Chris Sajnog is a retired Navy SEAL, completing active duty in 2009. In addition to his normal duties, Sajnog was a Navy SEAL Master Firearms Instructor and developed curriculum for the SEAL’s sniper program. Since retiring, he has been training in the public sector, teaching civilians and law enforcement officers.

In Navy SEAL Shooting, Sajnog details his training ideas. “I’ve trained the world’s deadliest snipers, and I can tell you this: Navy SEALs are just regular people with a unique set of talents,” says Sajnog. “I had never even fired a gun until I joined the military.” His approach is mastery of fundamentals. The skills of shooting – whether in combat, competition, hunting, or personal protection – are largely the same and all good marksmen learn them in the same fashion.

Up through page 110 the book covers useful preparatory information, such as mindset, fitness, goal setting, and the like. This is broken up into two sections, Training and Mindset. Section three runs pages 111-212 and is on marksmanship specifics. Section four, Operations, covers gun handling in a variety of environments. The book wraps up with two appendices on shot error diagnosis and ballistics information for zeroing.

Topics covered include improving accuracy with dry and live range drills, developing speed, shooting while moving, and clearing malfunctions. Dry practice and training principles are covered. “High speed” shooting is really essential marksmanship techniques developed by consistent, disciplined, organized practice. Shooting better is a matter of breaking down the mechanics behind shooting and maintaining the mindset to develop fundamentals.

It’s all very boring, actually. But that’s good. Like it or not, developing top-flight skills in anything requires disciplined repetition and adherence to the basics. It’s fairly simple, just not easy. Sajnog is wise in promoting this with his SEAL background as that seems to attract more gun owners than the competitions where the vast majority of this technique and training methodology was first developed. Navy SEAL Shooting is a very thorough break down of these principles and Sajnog does a good job covering a vast array of practical carbine and handgun skills. Clearly illustrated with good photography and visuals, this is a solid manual for anyone wishing to be a better shooter—provided they actually bother to do the work. The book is listed on Amazon.com and available direct from the author at NavySEALshooting.com.

Read more in the December 2016 issue.

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