Draw times - whoa!

[David E]

Is the 2.68 the time to the first shot or all 3?

Why steel at 10 yds?

 

[rockhopper46038]

In normal clothing, I can reliably get my gun out of the holster and a shot onto an 8" target at 10yrds in 1.3 sec. I can occasionally get it done in 1.1sec. I use the iPhone shot timer app and set 5 steel targets up between 7 and 15 yrds in a rough semicircle around where I exit the back door of my house, and set the timer to go off randomly at some time after 4 secs. Opening and walking through the door out into the back, I train to get 5 hits in 5 shots. I think it's good practice if not particularly realistic, because of course I know where the targets are. But in any case, my current goal is to reliably get a hit on all five targets within 3 secs of the timer going off. My current best is 2.73 secs, with the splits being 1.29, 0.38, 0.43, 0.33, 0.30 (for a total of 2.73 secs), but my average from the shot timer is about 3.25 secs. To the OPs point, a bad shirt sweep will kill your time when you are practicing, and potentially kill you if there comes a time when you aren't - so practice.

 

[David E]

I don't understand why you're practicing to hit 8" targets at 10 yds.

Do you anticipate your first shot from the holster being a 10 yd headshot?

For me, it makes much more sense to practice on full IPSC targets from 2-5 yds, with an occasional 7 yarder tossed in for fun. Goal is fast hits, C zone or better.
.

 

[rockhopper46038]

Frankly, it's because the steel targets I have are 8".

 

[David E]

An 8" plate at 10 yds isn't the best way to work on speed skills up close.

I'd get some full size humanoid targets and put them closer, but that's just me.

 

[Deaf Smith]

So I downloaded a free shot timer for my android phone. I went to the range this morning, it was nice and quiet, nobody else was there so the timer worked great. I also have recently purchased a 11"x 20" torso steel target. I put it out at 20 yards and had the shot timer go off randomly to practice drawing from my IWB holster.

Shooting with my hands in my coat, IWB holster tucked in under a tshirt: beep to first shot was about 3.5 seconds.

Shooting from a "hand-on-gun but still holstered" was about 1.5 seconds until the first shot.

I was doing six shot strings with three shots per mag so there was a mag change in the middle. I was shooting a g4 Glock 23. Mag changes were about 3 seconds too!

I was really amazed how much time passes between my brain hearing the timer "acknowledging threat", getting the gun solid in my hands, getting a sight picture and getting that first shot on target. When the pressure is on suddenly the simple act of raising one's coat, finding and drawing your pistol becomes a big fumble fingers event...

The other big thing I noticed was for the first dozen times I ran this drill my first shots almost always missed the steel, with all the follow up shots on target.

So my take-aways from this morning: I just found a seriously fun way to up my training - and holy heck drawing from a IWB with a winter coat on is slow! Also - I need to train MORE.

Anyone else practice drills like this?

Anmut,

I always practice from the leather, advice given by Jeff Cooper many years ago.

I never just go to a range and fire dozens of shots with no drawing.

Thus nowdays I am so fast I go back in time.

It really is good to go home before you left.

Deaf