Shooting Drills

This post concerns shooting drills in order to be efficient and effective in shot placement and target acquisition.  When I talk about the three firing drills I am addressing the three drills most often used, double tap, controlled pair and hammer drills:

1. Double tap – shooting two shots with one sight picture. With the goal of firing the second shot before the sights leave the target after the first shot.  The double tap is the drill most often heard of, but in my opinion it leads to rushing the second shot and the jerking the trigger and being off target.

2. Controlled pair – For rapid shots fired with a quick sight picture for each shot.  Controlled pairs enable a shooter to stay focused on the front sight and allow for timing of the second shot when the flash sight picture is acquired. As the sight starts to settle, the controlled press on the trigger is started. It leads to more control, better hits, and better cadence.

3. Hammer – 6 controlled shots on the target that is primarily used as a gun control drill. Hammer drills are one of the best practice drills you can do. They focus the shooter to stay just in front of the gun so the sight can be acquired as soon as it settles back on the target. If practice properly, it can lead to increased speed and better hits.

In an effort to keep this from rambling, I will post follow on posts to supplement this in order to not make one long post.  Some simple rules you should follow in order to get better at shooting:

1. When you go to the range to practice, have a set of drills you want to work on. Don’t just go to the range and send lead down range. You can use any of the drills you want.

2. Practice skills that will be used in real-world scenarios. Don’t waste a lot of time practicing skills you will never need or use. On the average, most people need to work on quickly getting the gun into action from concealment to accurately putting lead on target.  If you are taking 10 seconds to control your breathing to accurately hit a target at 50 yards then you are not really practicing for sself-defense…you are now target shooting.  Big difference between the target practice and real-world shooting…target don’t fire back or move, real life target do!  Practice for real-world, not the range unless you are shooting competition, but that is another story.

3.  Don’t waste time practicing at 50 yard targets with a handgun, most handgun applications are under 20 feet.  To make a point about this think about where you would have to employ a handgun…in your home, from your seat in a car, on the street with a threat…and so on.  You can then calculate what your realistic goals are.  You are not shooting to score points, you are shooting to negate a threat.  Realistically, you are looking at 3′ to 20′ when employing a handgun.

4. Start with dry-firing, I know many will say that you’ll wear down your firing pin and put undue stress on your handgun, but the best way to get a feel for your handgun is drawing it, correct hand placement, transitioning from a low fire position (draw fire) to a accurate firing position, and trigger squeeze.  If you can, purchase some snap caps in the caliber of your gun you intend to use, if not just keep a fired casing in your gun as an alternative.  Dry-fire practice allows you practice on a daily basis, even if you do not have access to a range. It can also help you to become intimately acquainted with your firearm and it’s controls. This familiarity with your firearm will breed confidence, as well as increase your ability to quickly and accurately manipulate the safety, magazine release, and slide lock.  Limit your practice time to 15-20 minutes. Practice is by it’s nature repetitive, and the repetition, while necessary for building muscle memory, can easily lead to boredom. Boredom can cause your mind to wander from the task at hand, and when handling a firearm, your mind MUST be on the task at hand and no where else.

5.  Start slowly, being aware of your hand placement on your pistol, ensuring you’ve cleared your gun from the holster, turning the gun into the direction you want to engage, letting off a round to begin engaging your target, then bringing the gun up to a ready position to re-engage the target.  Once you get used to the gun in your hand and drawing it out effectively (holster cleared, muzzle to target) and letting one shot go out, you begin transitioning to a proper stance to re-engage.

6.  Keep a log.  Move on to another shooting drill once you become comfortable and accurate with one drill.  Log it, check on your progression…in time you will see your performance improve.

7.  Don’t sacrifice technique for speed…speed will come to you as you get more comfortable.  “Slow is smooth, smooth is fast”, this is simple saying but it is very true.  Start slowly to instill proper techniques, if you can’t clear your holster, then you can not fire your gun effectively.  If you can’t point instinctively you won’t hit your target.  ALWAYS be aware of the barrel direction (muzzle awareness), you don’t want to put a round into your side by a fast draw and quick trigger finger!

8.  Grip- The primary hand should apply slight pressure to the front and backstrap of the grip, while the support hand squeezes from the right and left side. In order to maintain positive contact with the gun, the support hand should be such that the heel of the hand is nestled within the gap left by the shooting hand on the left side of the grip.  Your support hand should do most of the work here- your shooting hand has enough to do working the trigger, safety (if equipped) and magazine release. Most instructors explain that your support hand should provide 60% of the grip, squeezing side to side, while the shooting hand provides 40% of the grip squeezing front to back. While you’re practicing your grip, do make sure you’ve not got a death grip on your pistol. You want a firm, solid grip to be sure, but you don’t want a “white knuckle” death grip.

– The rear of the grip should be in the middle of the web between the thumb and the index finger.

– The front of the grip should be supported by the second pads of the middle and ring fingers

– The little finger should rest comfortably without providing any support or grip.

– The thumb should rest comfortably without providing any support or grip.

– The trigger finger should contact the trigger on the end pad of the finger, with the end of the finger at 90 degrees to the barrel axis.

– When held in the firing position the sights should be aligned and the pistol should point naturally to the aiming area for both elevation and sideways.  It is of little use if you have to angle your wrist to correct for an improperly fitting pistol/grip.