mercop
Member.
Everyone has said or heard someone else say "he/she is a good shot". What most people mean when they say this is that a particular person is good at hitting a targets, usually on a static range. When was the last time you heard someone say "he/she is a good at shooting people who are trying to kill him or others"? Seldom I would imagine because it just does not happen every day and if it does seldom more than once or twice to police much less civilians.
For the vast majority of shooters there level of skill is based on offensive prowess. By that I mean they shoot at targets when they are good and ready, or maybe even one someone else's cue, someone that is not trying to kill them. Even today many police officers still do not have the benefit of Simmuntion or air soft to replicate having to draw and fire their sidearm in direct response to someone shooting at them. People that have actually been involved in shootings are usualy much more humble when it comes to Monday morning quarterbacking over the percentage of hits make by police in actual shootings.
The most basic example is shooting free throws in basketball vs from the field. Even with nobody in their way how often do we see great basketball players miss free throws? Pretty often. When you are on offense you normally only have to concentrate on one thing and usually have the luxury of starting when you decide to. This is a massive departure than defense in which you have to counter attack as you defend or make defensive maneuvers that start when someone else decides to take action.
What physically has to take place for you to shoot another person? It's simple really, you just have to pull the trigger while the barrel is in line with the person. Notice that there is nothing about the need for sights to accomplish this. We know that the vast majority of shooting occur inside of seven yards with many actually occurring at 3-5 feet. If I hold my Glock 23 in my hand and extend it in front of me I measure 36-37 inches. So if I attempt to use my sights at an distance of 3-5 feet I would essentially be handing my gun to my attacker. Realize I am only trying to make the point that if you train and believe that the only way you can put accurate rounds on target is by using the sites you put yourself at a sever disadvantage. The idea is to just get the gun between your and the bad guy and pull the trigger. Repeat as needed. If depending on the totality of the situation you have the time and distance to view and use your sites it would only make good sense to do so.
Whether boxing, knife fighting or shooting it is our natural response to face our opponent head on even to the point that when viewed from the rear of either person the view of the other is severely limited. Keep this in mind when drawing from the holster. If the trigger is pulled when the pistol is outside your silhouette misses are probable. For this reason train yourself to keep your pistol close to the body during the draw to increase the amount of time and space the barrel is between your and the attacker. Avoid "swinging up" to the target and work on getting the gun between you and the treat. Much more important and getting the sights between you and the threat.
Practicing this with air soft will do wonders for your defensive handgun skills. You will also find out that you will likely trade rounds with your attacker since once again it is "defense". Another thing that force on force does is humble people out. Few people look smooth when defending against an attack. This seems to go against the grain of people who like to pat themselves on the back over pretty paper targets. The best recommendation is a mixture of both.
For the vast majority of shooters there level of skill is based on offensive prowess. By that I mean they shoot at targets when they are good and ready, or maybe even one someone else's cue, someone that is not trying to kill them. Even today many police officers still do not have the benefit of Simmuntion or air soft to replicate having to draw and fire their sidearm in direct response to someone shooting at them. People that have actually been involved in shootings are usualy much more humble when it comes to Monday morning quarterbacking over the percentage of hits make by police in actual shootings.
The most basic example is shooting free throws in basketball vs from the field. Even with nobody in their way how often do we see great basketball players miss free throws? Pretty often. When you are on offense you normally only have to concentrate on one thing and usually have the luxury of starting when you decide to. This is a massive departure than defense in which you have to counter attack as you defend or make defensive maneuvers that start when someone else decides to take action.
What physically has to take place for you to shoot another person? It's simple really, you just have to pull the trigger while the barrel is in line with the person. Notice that there is nothing about the need for sights to accomplish this. We know that the vast majority of shooting occur inside of seven yards with many actually occurring at 3-5 feet. If I hold my Glock 23 in my hand and extend it in front of me I measure 36-37 inches. So if I attempt to use my sights at an distance of 3-5 feet I would essentially be handing my gun to my attacker. Realize I am only trying to make the point that if you train and believe that the only way you can put accurate rounds on target is by using the sites you put yourself at a sever disadvantage. The idea is to just get the gun between your and the bad guy and pull the trigger. Repeat as needed. If depending on the totality of the situation you have the time and distance to view and use your sites it would only make good sense to do so.
Whether boxing, knife fighting or shooting it is our natural response to face our opponent head on even to the point that when viewed from the rear of either person the view of the other is severely limited. Keep this in mind when drawing from the holster. If the trigger is pulled when the pistol is outside your silhouette misses are probable. For this reason train yourself to keep your pistol close to the body during the draw to increase the amount of time and space the barrel is between your and the attacker. Avoid "swinging up" to the target and work on getting the gun between you and the treat. Much more important and getting the sights between you and the threat.
Practicing this with air soft will do wonders for your defensive handgun skills. You will also find out that you will likely trade rounds with your attacker since once again it is "defense". Another thing that force on force does is humble people out. Few people look smooth when defending against an attack. This seems to go against the grain of people who like to pat themselves on the back over pretty paper targets. The best recommendation is a mixture of both.
