Background: Really old, otherwise healthy guy.,shooting a 9mm 1911 in Steel Challenge. Trying to (finally) figure out the best handgun retention during the very short transition required in the Outer Limits stage where you engage two targets, transition 6 feet to a second box and engage three targets the first of which is generally a 12" plate at slightly over 20 yards.
Most recently I've been trying to keep the gun up and fully extended to minimize the time to get the gun steady on the target and break the shot. I'm not tracking the target during the 3 step transition, but rather keeping the gun pointed in the general target direction. Generally arriving in the second box I'll go with whatever stance I land in - not ideal but the surfaces do vary somewhat. I've found it very difficult to get the gun steady on the target using this approach, almost like an inadequately-damped oscillation. Perhaps if I were stronger this would be less of an issue and I'll get some additional data when I try this with my much lighter Staccato C.
I'm thinking that I would be better off in high compressed ready during the transition since the press-out would then closely mimic my draw stroke which is generally very solid. I'd really like to hear what others might have to offer on this subject.