How'd you learn to shoot properly?

My father got me started and gave me an opportunity to practice regularly. Instructors, first with the Boy Scouts and then with the Tennessee Army National Guard small bore rifle team, helped me a great deal with rifle shooting.
 
Dad taught me to shoot. He was a champion rifle and pistol marksman with an eagle eye and a very sharp tongue. Even today, when I screw up a shot, I brace for the recoil (not from the firearm) and he has been gone for over a decade... ("Ya tryin' to hit that piece of paper, or just scare it a little? Squeeze the trigger. SQUEEZE, not jerk. And what did I tell you about breathing? You look like a panting dog. Do it again.")

Not a training method I would necessarily suggest, but it worked!
 
Dad taught me to shoot. He was a champion rifle and pistol marksman with an eagle eye and a very sharp tongue. Even today, when I screw up a shot, I brace for the recoil (not from the firearm) and he has been gone for over a decade... ("Ya tryin' to hit that piece of paper, or just scare it a little? Squeeze the trigger. SQUEEZE, not jerk. And what did I tell you about breathing? You look like a panting dog. Do it again.")
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redmond,

Are you sure you and I aren't related???:eek::D

Learned the same way and I'm thinkin dad brought home a lot of his 'instructor at Ft. Benning' mentality when it came to us and firearms...
and I Thank Him for it.

We always had fun but we knew when it came to firearms, especially safety, he would not tolerate having to repeat himself to us like mom did about taking the trash out or cleaning our room.

Not a training method I would necessarily suggest, but it worked
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My kids were trained the same way and it worked for them as well. ;)

IMO, Training can and should be fun but for safety sake, should have a STRICT set of rules that are never bent,broken or ever swayed from without consequence's.

Our learning started long before we were ever allowed to handle a firearm by going to competitive shoots, dogging in the fields hunting and in general, just hanging out with dad and his 'gunner' buddies and listening to them talk about squeezing that trigger , breathing techniques, stances etc.

First rifle was a single shot .22 that I had for many years and did most of my learning on.

2nd gun was an H&R single shot .410

Dad's idea was 'a single shot was safer to learn on and made a kid listen and learn better/faster cause you only had the one shot to hit your mark'. Us kids never even knew of the 'spray and pray' mentality cause we all had single shots.
But I will say I got fairly fast at reloading that .410 using the shells between the fingers tactic. :D
 
I learned the same way a lot of you learned, by working my way up. I started when I was about 10 when my parents let me have a BB rifle, then later on a pellet revolver. My dad is not really an avid shooter, he only owns one revolver, but he was still able to teach me basic safety rules. (My dad is a HUGE safety nut, which is good).

Around 14 my dad decided I could try out his S&W model 18 .22LR revolver, and man I loved the thing. It was the perfect introductory firearm, because it has about zero recoil so it let me focus on more important things like actually being able to hit what im shooting at rather than focus on recoil. Then around 16 my dad bought me my first gun for christmas, a Marlin model 25N .22LR rifle, to which is still my most used firearm today.

Around this time my brother, who is 9 years older than me and also just a natural marksman, started to teach me some things like breathing and trigger control. So basically my dad introduced me to firearms and taught me the basics, but it was my brother who picked up from there and taught me more advanced things.

I am now 19, and going into the Army National Guard. I'll be going to Ft. Benning for basic training, where I'll learn to be a marksman, with rifles anyways.
 
SC4006,
The army shoots pistols.
If you can shoot as good as a girl, maybe you can join the Army Marksmanship Unit pistol team.
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Not really sure what you are trying to say, unless I'm not getting something. I don't even think pistols are covered in army basic training. I'll be training to be an infantry soldier, which are expected to have some degree of marksmanship with the M16 and/or M4, or any rifle for that matter.
 
First it was a BB gun at around age 8. Then dad started taking me duck hunting at nine or 10 years old. I still have my first gun. A Winchester 20 gauge pump.
 
I was (still am) gleaning these threads for good tips, skills to learn, etc. to become a better shooter.

But dang...many of y'alls stories make me realize that my teenage son will soon move on; and I havent done enough with him.

Thanks for sharing.

John
 
I would not abandon the bench rest idea. The same factors that results in poor shooting from "pratical" positions exists on the bench. They are just eaiser to identify and correct when you can isolate them by taking avantage of a solid rest.
 
The same factors that results in poor shooting from "pratical" positions exists on the bench. They are just eaiser to identify and correct when you can isolate them by taking avantage of a solid rest
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Agree eldermike,

Especially when tryin to teach children. And even more especially when tryin to teach more then one child at a time.

First off, sitting at the bench with a 'rested' firearm lets the shooter get comfortable and relaxed so he/she can concentrate on isolated things such as trigger control, breathing and sight/target acquisition and less on tryin to steady the firearm. In other words, using a bench or rest can eliminate one of the steps(holding firearm steady free handed) while learning. Free hand shooting and holding steady can be learned after the trigger,breathing etc. is done from the bench.
Too, I never zero something without a rest and preferably a nice bench.
 
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Got my first gun at age 15. It was a .22 cal Marlin bolt action repeater. I loved that gun. I had woods behind my house so I could go out and shoot every day if I wanted. My best friend got a similar gun about the same time and we would go to an "unofficial" trash dump in the woods and shoot rats and bottles.

I thought I was a pretty fair shot,, but I didn't really learn marksmanship until I joined the Marines in 1962. They are serious about "every Marine is a rifleman".
 
1) Red Ryder BB Gun at 9 years of age
2) .22 Semi-automatic rifle at 15 years of age purchased myself while I had a summer job
3) USMC 1959-1965 (Semper Fi Jwden123)
4) Competitive Tactical shooting
5) Hours spent shooting at LBJ Grasslands before it restricted open shooting:confused:
6) Hours spent at various shooting ranges
7) 100,000+ rounds through handguns and long guns
 
In other words, dry fire. Firing real ammo comes with expectations about hitting something. It distracts you from what really matters. Do what matters and the bullet will go where it belongs.
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Brian has hit the nail on the head. This is exactly what brought me around to correctly shooting an Army issued M1911A1. We started with the trigger finger, put a No2 Pencil down the barrel and aimed at a marker spot on a peice of cardboard about 2 inches off the muzzle. You squeeze the trigger and the hammer falls "shooting" the pencil which leaves a small mark on the cardboard.

The idea was to get the marks really close together, like right on top of each other, and to get used to not thinking about the bang which leads to not anticipating a bang at all.
 
Well let’s see, now.

I believe it all started back when I’s ‘bout the size of June corn stalk. Pappy was down to ‘ole man Griffins shawing that grumpy ole mule Griffin used fur planting tabacee.

Anyhoo, Pappy swaped Mr. griffin that shoein’ job fur an shinny new one o them air powered rifles.

Twas that rifle the Pappy got holt of by shoein’ that grumpy ol’e mule which tawt me how to shoot!

So I figure, Mr Griffin twas the one really tawt me the shootin sports!
:):eek::D:p:o
 
But dang...many of y'alls stories make me realize that my teenage son will soon move on; and I havent done enough with him.

Thanks for sharing.
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Time to tell him, time to fix it. They say it's never too late but that isn't actually true. It's just something people say to be nice.
 
Anyhoo, Pappy swaped Mr. griffin that shoein’ job fur an shinny new one o them air powered rifles.
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Who you funnin Wyoredman???

That was so long ago they didn't even have air rifle's ...

truth be told, more like a home-made slingshot . :D:D
 
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