Tell me about fast draw shooting

[hightime]

Are you shooting wax? Or what is it? Powder?

Looks like fun, but I'm not going to practice with my loads.

Owen

[JimT]

Back in the previous century my daddy taught me to fast draw. He had begun in the 1930's and was quite good. We used lived ammo for most of it ... fooled around with wax but never anything serious. Dad could stand 3 feet from a fence-post .... toss a small ball or other object at the post with his gun hand .. draw and fire and hit the fence post at about the same time the ball did. He used an original Remington . 44 cap and ball with full power loads. Those Remingtons have an 8" barrel by the way.

I started with a Ruger Blackhawk 357 6 1/2" and got fairly good with it. I used most 38 Special loads for practice. Dad taught me to practice for smoothness, not for speed. Speed come with time - and with excitement I might add. Dad had me practicing drawing slow and steady to imprint the process on my thick brain.

I would reach and grab the grip of the gun, thumb on the hammer, trigger finger extended and outside the frame of the gun. As the gun was pulled the hammer came back but the trigger finger was not poked into the trigger guard until the barrel was coming on target. I practiced this slowly and deliberately every day with the cylinder removed from the gun for several years. On the range with live ammo I continued the slow and deliberate draw, eventually speeding up, but never stopping practice with an empty gun during the week.

I eventually picked up a Ruger Blackhawk in 45 Colt .. a 7 1/2" ... and a Colt SAA 45 in 5 1/2". I never found the shorter gun to be 'faster' for me than the long one. There is video around someplace of me and Mike Venturino darwing and shooting bowling pins off a table. We were never able to shade each other. Mike was pretty durn quick. This was in the 1980's

On the same video using my Ruger Blackhawk I was filmed tossing a 4" wood block with my gunhand, then drawing and busting it before it went more than 4 feet out in front of me ... with full power loads.

Constant practice is MUST for this kind of stuff. Some weeks I shot every day. At a minimum I shot 3 or 4 times a week. I normally practiced at least a half hour each day with an empty gun.

One thing to remember: ANY PRACTICE WITH AN EMPTY GUN CAN LEAD TO THE "ONE-MORE-SHOT" SYNDROME. IF YOU PRACTICE FOR AWHILE WITH AN EMPTY GUN .. PUT IT AWAY AND GO PLAY WITH SOMETHING ELSE. IF YOU LOAD IT YOU WILL PICK IT UP AND FIRE ONE LIVE SHOT.

There is too much evidence of this to take this lightly. When doing a repetitive action over and over for a period of time your brain gets locked into the pattern. Even if you don't want to ..there will come an unguarded moment when you will pick up the gun. The results can be disasterous.

DO NOT HANDLE ANY FIREARM FOR AT LEAST AN HOUR AFTER YOU HAVE BEEN DRY-FIRING, PRACTICING QUICK-DRAW OR WHATEVER.

Seriously.

The sport of Quck-Draw is a whole different story. I never participated in that. I have nothing against it. It just was not something I was interested in.

Enjoy your shooting. Do what is fun for you. This is not supposed to be painful.

[hightime]

Thanks Jim.

Owen

[Pitchy]

Best left to the pro`s, good way to shoot yourself in the foot.
Bob Mundan is good but even he has a holster that will deflect the bullet if he goofs up.
We used to play around fast drawing with 22 Single actions when we were kids and lucky we didn`t get hurt.
As Jim says it takes lots of slow learning to where the brain is trained .
IMO a slow deliberate draw and a good aim is far more important.

[hightime]

I just watched an event on the TV last night and wondered how they stayed safe in competition. They must be shooting wax. It looked like fun.

Owen

[blackhawk44]

Back in the 1960's, during the heyday of "fast draw" competitions and exibitions, we used old cases counterbored in the rear to accept drop-in shotshell primers for practice and indoor demonstrations and used wax bullets for impact timers. Wax loads used cases with oversize flash holes and were primed after having pushed the cases into the warm wax.

In large outdoor venues, with lots of space, we would carefully used 5-in-1's and black powder shotshell blanks. This was after careful choreogrphy and lots of pre-show practice. These were far too dangerous, and loud, for indoor use. Heck, 5n1's are loader than genuine handball.

Hardball ammo was forbidden with every club or group that I ever worked with or heard of. It was never an option.

[hightime]

Thanks for the info.

Owen

[DarryH]

I did this while in high school. There was no competition in the area, so I taught myself.
I had a Daisy BB gun that looked like a Colt 1873.
I added weight to the insides, including plugging the barrel.
I was able to keep the action in working order.
I practiced with that gun almost every day.
I wore it all around the farm as I worked, drawing it repeatedly.
Smoothness was the goal, and speed came with practice.

When I decided I was ready for the next step, I used my dad's H&R 676(?) revolver.
It was kinda westerny at least.
I started practicing with this gun, empty.
I started carrying it around the farm as I worked, drawing repeatedly.
I remember it was about 1 year later that I bought some .22 blanks, and finally decided to shoot something.
I slowed down, and tried to be smooth. I did NOT try to draw super fast, even though I was capable.
Little by little, my speed increased. I still only shot about 100 blanks over the next few months.

Now was live ammo time, and I was a bit scared. Again, I really slowed down.
At first I was not too concerned about accuracy. I was making sure the gun was pointed straight before I pulled the trigger.
Also, I still wore and practiced with the empty gun as I did chores.
When I decided I was pretty comfortable and safe enough, I started on accuracy. I was shooting at 15 yards.
Why that distance? My backstop and a big shade tree dictated that distance.
My very first live ammo shots were in 2-3 foot groups. Yuch! It got better pretty quickly, as I still
wanted smooth before speed. After a LOT of live rounds, I was starting to actually do pretty good.
I used empty Pepsi cans as my targets. They were on a short bench about 4 feet off the ground.
The day I actually started to hit those cans with a bit of consistency, my dad happened to come out of the house to watch me.
Ready to show off, I told dad which can I was going to hit, and I remember telling him it might take two or three tries.
Since dad was watching, I wanted to speed up a little, and I was nervous.
I drew, almost not thinking about anything except the can, and I hit it smack center!
I turned to look at my dad, and he smiled, shook his head a couple times, and he walked back into the house.
I was one happy kid!!!!
Feeling pretty smug, I took a walk down through the grove. There were some downed limbs from a recent storm, some of which
lay across the trails, being held partially up by surrounding trees.
I was just enjoying myself when a squirrel ran accross one of these fallen limbs.
Without thinking about it, I drew and shot. I was looking at that squirrel's eye, and that is exactly where the bullet went.
Truthfully, I was much more surprised than excited. I have told this story many times, but what I never said until now.............
I NEVER again tried to fast draw on an animal.
I also started to talk less about what I was doing. I was a sophmore, and a kid in the class below me liked guns, and wanted to try his hand at fast draw.
I gave him two tips, practice with an unloaded gun, and go slow.
In just a couple weeks I heard he had shot himself in the foot with his 22 pistol, and had to have a steel plate put in.
For all intents and purposes, that pretty much ended my affair with fast draw.
I can't say I totally quit right away, as I would catch myself occassionally drawing fast on something,
but I have not done it now in over 30 years.
Typing this, and reliving it has been fun, but I am done with it for good.
Thanks for rekindling my recollections. I will have to add this story to my other outdoor stories I have written for my kids to read some day.
I want them to know things about their dad that I never told them, mainly for safety reasons.
Oh, the guns......I wore out the Daisy and it ended up in the trash heap. I have another, but it is not weighted.
The H&R....I wore out the lockwork three times, and they fixed it for me each time. I also broke off two
loading gates as I was also twirling the gun (another story). I have it, and it still shoots good.
By the way, did you know they were factory sighted at 12 feet??? I learned that a few years later.

[Malamute]

As was mentioned, the "sport" of "Fast Draw" is quite different than becoming good at drawing your working gun. One isn't very realistic or practical with the guns and rigs they use, the other should be part of your learning about carrying and using your gun if you carry one. One doesnt have to be lghtning fast, but should be fumble free and smooth, whatever your natural abilty will allow. The more you do it though, the smoother and quicker you can be.


Years ago, I knew an older guy that was prone to telling tall tales. He was going on about how fast he was once, and that if someone stood in front of him with their hands shoulder width apart, and clapped, he could draw, cock and pull the trigger before someone could clap their hands. I must have looked skeptical. He said "You dont believe me?" He grabbed a cheap copy of an 1851 Navy Colt with a 7 1/2" barrel, a very cheap clunky holster and plain belt. He had me stand in front of him with my hands at waist level, look him in the eye, and clap any time I wanted. Every time he could draw, cock and snap the hammer with the barrel between my hands before I could clap them. The best I could do was starting with hands about 6" apart, and I caught the muzzle between my fingertips. He was absolutely wicked fast with a pistol. He fooled with it as the "sport" back in the 60's, but obviously such abilty can be useful if one needed their gun in a hurry. Bill Jordan was known for being ale to draw and snap a gun on someone pointing a cocked gun at him before they could react. I admire such abilities, not that I'll ever be anything near that fast, but the presentation (the modern term for draw) is just part of being a good all around shooter to me, to be proficient in all aspects of carrying and using your guns. Best I could do was holding an empty can on the back of my hand at shoulder height, then going for the 6 1/2" Smith 29 in a Threepersons type holster (with the snap in place). I could consistantly draw and dry fire it before the can hit the floor. If one practiced, that would probably seem slow. Using a similar 22 gives good range time to get good at different aspects of shooting.

[Ysabel Kid]

Jim -

Excellent point. I remember doing that (picking up a gun after practicing) too soon, and as soon as I holstered it, I went to draw it again.

I was fairly fast with a 7.5-inch Ruger SBH 30 years ago. Your advice on practicing form over speed is spot on. Critical to safety as well. Having launched a 240-grain slug an inch from my foot one time, I should have focused more on form and safety than trying to squeeze another split second out of my time.

[OJ]

Fast draw shooting was popular some years ago and a lot of guys shot themselves in the leg doing it. One of those guys tried to pretend he did it by making a short knife cut at his knee and pushing a pellet just under the skin - and coming into the ER for treatment - drugs & free stay in hospital - I was called and knew him from when he faked a rattlesnake bite and was complaining about difficulty breathing. I was new in practice and eager to save lives - our only respirator required a tracheostomy - inserting a tube into the trachea - he signed the permit and got the operation - it was only a day before we found he was faking but, a tracheostomy tube needs to be in place 4 - 5 days before it can be removed.

I recognized him and was then wiser to him - so I explained such a gunshot wound required immediate amputation of the leg above the knee to save his life.

He recognized me as the aggressive surgeon who cut his trachea open last year and decided if I advised amputation of his leg, it would be done immediately - so he signed out AMA (against medical advice) and apparently moved to another town where the surgeons were less aggressive (?crazy?) and he could continue his faking - known as "Münchhausen syndrome".

[DixieBoy]

This is a great thread. Alot of questions I'd had for years have been answered here. Thanks to JimT and all of you guys who've offered your experience. This is great stuff ! - DixieBoy