A Practice Regimen to Hit Where You Aim

Practice to Prevail:

A Practice Regimen to Hit Where You Aim

"...Remember that perfect practice makes permanent..."
by Gary Hoff

Those of us who have a license to carry a concealed handgun should understand that it is our responsibility to be proficient with the handgun and have the ability to deploy the handgun when it is required. Merriam - Webster's online dictionary defines proficient as "(implying) a thorough competence derived from training and practice". That means that we are competent in employing the handgun and hitting the target.

Training is acquired from reliable organizations employing experienced instructors, usually with a background in law enforcement, military or extensive civilian experience. You are encouraged to seek this professional training. Practice is what you do to maintain the skills that you acquired from the professional trainers. Of all these skills the ability to efficiently draw the handgun and to hit what you aim at are paramount. Without these two skills everything else that you learned in professional training is worthless. Who cares if you can "slice the pie" around a corner or shoot from a car if you can't hit what you aim at.

What follows is a practice regimen that has helped me. It is not expensive, laborious, nor boring and it helps me maintain my "trigger time". Hopefully you can use this regimen as well.

Where to Practice?

There are three answers to this question: at home, at an outdoor range, or at an indoor range. Many ranges today now employ "safe range rules" which limits what you can do in the way of practice. For example, drawing from the holster is pretty much out of the question at many ranges. Practice at home usually involves only dry fire practice where no live ammo is involved (holes in that new plasma TV set are frowned upon).

So what's best? It depends on where you live and the facilities available to you. Routine dry fire practice at home is strongly encouraged and helps maintain grip/sight/trigger control. As far as the live fire range is concerned, I prefer the indoor range. It's convenient, targets can be changed at will, range can be varied, warmer in the winter, etc. When I go to practice, I go to concentrate on that practice, not stand around during the practice time and wait for the "line safe" command so that I can change targets.

Hit What You Aim At

Two important components of a handgun that determine whether or not you will hit what you aim at are the sights and the trigger.

As the distance to the target increases, sights become more important. However, at less than seven yards, the common self defense distances, sights have less importance and may not be possible to bring into action or they may have magically disappeared. In one training class that I attended, the front sight on my Glock 30 was knocked off and lost. You won't have time to fix the problem in a real gun fight so I didn't take the time in the course. After a few minutes of shooting, I learned how to shoot my G30 without a front sight and get hits. I finished the day without the sight.

The trigger is another matter altogether. Any trainer will tell you that trigger control is central to getting hits at all ranges. If you are shooting at less than seven yards and you are missing the target, it is your trigger control that is at fault. Special ammo, special sights, "sticky grips" won't help you. You are jerking the trigger, pushing the trigger sideways, slapping the trigger or over gripping the gun with the strong hand rather than simply pressing the trigger straight back along the axis of the bore. Spend your money on practice ammo and professional training.

Two basic trigger finger positions. The one that works depends on your hand size and the size / shape of the gun. Gun is a Glock 30.

Pressing the trigger straight back requires the proper finger position on the trigger and moving only the trigger finger. This in turn depends on the size of the gun, the size of your hand and fingers, and the design of the grip. Picture 1 shows the "pad" and the "first joint" of the finger on the trigger (thumb is down to show the trigger finger). Generally you will be instructed to use the pad of the finger for most semi-automatic handguns and the first joint for most revolvers. Good info as far as it goes but it doesn't take into account the relative size of the hand and the gun.

In my case, I shoot my carry guns, the Glock 26 and the Glock 30, exclusively. These are small guns and I have large hands with long fingers. I found that when I use the pad of the finger, I will invariably throw the shot low and left (shooting right handed). When I move the first joint to the trigger my shots hit point of aim. Thus, I shoot with the first joint of the finger on the trigger.

The point is to find out where you have to place your finger to manipulate the trigger straight back along the axis of the bore. To do this, start with dry fire practice (NO AMMO and the gun double checked to be sure that it is empty, including the chamber, every time you pick it up). With the gun pointed in a safe direction and an aiming point established, slowly press the trigger until the firing pin is released. The sights should stay on the aiming point (make the aiming point very small so that it is easier to see the muzzle moving off the point of aim). If the trigger press doesn't feel comfortable and relaxed adjust your finger position until you achieve success. Make sure the last three fingers of the strong hand do not over grip the gun.

Make your practice slow, deliberate and concentrated. When you begin to speed up, or your concentration wanders, quit for the day. Remember that perfect practice makes permanent. Once you achieve repeatability in dry fire practice, move to the live fire range.

Range Practice Routine
Firing live ammo at the range adds the dimension of recoil to your practice. Recoil will move the gun off the aiming point on each shot. This will require you to reset the aim of the gun each time. A common reaction to this is to grip the gun tighter. This will cause the gun to waver more as you try to line up the shot, causing more problems in hitting your target. Keep your hand/grip uniform from shot to shot. I like to use the full size silhouette paper targets. Shots off the aiming point are more likely to be on paper and you will then know where they are going. I add a 3" orange sticker to the target as an aiming point. This ensures that each shot fired is at the same aim point. If you can't see where your shots are going, the practice is nothing more than throwing lead down range.

Typical indoor range set up. Note computer control on the left for this new range. Range picture courtesy of Vandalia Range & Armory (http://www.vra-ohio.com/). Target is the "Crazy Bones" from Thompson Target.

My practice regimen is simple: 200 rounds over a one hour period shot in the following manner. Start at 25 yards, fire 100 rounds in 10 round strings, 50 rounds per target. Then move to 15 yards, fire 50 rounds in 10 round strings. Finally, move to 7 yards and fire 50 rounds in 10 round strings. Evaluate the shots after every 10 round string.

All shots should be centered on the aiming point. If the shots are strung out low and left [right-handed shooter] you are probably jerking or slapping the trigger. If the shots are high or low, the problem may be your sight alignment. Remember that to get center hits the trigger must come straight back along the axis of the bore. Mark the shots with a marker, reset the target at distance, and shoot another string of 10 and evaluate.

Why start at 25 yards? Because at this range you will quickly know how well you are operating the trigger. Trigger error can be harder to see at seven yards. If your shots are on point of aim, great. If not, slow down, concentrate and get your skills tuned in.
What accuracy should you strive for? All shots in one hole at 25 yards, of course! Well that's not going to happen so let's be practical. The distance between the nipples on a human's chest is about 9". That is my goal at 25 yards; all 50 shots per target within a 9" circle. Simple mathematics will show that 9" at 25 yards is about 5.5" at 15 yards and about 2.5 - 3" at seven yards. So now each target can be evaluated against accuracy goals. Certainly shot spreads smaller than this are desired and easily achievable. Live fire practice will reduce this spread but under no circumstances should the spread be larger.

What can the targets tell you? At longer ranges, if the shots are centered around your aiming point, you need to work on both sights and trigger to improve accuracy. If the shots are scattered, for example, low and left (for a right handed shooter), then you need to work more on the trigger. Being critical of your results here will help you progress.

I should point out that my range practice is usually done with a two hand hold and an isosceles stance (natural for me, not preaching). Periodically I will practice with the strong hand or weak hand only. For one handed shooting I reduce the distance to 15 yards maximum, burn 100 rounds and then move to seven yards for another 100 rounds.

Two targets, shot at 25 yards (top) and 7 yards (bottom). The 25 yard target has a 9" circle drawn around the bulk of the shots. Note shots low and left in both target

Drawing Practice
Now that you can hit what you aim at, you must learn to efficiently draw the gun from the holster. I will not cover clearing a concealment garment so that you can get to the holster. That is a topic for a whole other article. I want to concentrate on practice to make the draw smooth and efficient. The draw stroke that I use is a four step process (adapted from the noted firearms instructor Dave Spaulding). It has been covered in many magazine articles and book chapters. The four step process is to bring the hand to the gun and get a firing grip on the gun. Pull straight up to clear the holster (this will raise the elbow). Drop the elbow orienting the gun to the target. Push the gun straight to the target, acquiring sights and a support hand grip as you go. If you are going to shoot, then the "shot" should break just as you reach full extension and are on target.

But how do you know if you are "fast and efficient"? You will achieve this if you are "consistent and smooth". You can achieve this with a shot timer that has a "par" time setting and dry fire practice. Par time is simply a fixed amount of time to get a task done. Like golf, par is hitting only the required number of shots to get from the tee to the hole. The timer should also have a delay built in so that the start "beep" is random. This is dry fire practice; NO AMMO anywhere; GUN IS UNLOADED!

Start slow; set the par time for five seconds At the start beep, draw the gun, bring it on target and align the sights before the second, or stop beep. Pick a target out about seven yards in front of you. Stay on target for a few seconds (looking for other bad guys). Then reverse your drawstroke and reholster the gun.

Repeat this practice until you can get "sights on" within the five second par time with a smooth, uniform draw. Then move the par time to 4.5 seconds. When consistency is achieved here, reduce the par time to four seconds, then to three seconds and so forth. You should be able to get the draw and shot off within about 1.5 seconds. If you start hurrying the draw (and you will know when this happens) stop the practice and come back later when you can concentrate. Sloppy practice results in sloppy, period. Remember, "consistent and smooth" results in "fast and efficient".

You might ask why not just bring the gun up on target and pull the trigger, hearing the click of the firing pin before the second stop beep of the par time? This is not recommended since this will train you to fire the gun every time that you bring the gun on target. To recognize why this is a bad idea, consider what would happen if police were trained to fire every time they brought their gun up on target. So, do not train to fire every time you bring the gun up on target.

A Couple of Other Comments

During drawing practice, you must develop the ability to draw the gun, get on target and reholster without looking at the gun and holster. That is, do the practice without taking your eye off the target. Remember, you have to pay attention to the bad guys and you can't do that watching yourself draw or reholster the gun. Another point: if you can't reholster the gun without holding the holster open with your support hand get another holster! Saving money by buying a cheap holster is a waste of money. Never, ever muzzle yourself; not even your fingers! You may have ten fingers but there is no reason to sacrifice them.

This same draw practice should also be used to practice magazine changes. Pull the slide back to slide lock. At the start beep, drop the magazine, get a fresh one from your magazine pouch and insert it into the gun. Use the slide stop lever to release the slide. Get on target and "sights on" before the stop beep. Start with a par time of three seconds and work your way down. Again a 1 - 1.5 second time is admirable.

In Conclusion....

Whether or not you seek professional training (and I strongly encourage you to do so), you still need to practice hitting what you aim at and deploying the gun when necessary. Carrying a concealed handgun for your defense is a grave responsibility. You must be proficient with that gun. The practice regimen that I have presented isn't very expensive nor is it very time consuming. Feel free to use it as is or modify it to suit your own needs. But remember, sloppy practice results in sloppy, period. Stay safe, and check 360.

Author Bio

Gary Hoff has recently retired after 41 years in the steel industry as an engineer/metallurgist. He began taking professional handgun, shotgun, knife, and open hands self defense courses in 1998. Most of these classes have been taken at the Tactical Defense Institute (TDI - www.tdiohio.com). He has also completed Handgun Level Three course at Storm Mountain Training Center in Elk Garden, WV (www.stormmountain.com). He has currently accumulated a total of 430 training hours, including 330 hours of handgun training. Gary is also a member of IDPA and regularly shoots monthly and regional matches. He is an NRA Certified pistol and home defense instructor.