The Skills We Need

[Hard Ball]

Most TFL members who own hanguns own them as combat weapons intended for use in serious situations, Remember, in actual combat people almost always do what they have practiced.

Given that that is true, what are the shooting and gun handling skills you need to have to do it right?

My list includes:

oGet into action rapidly. remember your opponent (S) are probably going to staart first Develop a smooth, fast draw that ends with first tound hits.
oMost gun fights occur at ranges of 15 yards to one inch.Rapidly engage single and multiple man sized targets at these ranges Include point shooting in your practice.
oMost is not all. Practice hitting as rapidly as possible targets at ranges of 15 to 5O yards.
o If you carry a primary pistol and a backup, practice with both in the same ways.
oExtend that out to 100 yards if your pistol and ammunition can do it
oPractce tactical reloading and speed reloading. Being in a real world gunfight with an empty or nearly empty handgun is hazzardous to your health
oPractice reloading from pouches, pocket or however you carry your spare ammunition. (AND DO carry spare ammunition).
oSelect and pracice a good two handed shooting stance.
oYou wont always be able to use both hands. Practice both strong hand and weak hand unsupported shooting.
oMake an effort to practice these skills on a regular basis as often as you can. Dont concentrate on one or two to the exclusion of the others.
If you can do these things reasonably well your chances of surviving a real world fight are greatly enhanced.
If worst comes to worst and it ever happens Good Luck!

[TonyB]

For the last few months I've been doing just what you're talking about here...It's amazing how fast you can get goodat draw and fire and reload stuff.....plus it IS more fun than bulls eye stuff...great post...

[Blackhawk]

Great post! Long range target practice is a must because of how it improves your short range accuracy, but I would point out that you don't want to get into a 50-100 yard gunfight. The odds of unintended consequences start seriously stacking against you from both the immediate perspective of the gunfight to the aftermath.

[TallPine]

Seems to me that in a self-defense situation:

1) you would have a hard time legally justifying shooting at anything much greater than 5-7 yards. If you are further than that, how much imminent danger is there to you from the BG?

2) you might be better just running away at longer ranges (assuming you are alone, not someone with you to also protect). The BG's just don't go out to the range and practice every weekend. I read somewhere that the chance of being hit by an assailant while running is only 4%.

[krept]

Great posts. I'd also like to add that reinforcing the need to remain calm when the SHTF is very important as well. If you freak out, all skills can go out the window. This doesn't mean that you don't get the woozy something fierce, it just means to be methodical, efficient in action and level headed as much as possible. Don't know how this comes about - maybe from repeating the drills as mentioned above? I believe that martial arts (the right ones ) help out in this respect to a certain extent, but I do not know as I have never had to use a firearm in self defense. It certainly has helped in other situations when my life was in danger, however. Just a thought...

thanks for the posts

[fourdeuce82d]

the need to remain calm when the SHTF is very important as well. If you freak out, all skills can go out the window. This doesn't mean that you don't get the woozy something fierce, it just means to be methodical, efficient in action and level headed as much as possible.the need to remain calm when the SHTF is very important as well. If you freak out, all skills can go out the window. This doesn't mean that you don't get the woozy something fierce, it just means to be methodical, efficient in action and level headed as much as possible.


[p]
yeah- couple of weeks ago I put a five inch gash in my left outer thigh w/a benchmade. (note to self- next time, get trianing before doing Travis Bickle imitation)

[p]

I knew it wasn't life threatening, and it didn't really hurt, but it was gaping open, could see fat/fascia etc.- got the swetas, upset stomach, and anxiety. Was able to put pressure on it, and wait for girlfriend to come home & take me for some staples.

[p]

Found out a) even if you're mentally calm, your body may say "this is bad!" and produce shock symptoms b) even if you feel these symptoms, you don't have to quit/give up/have a good cry.

[p]
Stay calm, stay focused, continue working through your problem. Oh, and don't play with sharp knives if you don't know what you're doing! *grin*

[Caseless]

I always try to spend one third of my ammo/range time shooting with my weak hand with each handgun. You never know which hand will be free to save your life when the time comes.

[Sarge]

and an excellent string.

[pax]

My additions to the above:

• Shooting under competitive stress. Shooting in competition is not akin to shooting to save your life; and yet, if you can't hold up to the mild stress of competition, how do you know that you'll be able to shoot under the extreme stress of a life-threatening encounter?
  
• Also, shooting under physical stress, such as when it's too hot or too cold or when you're too durn tired to be there at all. Jog in place for a couple minutes and then shoot a bit -- keep your heart rate pumping. That sort of thing. Combine that with
  
• Shooting while moving to cover and from behind cover. Keep in mind that every gun fight has two targets, you and the bad guy. Practice being the hardest target to hit. Fact is, this one should get practiced so much that it makes you nervous/uncomfortable to shoot while standing still ... the reflexive reaction should be to get behind cover.
  
• As mentioned above, speed counts. So does accuracy. The first shot doesn't count, but the first hit matters a lot.

***

Ok, those were all of primary importance, stuff to practice first. Of secondary importance, but still important --

• One-handed shots, both strong and weak handed.
  
• Shots while crouched or kneeling. (See 'behind cover' above).
  
• Speed reloads.
  
• Malfunction-clearing.
  
• Shooting without corrective lenses in place. Obviously there are some safety considerations, yet it's important that I be completely comfortable with my gun in the likely event that my glasses get knocked off in a scuffle.

I'm sure there are lots more, but that's the list for now. Oh, and I left off tactical thinking, which isn't so much a skill as a way of life. It precedes all the others, of course.

pax

[Erik]

The Skills We Need: (Kind of sorta in order...)

The abilty to access a combat grip wearing anything you'd wear and from any position you can reasonably expect to be in you daily life.
The abilty to draw quickly.
The abilty to get the sights on target quickly.
The abilty to draw and fire your first round on target at social distances in 1.5 seconds or better. A tad more for extended (15-50 yard) ranges.
The abilty to draw and fire your first round on target from a secure close retenion position in under a second.
The abilty to reload under any circumstances, as quickly as possible.
The abilty to quickly clear any malfunctions which might occur, short of a breakage.

And that's before any strategy or technique comes into play.

[WESHOOT2]

We got GUNS!

That makes us trained killers.
I saw it on TV.

[Hard Ball]

Good points Pax, well worth considering.

[Jack Carson]

I have only one more skill to add: Practice drawing while moving laterally.

The BG(s) are planning to attack or shoot you where you stand.

Don't be there.

When you move they have to adjust their plan while you are executing your own.

Farnam estimates this tactic decreases your chances of being hit by 75 percent.

More drawing while moving exercises are needed in IPSC/IDPA matches IMHO.

jack

[JiminCA]

On movement: Great stuff above. I would add that I practice retreating diagonally to the right or diagonally to the left. Distance is your friend as those of us who train can hit at more distance than the average scuzbag who doesn't practice. You don't really want to be backing straight up because the attacker can track you (ie the target is getting smaller but is in the same place). Diagonal movement creates distance and creates a moving target.

Start at about 3 yds.

For some reason I can shoot better moving on a diagonal than moving straight back. Seems to have something to do with the criss-cross leg movement while going diagonal.

[jack_the_sailor]

I practice what I've learned in combat training. I shoot at 21 ft only. Drawing strong hand & firing 2 rds (controlled pair) to COM. Drawing & transferring from strong to weak hand & shooting a cotrolled pair weak handed. Then I practice firing barricaded. Both strong & weak handed. Also barricaded kneeling strong & weak hand. Barricaded kneeling sit. Both strong & weak hand. I would like to practice more useing the flashlight. But that's hard to do on a public range. Other areas that need attention. Shooting at 3 targets. Being able to hit different locations on a target.

[LetsFetz]

JiminCA's comment about criss-crossing legs got me thinking ... dunno enough about moving in combat shooting, but I can still remember very well, what we were taught in Football training (yes, I played Football - DB - many moons ago)

• which ever direction you move, you NEVER criss-cross your legs - the risk of 'stumbling & fumbling' is simply to big
• if you move/run backwards, lean forward (it takes a while to practise and feels awkward and goofy initially) - you haven't got enough limbs to balance a backward shift of 'c of g' if you happen to encounter an obstacle with your heels and/or for a sudden stop ... also, change of direction of movement, which ever way, is much easier, if you are in a stable forward position ... try running backwards (the wrong way), like most people do (shoulders and elbows up - leaning backwards) and then appruptly change direction sideways or forward - it's almost impossible not to stumble and/or loose valuable time ...
• last but not least, you never do more than a 180 (hard to explain) - as in: a 270 or 360 is a no-no ... If you ever had to turn as far as 180 away from your focus point, you rather turn back and then to the other side, than to keep on turning ... the reason is simple: your head cannot do a 360 and you will loose the focus/target, even if only for half a second ...

... I got know idea, whether any of this can be translated into shooting, because I haven't tried it yet (but I will) ... what are the guidlines and/or how is correct movement taught in combat/defense shooting? ... input/feedback would be highly appreciated ...