I’ve been doing a lot of reading lately. And it always impresses me that even in the oldest books about shooting, trigger control is always mentioned as being critical. It was every bit as important “Back Then” as it is now. The only difference is that back then, they didn’t have trick sights with illuminated or fiber optic sights. They didn’t have mini red dots and lasers. What they had was Trigger Discipline.
Another thing they didn’t have was any form of decent technique or tactics.
But don’t think for a minute that if you were to go back in time you would be able to clean how.
Because back then ammo was cheap. Even by today’s dollars and their income levels back then, ammo was cheap. While they may not have been much on the Art of the Dynamics… They could hit. And no matter then or now, Hitting is Winning.
And here’s the deal… I bet you could take your Great Great Grandpa and give him your gun, and he could hit with it. But he gives you his gun, you would be hard pressed hit the black.
Today we’ve been very spoiled with good triggers and CNC Machined actions making everything much more consistent. So he would think your trigger was awesome. You, might not think the same of his. Not that his was bad… just different.
But the one thing he had that I bet most guys don’t… He knew what a good trigger pull was. Not the trigger and the mechanics of it, but the biometrics and the technique to have a good pull.
The only thing i would disagree with is that the old days, most people didnt own pistols. Im talking 1930s to 1960s. Most old timers had rifles or shotguns, and the vast majority hunted for food, not trophies. I know this is anecdotal, but my father is a crack shot with his old pre 1964 Winchester model 70 .270, that he inherited from his father, who also was a crack shot and was an avid bird hunter as well. But my dad can’t hit the side of a barn with a pistol. One of the reasons why i personally think we did so well in ww2 was due to the greatest generation being comfortable with rifles, having grown up around them, and hunting game in rural America. It’s a culture we’ve been slowly losing over the past generation.
“The only thing i would disagree with is that the old days, most people didnt own pistols. Im talking 1930s to 1960s. Most old timers had rifles or shotguns, and the vast majority hunted for food, not trophies.”
Same can be said today.
Well said. I’ve learned a lot from the writing of Jack O’Connor. He was my childhood gun “hero,” both from the pages of Outdoor Life and his books. I’ve collected most of his books and when I open one, I continue to be surprised about how modest but knowledgeable he was, and how relevant he remains. Of course, he wrote about hunting and shooting and not combat or tactical equipment or situations.
Interesting insight. So if I think I suck now, good thing I didn’t grow up when crackas were something you ate.
Some of the Shooters from back in the day were something else.
Bill Jordan, Jelly Bryce, Ed McGivern.
Their ability with what they had to work with was… and IS, amazing.
Jim
The Miculek, Koenig, Haley of their day.
Our ancestors had pistols as well. And they didn’t believe that the maximum effective range of a pistol was 20 yards either.