To be a great fighter, your mind must be sharp and your hands must be skilled. Retired Navy SEAL Master Instructor Chris Sajnog’s instructional book bridges the usual gap between intellect and physical prowess. Is Navy Seal Shooting worth your time or should it stay on the shelf? Read on.
The Mental Game
Sajnog makes it clear that being of sound mind is imperative when trying to be an effective shooter. There can’t be a disconnect between your brain and your trigger finger.
You know he is serious because nearly half the book has a laser focus on mental conditioning, thinking ahead, and setting goals for yourself. He goes over this in depth, suggesting things like meditation to strengthen the connection with your firearm.
With his career as a Navy SEAL shooting instructor, Sajnog fully understands how to prepare your mind for firefights and keeping your cool even in the direst situations.
He even touches on a little bit of philosophy, mentioning that we can have good reasons to fight, with the number one motivation being love. Sajnog displays surprising and not often seen emotional awareness and intelligence as he writes about becoming a more efficient warrior.
All of his points are succinct and effective in making sure the reader understands that one’s intellect is a weapon too and should not be forgotten when learning about physical weapons. His writing is easily digested too. Concepts are easy to grasp and remember.
I was not expecting to learn mental fortitude from this book and it ended up changing my perspective. Shooting is not only a physical game but also one that requires a focused mind beyond firing signals to your fingers and eyes.
He makes the case for starting a training routine and sticking to it, as well as using meditation to refine your focus. I’ve always had these ideas in the back of my head but never really bothered to apply them until I read Sajnog’s words on discipline, motivation, and focus. It is truly eye-opening and I was glad to see such a focus on the mental and emotional aspect of firing a weapon.
The Physical Game
Now we enter the flipside of the skilled shooting equation: the physical mechanics. Sajnog is clear that the mental aspect and physical portion of shooting are intertwined, but I’ll discuss them separately for the sake of clarity. This is where you really start to get the stuff you picked the book up for, and it is extensive.
Of course, Sajnog goes into fundamentals such as safety and basic weapon functions, but the rest of the book makes something very clear: those fundamentals are the key to shooting with “virtuosity.” That being said, most of the book is learning, then refining those fundamentals.
Sajnog doesn’t just provide that information though, he teaches you how to build on those skills to take your shooting beyond average. All the information is in-depth and left no unanswered questions for me.
He then covers more advanced techniques like weapon mounting, pistol and carbine manipulations, and how to shoot and move. Everything I expected in this book was there plus so much more that had never before crossed my mind, and none of it ever felt out of reach. I haven’t read as good a book on shooting in a long time.
Writing Style
Sajnog doesn’t write endless dry verbiage like a textbook. His style is engaging with a casual, yet authoritative tone that tells you he knows what he’s talking about, perfectly fitting for a Navy SEAL Master shooting instructor. All the key elements to becoming a successful shooter are laid out in nearly 650 pages of well-organized information.
The bottom line is that the book kept me interested, continually filling my mind with knowledge as I made my way through this book. It’s thoroughly fascinating and enlightening all the way through.
Should you buy Navy SEAL Shooting by Chris Sajnog?
If I now were to recommend a single book on learning how to shoot, it would be this one. Chris Sajnog does an amazing job breaking down shooting fundamentals in a way that is super easy to understand entertaining to read and highly knowledgeable. So if you want to become a better shooter (and a better student of shooting), I highly recommend picking up Navy SEAL Shooting: Learn How to Shoot from Their Leading Instructor. You won’t regret it.
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—Richard Douglas founded Scopes Field, reviewing different scopes and guns on the market. He’s a strong 2nd Amendment advocate and believes in science-backed gun solutions to our nation’s biggest problems.