Armed self-defense: 'To shoot fast, you have to see fast'

Instructor Scott Mauldin demonstrates perfect isosceles stance.
Photo: Lori D. Roets, LazyRPhotography.com

To gun owners who think taking a basic course and occasionally shooting holes in paper prepare them for armed self-defense, let me assure you nothing could be further from the truth. The fourth in the “Armed self-defense” series, this segment covers Phase I of the Practical/Tactical (P/T I) pistol course taught by Eagle Rock Training Systems veteran instructors Tom Iradi and Scott Mauldin.

This course is a perfect transition for the gun owner who has hunted, perhaps done a little plinking or target shooting, and is now serious about learning handgun defense. Where advanced courses at “big-name” schools might be expensive and intimidating, Tom and Scott go out of their way to make P/T I not only educational and enjoyable but also, quite frankly, a bargain.

P/T I is designed to convey basic combat handgun skills, emphasizing:

• Correct handgun grip as essential to rapidly acquiring an adequate sight picture to hit your target; and
• How consistent “shooting platform” (position) is essential to accuracy.

The course began with discussion of combat mindset, including Jeff Cooper’s “conditions of awareness.” Avoiding what he calls the “Kumbaya” aspects of using deadly force, Scott gave common sense tips on avoiding the “it-can’t-happen-to-me” mentality by which people surrender themselves to slaughter in places like Virginia Tech.

Emphasizing that if attacked, you must resolve not only to “survive” the encounter, but to overwhelmingly win, he discussed how contingency planning, when encountering potential threats, lets you remain above the “shock threshold” and get the information needed to win the fight.

Next came the range safety briefing, emphasizing the challenges of a “hot range” environment in which guns stay loaded but holstered while away from the firing line.

Instructor Tom Iradi enjoys break with students Troy Horton (L)
and Steve Myers. Photo: F. Paul Valone

RANGE WORK

Rather than demanding “Bullseye” shooter accuracy, P/T I, like all combat courses, stressed rapid sight acquisition and delivering fast hits on “combat distance” targets at between 3 and 7 yards. Targets were “IDPA”-style cardboard silhouettes with paper overlays as necessary.

Students ranged from those with little exposure to techniques of defensive pistolcraft to several with extensive experience. Several of us had bad habits to unlearn. Throughout, Tom and Scott displayed cheerful (and humorous) professionalism, enforcing range safety while tailoring instruction to those who needed extra help.

Given my recommendation that people who don’t shoot often should consider a nice, old-fashioned revolver instead of the latest semi-auto, I was happy to see revolver shooter Ellis George smoke nearly all of us on several drills (Slide Show #1).

For “experts” out there who will scold me over what is missing or “wrong,” bear in mind that what follows is a brief synopsis of the course, not its full contents. Moreover, far more will be covered on Wednesday when we review Eagle Rock’s P/T II course.

FAST HITS, ON TARGET

In both the briefing and on the range, Tom and Scott repeatedly counseled use of the more symmetrical “isosceles” position now advocated by law enforcement agencies (Slide Show #2), both because it’s the position naturally assumed in response to threat and because the “Weaver” stance advocated in years past makes it harder to engage multiple threats, particularly when on the shooter’s support hand side.

A major objective of the course was teaching students to hit targets fast and consistently: Said Scott, over and over: “To hit fast, you have to see fast,” the point being that fast hits require rapid sight acquisition, which itself requires controlling recoil. The key to recoil control is proper handgun grip.

In years of instructing, I have seen people grip handguns in all sorts of ways – some pretty scary. Only a few – principally competitive shooters – understand how the “high thumb” grip minimizes muzzle rise (Slide Show #3).

As Eagle Rock teaches it, a proper handgun grip:

• Minimizes leverage of recoil: Holding the gun as high as possible puts the fulcrum closer to the bore, which is the axis of recoil, minimizing muzzle rise;
• Maximizes friction: Rather than cupping the weak hand under the butt of the gun or placing the weak hand index finger across the front of the trigger guard, both hands should envelope the grip in what effectively becomes what Tom calls a “one piece grip.”
• Maximizes grip: While instructors routinely tell students to grip the firearm like a “firm handshake,” the description is vague. Instead, Tom and Scott tell students to grip the gun as tightly as possible while still maintaining dexterity of the trigger finger. The support hand generates 70% of total pressure to facilitate rapid trigger operation by the shooting hand; and
• Locks the wrists: Not only does this create a rigid shooting platform, locking the wrist, with thumbs pointed at the target, raises the grip on the gun, reduces wrist articulation under recoil and allows the body to naturally index toward the target.

HANDGUN ‘PRESENTATION’

I hate to say it, but there are thousands of concealed handgun permit-holders carrying guns who have absolutely no idea how to “present” a handgun from a holster. Some of these, too, can be genuinely scary.

Using a building block approach, the instructors first taught the “high ready” position (Slide Show #4), before progressing to “pressing out” to the target and breaking shots at or before full extension (Slide Show # 5& 6). The high ready and press-out became the constant, even when actions beforehand (e.g. presentation from holster, pivots or movement) vary. Press-out drills required breaking shots at increasingly faster intervals down to ¼ second, with each student encouraged to shoot as fast as possible while keeping 90% of shots within an 8 inch circle from approximately 5 yards.

Next, the rest of the draw stroke was introduced in four steps, ensuring students developed a “clean” draw stroke with the gun presented from the holster to high ready, then pressed out to the target, with the shot breaking at or just before full extension.

RELOADS

Depending on who you consult, reloading an empty semi-auto pistol can be called a variety of things: “Emergency” reloads, “tactical” reloads, “speed” reloads, “magazine exchanges,” etc. While Scott and Tom ran the class through several, they stressed consistency in positioning the handgun during the reload, near the high ready, in such a way that you can see your target through the trigger guard of the handgun while keeping the muzzle pointed down range (Slide Show #7). Drills particularly emphasized “emergency” reloads of empty guns in minimum time.

ENGAGING MULTIPLE TARGETS

The exercise I found most useful involved transitioning to engage multiple targets. Previously, I tried to move my upper body like a turret, and often over-swung the target. After first shifting his eyes to the new target, Scott taught us to maintain a constant upper body shooting platform while flexing the knee on the side away from the target, causing the away-side shoulder to lower but keeping the shooting platform constant (Slide Show # 8 & 9).

WHAT PEOPLE BROUGHT

Everybody wants to know about the hardware. As mentioned in previous segments of “Armed self-defense,” handgun selection is highly personalized and should be assisted by a knowledgeable instructor. That said, participants brought a mix of firearms, with 1911-style pistols well-represented (Kimber, STI), as well as Glock, SIG and one Smith & Wesson revolver. Personally, I broke from my usual practice of using highly customized 1911s and brought a H&K USP Compact. In terms of holsters, modern Kydex or carbon fiber holsters, such as those by Fobus or Blackhawk, seem to have taken over: They are inexpensive, solid, and very fast. For a detailed review of holster options, go to: http://www.spw-duf.info/holster.html

GOOD TIME HAD BY ALL

Eight-and-a-half hours (and about 500 rounds) later, the class emerged happy, sweaty, and more confident in defensive handgun basics. Eagle Rock gave us everything we expected and more. That night, it was back to the reloading press to make enough ammunition for P/T II the next day.

P/T II moved on to pivots and turns, movement while shooting, engaging targets from behind cover, and exercises which combined all of the elements. We will examine that in “Armed self-defense: Beyond the basics” on Wednesday.

Author's postscript: For awesome photos of this and other topics, go to: www.LazyRPhotography.com 

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