Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Steve Hunter on Snipers

In the WaPo...read the whole thing: 
So what is going on in the sniper's mind as he waits -- I'm guessing he's prone, the most stable shooting position -- in the dark, on the overhang at the extreme rear of the ship? He's crucially aware of his breathing rhythm, because he wants to fire between breaths. He probably doesn't think much about trigger pull. He wouldn't be here if he didn't know how to pull a tri gger. He's not "pulling" it in the sense of exerting his muscle against it, so much as urging it to cooperate it, massaging it into doing his bidding. If he hurries, if his finger is misplaced on its curve or catches on the trigger guard beneath it, it can all go wrong.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Press not pull, there is a difference. Mentally.

ericire12 said...

Reporter: "What do you feel when you shoot a suspected insurgent?"

Army Sniper: "A slight recoil."

Sgt Yates said...

B.R.A.S.S.
Breathe, Relax, Aim, Slack, Squeeze!

SgtYates
'Ol Grunt

Anonymous said...

anonymous@8:59pm, when you press something it is usually away from you, when you pull something it is toward you. I feel like I'm pulling the trigger toward me.

How do you define "pressing" the trigger?

Clark Kent said...

"Pressing" the trigger: Might some say tactile dyslexia? Whatever. It comes down to the pattern of leverages and muscle responses the shooter has developed thru training and concentration.

Steve P said...

Anyone else but me see a relationship between unarmed vessels and gun free zones! Both seem to draw the criminal activity