Drawing from Concealment

[archmaker]

I have recently decided to practice it every day that I carry. At least a few times each day.

I believe in the old adage that you have to do something at least a 1,000 times to say you have mastered it.

Now understand I am not drawing to see how fast I can be, but to make sure that I can get my gun out in decent time, that the thumb is on the safety, but the safety is to remain on, and the finger is outside the guard. I am only focused right now on getting the gun out, not on target.

Been doing it a week now, (should have been doing if for longer) and different shirts and different vest, I have had to modify how I have been drawing. And thinking about moving away from my current favorite holster (Thumb Break style) to something that makes more sense.

[Beau Cassidy]

Train like you are gonna use it. When under duress you won't be thinking about how to handle your gun- just getting away or neutralizing the threat.

[Recluse]

What I learned during my first stint in undercover work many moons ago was that you can simply forget "speed" when drawing from a concealed position.

It ain't gonna happen.

What you do is trade "speed" for "mental prep." That is to say, you go through the drill a hundred times, a thousand times if need be, exactly how you will move the layers of clothing, or reach into the pocket or grab the ankle holster or reach behind the back or into the shoulder holster, etc. to retrieve your firearm--AND, how you will do it smoothly, efficiently and STILL maintaining gun and trigger discipline (translation: not panicking).

The other thing you do is to combine that with your situational awareness as to "when, where and how" you would draw your weapon if the need arises.

This does not mean to walk around like a gun-show Rambo-wannabe, but rather when you're in a store, a restaurant, a park, etc., take a look around. Learn the exits and entrances, scope out who is there and what they are doing, etc. Become comfortable with your environment.

Too many people think that a concealed firearm is a talisman against bad thing happening to them or around them. Not the case.

I've never paid any attention to all these "color conditions" that some instructors and rag writers like to crow about. That's not how real life works, and sure as hell not how a real shooting incident you get caught up in works.

Just be aware of your environment and your ability, then act accordingly. For most, that means moving AWAY from the trouble zone--not towards it.

:coffee:

[gray wolf]

What he said (JD )

[Blammer]

I practice drawing with an empty gun, that way I can practice thumbing off the safety when it's suppose to be off and having my finger on the trigger.

Doing both of those affects how you move and where your firearm is pointing sometimes.

[archmaker]

Good points Recluse, never had the issue when working the street, but never spent the time practicing from concealed as much as I should. Which was a fallacy I am working on rectifying.

Stuff happens, and it is usually fast.

That is where doing it over and over comes in. I "practice" with a loaded gun, but my practice is when I know I can safely draw the weapon. (Walking to the shed, working in the shed, sitting at my desk, etc.) I get the gun out and to a position that I practice when I am at the range, going from my belt area to on target, concentrate on front sight, send round downrange.

So to me it is a two step process, clear holster get gun ready (grip, fingers where needed, in both hands if possible), then shooting the gun (moving from side to in front of face, front sight, pull trigger).

Just was letting others know the importance of not only carrying but be able to draw your weapon when needed. When i taught martial arts one of my favorite sayings was "Bleed in the Dojo, Laugh on the battlefield".

Practice, self-assessment, self-admonishments, and working to get better will prepare you for when you don't have the time to think of all you need to remember.

[firefly1957]

I do practice often I carry two different pistols and practice when I get a new holster and at least at the end of the day when I remove the gun.

I do not want to steal your thread but have been wanting to post about problems (experienced) with concealed carry and will try to do that shortly.

[375RUGER]

That's good. Practice doesn't make perfect, it makes perfect repeatability and that is what you're after.

Favorite saying of my old physics professor- "You need to be able to repeat this in your sleep at 30,000 feet on your back without a parachute."

Hooray for Redneck Physics!:redneck:

[geargnasher]

One thing the pro instructers hammer on that DOES happen most of the time is that, under severe duress, you will revert to your lowest level of muscle memory to perform simple tasks.

Ever have the "running" dream, or the "fighting" dream? Or the dream where a bad guy is in your house and coming to get you and you know it and have a gun, but at the instant you're forced to use it you can't figure out how to pull the trigger, or get the safety off? That's your dream state where your logic centers are disabled, similar to a panic situation. You have to rely on your primitive brain to do the work for you while your thinking brain is sitting there gaping and stupid. Your primitive brain needs training so it can save your life, that's what it's there for. Good on you for conditioning yours, I'll bet that a large portion of those who CC don't train enough to be effective.

Gear

[Recluse]

One thing the pro instructers hammer on that DOES happen most of the time is that, under severe duress, you will revert to your lowest level of muscle memory to perform simple tasks.

Ever have the "running" dream, or the "fighting" dream? Or the dream where a bad guy is in your house and coming to get you and you know it and have a gun, but at the instant you're forced to use it you can't figure out how to pull the trigger, or get the safety off? That's your dream state where your logic centers are disabled, similar to a panic situation. You have to rely on your primitive brain to do the work for you while your thinking brain is sitting there gaping and stupid. Your primitive brain needs training so it can save your life, that's what it's there for. Good on you for conditioning yours, I'll bet that a large portion of those who CC don't train enough to be effective.

Gear

Interesting stuff, Gear.

Ever wonder why when you walk past a martial arts dojo, you see the students--of all belt ranks, ages, experience and ability--doing the same kicks, punches, block, throws, etc, over and over and OVER AND OVER AND OVER. . . ?

Remember The Karate Kid and the now famous "wax on, wax off?" I remember sitting in the theater watching that with my girlfriend and hearing some folks laugh, and watching others smile and nod knowingly. Easy to tell who'd spent time in a dojo and who hadn't. :)

Rote muscle training works.

Same goes for the brain. My grandfather put me in judo when I was around eight years old, a few years later we added jiu jitsu, then karate, and then years later and up to a few years ago, aikido.

Every single instructor I've ever had has preached incessantly to be aware of your environment, everyone in it, etc. Since I was eight years-old, I've had the automatic, reflexive habit of "sizing up" every person in the room. Now forty-plus years later, it's a scan that happens in a nano-second without me even thinking about it.

I've been carrying a weapon for the past thirty-five or so years, and that same "automatic scan and sizing up" happens everywhere I/we go. I never sit with my back to a wall, ever. In a restaurant, I always it where I can see the front door. I rarely have my back turned to the door when I'm in a bank, or if I do, I check window reflections, etc.

Silly, stupid, paranoid. I know. :) Fact of the matter is, it's a habit I can no more break than I can stop breathing or breaking wind after a pot of red beans and cornbread.

Again, people think, "I've got a gun on me. Nothing bad will happen. IF it does, I have a gun on me and I know how to shoot. I'll be okay. Might even be a hero."

Wrong.

It always, always comes back to the famous Seven P's: Proper Previous Preparation Prevents P(ee) Poor Performance.

I'm a firm believer that as CHL holders, we should take that very, very seriously. Unfortunately, many do not.

It's one of the things I like about Cast Boolit members. We're a bit older, a helluva lot more self-reliant, etc. I'd walk anywhere with a CB member who's armed. After having glanced at a few of the other forums, especially those who are enamored with "black guns," I'd just as soon say a safe distance away from most of them--a safe distance being say, oh fifty or a hundred miles. :)

:coffee:

[fecmech]

I recently took an older friend of mine (I'm 68!) to the range for some practice. He has been carrying a Ruger LCP for over a year now and he really had his eyes opened. Our range has turning targets and a setting where the targets turn face to you for 2 seconds and then away for 5 seconds and repeat. I set him at 10' from the targets and hung 50' bullseye targets with the blank back to him and spaced on hangers about 6' apart. Going from a low ready when the targets turned to just try and hit the paper with one or 2 shots. He was shocked to find out that he couldn't hit the paper about 80% of the time. We went through a box of .380's and he just barely had 10 holes in the targets and one or 2 just catching the edge. He asked to go back this week and we worked on just getting a straight trigger pull and did not turn the targets so he can learn to handle that little gun. Until the past 2 weeks he hadn't put a box of ammo through that gun!