Carry what ya shoot
John Forsyth said:
But, as all I shoot are 1911's, I want muscle memory to just go without having to think about what gun I am carrying. The way I look at it, carry what you compete with, shoot what you carry. Don't think, just shoot.
John...AMEN! Many people don't consider that point, but if you keep
in mind that during the awful stress of that "Mad Moment, you WILL
go into auto-response about 99% of the time...at least for the opening
bell...and what you have repeatedly done on the range is what you will do
in a fight. If the gun that you've practiced with is different than your carry gun, it will affect your performance to some degree. More than that...
every move that is repeated will also be auto responsive. F'rinstance...
When you reload, do you drop the magazine and slap a fresh one in, or
do you make a quarter-turn and lay the empty on a table and pick up another one? If the table isn't there, it interrupts the sequence, and
you may freeze in place, looking for a table that doesn't exist.
I read a story about a cop once...Illinois State Trooper I believe...who shot his revolver dry...dropped the empty brass in his hand...made a quarter-turn to his right to drop the brass into the range bucket, and was killed.
Eyewitnesses said that he stood there looking around for a full 5 seconds
before he was hit. The bucket wasn't there, and in the stress, his brain
couldn't process the information in time to save his life. Things to consider when practicing.
Everthing that you do is training...every move that you make, whether it's apparent or not. Do you immediately move to seek cover on the range? No? What makes you think that you will when the flag flies if you have formed a habit of standing in one place to practice? Have you practiced
shooting with one hand? How about one handed from hip level while fending off a close-range attackwith the weak hand? Point-shoulder
shooting with eyes off the sights in case your day comes at night and
you can't see the sights? No? Better tend to it. Most life/death things
happen at arm's length and/or at night, usually without obvious warning.
Good post John. Kudos!
Albert...NIIIIIICE.