When it comes to proper rifle shooting, few know what they’re doing more than the Marine Corps. They’ve got a handy acronym to remind shooters of the basic steps involved in precision shooting: BRASS. And it stands for Breathe, Relax, Aim, Stop, Squeeze.
Breathe
Considering that breathing is something we do without thinking, you might find it weird that shooters need to be reminded to do it. The point of this first step in the shot process is to remind you to just breathe. Don’t breathe too fast and don’t hold your breath—just breathe like you normally do.
This is actually easier said than done. Many of us were taught to shoot while holding our breath, with the reasoning that your body is still when your lungs aren’t expanding. More on that in the “stop” section, but the bottom line is, this is a bad idea. Holding your breath deprives your body of oxygen and can lead to muscle flinches, fatigue and all kinds of other things that aren’t helpful for good shooting.
Conversely, if you’re a hunter, the excitement of seeing an animal can increase your heart rate and thus your breathing. Certainly the same is true of Marines in combat and even competitors who are being timed. You must learn to slow your breathing to at least a near-normal level for optimum shooting.
Relax
Really good precision shooting requires as little movement being introduced to the rifle as possible, and any kind of tension you’re holding in your muscles will translate into small movements that might seem imperceptible to you but which will show up on the target, especially at extended ranges. Muscle tension leads to fatigue and jerky movements. We want to be relaxed and smooth.
This is why we work on finding our natural point of aim and support the rifle with a rest and with our bones as much as possible—not muscling it into place, but setting it up and then settling ourselves behind it in a relaxed position. Proper breathing will help with relaxation, and don’t forget that you want to settle your brain as much as possible, too, by focusing in on what matters (the target) and letting go of what doesn’t.
Aim
When your breathing is normal and you’re relaxed behind the gun, you finalize your aim. Again, use natural point of aim and remember what’s important. For me, this is when I remind myself to make sure I have a full field of view and to focus properly. There’s some disagreement on what exactly you should be focusing on, with many shooters preferring to focus on the target, while others like to focus on the reticle, particularly in long-range precision shooting. The more you shoot, the more familiar you’ll become with what the crosshairs-over-target sight picture looks like and you’ll find what works best for you.
Stop
It’s go-time. This is when everything calms down and you stop everything you can stop, including any body movement. Don’t stop breathing to the point of holding your breath, but do wait to pull the trigger at your natural respiratory break, after an exhale but before you begin the next inhale. At that point, your lungs are empty and your body is as still as it’s going to be — but this only lasts two to four seconds. If something happens to throw your sight picture off, don’t struggle to get it back before you need to breathe again, because you’ll be holding your breath before you know it. Just get it worked out and wait until your next exhale.
This second S is also sometimes called Slack. If you have a two-stage trigger, this is the point at which you’ll begin your squeeze and take up the slack before the trigger break.
Squeeze
The very small movement of a single finger is a huge determining factor in how accurate your shot will be downrange. This step reminds us that we don’t jerk, pull, slap or yank triggers—we squeeze them, smooth and steady and straight back, with the center of our finger pad. Only your finger moves here, not your hand, your elbow or anything else. When you’re still perfecting this, it might be a slow movement, but with practice, “slow” becomes a relative term and you can squeeze off a precision shot easily within your brief respiratory break.
Follow-Through
You might see this acronym as BRASSF, with the F standing for Follow-Through. For a fraction of a second after you squeeze the trigger, the bullet is traveling down the barrel, and any movement you impart into the gun during this travel time is going to affect where the shot goes. Therefore, we hold the trigger back for a second after our squeeze, and we keep our head exactly where it was during the shot, reacquiring our sight picture through the scope. Not only does this keep us from jerking our head up (and possibly moving the rifle during dwell time) to see where our shot went, but it also prepares us fora an immediate second shot if one is needed.
