bill2
Member
this is from Wired magazine, on how to shoot better in a month. No politics, just a quest from a newbie to be a good shot.
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/15.01/bullseye.html
My 4-Week Quest: Shoot Straighter
Everyone wants a better body, a sharper mind, or both. But how? To find the answer, Wired sent writers on three different challenges: For one month, do everything possible (and legal) to run faster, get smarter, or shoot straighter. And keep a diary.
By Clive ThompsonPage 1 of 1
The Science of Human Enhancement
The Perfect Human
How to Build a Better Body
The Righteous Fury of Dick Pound
The Wired Enhance-athon
Run Faster
Be Smarter
Shoot Straighter
I GREW UP IN ANTI-GUN CANADA AND have almost zero experience handling firearms. But I've always been intrigued by the contradictions of sharpshooting: The watchlike precision of the gun and the shooter's mind, mixed with the macho violence of bullet play. I figure one month of intense training will turn me into a crack shot.
WEEK ONE: I start with some bad news: Getting a handgun license in Manhattan will take about six months. The good news: The Westside Rifle & Pistol Range, only 10 blocks from my apartment, allows anyone to come in and shoot a .22-caliber rifle. The weapon's not as badass as I'd like – I'd hoped to be blasting away with a Glock – but it'll do.
When I arrive at the range, it's festooned with pro-NRA paraphernalia, all sorts of weapons gear, and the range's thankfully strict rules. I meet Darren Leung, a peppy staff member who shows me how to load the 10-shot magazine and sets up a target at 15 feet. "Most gunfights happen at less than 20 feet," he explains.
Then he dispenses some basic advice: Breathe evenly. Squeeze the trigger slowly, because this prevents jerky motions that put you off-target. It also saves you from the spasms caused by subconsciously anticipating when the gun will go off. Also, don't fire several bullets at once, because the kinetic energy of each shot will cause you to "drift" a little more off-base each time. Instead, lower the gun after each shot, then raise it up slowly to find your target anew. This also prevents the muscle fatigue caused by holding the surprisingly weighty rifle.
The target has 7 concentric rings. The innermost four are black, surrounding a bull's-eye the size of a quarter. At first, I'm terrible. Out of 10 bullets, only four hit the black area, and a few aren't even in the outside ring. None hit the center.
I shoot for at least an hour a day though, and by the end of the week, I've gone from awful to tolerable. No bullets are straying wide; I can usually cluster all 10 shots in the black circles. But I'm surprised at how quickly I get tired and go all shaky: You'd think all those years playing shoot-'em-up games like The House of the Dead would have given me superior control, but plastic videogame guns don't kick.
WEEK TWO: I read up on sharpshooting techniques. Controlled breathing, to reduce your heart rate, is key to achieving coyote-like stillness. Sharpshooters and biathletes can have resting heart rates in the 40s. Mine hovers up around 60. Dave Grossman, who trains police officers to survive deadly-force encounters, suggests a breathing technique: Inhale slowly for four beats, hold it for four beats, exhale for four beats, hold for four beats.
After a few days, I've got my heart rate down to 55, and I immediately notice the effect on my steadiness. My shots are no longer drifting up and to the right, and, though I've moved the target out to 50 feet, I'm regularly placing two or three shots in the bull's-eye. I may be finding the zone: Studies have shown that the best shooters subconsciously sync their shots to coincide with their heartbeat.
WEEK THREE: I'm getting good enough that I'm noticing imperfections in my vision: The bull's-eye is a teensy blur. A trip to the eye doctor gets my contact lenses up-to-date, with immediate results. The next day, I put four shots smack in the center.
I'm also learning the others skills I need to master this task. For example, part of sharpening my accuracy is learning to screen out the cops who practice next to me with deafening .45-caliber hand cannons. Even though I'm wearing thick earmuffs, each shot makes me jump out of my skin. I add a few minutes of breathing exercises between each magazine to zen me out further. Gradually, the methodical loading of bullets becomes a calming ritual.
In fact, constantly quieting my mind and body at the range is having a spillover effect. I'm less jumpy at work, more able to will myself to focus. "Guns," I tell my wife, "are my yoga."
WEEK FOUR: A cop I meet at the range advises me to upgrade to a lever-action rifle. "Way better accuracy," he grunts. It's a trick of physics: Since the lever-action rifle has fewer moving parts than the rotary magazine gun I've been using, the shots are supposed to be more accurate. Sure enough, the new weapon helps. I start hitting the bull's-eye five times out of 10.
In the middle of the week, I get serious about lowering my heart rate even further. I cut out caffeine and, for the first time in six years, drag out my old sneakers and hit the treadmill at the gym. I know a single workout won't do any good, but that night, my heart rate has dropped by one beat per minute. I strongly suspect the placebo effect but am nonetheless pleased.
Two days later, in a last-ditch attempt to achieve my goal of hitting 10 bull's-eyes in a row, I head to the range for a banzai assault, engaging in sprawling firing sessions all day long – shooting 600, 800, 1,000 rounds, the floor thick with empty brass shells. I'm much less fatigued than I expected, and when I lie in bed I still see the target in my head.
By the end of the month: success! A nice tight cluster, with all shots in the bull's-eye – except for one straggler on the edge. I can't reliably shoot that well every time. But my accuracy has improved to, on average, seven out of 10. I take the perfect target back to my office and post it over my desk as a warning to all.
Contributing editor Clive Thompson ([email protected]) writes Mr. Know-It-All and wrote "It's Alive!" in this issue.
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/15.01/bullseye.html
My 4-Week Quest: Shoot Straighter
Everyone wants a better body, a sharper mind, or both. But how? To find the answer, Wired sent writers on three different challenges: For one month, do everything possible (and legal) to run faster, get smarter, or shoot straighter. And keep a diary.
By Clive ThompsonPage 1 of 1
The Science of Human Enhancement
The Perfect Human
How to Build a Better Body
The Righteous Fury of Dick Pound
The Wired Enhance-athon
Run Faster
Be Smarter
Shoot Straighter
I GREW UP IN ANTI-GUN CANADA AND have almost zero experience handling firearms. But I've always been intrigued by the contradictions of sharpshooting: The watchlike precision of the gun and the shooter's mind, mixed with the macho violence of bullet play. I figure one month of intense training will turn me into a crack shot.
WEEK ONE: I start with some bad news: Getting a handgun license in Manhattan will take about six months. The good news: The Westside Rifle & Pistol Range, only 10 blocks from my apartment, allows anyone to come in and shoot a .22-caliber rifle. The weapon's not as badass as I'd like – I'd hoped to be blasting away with a Glock – but it'll do.
When I arrive at the range, it's festooned with pro-NRA paraphernalia, all sorts of weapons gear, and the range's thankfully strict rules. I meet Darren Leung, a peppy staff member who shows me how to load the 10-shot magazine and sets up a target at 15 feet. "Most gunfights happen at less than 20 feet," he explains.
Then he dispenses some basic advice: Breathe evenly. Squeeze the trigger slowly, because this prevents jerky motions that put you off-target. It also saves you from the spasms caused by subconsciously anticipating when the gun will go off. Also, don't fire several bullets at once, because the kinetic energy of each shot will cause you to "drift" a little more off-base each time. Instead, lower the gun after each shot, then raise it up slowly to find your target anew. This also prevents the muscle fatigue caused by holding the surprisingly weighty rifle.
The target has 7 concentric rings. The innermost four are black, surrounding a bull's-eye the size of a quarter. At first, I'm terrible. Out of 10 bullets, only four hit the black area, and a few aren't even in the outside ring. None hit the center.
I shoot for at least an hour a day though, and by the end of the week, I've gone from awful to tolerable. No bullets are straying wide; I can usually cluster all 10 shots in the black circles. But I'm surprised at how quickly I get tired and go all shaky: You'd think all those years playing shoot-'em-up games like The House of the Dead would have given me superior control, but plastic videogame guns don't kick.
WEEK TWO: I read up on sharpshooting techniques. Controlled breathing, to reduce your heart rate, is key to achieving coyote-like stillness. Sharpshooters and biathletes can have resting heart rates in the 40s. Mine hovers up around 60. Dave Grossman, who trains police officers to survive deadly-force encounters, suggests a breathing technique: Inhale slowly for four beats, hold it for four beats, exhale for four beats, hold for four beats.
After a few days, I've got my heart rate down to 55, and I immediately notice the effect on my steadiness. My shots are no longer drifting up and to the right, and, though I've moved the target out to 50 feet, I'm regularly placing two or three shots in the bull's-eye. I may be finding the zone: Studies have shown that the best shooters subconsciously sync their shots to coincide with their heartbeat.
WEEK THREE: I'm getting good enough that I'm noticing imperfections in my vision: The bull's-eye is a teensy blur. A trip to the eye doctor gets my contact lenses up-to-date, with immediate results. The next day, I put four shots smack in the center.
I'm also learning the others skills I need to master this task. For example, part of sharpening my accuracy is learning to screen out the cops who practice next to me with deafening .45-caliber hand cannons. Even though I'm wearing thick earmuffs, each shot makes me jump out of my skin. I add a few minutes of breathing exercises between each magazine to zen me out further. Gradually, the methodical loading of bullets becomes a calming ritual.
In fact, constantly quieting my mind and body at the range is having a spillover effect. I'm less jumpy at work, more able to will myself to focus. "Guns," I tell my wife, "are my yoga."
WEEK FOUR: A cop I meet at the range advises me to upgrade to a lever-action rifle. "Way better accuracy," he grunts. It's a trick of physics: Since the lever-action rifle has fewer moving parts than the rotary magazine gun I've been using, the shots are supposed to be more accurate. Sure enough, the new weapon helps. I start hitting the bull's-eye five times out of 10.
In the middle of the week, I get serious about lowering my heart rate even further. I cut out caffeine and, for the first time in six years, drag out my old sneakers and hit the treadmill at the gym. I know a single workout won't do any good, but that night, my heart rate has dropped by one beat per minute. I strongly suspect the placebo effect but am nonetheless pleased.
Two days later, in a last-ditch attempt to achieve my goal of hitting 10 bull's-eyes in a row, I head to the range for a banzai assault, engaging in sprawling firing sessions all day long – shooting 600, 800, 1,000 rounds, the floor thick with empty brass shells. I'm much less fatigued than I expected, and when I lie in bed I still see the target in my head.
By the end of the month: success! A nice tight cluster, with all shots in the bull's-eye – except for one straggler on the edge. I can't reliably shoot that well every time. But my accuracy has improved to, on average, seven out of 10. I take the perfect target back to my office and post it over my desk as a warning to all.
Contributing editor Clive Thompson ([email protected]) writes Mr. Know-It-All and wrote "It's Alive!" in this issue.
