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The Importance of Breathing While Shooting

Posted by RailScales LLC on Apr 28th 2023

The Importance of Breathing While Shooting

when shooting you should hold your breath because

There are many things to focus on when shooting, from holding the gun right, looking through the sights, squeezing the trigger and not pulling it so it doesn't jerk, and being sure of your target to name just a few. Because there are so many mechanics involved if you want to be accurate, one often overlooked factor in shooting accuracy is breathing. Yet, breathing correctly can be the difference between a kill shot and a miss, and there goes your freezer full of meat running away and disappearing over a hill. No matter what kind of shooting you do, from hunting or range shooting to competition shooting, controlling your breathing while firing is super important.

RailScales makes the best rail covers and handstops as well as the best AR sights for AR-15s and other firearms. Our mission is to offer lightweight, durable handguard rails that will offer you a better grip and keep the heat down while firing. Our AR-15 rail grips come in various colors and styles to meet your needs and are made for MLOK and KeyMod rails. Easy to install and offering a killer look, you will soon fall in love with our MLOK and KeyMod rail panels. Below, we'll take a look at the importance of breathing while shooting. Shop our best rail covers online today!

breathing while shooting

THE IMPORTANCE OF BREATHING WHILE SHOOTING

Why Does it Matter?

If you were to pay attention to your breathing, you'd notice that you have a natural rhythm. You inhale and then you exhale. Then you pause for two to three seconds. So why does breathing matter for shooting? Try this: take your AR-15 and look down the sights at a target. You will notice that as you inhale and then exhale, the sights move with your breaths, meaning it doesn't stay on its target 100% of the time. This means that you might miss your shot if you were to shoot at the wrong point in your breath cycle. In order to be consistent, you need to shoot when you have the same amount of air in your lungs with each shot. Otherwise, you won't have the consistency in shooting that you are looking for.

DIFFERENT BREATHING TECHNIQUES WHILE SHOOTING

Exhale and Pause

The exhale and pause method is where you place your cheek against your gun's stock while in the shooting position. You breathe in and then exhale about halfway. You pause (known as your natural respiratory pause) for a brief moment and then pull the trigger. The pause gives you a second to ensure your gun and sights are lined up for your shot. When shooting you should hold your breath never. This causes the the heart rate to be more pronounced and could affect your shot placement. A steady pause at the end of a breath cycle will do the trick and can sometimes be miss construed as "holding your breath". 

Inhale and Pause

The inhale and pause is the exact opposite of the exhale and pause. In this case, you will inhale until your lungs are about halfway full, pause, and then pull the trigger. The pause once again gives you a moment to ensure your sights and your target are perfectly lined up. Again, this is not a breath holding exercise and should be done in a normal controlled breathing cycle. 

Full Exhale, or The Relaxed Shot

A very popular breathing shooting technique is the full exhale. Here, you will breathe naturally and when you are at the end of an exhale, you pause briefly and then you fire. This allows you time to focus on your target while breathing naturally. This breathing technique is easy to learn and yields consistent results. Be advised thought that this method is nothing more than a normal breathing cycle shot. Practice taking three breathes in and exhaling, and on the third exhale break the shot. 

how to breathe while shooting a rifle

Breathe Normally

Another popular breathing shooting technique is to take the focus off your breathing completely and just breathe normally. This is great for beginner shooters who are trying to concentrate on many other points of performance shooting. Concentrating too much on your breathing can actually backfire. It can raise your heart rate instead of lowering it, which can affect your accuracy even more. With practice, you will develop a rhythm that works for you.

RailScales points out that there is no wrong way to breathe while shooting. It's about finding which breathing technique will work for you. Also remember that you are pausing, not holding your breath. Holding your breath for too long raises your heart rate as well. The whole point of finding a breathing technique is to eliminate movement while shooting that can affect your accuracy. You will be required to shoot at times with elevated heart rate and breathing, as a competent shooter you must be able to shoot while breathing out of cycle or from an uncomfortable position. 

breathing for shooting

CHOOSE RAILSCALES TODAY

RailScales began in 2014 because we saw a need for a better rail cover. What was on the market were cheap polymer rail covers that did not get the job done. In sum, they were almost useless. They were constantly falling off because they were clipped on, and your hands still got hot while firing.

RailScales set out to create the best rail covers on the market. We added in texture so you could have a better grip. We engineered the best materials, using G-10, which is a high-pressure fiberglass laminate that is super thin so you'll barely know it's there. And we created a better attachment method, one that uses direct attachments. CNC machined and featuring 416 stainless hardware, our tactical grips are hands down the best on the market, offering superior grip and heat protection. Our rail panels come in multiple lengths and colors so you can truly personalize these to fit your firearm.

If you are looking to up your AR shooting game, try out the breathing techniques above and invest in our MLOK and KeyMod grips. Check out our laser sights, our 1911 grips, and hand stops as well. We offer a limited lifetime warranty on all of our products. We always put our customers first, so let us know your needs. Shop online today!

gun breathing

Improve Shooting Accuracy With This Iron Sight

At RailScales, we offer a wide range of AR15 accessories designed to improve your shooting experience, including our Leaf® DBAL. This fixed iron sight mounts directly to your DBAL laser rather than your rail, freeing up valuable space. We recently released a second version of our Leaf® with several improved features that can help shooters improve their accuracy. A lighter weight and increased field of view are among just two of the improvements we’ve made to our Leaf® fixed iron sight. Read on to learn more about the benefits of the Leaf® DBAL.

Cleans Up Rail Space

The Leaf® DBAL from RailScales is designed to hard mount to your laser. This means that you’ll be freeing up rail space. This can provide you with extra space for your other AR accessories, or simply free up some space for you to enjoy the benefits of a more balanced rifle while shooting. One of the most important parts of improving your shooting accuracy and finding the breathing pattern that works best for you is being able to hold your rifle in a more stable position. With the LEAF line of sights you will keep the weight down on your rifle, gain performance over a standard sight, and have a product that is functional and doesn't look like an after thought on your rifle. The LEAF sight comes ready to go out of the box for 50/200 meter zero. This will keep you off the range zeroing your rifle and on the range enjoying your rifle. 

Lighter Weight

In this second version of the Leaf® DBAL, we’ve reduced the weight by 43%. This is a huge advantage over our previous version of this fixed iron sight. With less weight on your AR-15, it makes it easier to breathe while shooting in a comfortable and consistent pattern.

breathing techniques for shooting

Increased Field of View

Another benefit of the new Leaf® DBAL from RailScales is that we’ve increased the field of view around the post by 29%. This is due to the main body being lowered by 50% which opens up your field of view.

Lower Shelf Height

The shelf height on the second version of the Leaf® DBAL has also undergone improvements. We’ve lowered the shelf height by an impressive 50%. The main body has been lowered, which allows the post to appear taller while opening up the shooter's field of view.

How a Site Can Help Improve Shooting Accuracy

At RailScales, we are dedicated to providing our customers with high-quality AR-15 accessories that help to improve your shooting accuracy and your overall AR-15 shooting experience. As we’ve discussed in this post, understanding the importance of your breathing patterns while shooting is essential to being both accurate and consistent, as is the quality of the weapon accessories you use. When you have an iron site that you can count on to provide a clear, consistent view, you can focus on other parts of your shooting such as your breathing. With the increased field of view, lower shelf height, and lighter weight, the Leaf® DBAL from RailScales could be just what you need to improve your shooting accuracy.

shooting breathing techniques

Order Your Leaf® DBAL From RailScales

Are you searching for high-quality gun accessories that can help to improve your accuracy and overall AR-15 shooting experience? Look no further than RailScales. Our company was first created to offer our customers a high-quality textured rail cover that was better than anything on the market. We then realized that we could help improve shooter experience in a number of other ways and expanded our inventory to include AR-15 accessories such as the Leaf® DBAL. We take great pride in providing our customers with products that are a notch above the competition. And as you can see from the improvements we made from Version 1 to Version 2, we are always listening to the needs of our customers and making improvements. If you’re looking for a way to improve shooting accuracy with high-quality AR accessories, purchase your Leaf® DBAL from RailScales today.