Five Fundamentals of Shooting a Rifle Safely

Requirement 2e (option A)

Identify and demonstrate the five fundamentals of shooting a rifle safely.

1. Aiming (sight alignment & sight picture)

   • Being able to hit your target is key.  Target practice is a perfect time to align your sights. Sometimes you will notice that you hit your target in an are that you were not aiming for. If your grouping is together, no worries, your sights were off a little. Make the adjustments according to the angles that you were off.

2. Breath Control

   • Body movement while breathing can produce gun movement that impairs shooting. Stop breathing momentarily while firing the shot. (Respiratory pause)

3. Holding Control

   • Body movement affects the shot. Hold your body still. Hold control allows you to maintain the proper sight picture and sight alignment during the process of firing the shot.

4. Trigger Control

   • Trigger is pulled straight to the rear in a smooth, continuous manner without disturbing the sight alignment. Gradually and evenly increasing pressure until the mechanism releases.

5. Follow-Through

   • In rifle shooting, follow-through means to maintain aiming (perfect sight alignment and acceptable sight picture), breath control, hold control, and trigger control until the gun settles back into the aiming are after firing.