Regular readers will know that this is my pet peeve. Every now and then it needs feeding. So here it is: MOVE! I reckon there are five main stages to training yourself for self-defense . . .
1. Know the law – As one commentator put it yesterday, every bullet comes with a lawyer attached. Before you even pickup a gun for self-defense, you need to know who, when, where and why you can brandish a weapon and/or shoot another human being.
2. Acquire situational awareness – The best gunfight is the one you avoid. Train yourself to look for trouble and avoid stupid people in stupid places doing stupid things.
3. Learn how to shoot safely – Working with professional find a gun that suits you and master the basics: gun safety, grip, stance, trigger control, marksmanship.
4. Learn how to draw a gun from concealment – If you can’t get to your gun smoothly and quickly, you lower your chances of losing the gunfight that you couldn’t avoid. Find a range that allows you to draw and draw. All. The. Time.
5. MOVE! Making nice little groups is all well and good, but if you stand still in a gunfight, you’ll probably die. So you MUST train yourself to move before, during and after shooting.
Finding a range that allows you to move around and shoot is harder than finding the perfect metaphor for not being able to find something that’s hard to find. If it’s impossible, train at home with blue guns, NERF guns or whatever. Which is a good idea anyway.
Meanwhile, this. Nice gun. Good shooting. Great editing. But what I wouldn’t do to spend a day at that range running around—well, crab walking— and shooting. I’d even let them play that music over loud speakers. If I can concentrate during that mucho macho cacophony bleeding through my ear protection, I should be able to ignore any distraction.
Finding a range that allows you to move around and shoot is harder than finding the perfect metaphor for not being able to find something that’s hard to find.–RF
My local range rules also prohibit firing more than one round per second.
The practice of shooting tight groups at a single target without utilizing cover is primarily intended to learn, refine and reinforce good sight picture/trigger release technique. It involves one component of one leg of the self-defense triad.
Surviving a gunfight involves a different set of skills–one primarily dedicated to self-discovery. Don’t neglect gunhandling, but don’t rely on it exclusively.
Welcome to getting off the X…
Here’s a video of me moving and shooting.
Just walk normally and shoot.
( I am using what I call P&S.)
If you can’t move and shoot at your range, get an airsoft pistol and practice in your garage.
There may be a group at your range that does move and shoot. Ask.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYV6cfoNQ-I
Here’s another short video of an old and 2 fat guy, getting off the X
http://www.youtube.com/user/5shot#p/u/17/4P54YhJTS0k
I’ve seen a lot of viddies of guys shooting while they walk around ever so calmly, as if they were out for a Sunday stroll enlivened by a little fun gunplay. Listen, fellas, when rounds are comin’ atcha, you aren’t going to take a postprandial constitutional. You’re gonna run. As if your life depended on it. And you won’t stop running until you find cover.
I tried this tip last time I went shooting. I’m blessed with my choice of a large swath of forest or a large section of open desert both about 30-45 minutes from my house.
I set up 3 pistol spinner targets at varied distances and practiced moving between them. Not only was it a lot of fun, but it was definitly a challenge to keep the rounds on target. Although the spinner targets are rather small and most misses would have been “combat” accurate.
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