When to break the shot from fast draw?

[seeds76]

I've been working on picking up the sights faster from draw lately and I've adopted the technique of pushing out from the high chest area to align the sights quicker and it's working! Now that I can see the sights quicker, I find that I can align sights BEFORE the arms are extended to the position where I normally shoot from. So the question is...

Do I break the shot that early BEFORE the arms are extended since I have sights lined up already? OR... Do I WAIT to break the shot until the arms are extended to my natural shooting form?

Thanks

[Dan Hefta]

I would take the shot as soon as I am confident that the sights are on target, you do need to be in a strong shooting position.

[Flexmoney]

Try it out and let us know how it works out for you...various targets at various distances.

Also, consider we aren't just doing one shot stages. Often, we are drawing to a paper target that requires more than one shot. (So, returning the gun for the second shot factors in and that might be more important to measure.)

[seeds76]

Try it out and let us know how it works out for you...various targets at various distances.

Also, consider we aren't just doing one shot stages. Often, we are drawing to a paper target that requires more than one shot. (So, returning the gun for the second shot factors in and that might be more important to measure.)

That's a good point.

[Aristotle]

it's a good tool to have in the bag, but not one that is used too often. It's often better to take a .25 second to confirm an alpha, than throw a shot and have to make it up.

[JThompson]

it's a good tool to have in the bag, but not one that is used too often. It's often better to take a .25 second to confirm an alpha, than throw a shot and have to make it up.

Can you count?

[benos]

I've been working on picking up the sights faster from draw lately and I've adopted the technique of pushing out from the high chest area to align the sights quicker and it's working! Now that I can see the sights quicker, I find that I can align sights BEFORE the arms are extended to the position where I normally shoot from. So the question is...

Do I break the shot that early BEFORE the arms are extended since I have sights lined up already? OR... Do I WAIT to break the shot until the arms are extended to my natural shooting form?

Thanks

For more than one shot, I would always reach full extension before firing the shot.

If you fire before reaching full extension, subsequent shots will tend to be sloppier.

We had a mental command for that: Before you shoot, get behind the gun.

be

[38supPat]

BE: I wish I could find the video of you shooting Double Trouble at the Steel Challenge, you had the record on that if I remember correctly. I watched that video over and over and you were reaching extension on the second target, it was way cool.

[diehli]

BE: I wish I could find the video of you shooting Double Trouble at the Steel Challenge, you had the record on that if I remember correctly. I watched that video over and over and you were reaching extension on the second target, it was way cool.

http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=53980

[Matt Griffin]

A mistake I'll often make during practice when doing single-shot drills is to not find the next sight picture before resetting. Ensure that you are always finding the next sight picture and it will tell you which is best.

H.

[benos]

BE: I wish I could find the video of you shooting Double Trouble at the Steel Challenge, you had the record on that if I remember correctly. I watched that video over and over and you were reaching extension on the second target, it was way cool.

Thanks Pat. I did get away with slide-shooting the first shot on that one.

be

[Duane Thomas]

"Slide-shooting"? You mean just going on the shape of the slide on-target rather than taking the time to pick up the sights? (Jim Cirillo called that the Silhouette Point technique, BTW.)

[38supPat]

Yup, if you don't have a dot sight in your way like a Production, Limited, or SS gun you can frame the slide on the target. On 5m full targets it can be very effective.

This could spawn an interesting discussion... What are sights? There are many types across all firerams dots, post and notch, ghost ring, buckhorn, shotgun bead, etc. You could say that anything that allows you the align the gun with the target with the precision required for the level of difficulty for the shot presented qualifies as a sight or sight picture.

[Flexmoney]

"Slide-shooting"? You mean just going on the shape of the slide on-target rather than taking the time to pick up the sights? (Jim Cirillo called that the Silhouette Point technique, BTW.)

Not necessarily.

That may be what Brian was referring to. But, one can pick up the visual inputs needed (even the sights) on the extension out to the target. For me, this works best if pressing the gun out from near the "high ready" area. This allows for visual feedback from the gun, as it is presented along the shooter's visual cone. Thus, maximizing visual feedback.

Of course, that requires a draw stroke that come up and then goes out...in a path like in up-side-down "L".

Many will round that corner (the gun takes more of a straight line path...from holster to extension) in the name of speed. Which...can work. The shooter better have a zillion draws under their belt...because they are transferring their feedback from positioning the gun with lots of vision, to doing so with lots of feel. (Feel changes with tension. And, working a fast draw can become very tense.)

[Flexmoney]

A mistake I'll often make during practice when doing single-shot drills is to not find the next sight picture before resetting. Ensure that you are always finding the next sight picture and it will tell you which is best.

I really like the sound of that.

[benos]

By slide shooting, I meant shooting the first shot while the gun was still moving forward.

be

[Sam]

By slide shooting, I meant shooting the first shot while the gun was still moving forward.

be

hell, yeah!

[rvb]

Shooting a true double-action first shot (beretta 92), my goal is to be ready to break the shot as soon as the sights are aligned AND I have the gun fully extended. It can add a few tenths per draw to align/extend, then begin the trigger press. So that means I begin pressing the trigger as I'm extending. Sometimes that means the shot breaks before total extension. So long as my sights are aligned, I'm usually ok with that.

When I shoot a single-action gun, I want to be extended and aligned before breaking the first shot. But years of shooting a DA gun sometimes causes me to break that first shot while extending. But again, so long as my sights are on target I'm usually ok w/ that.

W/ either gun, if the first shot or even follow on shots require greater accuracy/control, I may find myself getting fully extended, then beginning the press.

just my 2c.

-rvb