Here's Lesson #6...

"How To Shoot Faster AND
Stay Right On Target"

Date:
From: Laredo

    Howdy pardner,

    The most common mistakes shooters make at matches involve the basics of marksmanship. The targets in CAS are extremely large and are set at relatively close range. Any average shooter that follows the fundamentals of markmanship should be able to hit them 100% of the time.

    The first reason why many shooters miss is simply because their guns are not correctly sighted in. If your gun isn't hitting where you're aiming, you're simply going to miss shots from time to time. This problem is easy to fix and we talked about back in lesson #2.

    The second reason why people miss is they're simply shooting TOO fast! When you try to handle or manipulate your firearm (either racking the lever of your rifle, or the hammer of your six-shooter) at too high a speed, you're going to start dropping shots.

    You need to know how fast you can work your action AND stay locked on target. The common mistake a lot of shooters make is they try to dictate the speed (or 'cadence') of fire by how fast they want to shoot, instead of letting their sights dictate their cadence of fire.

    You should only break your shot when you see your sights on the target. It doesn't necessarily have to be a "perfect" sight picture, it just has to be an "acceptable" sight picture for the shot required.

    Shooters hear that buzzer, they get in a hurry for faster times and increased speed, and those fundamentals sort of go right out the window and they end up missing.

    Then they see a fast shooter come along and draw and hit 5 targets in a shade over 2 seconds and they think there's no way they could be seeing a sight picture for each of those shots.

    But remember, if you're trying to shoot a 1 inch group at 20 yards, well, you need a very good and clear sight picture that will allow you to do that. But if you're simply trying to hit anywhere on an 18" x 24" target, then you can get away with a lot less acceptable sight picture.

    But... you still need a sight picture.

    A mastery of the fundamentals is important in any of the shooting games. You can sometimes be too fast, but you can NEVER be too accurate.

    Here's a drill I highly recommend. One thing you should do every now and then is set yourself up a target that's slightly farther away than the distance you'd see at a CAS match.

    Then take anywhere from 50 to 100 rounds and just shoot 5-shot groups as small as you can. Try for a one inch group if possible. What that does is program into your brain what is it you need to see in order to place a bullet on a target.

    By doing the group shooting on a regular basis you ingrain those fundamentals into your skills and it sticks with you when you start trying to do things at faster speeds. Your times will get faster AND your accuracy will get better.

    By the way, as you go through this course there may be times that what I'm explaining may seem seem a little too basic.

    But I've personally knocked a PILE of match points off my time with these almost-too-simple techniques.

    So please don't just read these lessons without applying them. Do your homework and USE these techniques! This is fun stuff that will lower your match times and impress the heck out of your shooting buddies.

    ...and if you haven't taken a look Tequila's Cowboy Action Shooting School Home Study Course yet, visit this webpage for all the details.

    It's jam-packed with dozens and dozens of the best step- by-step techniques for knocking lots of time off your match score and shooting faster, more accurate stages. You'll boost your confidence, shoot better and just plain have more fun.

    That's it for today!

    Take care and good shootin' !!!
    your friend