At the end of a pistol drill string of fire, should handgun return to low ready?

[Tannhauser]

Simple question about where my handgun should be at the completion of running a drill. Low ready? Compressed ready? Something else?

I was running drills at the range yesterday, and I noticed I was immediately holstering my pistol without conscious thought, probably because subconsciously I knew I was going to run another drill.

While fine on the range, but it seems to me that in the event of having to use a handgun for serious reasons immediately holstering may not be a good idea. I don’t want to build any bad habits, so curious from the ecietoencee posters in this forum what might be a better way to end a drill?

[GJM]

I think the low ready makes sense for gun games like USPSA and defensive shooting, since it opens up your field of view, doesn't muzzle things, gives you a chance to see if your work is done, then gives you a chance to consider the condition of your handgun (safety/ammo left/ top off or unload) before holstering. The problem is if you are doing drills with a timer, most people want to look at the timer, and that typically happens after the blaster is back in the holster.

[1Rangemaster]

^^^^ What @GJM said…
You may get all sorts of answers to this. It probably requires some personal discipline, especially if “drilling” alone. IMO, what you DON’T want to do is “speed reholster”. Please DON’T; that has been traditionally an opportunity for people to shoot themselves.
Schools like Gunsite and Rogers would insist on going to an extended or low(“guard”-don’t dangle) ready and then “check your weapon and holster safely”(Rogers)or “tac load”. Clint Smith might say, “don’t be in a hurry to put it away.”
A dilemma is some folks/organizations taught a “scan”, and with a group on a square range, it may turn into heads bobbling with no benefit. I have a friend, high level martial artist, who wants to go to “suhl”; he’s an exception in this instance.
In dry fire, I’ll tap, rack, usually regrip two handed and reaquire dot/sights, before reversing back into the holster carefully. Live fire, if I’m on a range alone, I’m trying these days not to snatch the gun back, to pause at step 3,hands meet/mate, and go into low gear, slow into holster. Scan I might do with a practice partner, but not as a general practice these days.
If one has a bench or table that might help with the timer.

Edit to add: there are practitioners, e.g., Reitz, Werner, that will advise a low ready off target for US legal reasons, fwiw. I recall Ayoob and others advising to reholster for safety reasons, I.e., don’t look like a threat, but holstering deliberately.

[JCN]

Simple question about where my handgun should be at the completion of running a drill. Low ready? Compressed ready? Something else?

I was running drills at the range yesterday, and I noticed I was immediately holstering my pistol without conscious thought, probably because subconsciously I knew I was going to run another drill.

While fine on the range, but it seems to me that in the event of having to use a handgun for serious reasons immediately holstering may not be a good idea. I don’t want to build any bad habits, so curious from the ecietoencee posters in this forum what might be a better way to end a drill?

I don’t get confused when stepping out of my car at work. I lock it.

Versus at home where I don’t unlock it.

I also don’t get confused when getting out of my car after a track session versus going to the grocery store.

I don’t think it matters what you do with your pistol after a drill as long as you do it safely.

If you want to train in a protocol for a self defense scenario then focus mentally on that and go through the mental steps and checklists and let that be your guide for what you do (suspect immobile, sirens coming from a distance… maybe you want to not have a gun in your hands when the police get to you? Maybe you have one hand low ready and motion through calling 911 to alert authorities?)

Run it like a fire drill. But you don’t have to do it for every string of practice or you’ll waste a lot of time.

[1Rangemaster]

Reading again the OP, and thinking about it a bit more, I would say this:
1)*Immediately* after a drill, say the one shot from concealment on the 5 yard roundup, re-acquire the sight/dot/picture for just a moment. Finger in trigger contact. If it’s a multi shot string, re-acquire after last round fired. Keep the muzzle between you and the “threat”-C. Smith.
2)Trigger finger goes to “register”, off trigger and outside guard. Hackathorn for example places his at/near ejection port- right handed. I’d be ok with juncture between slide and frame.
3)Revert to a ready position. One is moving muzzle to ground/floor/deck by rotating shoulders(low ready, imo). Another is “compressed”:back to where hands meet at center on the presentation. Retention, suhl, and so on…it depends.
What I strongly believe is one just doesn’t “collapse”. Louis Awerbuck (RIP) noted that many people will start to relax at the moment of the last shot, and miss, or place the shot poorly. “Follow through.” I’ve seen lack of follow through hundreds, if not thousands of times on steel targets/ plate racks, resulting in a miss.
The focus/follow through only takes a second. Decide on position(s) and incorporate it deliberately, I say.
JMO.

[jlw]

Simple question about where my handgun should be at the completion of running a drill. Low ready? Compressed ready? Something else?

I was running drills at the range yesterday, and I noticed I was immediately holstering my pistol without conscious thought, probably because subconsciously I knew I was going to run another drill.

While fine on the range, but it seems to me that in the event of having to use a handgun for serious reasons immediately holstering may not be a good idea. I don’t want to build any bad habits, so curious from the ecietoencee posters in this forum what might be a better way to end a drill?

Ready positions are environmentally dependent.

[Utm]

I think people overthink this. I think for most people, they have the gun out longer than necessary, not the other way around in real world scenarios. If you've ever been around rookie cops you'll see that sometimes you have to tell them to holster up not to get their gun back out because they holstered too soon. If you look at citizen gunfights, you don't really see speed reholsters or people needing to do some super tactical scan.

So basically you'll do whatever you do when a real life scenario takes place. You don't really need to worry about it during training, the only thing you need to ensure 100% in training is indexing your trigger finger high on the gun and slowly holstering for safety reasons

[Redhat]

I would ask what level of shooter are we talking about? If someone is just starting out, hopefully they have access to a competent trainer to show them a way to do things and WHY they should do certain things. Personally, I think finger off trigger-going to a low ready and looking around is a pretty good way.

FWIW, I have yet to hear any reputable instructor say it doesn't really matter what you do after firing your shots.

[DDTSGM]

I think people overthink this. I think for most people, they have the gun out longer than necessary, not the other way around in real world scenarios. If you've ever been around rookie cops you'll see that sometimes you have to tell them to holster up not to get their gun back out because they holstered too soon.

If you look at citizen gunfights, you don't really see speed reholsters or people needing to do some super tactical scan.

So basically you'll do whatever you do when a real life scenario takes place. You don't really need to worry about it during training, the only thing you need to ensure 100% in training is indexing your trigger finger high on the gun and slowly holstering for safety reasons

I think I need to paraphrase something here: Most folks don't rise to the occasion; they sink to the level of their training or experience.

With me, I just kind of realized it is pretty much gear dependent:

When playing gun games I pretty much practice this: the only thing you need to ensure 100% in training is indexing your trigger finger high on the gun and slowly holstering for safety reasons I also routinely look my pistol into the holster because the holster is located lower than normal. Same when practicing for gun games.

Follow through on the last shot means that there is a hesitation before recovery, but it's not a scan.

When wearing a duty rig or concealment holster I'm more focused on the aspects of 'shooting to save or survive' and make sure I come back up on threat after a reload, etc. I've also started training myself and folks I shoot with out of a ready position on target or in front of target, instead going to a muzzle down guard/retention/sul position.

JMO YMMV

[GyroF-16]

I’m far from a SME, but may I offer:

At the end of a string/engagement:
- Come briefly to a ready / low ready and ACCESS.
-- Situation dependent, this could mean “where were my hits?” or “is the threat down/neutralized?”.
- Assess the firearm status (decock / reload / malfunction correction).
- Holster deliberately.

I see only benefits, and no downsides, to adopting this sequence as a habit.
Even in “games” (IDPA), it is useful to “assess and decide” before decocking and unloading and showing clear.

I’ve been noticing my own tendency in practice sessions to decock and holster promptly after a string, before “assessing”. I’m working to change that.