It feels to me that Rodney's reputation for weapons inadequacy is undeserved, so I went through all the episodes I could remember him using a gun.


The Defiant One: We were not given reason to believe that he couldn't hit the Wraith; rather, he did appear to hit it each time -- if he hadn't, there would have been a hazard to Sheppard, since he was directly behind the target.  This did not seem to cause Rodney to hesitate. 

Rodney had to be reminded to reload.

Siege, Part 3: Rodney is ready to fire on the approaching Wraith, but accidentally ejects the clip, probably instead of disengaging the safety.

Runner: Rodney's skill was disparaged by Ford -- not his aim in particular, but the likelihood of accidental discharge.  Then Ford disarms McKay.  Later, Ford returns the weapon when they appear to be under threat, without any demeaning warnings one might expect toward a crappy shot.  Then, in a face off, Rodney shoots Ford in the shoulder -- which makes sense if a) Rodney would aim for the shoulder in an attempt to incapacitate rather than kill (as implied by his statement immediately prior, and later while hanging upside down), and b) Rodney can hit where he's aiming.  When that doesn't have the expected effect and Rodney flees, shooting into the air looks pretty silly, but it is effective as far as establishing location and danger is concerned, and he's already established that shooting Ford doesn't do a lot of good.

The Long Goodbye: Out of everyone in and near the room, Sheppard turns over his weapon to Rodney.  Shortly thereafter, under fire, Rodney shoots 3 times toward Sheppard's body controlled by a hostile alien consciousness, but doesn't actually hit him and hits him once in a non-vital but non-disabling place.  Beckett tells him not to shoot, for fear of him hitting Sheppard.

Sateda:  Beckett discounts Rodney's skill, saying "And you're a terrible shot."  Rodney doesn't deny it.

Common Ground: Spooked, Rodney opens fire with a P-90 on what turns out to be a mouse.  Or perhaps a rat.  At any rate, afterward, it is a dead mouse.  Hitting a moving target that size is not as easy as it looks.  Trust me.

My biased opinion: Rodney has the background, the hand-eye coordination, and enough experience to be a good shot, even an excellent one.  A site picture is a site picture, and Rodney hits what he aims at, when he bothers to aim.  However, he's not experienced enough with firearms or combat to keep his cool under pressure (failure to reload, clip ejection, losing skill when under fire) or be considered an expert.  Knowing that safeties and ejection buttons exist is not the same as knowing instinctively and reflexively which to use when.  He may not correct Beckett's misconception about his skill because a) he may feel that if he's not the best in the field, his skill is not worth pointing out, b) protesting too much gives the opposite impression, or c) he gets enough crap from Beckett already from exaggerating his ailments and he'd rather not expose himself to more mockery.  I think he gets too much flak in fandom for being a crap shot because a) we're taking Carson's word for it, b) we're equating general weapons expertise with the ability to hit a target, or c) we're being blinded by McKay's own unease.  For all that he's never missed when he's aiming, he's also never displayed any significant confidence with weapons.


Details gathered from transcripts at Gateworld, where it's way too easy to see spoilers for much of Season 3.  However, I'm not particularly sad about this.