Practice your draw.

[JohnKSa]

Once in awhile, with your gun unloaded, do some repetitions to make sure you can get to it, get a grip on it, and get it out smoothly and without hitches or snags. If you can't, practice until you can or change the way you carry.

This guy got lucky (sort of) and there was time for him to pick his gun back up after he dropped it during the draw.

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We all like to think we'll have time to get to our gun if we need it. This guy was forced to draw against an attacker with an already drawn gun. I wonder if he ever considered he would be in that situation. I wonder if he ever practiced with that scenario in mind.

 

[slicksleeve]

I was recently asked to work with my church security team. Sitting around a table with them, I said something about practicing my draw in my house. It was met with both dumbfounded looks and awkward snickering. Like they thought it was the weirdest thing they had ever heard. I’ve got my work cut out for me.

 

[trackskippy]

That clip was a good example of a number of things.

Personally, I would update the practicing your draw "once in a while" to "as much as possible" and done regularly. Its something you need to be able to do, without thinking about doing it, and the only way to get smooth, fluid, and consistent about it, is constant repetition. You also need to practice from different positions too.

I would say too, if youre someone who pocket carries, pay close attention to reality here.

His point about going for the other guys gun is something else that often gets ignored in discussions about things like this. I know we arent all Bruce Lee, but hopefully, we are at least somewhat broader in our life skills and the gun you might be carrying, isn't the only answer to what might arise. As he mentioned, proximity can have a major impact on advantage.

 

[jmorris]

Yeah, once you own a shot timer, pocket carry doesn't seem near as cool.

 

[lemaymiami]

In the real world... when it's all on the line... keeping a cool head and doing what's needed to survive (whether that's gunfight, run, attack, hide...) isn't nearly as predictable as most would think. The results, the actual things folks do under stress, can be unpredictable ( serious understatement). Regular practice and range time can only take you so far. The big brave, capable individual freezes... the mild mannered office worker can never explain why he (or she) attacked their assailant instinctively without thought - and survived because of it.. or was killed in the attempt...

At best, that awful moment is a crap shoot and can keep you up at night if you think about it..

 

[JohnKSa]

Regular practice and range time can only take you so far.

The hope is that it can take a person far enough that they don't drop their gun while drawing when they need it to save their life. If it can't even achieve that level of competence, we might as well just forget about carrying guns altogether and rely on the good will of our fellow man and the forbearance of reptiles.

 

[Hillbilly Hydrographics]

I think if your gonna carry being proficient with drawing should be part of regular shooting and training. Practice getting to and drawing your carry piece from different situations and body placement. Like laying on the ground or kneeling practice drawing while seated and buckled in your vehicle. Any scenario should be covered and have some practice time in cause you hope to never need to draw on someone but best to be ready if you do. Simulate clearing jams and practice practice practice reloading.

 

[W.E.G.]

I post this video every now and then.

I think I'm good.

The amount of HATE that I get for posting it though is very impressive.

Not sure what the issue is.
The little-bitty gun? - Well OK, six rounds of .380 isn't exactly a .45 longslide.
The fact that I point the gun at the camera? - would people rather look at my backside?
The fact that my finger is touching the triggger as I point it at the camera? - Should I have shown unloaded before pointing at the camera in front of a cinderblock wall backed by earth?
The fact that there is a small hitch in the draw? - Yes there is, when the trigger guard clears the pocket, I take a fraction of a second to adjust my grip.
The fact that the draw is "slow?" - OK, Jerry Miculek would have me for sure.

Yes, I "practice" a little bit. Probably would be "better" at it if I practiced more. But I have been practicing pulling things out of my pocket without dropping them since I started wearing long pants. So there's that.

Bodyguard 380 in watch pocket

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[Littlef]

Draw practice is good advice. I think back to the video footage of the church shooting a couple years ago in Texas. The first person to react was a parishioner in the pews. He was a real heavy set guy. His firearm was in the small of his back. It took him two tries to reach back and unholster the gun. The shooter saw him unsuccessfully try to draw the gun the first time, and he shot the parishioner before he got the gun fully drawn on the second try. If you are going to draw a gun on someone, you have to make sure you can actually follow through, and make the shot.

 

[Kleanbore]

I think if your gonna carry being proficient with drawing should be Practice getting to and drawing your carry piece from different situations and body placement.

That’s what led me to add a backup gun in a cross draw holster.

 

[Kleanbore]

The fact that the draw is "slow?"

Very. A man starting from 21 feet would beat it.

Not conducive to CQ defense, either.

Not sure about sitting.

 

[BLACKHAWKNJ]

Sounds like a lot of people need to read Bill Jordan's No Second Place Winner. Don't have my CCW yet-New Jersey-but IMHO speed and fluidity of draw come right behind marksmanship in SD training.

 

[JeffG]

I was recently asked to work with my church security team. Sitting around a table with them, I said something about practicing my draw in my house. It was met with both dumbfounded looks and awkward snickering. Like they thought it was the weirdest thing they had ever heard. I’ve got my work cut out for me.

As an LEO trainer, I advocated home "empty gun" draw, and magazine change practice, for officers. I was met with the same reactions. It make you reassess your team members.

 

[Ethan Verity]

Yeah, once you own a shot timer, pocket carry doesn't seem near as cool.

Depends... time yourself from a 'casual, hands in pockets' stance, and you will realize it still has some value.

 

[trackskippy]

It needs to work from however you need to get it, when you need to get it, not just in the scenarios you like to envision.

Trying to look casual didn't work out too well for the judge.

 

[Ethan Verity]

It needs to work from however you need to get it, when you need to get it, not just in the scenarios you like to envision.

Trying to look casual didn't work out too well for the judge.

Would a 4:30 IWB position, assuming a cover jacket, have worked out better for him? The guy drew on a drawn gun... only so much you can do in that case.

 

[trackskippy]

I think it was a mistake all around, at least when he decided to do it, but it looks like all he had was a gun, and a poor choice at that, and in a bad spot to boot. But he had a gun.

Bear in mind here, that the guy with the gun made the mistake of walking up as close as he did to the judge, and the judge didn't take advantage of what he was giving him. But then again, if you go with the mentality of "I have a gun", and that's your whole thing, you see how well it can go.

Just out of curiosity here, if you do pocket carry, do you practice shooting from how you carry on a regular basis, both dry and live fire, and from different, realistic positions as well?

 

[Shawn Dodson]

Are words faster than HANDS?

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[Ethan Verity]

I think it was a mistake all around, at least when he decided to do it, but it looks like all he had was a gun, and a poor choice at that, and in a bad spot to boot. But he had a gun.

Bear in mind here, that the guy with the gun made the mistake of walking up as close as he did to the judge, and the judge didn't take advantage of what he was giving him. But then again, if you go with the mentality of "I have a gun", and that's your whole thing, you see how well it can go.

Just out of curiosity here, if you do pocket carry, do you practice shooting from how you carry on a regular basis, both dry and live fire, and from different, realistic positions as well?

Well, to answer for myself. Yes, absolutely! I own an airsoft replica of my primary pocket carry sidearm, a Ruger LCP, and will regularly practice fast drawing from my pocket holster in various positions, and putting accurate rounds on target (in my case, a foam silhouette cutout in my garage).

I do the same thing at the real steel range, when there are no "Fudds" around, who will make an issue of such realistic practice. Unfortunately there are too many at my range, who take offense to realistic practicing with firearms, and unnecessarily make it into a problem. Therefore, such beneficial range sessions are reserved for days when nobody is around.

 

[jmorris]

Depends... time yourself from a 'casual, hands in pockets' stance, and you will realize it still has some value.

I am a numbers guy, I own 4 shot timers, just so I always have one handy. I will race that any day. That is coming from a guy that has cut open the end of a seam at the top of a pocket, to insert a section of zip tie, to keep a pocket open, for stowing a mag and that still isn't as fast as letting it fall free.

And that is night and day from getting something out of a pocket, much less a pistol. My leatherman is 4x's as fast as an NNA and thats picking blades...

Practice helps anything though!

 

[Ethan Verity]

I am a numbers guy, I own 4 shot timers, just so I always have one handy. I will race that any day. That is coming from a guy that has cut open the end of a seam at the top of a pocket, to insert a section of zip tie, to keep a pocket open, for stowing a mag and that still isn't as fast as letting it fall free.

And that is night and day from getting something out of a pocket, much less a pistol. My leatherman is 4x's as fast as an NNA and thats picking blades...

Practice helps anything though!

Racing hands in pocket, with a pocket pistol... Vs... hands at side, with a waistband pistol?
You are underestimating how quickly a person can pull their hands from their pockets, if you think this is a close draw time.

 

[armoredman]

Yeah, once you own a shot timer, pocket carry doesn't seem near as cool.

I was actually practicing pocket draw a few days ago on the range - you gotta be IN that pocket already to make it work. Even so, I'd better be lucky.

 

[lemaymiami]

Noted the vast majority of comments were about practicing to be able to clear leather quickly when needed... In my years on the street I came to believe that moving to cover quickly might be a very important skill as well (and all of us need to be aware of nearby cover, in whatever form it takes, when the balloon goes up and you're an easy target out in the open (or standing up with nothing between incoming stuff and your tender body...). That old book that was my bible all those years ago, Street Survival, went into great detail about different kinds of cover in a shooting situation.. A quick squat or just hitting the deck might just be a lifesaver if no cover is close by... something to consider...

In our own officer survival training program we emphasized that standing up out in the open like John Wayne in a movie gunfight - was absolutely not your best option... As always I still maintain that your actual tactics in an armed confrontation are more important than your skill with firearms...

 

[trackskippy]

No doubt, but you still need to build and maintain skill and proficiency with all aspects of your firearms, as well as other things. If youre being realistic, it all works as part of a package and is not based on any one thing.

I just get the impression from what you see in a lot of posts around the board here and elsewhere, that many people seem to think that just because they have a gun, any gun, on them, they are armed and prepared.

 

[bearcreek]

As always I still maintain that your actual tactics in an armed confrontation are more important than your skill with firearms...

The goal is to develop those skills enough so that they're there when you need them while using those good tactics of which you speak. Good tactics with a high skill level is better than good tactics with a low skill level. Under stress, folks generally fall below the level of their training. Better to fall to average from high than fall to poor from average. Can't do that if a high skill level was never attained through training and practice.