YOU SHOOT TO STOP THE THREAT! This is the mantra you hear in a good defensive handgun course. Defensive shooting is not a sport unless you consider someone trying to kill you sporting. Learning a defensive shooting skill set is imperative. Fundamentals are crucial so we are going to take a look at the fundamentals of handgun shooting.
1) Stance: This is your platform and your starting point to MOVE. In a defensive situation, if you are not moving you will be shot. The key is keeping the weight on the balls of your feet and being able to move quickly without crossing your feet and falling.
2) Grip: This is key to making solid shots, managing the recoil of the gun and allowing for quicker follow up shots. If you hold the gun incorrectly you risk the gun not performing mechanically and your shots not hitting the intended target.
3) Sight Picture: You need to line the front and rear sights so you have proper sight alignment when you take your initial sight picture. Correctly aligning the front and rear sights of the handgun is what leads to accuracy. Understand, in a high stress situation you may never have the opportunity to get a text-book sight picture.
4) Trigger Control: It’s about the press! The finger gets in the way. Too much, too little or just enough is not the key. It’s about pressing the trigger through its stages. The finger does not come off the trigger while you are engaged with a target. All triggers have resets and when you spend enough proper time with your handgun you learn the stages and reset positions of your particular trigger. Glock handguns have a distinctive reset which you can easily train yourself to hear and feel. Trigger reset equals quicker follow up shots.
5) Follow Through: Like tennis and golf you must follow through with your shot and subsequent actions. Stance, Grip, Sight Picture, Trigger Press, BANG! and continuous BANGS! until the threat is no longer a threat. Follow through is, trigger reset, assess the situation (do I need to shoot more?) then scan the area for more threats. Your threat area is not just what is in front of you it’s all around you. Yes 360 degrees. Range officers don’t freak out. Defensive shooting is not a sport and threats exist all around us.
Reading a blog post will not make you a better shooter. You need to have some time on the range with someone who can teach each of these skills and help you develop some confidence. Contact Mark at 501-282-3076 so we can set up an appointment to learn about the 5 Critical Skills of Handgun Shooting.
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