I like the part of prioritizing accuracy, given the capacity and caliber limitations of many pocket handguns.Originally Posted by Hideeho
I am not so sure about the close contact. That maybe OK if the pocket handgun is your BUG, but if it is a primary I would shoot all the regular drills and distances, to remind yourself what you give up with a pocket sized handgun.
Likes pretty much everything in every caliber.
I agree about reminding. We must understand limitations of small revolvers. But there are also advantages. Recommended drill distances are based on empirical evidence. My off-duty encounters were close-up. I was a victim of three attempted armed robberies. All close up. All resolved by pocket carry.
I anticipate retired encounters to be similar. But just in case, I started using Crimson Trace LG405 grips on my M&P 340. Two inch circles at 15 yards no problem. I was kind of wowed. Laser grip might be the solution for old eyes.
Five yard round up. Par times could be increased if you wanted.
“If you know the way broadly you will see it in everything." - Miyamoto Musashi
Claude Werner's 20 round Comparative Standards would be a pretty good evaluation tool. I might modify that and eliminate the 25 yard stage and add those 5 rounds fired to one of the strings of fire at closer range. It is most likely that a pocket gun might be used to defend yourself in a close range confrontation, from contact distance out to 7 yards. Train first for the most likely outcome.
Bill Wilson's 5 x 5 drill (now used by IDPA as an alternate classifier) might be another option.
I don't use my pocket gun for a primary(outside the house), but if I did then I would just shoot it in whatever drill I was going to run a bigger gun with(barring in mind capacity limitations etc...). For my uses, as a lounge around the house/answer the door/mow the yard gun or occasional bug...I do hand on gun starts generally and do draws to a headbox at 3 aiming for a 1 second par. Then I also came up with a pocket gun test that is 15 rounds (Dagga Boy named it the 3-5-7 pocket test). It covers engagements to the normal distances in my home. Then I do 25 yard draws from the pocket on steel just to get reps with the small gun at distance. For me, the pocket gun is only primary while behind locked doors or mowing. As a bug it is a gun I can get my hand on if I notice something peculiar without drawing notice, can't do that with my aiwb gun. So these drills cover the basics of the role i intend the gun for, draws up close(answering the door for instance), multiple shot engagements 3-7 yards, and 25 yard shots. My pocket gun test has a thread in the revolver forum, but I'll repost it here as well.
Setup - horizontal 3x5 card for headbox, vertical 4x6 card for com
String 1 - 5 to the 3x5 sho @3 yards - 5 second par
String 2 - 5 to the 3x5 fs @5 yards - 5 second par
String 3 - 5 to the 4x6 fs @7 yards - 5 second par
All starts are hand on gun in pocket. I think comparing how a pocket gun draws is as important for me as how it shoots, if I can't get it out of my pocket repeatedly without issue then that factors in to whether I would actually use it or not.
Last edited by backtrail540; 09-26-2019 at 06:47 PM.
"...we suffer more in imagination than in reality." Seneca, probably.
100% agree. I just compared a G42, LCR and LCP out of the pocket to first hit, and the LCP was 1/4 second faster in my hands. The G42 took some finesse to get out of the pocket without hanging up.
Drills are key, but tactics matter more. Listen to Darryl’s thoughts on the snub interview thread for more detail.
Okie John
“The reliability of the 30-06 on most of the world’s non-dangerous game is so well established as to be beyond intelligent dispute.” Finn Aagaard
"Don't fuck with it" seems to prevent the vast majority of reported issues." BehindBlueI's
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