I could shoot from my kitchen table to a target in the back yard, but that’s getting into “that guy is weird teritory” And it would be breaking a couple of rules of safe shooting.
Cite?
It’s pretty much on most gun sites that sell them, here’s a representative sample that’s more detailed than most - in short, the $200 Federal tax on them is gone as of 2026, though it’s possible different states may still have additional charges. Otherwise, still an application period with the usual delays.
It’s one of the microscopic specifics I generally approve of in HR1 “One Big Beautiful Bill”.
Yea, the $200 federal thing on suppressors was always stupid, and will always be stupid, IMO. They should never have imposed it in the first place. Just stupid all around.
This afternoon I thought more about it, and there’s no way the range was 100 yards. After thinking about how big a football field is, I’m pretty sure it was a 50 yard range. Then again, it was nearly 50 years ago, so my memory has gotten a lot more golden since then. But it was definitely NOT 100 yards.
Even Robin Hood born again would consider 100 yards not a fun shot, so 50 seems more accurate. The best bow hunters prefer to do about 40, a bad shot on a living animal is worse than a target but also losing an arrow is expensive and more likely farther.
My local bow range maxes out at 80 yards I believe, and it’s not like it’s because we’re hurting for space because the rifle range is nearly 1000 yards.
My wife and step-daughter are also much better shots than I am. I’ve shot on and off for many years, but they come to the range and easily do as well as I do at ranges of less than 50 feet. I think there are a couple factors at play. First, they follow instructions, holding the firearm, aligning the sights, and gently squeezing the trigger at a slow, but smooth, pace. (Slow is smooth and smooth is fast.) Second, they don’t fight the gun. A lot of guys try to use strength (often our biggest weapon) to OVERCOME the gun. When I tell them not to use their thumbs to apply pressure in a two-handed grip, they don’t. Women I work with don’t milk the handle as much or push the gun sideways when they pull the trigger.
Just my non-professional observations.
This diagram shows where to place your finger on the trigger. And here is an article on the subject.
Disagree with that diagram. Finger placement depends on how big and or strong your hands are. And if you are shooting a revoler in single or double action mode, or shooting a semi-auto.
Well, the last sentence of the caption explicitly says “only you can determine what works best for you”. Surely you don’t disagree with that?
Most any published advice most anywhere on most anything is aimed (heh 
) at the fat center of the bell curve of users and use cases.
The more the user or use case is an outlier, the less applicable the generic guidance is. But the value of generic guidance is it gives the novice a place to start from, and then deviate from if and as necessary. Trying the orthodox way first is standing on the shoulders of the collective experience of the world. The logical alternative is newbies just running off willy nilly with whatever technique they randomly happen to hit upon. Which will almost certainly be worse.
A good trainer will be able to predict which deviations from standard might be helpful in a particular case. But even then there’s value in ensuring the trainee knows the standard and knows they’re deviating for [reason] and why they’re doing so. With increased skill and e.g. hand strength, they may well be able to more closely conform to the standard pedagogy later and do better for it. May.
No, I don’t disagree.
I did disagree (not out loud) with the range officer trying to show my wife how to hold her revolver. My wife might up with a semi-auto, and you don’t want that muscle memory. The ‘tea-cup’ hold is best.