Drawing habits

[LopezEL]

This morning, my house alarm went off while I was still sleeping. I had no clue if it was the motion detector or one of doors being opened. I could not hear a thing with the alarm blaring and my dogs barking their heads off but my first instinct was to reach for my gun on the nightstand. What can one do to identify what is going on in such a situation??? Should I have turned the alarm off as soon as it woke me up? If I turn it off law enforcement will not be sent to my house...

After I heard someone running straight up to my locked bedroom door, and hearing my girlfriend yell at me. I remembered that she said she would come to my house this morning and we would go run some errands together. She actually called my cell phone before she came inside but I did not hear my phone ringing when she tried calling me. This incident reminds me that I need to get her a keychain remote for my alarm.

Anyways, something else I wanted to point out was that I had my Dan Wesson CBOB 1911 on my nightstand and when I reached for it, I took the safety off... without having to think about it. It was just an instinct from having handled 1911 style pistols so much. This is comforting to know because I have read about people forgetting to disengage the safety while under stress.

After I realized it was my girlfriend I put the gun back on the nightstand and turned off the alarm (the keypad is in my room). I got up to let her in my room and then got back in bed... That is when I realized that I had not put the safety back on after being rudely awakened. Is this something that you we should practice as well? I know that I have practiced drawing from concealment and disengaging the safety and I did that without even thinking about it but when I put the gun up after realizing there was no real threat, I forgot to put the safety on. Comments???

 

[YammyMonkey]

You should establish a specific safety off & safety off point in the drawstroke- regardless of what it looks like.

The safety should come off when the gun is in the first firing position or on the way to that position. It should come back on when you leave that first firing position back toward the holster.

For example I use the 4-count drawstroke taught by SouthNarc, OPS & others & the safety would come off either between the 1 & 2 positions or at the 2 (the first firing position). Likewise going back into the holster the safety would go on when I've decided to leave the 2 position & head the gun for home.

Going beyond the initial question...

I've seen a lot of people rush to re-holster their guns & in my opinion that is flat out wrong. Holstering should be a concious, if not reluctant act. Getting it out fast can save your skin, but putting it back fast has led to a lot of folks putting holes in themselves (didn't get the booger picker off the bang switch fast enough) & could potentially lead to a situation where you have to shoot, you take care of the first threat, then fail to scan, holster the gun & there is another attacker deserving of some lead love, but your weapon is now parked on your hip. Oops.

 

[psyopspec]

I utilize the same habits as Yammy. With a CCW, if I'm drawing, it's likely to be to stop a threat. Safety off as soon as my hand gets a firm grip on the pistol and begins the draw.

On a carbine or shotgun, I disengage the safety when going from the low ready to the firing position.

Re-engage safety when going from the "ready to fire" position to anything else (all clear/threat down = low ready/holster).

 

[Claude Clay]

built in pause at low ready. gun 1/2 way between you and whatever. or 10 feet in front of you. safety is or is about to be off'ed. push through the pause if events require you to and engage immediately. do your walk about in low ready w/ safety still on. should it happen that you back-peddle or be pushed back--that action will cause your arms to raise and.....point your gun at whomever pushed you.
don't forget your e-muffs and a remote silencer for the indoor alarm horn. good luck. and practice till you have worked all the possibles out and your actions are smooth and deliberate.

 

[Old Guy]

Got Glock19, it has no manual safety.

When I shot USPSA with a Colt 45, it had the old fashioned safety, the one with the little nub at the forward edge of the safety catch. Very positive, when I taught the new students to draw and fire the Colt 45, when the two hands meet, the safety comes off! I shooting a USPSA National Match one of the competitors told me I was taking my safety catch of prior to the both hands meeting!

"No way" said, Mr. Big Head! Me!

Video showed, and you could hear the click, the safety coming off, at the holster!!

OOPS!

 

[Loosedhorse]

I would recommend that any loaded gun on a nightstand be in a holster that covers the trigger. If the holster will not be attached to anything, make sure it's one that you can get off the gun with one hand.

Other than that, follow the rules (which you did--didn't read anything about finger on trigger).

Consider the following:
--Anytime you put a loaded gun down, you put it in a holster.
--Anytime a gun with a safety is holstered, the safety goes on.
--Safety stays on until you have identified your target.

If you agree with the above, practice it about 1000 times, and voila--you'll now do the same thing when you're only half-awake!

Good luck. Be safe.

 

[twoclones]

Good or bad habit?

Yesterday I did a little drawing practice with my new 642 w/CT grips. After a couple of draw and points, I noticed the laser wasn't working. On closer examination I found that I was covering the laster with my trigger finger because, out of habit, I do not put my finger on the trigger until ready to fire.

While this is a good safety habit, it's probably not a great idea when carrying concealed for protection. ?

 

[Loosedhorse]

Finger out of trigger guard (unless ready to shoot) is MANDATORY at all times. CCW is NOT an exception.

I think you'll find if you lower your index finger so that it rests where the trigger guard meets the frame (instead of on the cylinder) you'll be all set.

Or switch to Lasermax revolver grips--the laser is much higher, near the rear sight.

BUT DON'T EVER violate safety rules! PLEASE!

 

[psyopspec]

Yesterday I did a little drawing practice with my new 642 w/CT grips. After a couple of draw and points, I noticed the laser wasn't working. On closer examination I found that I was covering the laster with my trigger finger because, out of habit, I do not put my finger on the trigger until ready to fire.

That's why I didn't buy one of these. While I was handling it in the store I noticed the same thing - finger indexed below the cylinder blocks the laser.

 

[LSU Fan]

I got lucky...

My dad drilled gun safety into my head at a very young age.

I was shooting a flurry last year (sporting clays, where clays are launched randomly from different angles and you must reload during shooting)....

Anyway, during the course of my shoot, I noticed that I was putting the safety back on everytime I went to reload.... force of habit, but not really the best thing to do when you've got targets flying all over the place!