For the younger shooters

[JimT]

I am passing on a lesson that I was taught more than 60 years ago. It has helped me in sticky situations and made me a better handgun shot. The lesson is this:

PRACTICE SLOW.

I never practiced rapid fire shooting. I always practiced slow. By practicing slowly the proper hold, trigger squeeze, sight alignment .. the proper move to thumb the hammer back on a single action sixgun .. when the time came for rapid work it was embedded in the "computer" .. in my brain cells and muscle memory.

I never practiced fast draw. I practiced slow draw. Proper grip. Finger off the trigger. Smooth lift and alignment. Proper letoff. When I needed to draw fast it was there.

An old timer said "Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast. Fast is deadly when needed."

Whether you shoot leverguns or bolt guns, semi-auto handguns or double or single action revolvers .. PRACTICE SLOW. Practice the same moves over and over. In a crisis you will perform those same moves without even thinking about it and remembering back, at times you will have difficulty remembering doing them.

[ywaltzucanrknrl]

I don't like to give my wife advice on shooting. So she takes classes. The single biggest issue I see with 99% of the classes she takes, is that they teach how to shoot fast, but not correctly. They rarely if ever spend time on trigger control, trigger break, follow through or any fundamentals. Granted these are pistol classes mainly geared around self defense, but hitting what a person shoots at is important.

By the way, are there any "Younger Shooters" on this forum. Seems like most of us are a bit past our prime, for a better term.

[JimT]

I don't like to give my wife advice on shooting. So she takes classes. The single biggest issue I see with 99% of the classes she takes, is that they teach how to shoot fast, but not correctly. They rarely if ever spend time on trigger control, trigger break, follow through or any fundamentals. Granted these are pistol classes mainly geared around self defense, but hitting what a person shoots at is important.

I would not mess with self-defense training that focuses on speed. As you said, the fundamentals are what is needed. Miss those and in a critical situation the target will be missed. Even at arm's length.

[gamekeeper]

I tend to do everything slow, nowadays slow comes even easier...

Good advice Jim, walk before you can run as served me well even if I have been left behind a few times but I'm still here.

[3leggedturtle]

I tend to do everything slow, nowadays slow comes even easier...

Good advice Jim, walk before you can run as served me well even if I have been left behind a few times but I'm still here.

Slow and steady, beats,, fast and erratic..

[octagon]

"Past our prime?" ...I prefer well versed and highly seasoned.

[ywaltzucanrknrl]

Octagon, I like your terminology better, much better.

Yes, good advice JimT.

[Ysabel Kid]

"Past our prime?" ...I prefer well versed and highly seasoned.

I'll second that!

[4t5]

I'm work'n my way toward "freezer burnt".

[Scott Tschirhart]

I still do a lot of training "by the numbers" particularly when I am going to be shooting or carrying a 1911 or headed back to Gunsite.

I shoot one shot from the holster at 25 yards at a relatively small round plate. The drill seems simple, but I never hurry it. Speed comes with smooth and accurate gun handling.

[JimT]

I still do a lot of training "by the numbers" particularly when I am going to be shooting or carrying a 1911 or headed back to Gunsite.

I shoot one shot from the holster at 25 yards at a relatively small round plate. The drill seems simple, but I never hurry it. Speed comes with smooth and accurate gun handling.

I found if I practiced the proper movements slow and carefully when the time came for speed it was smooth and had no conscious thought behind it. Walking in the desert one day I went to step down with my right foot and saw a rattler coiled up where I was about to put my foot. Somehow I levitated off my left leg and while in the air pulled the .22 Single Six and shot him in the head. I fired 3 shots and it seemed like I fired all 3 while still in the air, though that seems unlikely. All 3 hit him, which is what counted. I do not recall deciding to pull the pistol. It was pure reaction. But practicing proper grip etc. paid off.

[Scott Tschirhart]

I was hunting with Bill Bagwell out on the Train Robber Ranch a few years back. We were way out in the middle of nowhere, but I had put a little corn on the road as there isn't much to eat out there. Bill shot a buck and lost it in some brush, so when I came up we started looking. That buck broke from the brush right in front of us and I pulled an old model Vaquero 4 5/8 from the holster and centered him on the run at about 10 steps. I don't recall reaching for the gun, or even seeing the sights, but I must have. It sure made me look good when I plugged that buck with a 255 gr Keith. (And I had the good sense to put it away and shut up about it.)

[OldWin]

Excellent advice Jim. This especially help with today's ammo and component prices. It is a very effective method I use myself.

What's the old saying.......?
"You can't miss fast enough to win."