Practice for the Armed Citizen
A short dry practice session to improve the skills needed for personal protection.
- 55 repetitions
- 10 minutes
- Equipment needed:
- Mindfulness
- Mantis X or Par timer (phone app will also work)
- Safe pistol for dry practice or Sirt pistol
I have borrowed terms and ideas from other instructors. I am deeply grateful for their continued work and instruction.
1-Kinesthetic (feel) and Visual (sight) trigger press
Correct stance and posture with a proper grip on the gun so you can eliminate any inconsistencies from these 2 fundamentals. Press the trigger with just enough force to activate it while watching the sights or red dot without pinning it to the frame even if the trigger does not reset let it go and rack the slide. Try to feel the continuous movement of the trigger without adding significant movement to the sights or red dot. Correct the fundamentals (stance, grip, trigger press) until you can press the trigger consistently without adding significant movement. The Mantis X helps with seeing your aiming process. 10 repetitions at a minimum.
2- Extended prep and press
From the compression position (3 count) with a correct grip established, move the pistol quickly while aligning the sights or red dot with the target and moving your trigger finger to the trigger. The speed at which you stop the pistol will vary according to the target size. The target size will change according to the relative distance, its actual dimensions, or if there is an object obscuring the target.
- A small target (ocular shot, 2-inch target) that will tolerate no error will require a gliding stop (80%-20% stop) with a focused sight movie and a precise trigger press. 10 repetitions minimum.
- A medium-size target (headshot, 4-inch target) that will tolerate a small amount of error will require a smooth stop (90%-10%) with a floating sight movie and a careful trigger press. 10 repetitions minimum
- A large target (body shot, 8-inch target) that will tolerate a great deal of error will require a quick stop (95%-5%) with a flash sight movie and a quick trigger press. 10 repetitions minimum
3- Draw on the timer
Practice drawing to 3 targets of different sizes-small (2 inches) medium (4 inches) and large (8 inches) at 3 yards.
Always draw quickly and safely. A slow draw is a waste of precious time in a fight or competition. Train yourself to react quickly to the stimulus. Draw faster giving yourself the necessary time to see the sight movie. Practice the timing of the extended prep and press with the administrative task of drawing the gun quickly, aligning the sights, moving the trigger finger to the trigger, and visually verifying the kinesthetic index created through proper stance and grip.
- 95%-5% (quick stop) to the large target with a flash sight movie and quick trigger press. Using the Mantis X 10 draw analysis or a par timer draw as quickly as possible while calling your shots on target. Only hits count so be brutally honest with yourself. 10 repetitions minimum.
- 90%-10% (smooth stop) to the medium target with a floating sight movie and a careful trigger press. Using the Mantis X 10 draw analysis or a par timer draw as quickly as possible while calling your shots on target. Only hits count so be brutally honest with yourself. The par time will be .2-.25 seconds longer because of the visual patience needed to get a hit. 10 repetitions minimum.
- 80%-20% (gliding stop)to the small target with focused sight movie and precise trigger press. Using the Mantis X 10 draw analysis or a par timer draw as quickly as possible while calling your shots on target. Only hits count so be brutally honest with yourself. Add another .2-.25 seconds to get a hit. 10 repetitions minimum.
