Non Firing hand, lock out and failure to lock back

[JMS]

Aw hell, completely missed it...

[Mr_White]

Gabe/JMS et al,
Thanks for the feedback. Regarding my latest Bill Drill (with previous grip/stance etc prior to the class) my last recorded times form 9/18/15 are P2-3.17 with splits around mid .40s to .50. So, I can obviously work on these here. I will say that something Gabe mentions "vision/mind/sights" has been a big focus of mine. This is because when switching over to Trijicon HDs with the P2000 I notice that my confirmation of the sights take longer than say with a narrow Fiber Optic front sight.

That's where I really think you'll get elements of improvement from all three of those big areas: grip/platform/recoil management, vision/mind/sights, and trigger.

Better recoil management means the gun moves less, and like John said in the video, might help the vision/mind/sights element as a result, and strictly speaking, the gun will be back on target sooner. That doesn't necessarily mean your vision will work that fast, though it certainly may help enable it. And better grip/platform may also assist trigger control by stabilizing the gun better, but it isn't going to improve the trigger press itself.

Better vision/mind/sights interaction lets you aim with more precision and certainty, and commence with firing a shot at the earliest possible time (when you saw the front sight coming back into position.)

Better trigger pressing is going to let you shoot more accurately at a given pace.

They all help each other and can all hold each other back. One could have excellent recoil control and vision/mind on the sights, but a so-so trigger press that takes .5 seconds to execute. The trigger press will be the limiting factor in that person's example. It can work out for differently for different people with different strengths and weaknesses.

John critiqued that I was "Shooting only as fast as I could not miss". I saw this as likely as over the course of training with Tom Givens, DB and Wayne it has been beaten into my skull to confirm each shot. Of course, a side effect of this could be that subconsciously I'm so concerned with missing that I may take an extra .10 to .20 to really confirm my sights prior to breaking the next shot.

I guess it is something I can look to improve and try and go to failure, not be afraid to fail during practice and then back it up a bit.

I don't think there is anything really wrong with any of that, and I bolded the part that I really agree with. I think you need to stay in tune with your 'on demand/match pace/it matters' manner of shooting. I think everyone basically agrees on that part. Where the disagreement seems to happen historically on PF is in how to best improve the on demand level of performance. Some emphasize practicing in that specific manner to ingrain it so no other manner of shooting bubbles to the surface when it does manner. Others emphasize driving technical skills harder in practice, to include to failure, in order to improve the entire range of performance, which includes on demand shooting. I'm more in the latter camp and I do think you will build an overall higher level of skill by pushing in practice, but I also think that you should do specific work in the on demand/match pace/it matters mode. That is how you should shoot when it counts.

[Rex G]

Very interesting; thanks for posting this! I should probably sign-up for a similar diagnostic of my technique, which I know is full of issues. Until recently, I used small revolvers, often Magnum snubbies, so much that I did not point my thumbs at the target, in order to avoid a blow-torch burn injury of the support-side thumb. I adopted thumbs-forward when moving to mostly 9mm Glocks, but it has been largely self-taught.

[YVK]

I know others here don't place as high of a priority on the slide locking back on an empty magazine. But, I'm curious as to other opinions.

P series slide release levers are huge, comparatively speaking. Even slim ones are. I have had the same problem as you do especially when used to wrap my support side index finger around the bottom of trigger guard (even higher position of support hand). This is one of situations where a technique that was developed on Glocks adn MPs doesn't work as well on Hks.
Slide stop levers on my carry P30 are both cut in length and filed down in thickness. Works for me.

[imp1295]

The slide levers on the P30 are like diving platforms compared to the slim levers on the P2000. Taking all the advice I'm going to go ahead and accept the inconsistent slide lock back for now and work through the changes for the next 6 weeks and then re-evaluate my performance before I make the final decision.

Of course, the gadget might through this all for a loop!