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I went out to Hot Wells this afternoon to finally put some rounds through my Glock 26 I picked up 3 weeks ago. If any of y'all watched Top Shot this past season you might remember the episode where they were shooting the Glock while susoended in the air. During that episode they had a practice session in which the handgun/Glock expert kept telling everyone to breathe when firing a handgun and you'll be more accurate with your shots. During my range session today I really made it a point to focus on continously breathing to see what happens. It works! I was more accurate with my 26 than I have been with my 23. I'll know for sure the next time I go and test the breathing while firing the 23.

Interesting. This is the opposite of what I have been taught.

WildBill wrote:Interesting. This is the opposite of what I have been taught.

I've never thought about it much for handguns, except on rare occasion when I use what I was taught for accurate rifle fire: deep slow breaths to slow the heart down, take up trigger slack, exhale half way, break trigger between heartbeats. Ideally, you'll be surprised when it breaks. But I am very seldom in that frame of mind when shooting handguns.

I've noticed that when at home practicing grip posture and trying to work on steadying my hands in the aiming stance. With an inhaled breathe my sights are everywhere, exhaled I can stay in a much tighter circle. So I believe, at least for myself, that it works for both rifles and handguns. Now, whether or not it matters (or if you can remember for that matter) when it counts is a different story.

AndyC wrote:I prefer breathing when shooting, personally - the target gets all red and blurry otherwise

I thought that in a SD scenario, the object was to make SURE the target got all red and blurry!

I was taught (and i teach) people to breathe in,out then hold to shoot. But dont hold more than a few seconds. That might be some peoples problem that they are holding for way too long. A laser can show the effect of your heart beat and breathing really well.

Pawpaw wrote:

AndyC wrote:I prefer breathing when shooting, personally - the target gets all red and blurry otherwise

I thought that in a SD scenario, the object was to make SURE the target got all red and blurry!

A real life SD situation is a lot different than punching holes in paper. You are pumping adrehliene (excuse misspell) and your body needs the oxygen. I expect hanging from that wire was a similar stressfull situation. Holding your breathe will increase the amount of tunnel vision. Also in a SD situation don't try to shoot bulls eyes. Center of Mass and make the first hit count.

AndyC wrote:I prefer breathing when shooting, personally - the target gets all red and blurry otherwise

The best place this will be learned is deer hunting. With the crosshairs on a trophy that's in the brush, the shooter needs to wait until the bullet path is clear or risk a deflection. A patient hunter could sit there on target for quite a while and if it's me and I'm sitting there holding my breath, it only takes a few seconds and my eyesite is GONE!! So I have to fight the temptation, be patient and continue to take slow & even breaths to keep my eyes working while Mr. Big Rack is putzing around behind a bush.

This wasn't as pronounced when I was in my teens but now, it only takes a few seconds of holding my breath and my vision gets really funky.

For precision bench rest shooting, I teach my students to trip the trigger between breaths or after an exhale. I never use the term "hold your breath" or "hold to shoot". Mainly this is because I'm usually teaching scouts with very little shooting experience at all and I have to be extremely careful about the terms I use. If I say "hold your breath" those young guys might take in a big gulp like they're fixin to go get a brick out of the deep end of the pool.

I've never had breathing be an issue with pistol shooting. I don't know why. Perhaps proper breathing is still in there from all those years of martial arts back when I was young and made of rubber. I rarely do any target pistol shooting. I veiw it more as a self defense skill and am always practicing shooting in patterns instead of precision shots and my breathing pattern is instinctive.

Man, now I'm gonna have to go out and think about it and it's gonna mess me up!!

I prefer to breathe at all times throughout the day.

Zoomie wrote:I prefer to breathe at all times throughout the day.

I also like to breathe at all times throughout the night.

See what happens when there's more than one definition of a word. Lets go with Miriam-Webster's third definition, "the mean solar day of 24 hours beginning at mean midnight". But I agree, breathing at night is important.

Zoomie wrote:See what happens when there's more than one definition of a word. Lets go with Miriam-Webster's third definition, "the mean solar day of 24 hours beginning at mean midnight". But I agree, breathing at night is important.

Me too!