In addition, so says the "When the only tool you have is a hammer, you wanna nail everything" guyOriginally Posted by caleb
In addition, so says the "When the only tool you have is a hammer, you wanna nail everything" guy
All I know is that I know nothing. - Socrates
One thing I've been training... alone.. as in not in a class... is, if I have to reload, it needs to incorporate MOVEMENT laterally. If the gun goes dry, MOVE while you reload. I mean really... why not? If your super evil bad guy still has rounds and an Orange Julius amount of skill, why would you want to present him with a static target?
Having taken many classes, including Todd's, the environment of the class precludes lateral movement for the most part simply because you are standing 3 feet from another person. I'll say this first... I have a lot to learn, but when I train on my own, I tend to move a lot more than when I train in a class. Wanna know why? Funny story, actually.
My dad was a top 'o the line quick draw guy back in the day. Not "Nationally", but 'pert neer faster than Doc Holiday, at least as I've seen. I wanted to learn it, and he made me draw 500 times before even allowing me to put a round in the Peacemaker. (Yes, I did Cowboy Action shooting... sue me! Hehehe). Anyways... drawing a pistol that has nothing more that what is in it made me ponder later in life... if this is all I got, how do I make it work to my advantage? Do I stand there and give them a target or do I move? In Cowboy Action shooting... you shoot till you're empty and move to your "other" gun. (side note.. there's a little part of SASS that's called "Spirit of the game". What it means is, DON'T GAME IT!!" That taught me more about doing things because it's the right thing to do than anything else in my shooting lifetime.) (Was that period correctly placed in the parentheses? Hehe) I digress. Only having 5 rounds, they made you load down one, means you have to "think" a bit more about when shat is going to hit the oscillator. When you need to reload (or in the case of a six/five shooter), what do you do? You MOVE! Everything I've seen in formal classes limits this. I realize it's a function of financial limitations. You simply can't have one guy on the line at a time unless you're hosting a 10 day class or a three student focus group. The point? Train to the environment you can. Why? Because if you're in a death lock dance with another bad guy and he's still shooting at you when your gun goes dry... I'd hope your feet are moving, regardless of the condition of your gun, but especially if it's at slide lock. Practice moving while you reload. I'll bet your eyes aren't on the magwell, but where your feet are going. Train both. Take a peek at the mag well when you have time, move that mag where you know it needs to go when you don't have time.
Anyways, the SASS story was much more about me remembering my father than anything else... take it for what it's worth. ;-)
Why not practice both? You never know what is going to happen to you. Train looking it in (which I prefer) and train it in the dark. Either way, you are one step ahead of Julius!
Great points Zhurdan, I need to work on reloads on the move among several other parts of the puzzle.
Thanks to all for their input.
I was taught to do certain things certain ways because it’s ‘tactically correct’ to do so, but I have been persuaded otherwise on a couple of those things, and I am also re-examining the ‘eyes only on threat vs. glance at magwell’ reloading issue as well, and just wanted to survey the p-f.com community on this point.
Donovan, those reloads look pretty awesome to me! Nice.
It occurred to me, reading this thread, that I can't imagine very many scenarios where there was something in front of me that was so frickin' dangerous that if I shifted my focus from it for a picosecond it would kill me, despite me already having run my heater to slidelock into it, and where I would just stand there like a duck in thunder and reload my gun, instead of doing something more productive, like opening the distance, seeking cover, running away in a brisk and zig-zaggy panic, or beating the goblin to a paste with the empty pistol.
A very common technique actually.
And quite effective when implemented properly, and with the appropriate amount of enthusiasm.
You can get much more of what you want with a kind word and a gun, than with a kind word alone.
While I understand the FASTest is just a test, it has become something that at least PF participants do somewhat regularly. I think it is time for a FASTest 2.0, that includes a step off the line on the draw, and another step during the reload.
The FAST is a test of shooting skills though, and not necessarily a test of defensive skills.
I disagree.
Im become less enamored with the single step off line and prefer to either shoot from a solid stance or else shoot while moving.
I just don't think practicing a single side step gains you anything, and could be ingraining a bad habit.
Either shoot, or shoot while MOVING!
But that's probably a whole other can of worms.
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"For a moment he felt good about this. A moment or two later he felt bad about feeling good about it. Then he felt good about feeling bad about feeling good about it and, satisfied, drove on into the night."
-- Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy --
To Caleb, while I understand that the FASTest is a test of shooting skills, it is certainly the drill/test most associated with PF -- and I would argue that the essence of PF is the practical, defensive use of a handgun.
Jody, since you can move and draw about as fast as standing still and drawing, I can't think of why you would want to stand still in the face of a threat, although I am always open to being educated. Perhaps this should be a new thread?
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