Review: ‘Navy SEAL Shooting: Learn How to Shoot from Their Leading Instructor’ by Chris Sajnog

Aaron Spuler is a firearms enthusiast and recreational shooter. Follow more or his work at The Weapon Blog

To be a great fighter, your mind must be sharp and your hands must be skilled. Chris Sajnog’s instructional book starts to bridge the gap between intellect and physical prowess. Is “Navy Seal Shooting” worth your time or should it stay on the shelf? Find out in my book review of Navy SEAL Shooting.

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 trigger finger.

You know it’s serious because nearly half the book has a laser focus on mental conditioning, thinking ahead, and setting goals for yourself.

He goes over this several times 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 most dire situation.

He even touches on a little bit of philosophy, mentioning that we find reasons we fight, with the number one motivation being: love.

Sajnog displays a surprising and not often seen emotional awareness and intelligence as he writes about becoming a more efficient warrior, not skipping the emotional aspect as many do.

All of his points are succinct and effective in making sure the reader understands that your intellect is a weapon too and should not be forgotten when learning about physical weapons.

This is written in an easily digestible way too. Concepts are easy to grasp and commit to memory.

I was not expecting to develop mental fortitude when I finished 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 mentions having the discipline to start a training routine and stick 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’s 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.

I’d be foolish to pretend that the mental aspect and physical portion of shooting aren’t completely intertwined, but I’m splitting the two 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 some 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.”

With 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 covers enough to where I didn’t have any unanswered questions left.

Beyond fundamentals, he covers more advanced techniques like weapon mounting, pistol and carbine manipulations, and how to shoot and move.

All the key elements to becoming a successful shooter are laid out in nearly 650 pages of focused information.

All of what I expected in this book was there plus so much more that never even crossed my mind, but none of it ever felt like it was out of reach.

It has everything you could ask for and I haven’t read as good a book on shooting like this in a long time.

Writing Style

The writing style is equally important in all of this. No one wants to read a book that isn’t engaging in its style. Luckily, Sajnog knew this and avoided a route of endless streams of text that are dry and similar to a textbook.

His style is engaging with a casual, yet authoritative tone that lets you know he knows what he’s talking about, but I wasn’t about to cast doubt on a Navy SEAL Master shooting instructor anyway.

The bottom line is that all the lines of text kept me interested and 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 had to recommend one book on learning how to shoot, it’d be this book. Chris did an amazing job breaking down shooting fundamentals and presenting in a way that is super easy to understand yet entertaining to read. So if you want to become a better shooter ⁠(and learner) then I highly recommend picking up Navy SEAL Shooting: Learn How to Shoot from Their Leading Instructor. You won’t regret it.

This article by Richard Douglas originally appeared here.