What Is The Weak Element In Your Gun Handling Skill Set?

[*Kemosabe*]

Sam1911 offered this skill set in another thread (http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=744363) as essential to surviving a deadly encounter or winning a completion:

1. Work from a holster
2. Shoot while moving
3. Shoot multiple targets (and shoot them while moving)
4. Shoot from concealment
5. Shoot at targets that partially concealed
6. Low-light shooting
7. Shooting a threat multiple times rapidly
8. Reloading

What is the weak element in your skill set even if it’s different from the above listed eight and how have you coped?

I’ll start -- Mine is #2, shooting while moving. To date I have lessened this deficiency by stopping to get off the shot(s) which will cost me time in a competition. Stopping while in survival mode would only raise the probability of being an easier target.

What say you?

 

[Hurryin' Hoosier]

I'm still wondering if I even have a "skill set".

 

[SilverCat]

Ive been looking for a proper class to take. Id like to go to one of the big ones. Any recommendations??

 

[Trent]

Shooting at moving targets is my weakness. Don't have a good set up to practice it at our range.

The 8 things you list above, I teach in my 16 hour CCW course and practice regularly on my own.

Shooting AT moving targets is an entirely different skill and one that is difficult to get good at.

 

[MrBorland]

It's a pretty good list. I'd only add:

9. Weak hand only shooting.
10. Shooting moving targets (a bit different than moving while shooting static targets).

And keep in mind, implicit in this list is that, by "shooting", it's meant shooting an accurate CoM hit.

As to my weaknesses, my draw to 1st shot has always been relatively slow for a master-level competitive shooter, I need to relax more to get my hits on movers, and my flashlight technique in low light always needs work.

 

[Trent]

I definitely agree with Borland on the weak side shooting. That isn't something I currently teach in my CCW course but I think I'll integrate it in to the next one.

 

[dprice3844444]

not enough free ammo

 

[MrBorland]

I'll add one more:

11. Movement. More precisely, movement from one shooting position to the next, while not shooting. Non-shooting movement during a garden variety stage with multiple shooting positions makes up a good fraction of one's total time. Do it efficiently, and you'll shave chunks of time without even shooting. The converse it true, too, though: Doing it inefficiently will add a good chunk of time.

I definitely agree with Borland on the weak side shooting. That isn't something I currently teach in my CCW course but I think I'll integrate it in to the next one.

I just shot a state match over the weekend, and there was a fair amount of WHO shooting required. The "standards" included 6 WHO headshots. Lots of glum faces to go around.

 

[9mmepiphany]

It's a pretty good list. I'd only add:

9. Weak hand only shooting.
10. Shooting moving targets (a bit different than moving while shooting static targets).

Those are good additions. I can get hits on swingers, they just aren't well centered

And keep in mind, implicit in this list is that, by "shooting", it's meant shooting an accurate CoM hit.

+1 to this. Just being able to hit a target doing any of the above isn't "good enough"

As to my weaknesses, my draw to 1st shot has always been relatively slow for a master-level competitive shooter, I need to relax more to get my hits on movers, and my flashlight technique in low light always needs work.

I feel a lot better and there is hope of my advancing up the ladder. My reaction to a go signal is painfully slow...I've been told it is .3 slow

11. Movement. More precisely, movement from one shooting position to the next, while not shooting. Non-shooting movement during a garden variety stage with multiple shooting positions makes up a good fraction of one's total time. Do it efficiently, and you'll shave chunks of time without even shooting. The converse it true, too, though: Doing it inefficiently will add a good chunk of time.

My movement is a saving grace, but a master class shooter noted that once I get to the edge of cover I'm slow to clear it to make the shot...too many years in LE

 

[9mmepiphany]

Shooting AT moving targets is an entirely different skill and one that is difficult to get good at.

I'm assuming that you are referring to targets that move back and forth or turn and disappear...it is definitely a different skill.

On the other hand, shooting a Bianchi Mover (running target), or a crossing target, is relatively easy because of the constant speed

 

[9mmepiphany]

shooting while moving. To date I have lessened this deficiency by stopping to get off the shot(s) which will cost me time in a competition. Stopping while in survival mode would only raise the probability of being an easier target.

This is a two part problem.

1. You need to move without unduly transmitting the shock of each foot strike up your body.

2. You need to trust your sight alignment and trigger press regardless of your body's attitude.

What works for me is shooting multiple shots between steps

 

[*Kemosabe*]

Worth a look

There may be very different skills for shooting while moving: one for competition and another for survival.

A Professional Defense Network (PDN) video which is geared more to survival has a different viewpoint. There are elements specifically addressing survival, but his tips on moving are definitely applicable to competition as well.

I think a viewing of his perspective is worth your time:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noDzDZ5S0hc

This the my first experience with PDN, so a critique would be appreciated.

 

[Sam1911]

He has some good points, but fails to avoid the trap of creating a strawman argument by grossly exaggerating how others move while shooting. Yeah, if you're duckwalking at three steps per minute, that's not accomplishing much good. But that's not how people really move in combat (though I have seen low-level shooters do so in competition).

Here's a useful thread on that subject: http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=734475

 

[buck460XVR]

Some of my best defensive training came from when I played paintball wars with my sons and their friends. There's no comparison to using cover, shooting while you move and shooting at moving targets as when someone else is shooting back.

My weak hand shooting is by far, my weakest link.

 

[CZ223]

I interpreted the question differently

when I first read it, so I will answer with that in mind. I have been shooting for over 25 years and have done everything from Silhouette to Cowboy action shooting to long range rifle. My weak point, as I see it, is shooting a Semi auto rifle, an AR-15 or AK 47, rapidly and accurately. While I own several of these rifles I am less than proficient with them.

 

[Trent]

I'm assuming that you are referring to targets that move back and forth or turn and disappear...it is definitely a different skill.

On the other hand, shooting a Bianchi Mover (running target), or a crossing target, is relatively easy because of the constant speed

Yup. Or, from a hunter perspective, shooting a goose in flight, vs. a dove in flight. One flies in formation in a nice easy predictable line, the other zigs and zags at random when it's flushed.

At self defense ranges at handgun velocities you don't have to really lead a target much at all (just take in to account trigger pull & lock time), but people can turn, or duck behind or up from cover FAST.

Adding to the moving from one point to another comment above, if you're out in the open, under fire, and have no cover, don't run in a straight line (e.g. Charles Whitman type of situations). Distance fire DOES have an appreciable lead and taking a step to one side or the other can cause a hit to miss... (Or, I guess, a miss to hit, if you step in to it..)

If an aggressor doesn't take in trigger pull and lock time of their gun in to account, even at moderately close distances (10+ yards) with handgun rounds, there's a chance they may miss. Especially if they aren't practiced at it and try to hold in front stationary and shoot as you move in to frame. (E.g. Beginner trap shooter mindset)

The ability of moving out of frame quick is shocking to most people if they aren't trained; Even with me having a 90+ mph punch, trying to hit someone from two or three feet away there's been plenty of times I've tried to hit a guy sparring and found he's not there anymore when my hand arrives a split second later.

 

[Plan2Live]

I wear eyeglasses. I'm not likely to carry a spare pair on me. So shooting (accurately) without my glasses would be my biggest weak element.

 

[Trent]

Plan2Live ... ooh yeah. I'm blind without glasses. Like, seriously blind. 20/200 in my good eye, 20/600 in my bad one. With glasses I'm slightly better than 20/20.

Without them? I couldn't see the broad side of a barn, let alone hit it. From indoors.

 

[1911 guy]

I've gotten extremely rusty handling a handgun and flashlight, so I'd have to say low light is my weak link right now.

 

[Ankeny]

What is the weak element in your skill set even if it’s different from the above listed eight and how have you coped?

I see we once again have a combination of responses from the "fighting with a gun" crowd, and the "square range" shooting crowd. My weak point on the square range is I have failed to maintain the ability I once had shooting weak hand only. My weak point from a defensive shooting scenario is using hand combatives at contact distances in combination with a handgun.

...and how have you coped?

On the square range, I just no longer care about maintaining a Grandmaster skill set. As for "defensive shooting" I focus on maintaining distance and situational awareness.

 

[MrBorland]

I'm one of the lucky ones: I'm a lefty, but shoot righty. IOW, my "weak" hand is my dominant hand. I don't shoot weak hand as much as strong hand, so while it feels different shooting weak handed, WHO has been one of my relative strengths, not weaknesses.

 

[Skribs]

#9: finding the time and money to practice.

 

[*Kemosabe*]

The main purpose of my question…

The purpose of my question was not only to get you to fess-up on what you find problematical with your gun handling, but also to get some insights as to how you are or are not going to address it.

“Practice more” is the most expected general response and is probably good advice, but I was looking more for the specifics.

For example:

MrBorland “I need to relax more to get my hits on movers…”

9mmepiphany “This is a two part problem. (Relating to shooting while moving)

1. You need to move without unduly transmitting the shock of each foot strike up your body.

2. You need to trust your sight alignment and trigger press regardless of your body's attitude.

What works for me is shooting multiple shots between steps.”

Buck460XVR “Some of my best defensive training came from when I played paintball wars with my sons and their friends. There's no comparison to using cover, shooting while you move and shooting at moving targets as when someone else is shooting back.”

Trent - His entire post - #16

Ankeny “On the square range, I just no longer care about maintaining a Grandmaster skill set. As for "defensive shooting" I focus on maintaining distance and situational awareness.”

Any other solutions to the expanded skill set?

 

[9mmepiphany]

If you want to get better at Weak Hand Only shooting (WHO), don't approach it as such. Approach it as shooting, just with the other hand.

Don't grip tighter, don't snap at the trigger, just hold the gun, see the sights and press the trigger. It is no different than a cross dominate shooter shooting. I think the last IDPA Classifier I shot, I was more accurate shooting WHO when transitioning between the three targets...because I wasn't trying to go faster than I could see the sights

 

[mavracer]

Shooting while moving