Dealing with wobble zone
Controlling the wobble zone and learning a proper trigger control are two of the most important things in mastering firearms. Wobble zone is an apparent movement of sights, be they iron, red dot, or a scope, on a target. The further we are from the target, the more our brain perceives the movement of the sights and the bigger the wobble zone seems to be. We are so inclined to get that perfect sight alignment/sight picture, that once we get it, we rush to press the trigger. This typically results in snatching of a trigger and shots going lower-left for a right-handed shooter and lower-right for a left-handed one.
What sights are typically doing when aligned on the target
What can we do to remedy this problem? Wobble zone is unavoidable, we need to learn to deal with it and reduce it as much as possible. This is where fundamentals come into play. Proper stance, grip, and trigger control will go a long way to reduce the apparent movement of the sights. Most of the shooters these days are using an isosceles shooting stance. It allows for a very stable shooting platform. Proper grip, with about 70% of the pressure being applied by the support hand and 30% by the strong hand will allow much great control over a handgun. Trigger control comes into play next. A smooth pull to the rear, without staging a trigger, is what we should try to achieve. The last piece of a puzzle comes from a muscle between our ears. Ignore the wobble zone! When the sights are aligned on the target, ignore the wobble zone, and smoothly press the trigger. Your shots will prove that the wobble zone is unimportant.
One of the exercises I like to do during my classes is to demonstrate how unimportant the wobble zone is. I stand about 5-7 meters away from a target and over exaggerate the movement of the gun. I typically move in in a figure 8 pattern. As I am moving the gun, I keep pressing the trigger and putting bullets on the target. The end result – most of the shots are within a 7-point circle of the standard B-8 NRA target!
Some of the other things that can help mitigate dealing with the wobble zone are: dry-fire, proper breathing, and shot follow through.
Dry-fire teaches trigger control and is an invaluable tool in getting better at shooting. 10-15 minutes per day will go a long way in making you a better shooter. The reason dry-fire works is you are not dealing with recoil, loud noises, and other environmental factors of being at the range, and instead concentrating on the sights and trigger.
When a precision shot is required, proper breathing is a must. Take a shot at the respiratory rest. Exhale the air out of the lungs to the same point you would during a sigh. This is your respiratory pause. You only have 3-7 seconds (depending on a person) until your brain will start being deprived of oxygen and your body will start developing shakes. Use this time to take the shot, this is the most stable part of the breathing cycle.
Shot follow-through is often overlooked, especially when we go to the range with our buddies. As soon as a shot is taken, we develop a tendency to see how we did, by lowering the gun and looking at our target. That is the last thing we should be doing. We should always obtain the final sight picture before we proceed to the next action. If you have fired 2 shots, you should end up with 3 sight pictures. There is a lot more that can be said about shot follow-through, but for the purpose of this article, we need to realize that obtaining the final sight picture will allow our brain to concentrate on sights and ignore the wobble zone.
In summary, accepting that there always be a wobble zone and learning to ignore it, will lead to better marksmanship and will remedy the issue of snatching the trigger.
See you on the range,
Igor