Question: In the scene where Swagger and Memphis go to talk to the old man, why does the old man look at their hands? What is he looking for?
GalahadFairlight
16th Nov 2009
Shooter (2007)
Answer: Just to see if he's a working man with rough hands. Shooters get bad callouses on elbows, not so much hands.
Answer: He's looking for callouses on the hands. Professional snipers end up getting hard skin inbetween the webbed part of the skin between the thumb and forefinger because of constant rubbing on the trigger guard. By checking the hands, he could tell whether or not he was talking to a proper sniper, and in particular Swagger.
GalahadFairlight
The webbing between the thumb and forefinger would rub on the stock or grip not the trigger guard.