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Shooting
Tips - Part 1
By
Sean Murphy
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Now that you have a pistol and some
gear, lets look at the use of your
tools. Due to the amount of information
we will be covering, this article will
be broken into a couple installments.
Please take all of this information as A
way, NOT the way. I want to make it
known that this information is the
technical aspect of shooting. There are
two other factors involved; tactics and
the mental facility to integrate tactics
and the technical shooting pieces for a
successful outcome. What is important is
to find your own style that works
efficiently to ensure your success with
the use of firearms.
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Grip/Stance
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While we have the latest whiz-bang
blaster and matching holster, we need to
start off with a few basic points. By
having a good grip and stance, you have
an effective base level with which to
build upon. Let's break this down and
work from the ground up.
First, let us take a look at your
stance. Start out with your feet about
shoulder width apart. Position the foot
opposite your dominant side forward a
few inches. Bend your knees and lower
your center of gravity. Get aggressive
(see stance picture at right). A good trick for
figuring this out is to take a few steps
directly to the side. You'll notice that
automatically your body is stabilizing
itself by lowering your center of
gravity into an aggressive posture. Use
this natural reaction to your advantage.
Now that you have a good stance, we'll
work on the actual grip. When you
retrieve the gun from the holster, you
want to put the web of your hand as
high on the gun as possible. Some guns
such as the Smith M&P and equipped
1911s have beavertails to facilitate
this. Just remember that the goal for
any gun is high as possible. Doing
this facilitates a mechanical
advantage to recoil. Next, wrap your
lower three fingers around the grip
beneath the trigger guard as high as
possible. At this point the trigger
finger should be pointed along the
slide/frame OUTSIDE of the trigger
guard. The grip should be firm but not
crushing. This one-handed grip is
great for single handed shooting or as
a building block for a free-style
grip.
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Stance
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When the other hand meets the gun,
the thumb should run parallel to the
ground and barrel alongside the frame.
Doing this allows all four other
fingers to be wrapped around the
firing hand UNDER the trigger guard.
The palm of your support hand will now
fit nicely on the left side of the
gun, filling the gap between your
firing hand fingers and palm. You now
lock your firing hand thumb over your
support hand as an index point to
repeat every time. This gives complete
360 degree containment on the pistol
for aiding in recoil control. The
tension of the supporting hand will
greatly help with recoil control as
well. More tension equals greater
control. Crush this hand on the gun to
help hold the muzzle down. (See
figures Grip1-4) This gripping method
is commonly referred to as the
Enos-Leatham method; after two guys
named Brian Enos and Robbie Leatham.
In case you haven't heard of them,
they've won a few matches.
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(Fig. Grip-1) |
(Fig. Grip-2) |
(Fig. Grip-3) |
(Fig. Grip-4) |
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For those wondering about your
thumb and safeties, slide locks, etc,
it depends on your chosen pistol.
Pistols with an external frame mounted
safety (1911 especially) should have
the firing hand thumb riding on the
safety. This prevents accidental
engagement of the safety while firing.
If you have a pistol with either any
kind of slide release towards the back
of the pistol (i.e. a Sig Sauer), try
positioning your thumb below the
release if shooting single handed or
move it further over on the support
hand. Doing this helps ensure the
slide will lock open on an empty
magazine.
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Holster
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Before we take a look at
drawing from a holster, let me give
you a few thoughts on holsters. My
first recommendation is a holster made
of Kydex. Cows are for making good
steaks, not good holsters. Kydex
holsters are impervious to the
weather, especially in the humid
South. These holsters are also
smoother and faster on the draw as
they do not grab at the gun like
leather. Due to the myriad of holster
options available to the shooter, the
holster you choose should be
positioned to be most advantageous for
a faster, cleaner draw. By this, a
straight canted holster will be the
smoothest to the exact side of the
body. This position allows the pistol
to be pulled straight up and rotated
outward in the easiest motion possible
without creating an obtuse wrist
angle. For someone with a canted
holster, the gun should be positioned
further back on the belt. Again, this
is to facilitate the ease of the draw.
To be honest, I haven't found one
style to be any quicker than another.
Since not everyone wears
"tactical" pants all the
time, it is important to remember that
different styles of pants, shorts, and
jeans have various belt loop
configurations. While the 5.11's were
designed with shooters in mind, not
every set of pants will line up a
holster and mag carriers in the same
position. Two options: get the belt
loops altered or find pants with belt
loops in a position that does not
interfere with the gear positioning.
Another consideration is whether to
get a belt loop or paddle holster.
Paddle holsters are great for carry
guns as they are very easy to put on
and take off. Belt loop holsters are a
more stable platform to draw from. The
downside from a carry perspective is
if you have to take your gun off, it
is pretty obvious what you are doing.
My preferences are for my carry guns
to ride in a slightly canted paddle
holster while my competition guns use
a straight cant belt loop setup.
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Drawing
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Now that you have an
understanding of how to hold a pistol
and chosen a holster setup, we'll
examine a good draw. The best way I've
heard it explained was to imagine your
arms as the pushrods on an old steam
locomotive. When you make the
conscious decision to draw, the hand
on the side of the pistol will move to
establish a firing grip (Figure
Draw-1). It is
important that the firing grip needs
to be established before any other
actions are taken. The only caveat is
if there is a retention system such as
on a duty holster that must be
disengaged first. After a firing grip
is made, pull the pistol upwards until
it has cleared the holster. At this
time, rotate the pistol towards the
target and bring the gun to your upper
chest area. While this is going on,
your support will follow a similar
motion on the other side by riding up
the body to meet at the upper chest
level. Merge your support hand to
finish your grip (Figure Draw-2) and then drive the
pistol to your natural extension point
(Figure Draw-3). Along the way out, you should
be picking up the front sight so that
when the pistol reaches the end of its
travel you can make a shot if
necessary. This is done as one
continuous motion.
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(Fig. Draw-1) |
(Fig. Draw-2) |
(Fig. Draw-3) |
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The key to all of this, especially
for newer shooters, is to get it done
smoothly; even if it means slowing
down. If is far more important to have
a slightly slower draw with a perfect
execution than a fast one that is
sloppy. With regard to your timing,
move full speed to the holster,
half-speed at the holster and full
speed bringing the gun out. This
allows a fast draw but slowing down at
the holster to get a good grip on the
gun.
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(Fig. Vest-1) |
(Fig. Vest-2) |
(Fig. Vest-3) |
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Once you have become comfortable with
your drawing without concealment,
start incorporating your concealment
garment. Since the "tactical
vest" is by far the most popular
concealment option for an IDPA match,
let's cover its usage. The draw will
be the same except you need to clear
the vest out of the way to start the
process. To do this, make a hook/claw
with your firing hand and pull the
vest out of the way. When the vest is
back, use your elbow to help pin the
material back. This will give you a
clear area to obtain your firing grip
in the holster and finish the draw.
(See figures Vest 1-4)
Even though I use the vest during
IDPA, concealed carry is mainly under
an un-tucked shirt. In some instances
I do run my carry setup for IDPA
matches and can still be competitive.
The only difference is the shirt does
not sweep back like the vest. If you
do not have an open front garment, use
your support hand to pull the bottom
of the shirt up to your chest. This
will give you a clear path to the gun
in the holster, and position your
support hand to merge with the pistol.
(See figures CC 1-3)
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(Fig. Vest-4)
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(Fig. CC-1) |
(Fig. CC-2) |
(Fig. CC-3) |
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After you make the decision to
re-holster your pistol, simply reverse
your drawing motion. This helps
reinforce the path of your draw as
well as keep an efficient operating
system with your handgun. For those
that re-holster with two hands, STOP!
If you find it necessary to re-holster
with two hands because of your
holster, get a new one. If it is
because you can not see what is
happening, look down. It is way too
easy to poke an extra hole or two in
your body from re-holstering a weapon
because the unnecessary hand got in
the way. Again, to re-holster reverse
your draw motions by collapsing your
arms, separating at the upper chest
area, pivoting the gun down, and
putting the gun straight in the
holster. If necessary, look at what
you are doing and be sure the gun is
in the holster.
For those that are using a weapon
with a manual safety, I highly
recommend finding a point in your
draw/holster process for
engagement/disengagement. Think of
this spot as an invisible barrier that
when the gun goes out the safety is
off and when coming back the safety is
engaged. A common area for this is the
upper chest area as the gun finishes
its arc towards the target or is
rotating downwards towards the ground
for holstering. By building in a
mental checkpoint, the gun will be
ready to go when you need it and
mechanically on safe when holstered...
Please email any questions to madcapmagician_24@hotmail.com
Sean Murphy
This article nor any
parts of it are not to be reprinted
without the permission of the author.
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...TO BE CONTINUED PART 2 COMING
SOON!
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Sean Murphy (IDPA A27136) is an
IDPA Master Class shooter in the
Stock Service Pistol (SSP), the
Custom Defensive Pistol (CDP) and the Enhanced
Service Pistol (ESP)
divisions.
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“We sleep soundly in our beds because
rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would
do us harm.” |
God
Bless Our Troops
and
God Bless America |
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| The
4 rules of gun safety |
| 1.
The Gun Is Always Loaded! |
| 2.
Never Point A Gun At Something You're Not Prepared To Destroy! |
| 3.
Always Be Sure Of Your Target And What Is Behind It! |
| 4.
Keep Your Finger Off The Trigger Until Your Sights Are On The Target! |
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