The words “shot caller” brings forth visions of CEOs, criminal king pins, and lyrics of a late 90’s rap song. But in this language lesson we’re going to discuss it in the context of shooting. Being a shot caller of shot calling? Mad Duo

[This article was made possible by JTF Awesome team member PROOF Research.]

Language Lessons: Shot Calling

Term: Shot Calling

Also Known As: Calling Your Shots

Category: Shooting Terminology

Application(s) of use: Any type of shooting, but most people relate it to pistol shooting

Definition: According to Travis Tomasie (2010), calling shots is “The sights relationship to the target to determine the point of impact. More specifically, we need to see the initial lift of the front sight in recoil”.

Why it Matters: To get to the next level of shooting, where you don’t rely on visualizing the point of impact, will help you become a better shooter no matter what your target is. Top-level shooters can tell you if they missed or not, most of the time they don’t need to see proof in the target. This is important for the everyday shooter, because getting a point to where you can “see sights, pull trigger” and know you made your hit could be the difference between life and death.

This video is a bit dated, but explains the concept well:

Into the Weeds: Being able to call your shots takes time and quite a bit of honesty. If you treat yourself like that pain in the ass Drill Sergeant who won’t let you get away with a little white lie, you’ll be all the better in the long run.

Experienced shooters can tell when they’ve “pulled a shot”. Meaning, they know what sight picture they saw at the exact moment they pulled the trigger. What they’re relaying into words undoubtedly comes from years on the range and thousands of rounds.

If you want to learn this tactic without endless hours on the range, there is a good drill to practice to keep you honest, which lends to you truly being able to call your shots.

Shot Calling Drill: Similar to what Travis Tomasie demonstrated in the video, will accelerate your ability to call your shots without looking at the target. Another version of this is:

– Go to the range with your buddy

– Stand at least 25 yards away. You must be standing far enough away that you (the shooter) cannot see the hole in the paper target

– Have your buddy hold the same exact target type next to you

– You shoot at the target downrange, then point to the on the target your buddy is holding as to where you think the impact was

– He looks with binos and says “correct” or “incorrect” until you get it right

– Practice this several more times to learn what it looks like until you can accurately call your shots

In Summary, learn what your sight picture should look like; keep your eyes open when you shoot so that you can see where your front sight moves when the gun starts to recoil. By doing this, you will become a more accurate shooter. You will hit what you’re aiming at without any outside validation other than what you saw with your own eyes. Learn to call your shots so you’ll know if you need to throw another round or not.

Question for the Crowd: What’s the best shot you’ve made that you just “knew” you hit it (whatever it was), but others were shocked?

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Mad Duo, Breach-Bang& CLEAR!

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