The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 4 plus 3 letter word TAKE AIM
I've seen this crossword clue in The Daily Telegraph
T
A
K
E
A
I
M
More clues leading to the result TAKE AIM
- Zero in on Nestor, one in cap
- Prepare to fire male working at IKEA previously
- Potentially make it a target
- Fire’s said to follow this and make it a mess
- Prepare to fire volunteer one’s seen holding parrot
- Make it a struggle to point a weapon
- Go on to Doncaster bypass maybe and prepare to shoot ahead
- Train? Make it a loco!
- Appropriate objective for 8
- Reportedly, river advanced towards train
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "prepare to shoot ahead" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case prepare to shoot ahead = take aim.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.