Had a GREAT day today. Made major improvements in my aiming and how I squeeze the trigger. The thing that helped the most was concentrating on slowing everything down as much as I could and instead of worrying about going fast, I focused on using correct technique, even if it took much longer. My accuracy greatly improved. This says a lot for learning anything new- focus on going slow and learning perfect technique. If you rush it and learn poor technique, you will have to “unlearn it” and sometimes this is very hard to do. Get it right the first time, then worry about speeding it up later.
One thing we do is load single dummy rounds into each of our magazines randomly. It does a few things for you, 1- It simulates a misfire and 2- If you are squeezing the trigger correctly, and you get to a dummy round, the gun will not fire, will just hear “click” and if you are pulling correctly, the gun will stay absolutely still. If you have trigger control issues, you will shake the gun when you get to the firing point, even though no round is coming out because you are anticipating the recoil. It is a great indicator whether or not you are pulling the trigger correctly.
We did a lot of “weak” handed drills. Molly, the girl in the picture is left handed, so this is actually her “weak” hand. We did all kinds of drills regarding clearing various types of jams, assuming you no longer had a functioning “strong” hand.
– One of my favorite parts of the day was learning to shoot the Glock with just about every finger from each hand, and even using a ball point pen to fire. And YES- we learned how to shoot it upside down, with our “weak” handed pinky…just like you see in the movies! The crazy thing about this is….if your pull on the trigger is smooth and steady, and you are aiming the same, you will be nearly as accurate as you would in your strong hand index finger. Also learned how to shoot with 2 pistols at the same time. Pretty fun stuff!This one exercise was really mind blowing- We marked off 21 feet from the targets and stood behind a wooden plank. We had a “runner” way off to the left of the shooting target and on the instructor’s mark, the runner started running. Most of the shooters were not able to get an accurate shot off before the runner past the 21 foot mark.
What this means is…if you are armed and have someone start running at you from a seemingly long 21 feet away, chances are they will be able to get to you before you can accurately shoot them. This image is the shooters first shot. Look at the picture and see where Molly is, she isn’t exactly a lighting bolt either. I know it is hard to believe, and I wouldn’t have if I didn’t see it myself, but here is just no way an untrained individual can get their weapon out of their holster and fire accurately before the runner passes the line. This is just one of the many exercises we did that really open your eyes to gun safety and awareness. Most people who buy handguns think that just because they have them, they are safe, when in actuality, there is a ton of training that goes into learning how to do it correctly.
I am proud to say that I was barely able to get a round off at about the 21 foot mark, the first time it was a shoulder shot, the second in the heart.
After three days everything is becoming more and more reflex. It is getting easier but I am still making mistakes.
How long is your program for Michael? This is surprising about the 21′ exercise !
Great Stuff Michael, I did some training several years ago and went through the same stuff you are doing concerning the 21ft rule. Thats why when you watch "Cops" on TV, they stand back and even back peddle a little when subjects start walking to them. Because they can catch up to ya!
I actually find it comforting to know if someone is threatening me, I have at least 21 feet to a) hide or b) run at them before they can get to and fire their weapon. 🙂
Michael-first post on your blog, love it. Im a LEO in the Northeast and the 21 foot rule is one of the most important things you learn in training. Actually im pretty sure its been proven that even 21 feet is usually not enough for someone with any kind of weapon. By the time you’re drawing and putting the front site on the subject, they’re already on you.
I am nowhere near an expert on shooting, but always remember this: Slow is smooth, Smooth is fast. Throwing rounds down range doesn’t mean anything if they aren’t on target. Glad you’re enjoying the course, and keep teaching me how to take better photos!
Thanks for the comments- I am convinced that 21 feet isnt enough simply for the reason that during the drill itself, I was expecting the runner to go- I wasnt adding the recognition, processing and decision making time to draw and fire. What this means to me is that the safety line to do all these things and still get an aimed shot off is probably greater than 35 or 40 feet. I know it sounds crazy and I wouldnt have believed it myself if I didnt see it first hand.
I am sure they probably would frown on using a laser like Crimson Trace… but do you think the 21′ test would have been any better using a gun mounted laser?
There are a few problems with the laser, the first is, you do not know if it will always work like iron sights- if you constantly train with a laser, and then get into a fight, and pull it out and it isn’t working / not turned on you are screwed. This is one of the reasons the training is so huge, it focuses on getting you to learn muscle memory, mindset, and reflex instead of teaching you to rely on gun add ons. There is a tendency for shooters to think they will be safe because of "gear" and this is a mistake. Its all about training and mindset.
Out of the 40 hours of classes and 19 shooters I met, not a single person had or used a laser sight, it was all about fundamentals and learning to depend on the lowest base equipment- the gun and iron sights (I will say the rental guns used something called an XS Big Dot Sight which I really liked, still an iron sight though).
Even if a laser WAS working in a real life situation, I do not think it would make much of a difference because of the recognition, assessment and decision to fire are not anticipated as they were in the drill.