"Offhand" shooting

[Zundfolge]

People show me their targets ... usualy with one ragged hole in the middle of the 10 ring and tell me "I shot that at 15 yards (or whatever the distance) offhand".

What exactly does "offhand" mean?

I assume that means if they where right handed they shot "offhand" with their left.


Which leaves me to wonder ... do I suck? Because most often these targets are shot up a heck of a lot better then I can do with my strong arm! And often with guns that aren't known to be "tackdrivers" ("Yeah, I shot this .5" group at 25 yards, offhand with mah .357mag snubbie ... you know, the one with the missing front sight")



I sometimes wonder if people are honest about their targets

 

[treeprof]

It means shot without the gun/arms/hands supported in any way, to me. Assumed to be 2 hands, unless otherwise specified.

 

[spacemanspiff]

seated or standing, without any support other than your own two arms.

though some purists would say that true offhand shooting is done standing, not sitting.

though theres plenty of variants, shooters basically wind up shooting offhand or from the bench.

and i too have seen experienced shooters get far better groups at 25 yards standing than i could do from the bench.
gives me something to work towards.

 

[MrMurphy]

Using your hand/hands. No rest. Standing generally in a two handed Weaver/Modified Iso stance, or a one handed target shooting stance (right handed, turn 90 degrees left, like a fencer so you're sideways to the target, extend arm, sight, fire.)

I consider sitting to be "rested" cause even when they're trying not to, people sitting and "shooting offhand" generally rest their forearms on the bench or their legs/knees.

 

[Zundfolge]

Ah ... so "offhand" isn't "left handed" shooting ... its just normal shooting ... well now I don't feel so bad about my skills.

 

[Standing Wolf]

I sometimes wonder if people are honest about their targets.

It's a trifle difficult to fib on the range with targets in hand; otherwise...

I think "offhand" has acquired a multitude of meanings in recent years. Once upon a time, it referred to holding a gun in one hand without support or the use of a rest.

 

[tbeb]

There are indeed some very good shooters out there. One that stands in my mind is a young lady who was shooting a 4" Colt Diamondback .22 at 7 yards. She consistently shot very tight 6-round groups. I've never been able to shoot like that. I think some people just have the instinct, and a lot of practice makes them extraordinary. At 7 yards I can keep all shots in any area on a combat target and that's what I practice for these days. We all can't be expert marksman. Just have fun shooting.

 

[Blueduck]

Also might want to point out people tend to keep the best targets they have ever shot while the other 2,234 targets tend to get left in the trash can...

I once shot a half inch 3 shot group with a Rem 700 in 30-06 at 200 yards (not off hand ). That did not mean I was a 1/4 minute of angle shooter, my normal groups were 3 times that at half the distance. Just luck of the draw that day, and yes I saved the target for a few years

If you wanna feel worse, yep there are folks who can shoot 3" (or less) groups at 50 yards off hind legs with a handgun. To make you feel better (maybe) if you can honestly hit a 9" paper plate at 25 yards 18 out of 20 times you would be considered a good shot where I shoot.

 

[Justin]

Image taken from http://www.bullseyepistol.com or more specifically the Army Marksmanship Unit's pistol guide.

This is the traditional offhand position. You will also see variations where the non-firing hand is placed in different positions; in the pocket, the small of the back, or across the torso with the fingers grasping the belt.

 

[HSMITH]

tbeb, I agree that some people are just naturally better. One guy I took shooting had NEVER shot a handgun before, but he was truly exceptional. He shot my Buckmark first, with open sights he had a ten round mag in about a 40 cal hole at 7 yards so I put it out at 15 yards and he was still inside an inch. I put it out at 25 yards and he was inside two inches with ease, mind you all this was with Federal bulk pack cheap ammo. He then worked into the 38 specials, and proceded to do nearly as well with a GP100 and a S&W M19. Then he picked up my old 45, a Para P14, and put a full 14 round magazine into 3 inches at 25 yards. This was his FIRST TIME SHOOTING!!!!!!! There are a lot of 'old hands' at shooting that would get their clock cleaned but good by this guy.

I stopped doubting how well people can shoot a long time ago, I have seen some exceptional shooting and you never know who is going to be able to do it.

Justin is correct in what 'offhand' really is, but in this day and age 'offhand' merely means without the gun or arms supported.

 

[BryanP]

Ah ... so "offhand" isn't "left handed" shooting ... its just normal shooting ... well now I don't feel so bad about my skills.

What you were calling "offhand" is called "weak handed" I believe. My wife, for example, having had a little incident that left her shy the last two joints of the index and middle finger on her right hand (also the first joint of the ring finger) has to shoot weak-handed permanently.