Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on target (and you have made the decision to shoot).
I like the sentiments of this rule, but have never been terribly keen on exactly how it is worded.
For one, when I fire a handgun, the recoil moves my sights off target, am i supposed to remove my finger from the trigger for the split second it takes to get back on target? I hope not. Of course that is a silly extreme, but I think it does show a flaw
second and much more important regards dry firing and some gun disassembly. People argue that dry firing is bad because it breaks the rules, others argue that the rules are bad because sometimes you need to pull the trigger to dissassemble.
here is my take on disassembling and dry firing, regarding this rule and the others.
Okay, by rule 1, I have to assume this gun I am about to dryfire or disassemble is still loaded, that means when I pull the trigger, this gun will fire. then I factor in rule 2, this gun is going to fire a bullet out, where is that bullet going to go? Factor in rule 4, is that an acceptable place for the bullet to go? These are questions you should ask yourself every single time you go to dryfire or disassemble a gun. Now, for me, it is into a corner of the basement, for you it may be a sand bucket or a berm or whatever, but you should be prepared for it to happen. Up into the sky is not acceptable, toward the wall that seperates the living room and a childs bedroom is not acceptable.
In this example I have not 'made the descision to shoot' but I have 'prepared for the gun to fire' by being fully aware of the other rules, considering where that bullet is giong to go (via muzzle direction) and deciding what the target is, and is beyond it (something safe to catch a stray bullet)
Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on target (and you are prepared for the gun to fire).
I think that makes a better rule. when i dryfire, my sights ARE on target...into the safe corner. when I disassemble, I am doing more 'pointshooting' than carefully alligning the sights, so it is still not absolutely positively terrific with that wording, but I think it is a lot better.
Or maybe just
Keep your finger off the trigger until you are prepared for the gun to fire
Under the catagory of 'prepared for the gun to fire' you can cover all the specifics of 'an unaimed shot in combat does no good, you aren't truely prepared until your sights are aligned' as well as 'when dry firing or cleaning a safe place for the bullet to land would be X' or for hunting 'you aren't prepared to fire until you have correctly identified the 'thing' you are looking at as the proper species, sex, and size of animal, so until you know that, your finger should remain off the trigger'
I like the sentiments of this rule, but have never been terribly keen on exactly how it is worded.
For one, when I fire a handgun, the recoil moves my sights off target, am i supposed to remove my finger from the trigger for the split second it takes to get back on target? I hope not. Of course that is a silly extreme, but I think it does show a flaw
second and much more important regards dry firing and some gun disassembly. People argue that dry firing is bad because it breaks the rules, others argue that the rules are bad because sometimes you need to pull the trigger to dissassemble.
here is my take on disassembling and dry firing, regarding this rule and the others.
Okay, by rule 1, I have to assume this gun I am about to dryfire or disassemble is still loaded, that means when I pull the trigger, this gun will fire. then I factor in rule 2, this gun is going to fire a bullet out, where is that bullet going to go? Factor in rule 4, is that an acceptable place for the bullet to go? These are questions you should ask yourself every single time you go to dryfire or disassemble a gun. Now, for me, it is into a corner of the basement, for you it may be a sand bucket or a berm or whatever, but you should be prepared for it to happen. Up into the sky is not acceptable, toward the wall that seperates the living room and a childs bedroom is not acceptable.
In this example I have not 'made the descision to shoot' but I have 'prepared for the gun to fire' by being fully aware of the other rules, considering where that bullet is giong to go (via muzzle direction) and deciding what the target is, and is beyond it (something safe to catch a stray bullet)
Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on target (and you are prepared for the gun to fire).
I think that makes a better rule. when i dryfire, my sights ARE on target...into the safe corner. when I disassemble, I am doing more 'pointshooting' than carefully alligning the sights, so it is still not absolutely positively terrific with that wording, but I think it is a lot better.
Or maybe just
Keep your finger off the trigger until you are prepared for the gun to fire
Under the catagory of 'prepared for the gun to fire' you can cover all the specifics of 'an unaimed shot in combat does no good, you aren't truely prepared until your sights are aligned' as well as 'when dry firing or cleaning a safe place for the bullet to land would be X' or for hunting 'you aren't prepared to fire until you have correctly identified the 'thing' you are looking at as the proper species, sex, and size of animal, so until you know that, your finger should remain off the trigger'