Ten Ways to Be a Better Shot

Peering down the barrel, through the rear sight, focusing on the front sight, breathing slowly and carefully. There is the target. Aim carefully, move your finger to the trigger. Take a deep breath and let it out slowly, then press the trigger. BANG!!! Another great shot.

I love shooting. I do some hunting and some range target shooting, but the most fun thing in the whole world to me, is to spend a Saturday plinking in the desert. I’m a pretty good shot, not an expert, but with my .22, I can hit just about anything I see.

If you’ve never been shooting and want to learn, talk to me. I’ve taught dozens of people to shoot and trust me, it is a lot of fun.

One thing I can tell you about shooting guns is this…It is similar to golf in that there is no one single way to be an excellent shot, but many. You have to learn one good methodology that works for your body type, arm strength, dominant shooting eye, etc. Then, practice that a lot. The worst thing you can do is get tips from a bunch of different people. That’ll screw up your shooting fast.

Here are Ten Ways to Be a Better Shot:

1. Safety – This should be obvious but somehow people miss it. If you shoot yourself dead, you’ll never get to be a good shot. As a gun owner, I HATE to hear stories of kids who shoot themselves because they found Daddy’s loaded pistol in the desk drawer. Mine are locked in a gun safe. Period. Also, I occasionally see people out shooting who are screwing around pointing the guns anywhere but down range. If I see this, I leave. You can have a lot of fun shooting, but safety has to be a primary concern.
2. Have Two X Chromosomes – Sorry guys, but I have found it to be true that chicks make better shooters than dudes (at least from the beginning). Why? I think it has more to do with Hollywood than with gender. Guys watch all these movies with guns being shot sideways, .44 magnums that have no recoil, magic bullets that seem to miss people in some movies and hit everyone in others, etc. Guys have to unlearn all of this crap and learn the realities of shooting. Women rarely bring that baggage to the table.
3. Press, don’t Pull – When it is time to fire the gun, press the trigger steadily. Don’t yank it. Don’t pull it. Don’t slap it. Don’t tug it. Don’t jerk it. Press steadily until it breaks and the gun fires. As a target shooter, the gunfire should be somewhat of a surprise. No, you shouldn’t jump, but you should hold your position until the gun fires and then keep holding it. This steadiness will increase your accuracy. Note – if a leatherfaced man is running towards you with a chainsaw dripping with blood, go ahead and pull that trigger!!!
4. Start Small – Shoot .22’s rifles until you are good. A good .22 single shot can be purchased for about $70. Practice with this till you are good. Then move up to other caliber rifles and shotguns. Don’t start out on a .577 Nitro Express. You probably won’t be shooting any elephants in the near future anyway. You’ll just learn a lot of bad habits dealing with the recoil. Then, start learning handguns, again with a .22 before you move up to the .454 Cassull.
5. Revolve First, Slide Later – If you are going to own and shoot handguns, I recommend a good old fashioned Smith & Wesson .357 in the K or L frame. Don’t go out and buy a semi-auto handgun because it looks cool in the movies. Wait until you really know your way around the revolver. They are simpler and have less things to go wrong. They are very dependable and you can pick one up in the $200-$300 range where a good quality Glock, Ruger, Heckler&Koch, or other good name semi-auto will cost you upwards of $700 for a used one. The other nice thing about a .357 magnum is that you can shoot .38 bullets out of it for plinking. These are cheaper and have much less recoil.
6. Breathe – Don’t hold your breath while taking the shot. Breathe steadily in and out. Some people will take a deep breath, begin breathing out, stop for a moment and fire, then continue the breath. This is OK, but many new shooters will just hold their breath, out of nervousness or lack of confidence. Just breathe steadily and you’ll do fine.
7. Shoot Flintlocks – shoot black powder muzzle loaders (the old school kind, not the stupid new inlines). You only get one shot at a time and so you must make it count. If you shoot flintlocks, there is a brief delay between the trigger snap and the actual firing (along with a bright flash of powder right by your face). If you can learn to hold steady through all that and make that one shot count, you will become a great target shooter.
8. Shoot – The best way to get good is to keep practicing. Shoot, Shoot, and Shoot some more. The more you shoot, the better you will be.
9. Step by Step – Start shooting at close ranges like 15 yards. Then, when you can put every bullet in the middle of a normal card from a deck of playing cards, then move back to 25 yards and shoot there until you can put every bullet through a playing card. Keep moving back until you can repeat this at any known range. Then, have someone vary the targets at unknown distances until you can judge and shoot at any range.
10. Annie, Get Your Gun – Get your own gun. Shoot it a lot. Every gun has its own foibles. Be the best shot with that gun. Then move on to others. Always have your favorite and keep it for life.

My invitation remains open. If you want to learn about guns or go shooting, just let me know. I love to take people out for their first time shooting, and I guarantee that you will have a safe and gentle learning experience. If you love shooting already, drop me a line and we can go too.

DISCLAIMER – The above advice is just that, friendly advice. You are 100% responsible for your own safety and the safety of others around you when you are shooting. If you choose to use any of the above advice, you take full responsibility.

Bonus: Gun Myths:

9mm bullets are not the super amazing be-all-end-all bullets. They are actually not all that powerful. Their main benefit is the number you can fit into a magazine and the fact that the lighter recoil increases accuracy. I’m not a fan, but many people are. Just know, that when you see someone shot with one in the movies and he goes flying twenty feet back, that just isn’t real.

Guns actually do run out of bullets. One of my favorite movie scenes is the gunfight in the restroom in true lies. The bad guy has a carbine version of the AK-47 with a clip that holds 30 rounds (bullets). He proceeds to open up on the bathroom stalls where Arnie Shwarzenegger is hiding. I paused the DVD and counted over 200 holes from that one 30 round clip. He then proceeded to a bunch more.

Bullets don’t shoot laser beam straight – Remember physics in high school. Bullets fly in a slightly curved parabola and not in a straight line.

Getting Shot in the shoulder or leg can kill you – The good guys always get shot in the leg or the shoulder so that they can walk on screen at the end with a small bandage. Your shoulder has a nerve plexus and several main arteries and veins. The upper leg has the femoral artery. Any of these that are hit by a bullet can cause you to die quite quickly or, at least cause life long disability.

Guns are not inherently bad. How they are used can be. Same with kitchen knives, baseball bats, and ammonium nitrate fertilizer. I have never killed anyone with any of my guns, but I have stopped an assault and attempted rape on a woman (and assault on me) because I had a gun. The rank and file gun owners that I know or have met are responsible and safe with their guns. Don’t let a few bad apples, or an irrational fear of an object affect your thinking on this matter. Don't judge it till you've tried it.

This post is number 9 in a series of 10 Top Ten Lists on improving yourself. This series will be posted daily. Tomorrow is a surprise Top 10 list.

* Note - the gun pictured above is my Taurus .40, a favorite.

Ten Ways to Be a Better Cook

I stood at the doorway watching my friend’s mom cook tacos. She rolled up plain hamburger in her hands and then folded a tortilla around that. She laid this in a large pan of cold oil. She then proceeded to make more until the pan was full. Then, she turned on the heat. She invited us to stay for dinner. Thank you, but, “Heck No!!!” I had already eaten her brown spaghetti sauce once before. Yuck.

Everyone should learn how to cook a little, but it always helps to be better. No one wants to eat burned food, bland food, or anything that makes them retch.

I decided to limit my advice to things that I know well. Cooking is a hobby of mine which helps, because so is eating. As a guy, I can say that cooking a fancy meal is a great way to impress a potential lady friend. It worked so well for me, that Becky married me.

1. Knife Safety – Based on recent experience, I had to include this one. Watch this brief 40 second Knife Safety Video to see what I did wrong and learn how to do it right. For the record, I knew how to do this, but I was chiffonading celery leaves and I have yet to figure out how to chiffonade with my fingers tucked under. In any case, Remember the Claw and you won’t cut yourself. Also, please sharpen your knife every time you use it. Dull knives are more dangerous.
2. Follow the Recipe the First Time – When cooking any dish for the first time, follow a trusted recipe. Then, once you know that it works, then you can start to change it up and add different ingredients to make the recipe your own.
3. Try New Spices – Go to the store and check out the spices and herbs. Pick one that looks interesting and then find a recipe that uses it online. Smell the spice and taste a bit of it. Wait till you get home to do this as the store personnel will frown upon you doing it there. If you have a local herb shop, stop in there and find one you like to try. They don’t mind you smelling the herbs there.
4. Share Recipes – If you are at a party or a restaurant where you like a specific dish, ask for the recipe. Some people don’t like to share ,but many are flattered and will gladly share. I love to share my recipes, so don’t be afraid to ask if you like something of mine.
5. Taste it, Taste it, Taste it – Flavor is important. Taste your food throughout the cooking process to be sure that the flavor and texture are right. Adjust as you go. A warning here, don’t taste raw meat, raw eggs, or cayenne pepper. Another note, if you are using cayenne peppers, be sure to wash your hands before going to the bathroom. I won’t tell you how I know this, but trust me.
6. Season It – Add seasonings to your water, to your flour, to your eggs. Get the herbs and seasonings inside the food and not just sprinkled on top. To quote Emerile Legasse, “I don’t know where you’re getting your water from, but mine don’t come seasoned.” Of course, if you drink well water in West Virginia, there is already flavor in there. No me gusta.
7. Get Fresh – Use fresh ingredients whenever possible. This is especially true of herbs and seasonings. If you must use dried, buy your spices in small amounts and use them up quickly. They lose their flavor after awhile. Fish is another thing that I must be fresh. Buy your salmon or tilapia the day you are going to cook it. A side note, this applies to milk too. If you pour your milk out and it has chunks….It’s probably not fresh. ewwww.
8. Vary Textures – Dice things small or chop them larger. Try julienne. Use different pastas like orecciette or orzo. Change up the usual textures to bring new interest to your food. Colors and flavors can be varied too, such as mango salsa, or confetti rice.
9. Start With What You Know Then Get Creative – Practice some favorite dishes. Get to know mashed potatoes, pancakes, and casseroles. Then, when you are comfortable with these, begin to get creative. Try celery root, lychee fruit, kiwiano, roquefort, uni, mollejas, bhut jolokia or really gross stuff like broccoli.
10. Have a Signature – Pick a dish and be the best at making it. For example, I have the best Chili recipe that exists in the Northern Hemisphere. I also have a great recipe for Baked Beans and Chicken Cordon Bleu. I know that I can make these and they will be a hit. Other people ask me to make them for events. That is a signature dish. A piece of advice – your signature dish shouldn’t be anything too weird. You can bring that Gizzards Fried in Kidney Fat with Okra and Melted Limburger Flambe, but nobody’s going to eat it.

Cooking is a fun pastime and you get to eat your mistakes. What a gig. Let me know if you have a favorite cooking tip or recipe. Have fun and cook safely.

This post is number 8 in a series of 10 Top Ten Lists on improving yourself. This series will be posted daily.

Tomorrow: Ten Ways to Be a Better Shooter.