Tuning Draw to Target Difficulty

[rdtompki]

I'm an oldster (70) shooting steel challenge. My draw speed is what it is pulling a FS 9mm from surrender out of a holster, probably 1.5 seconds for a 12" plate at 7 yards, the biggest plate I have for practice. I'm not looking to get faster, but I'm trying to master tuning my draw according to shot difficulty.

I've learned that it's most critical to have a good initial sight picture; once I start tweaking the sight picture I find my probability of miss goes up measurably.

I know everyone's draw is a bit different but I'm wondering at what point in the draw do you slow things down go get that good sight picture. I'm thinking as soon as I've acquired the front sight (which is well before I'm on the target). What doesn't work for me is snapping the gun out "on" the target and then having to improve the sight picture.

All drill suggestions welcome.

[BillSWPA]

For what it is worth:

For me, making sure I really have a proper grip as I grab the gun makes it more likely that the gun is going to come out the the sights properly aligned. If something is to be slowed up to to gain more speed and consistency later, this is where I would do it.

I try to get the muzzle as high as I can transitioning from getting my compressed 2 hand grip to fully extended, without deviating too badly from a horizontal muzzle. The sooner I can see the front sight, the more likely I will end up with a good sight picture. If I get the muzzle angled too high, it will probably still be moving downward as I extend outward, causing the shot to go low.

I have found that practicing with a SIRT pistol allows me to diagnose and isolate issues that would not be as easily detected with live fire or dry fire with an actual gun.

[JohnO]

Get the gun out at the same speed no matter the target, fast. Shoot it at the appropriate speed based on the difficulty of the target.