills together, such as multiple shots, tar-

get transition and movement. After that, start

incorporating stress into your training.

16. Another example of the outcomes-basedtraining is to make sure you see the sights as you

would see a movie. Most people view their sights

in snapshots, meaning that they see a snapshot

of the sights prior to the shot and then see the

snapshot of the sight post-shot (follow-through).

When firing at a target, you should see the

sights in absolute detail—from the initial sight

picture through the follow-on sight picture.

You can then decide to use, or not use, that

sight picture. It’s important that every shot

fired be a conscious decision, not simply a

conditioned response.

17. Consistency breeds accuracy. Once you un-derstand the fundamentals, you must execute

them on their base level consistently so they are

engrained on the subconscious level. Only then

can you use your conscious mind to problem-

solve and process stimuli to make decisions.

18. Be accountable for every shot, and learn

from every shot. There is never a free or meaningless

shot. Diagnose misses and hits, striving to always correct

or simply improve every action to be more efficient or

more perfect.

19. Proper sight alignment at 7 yards on a B-8 bull’s-eyetarget may be acquiring the front post somewhere in the

rear notch. With proper sight alignment at 25 yards on a

B-8 bull’s-eye target, you should align the front post in the

center of the rear notch, with the leading edge of the top

of the front post level with the leading edge of the top of

the rear notch. There should be equal light on both sides

of the front post. The speed at which you can deliver each

shot on demand is relative to the speed at which you can

achieve an acceptable sight picture.

20. Constantly push your limits so you know thethreshold of your individual failure points. Know at what

point the “wheels fall off” and at what point you are al-

ways 100 percent. FP

Contact Information

The Range Complex(910) 208-4383www.TheRangeComplex.com

n Diagnoseyour shots so you can improve, says Alan.

n Alan says you should pushyour limits so you know thethreshold of your failure points.

First Names Only

Because of the sensitive nature oftheir other work, these three TRCinstructors requested that onlytheir first names be used in thisarticle.

TRC Instructor Résumés

Eddie spent 23 years with theSpecial Forces and 17 years as-signed to the 1st Special ForcesOperational Detachment—Delta(SFOD-D)—in which he served innumerous leadership positions.He also served as liaison officer(O-7 level) in combat, workingwith all branches of the military,and OGA in the Middle East,Latin America, the Balkans andAsia. Eddie was awarded two BronzeStars (Valor), along with fourother valor awards.

Greg spent 22 years in the U.S.Army, including 14 as a memberof the U.S. Army MarksmanshipUnit (AMU), training soldiers, air-men, sailors, Marines and civil-ians in tactical and competitivemarksmanship. He was aplatoon sergeant for actionshooting and service pistolteams. He developed and imple-mented rifle and pistol marks-manship training plans for theAfghan National Army (ANA) andCoalition Forces (CF). Greg is a U.S. Army DistinguishedPistol Shot and has been a HighMaster competitor in NRA pistolcompetitions for 11 years.

Alan is a 17-year law enforce-ment veteran, 14 of which wereon SWAT, including 10 years asSWAT instructor. He has a num-ber of certifications, includingNCJA Specialized Firearms In-structor, NCJA Specialized SCATInstructor, NCJA Specialized Driv-ing Instructor and M4 Instructor,among others.

“DISTANCE, SPEED AND ACCURACYWILL COME WITH MASTERY OF THE FUNDAMENTALS.”