Content provided in partnership with

Shooting tips from Tom Campbell - Better Shooting

American Handgunner, Sept-Oct, 2003 by Dave Anderson

Tom Campbell is one of the outstanding competitive shooters of the last quarter century, consistently among the top shooters at major matches, including IPSC world shoots, USPSA nationals, the Bianchi Cup and the Steel Challenge. After a long career with S&W Campbell is currently with Safariland.

Long after other top shooters had switched to compensated .38 Supers and optical sights, Campbell stayed with his non-compensated, iron-sighted S&W .45 -- and still managed to finish near the top. Campbell believes shooters need to develop sound, basic shooting skills. He deplores current trends to abandon marksmanship in favor of high-round count, close range speed-shoots. Here, he offers some tips on the shooting grip and accuracy training.

Most Popular Articles in Sports: The first family: Archie, Peyton and Eli are incredibly famous, immensely ...; The growing gap: driving distances are skyrocketing on the PGA Tour. So why ...; Which pistol caliber for self defense? Four different people come to four ...; Drag racing - National Hot Rod Association; The world's most popular .22: the Marlin Model 60 just keeps on ticking; More »

Trivia

* Campbell is one of the few top shooters who doesn't reload. He reportedly fired $70,000 worth of Federal .45 ACP ammunition in one year.

* Prior to a world shoot Campbell and Mike Plaxco, both U.S. Gold Team members, were practicing at Plaxco's shooting facility. Visiting the reloading room one evening, Plaxco persuaded Campbell to give one pull on the handle of the Dillon 1000 loading machine. It's the only cartridge he's ever loaded.

"A common mistake with new shooters is to hold the gun down low, with the thumb curled down and a little space between the web of the hand and the tang of the grip. Here's how I grip the pistol with my strong hand. The pistol's barrel is in line with the forearm. The hand is as high as possible on the gun, with the web of the hand pressed hard against the tang, and the middle finger pressed against the bottom of the trigger guard. With a 1911-style pistol the thumb rides the thumb safety. With any type of pistol, I like to have the thumb about in line with the barrel. The tip of the trigger finger is squarely across the face of the trigger."

"For the two-hand grip, wrap the fingers of the weak hand around the shooting hand. Like the shooting hand, the support hand should be high on the gun, with the index finger wedged tightly against the bottom front of the trigger guard. The base of the support hand is tight against the left grip panel, thumb pointing forward in line with the barrel. I grip the gun hard, too. When I release the gun after gripping it for a few seconds, the checkering of the grip panels is impressed into my hand. I have pictures and videos of most of the top shooters in action. During the few seconds when the gun is actually being fired, you can see from the way the muscles stand out in their forearms, they are really locked down hard on the gun."

"Too many shooters wont to run before they've learned to walk. If you can't fire one accurate shot slowly, you sure can't fire two accurate shots fast. I practice more at 25 yards and out than at closer ranges. Practice one-shot draws at 25 yards. To hit consistently you have to do everything right; the draw, grip, stance, sight alignment, trigger control. Work until you can shoot ten consecutive Azone hits in 2.5 seconds per draw. Then cut the time to two seconds per draw."

Shooting tips from Tom Campbell - Better Shooting

American Handgunner, Sept-Oct, 2003 by Dave Anderson

Find Research Guides for:

Find Featured Titles for: News

Most Popular Articles in Sports

Most Popular Publications in Sports