Reloading the Defensive Pistol: Lateral Movement
This post is the third of a three-part series on reloading the defensive pistol. Click here to catch up on parts 1 & 2. you’ve mastered the basic technique, begin incorporating lateral movement into your reloads. This somewhat less-common technique, though I am finding more and more pistol schools now incorporate some kind of movement while reloading. Why move laterally? It’s a matter of basic biology: targets that are moving and which are changing direction laterally are more difficult for the human brain to track, and thus more difficult to hit than targets that are standing still. The first time…
Reloading the Defensive Pistol: The Technique
This post is the second in a three-part series on reloading the defensive pistol. You can read Part 1 here. The reload starts in extension as we are shooting and recognize slide lock – hopefully by feel but possibly by the fact that you are pulling the trigger without the desired response. Your gun is, in fact, empty. This is bad and you should fix it. That means you need to be doing three things at once: Your strong hand comes back to your body, back into the “high ready” position. This area is just level with your sternum and…
Reloading the Defensive Pistol: The Theory
Loading or reloading the semi-automatic pistol is something that most of us who are shooters do on a pretty regular basis. In a way, it’s the most basic pistol skill; if you want to accomplish anything else with that pistol, it needs to be loaded and it needs to be “cocked” – that is, ready to fire. But for something we all do so often, it’s amazing how often we do it wrong. My interest in the pistol is as the civilian’s primary defensive tool. I realize that there are a variety of specialized reloading techniques practiced by military and law…
8 reasons you should take a Combat Focus Shooting class
It is no secret that for the past couple of years I have been an adherent of many of the principles outlined in Rob Pincus’s Combat Focus Shooting curriculum. I’ve watched the DVD’s, I’m a Personal Defense Network subscriber, and I have gone through Pincus’ Combat Focus Shooting: Evolution 2010 book twice now. I want to be careful to avoid guru worship here, but I have found much of what Mr. Pincus has taught to be useful and applicable in my own journey towards excellence. Recently, as part of a renewed focus on increasing my level of personal training, I…
MRWLM: Effective Practice
We’ve spent a good deal of time talking about what effective practice isn’t: it isn’t mere bulls-eye shooting, it isn’t static, and it certainly cannot be had merely by watching a DVD series or a YouTube video. “I saw <insert favorite YouTube gun reviewer here> doing it,” is not a valid foundation for your training. We have also spent a good deal of time discussing the more theoretical aspects of effective practice: comfort, realism, and consistency. With that solid foundation beneath us, it’s time to phase into the more practical portion of this blog series. Having looked at the whys…
