Drawing a gun is an art. I believe that one should get proper training in presenting the gun from the holster and practice it regularly. I try to do live fire presentation drills at least once a month (together with weekly live fire practice and dry practice several times a week). I was, in fact, at the range earlier today and burned up 200 rounds drawing my gun, shooting 2, 3, 4 and 5 shot strings at 7, 10 and 15 yards, doing failure drills (Mozambique), all together with speed reloads as needed.
I'm also an NRA certified instructor for, among other things, Personal Protection Outside the Home; and we teach drawing the gun as part of that class. The more-or-less standard presentation from a strong side belt holster, as taught most places these days, goes roughly like this:
[1] You want to achieve a full firing grip before withdrawing the pistol from the holster.You should not have to shift your grip. Throughout the draw stroke, until you are actually going to fire the gun, the trigger finger stays off the trigger, outside the trigger guard and indexed along the frame.
[2] While the strong hand is moving to grip the pistol, the weak hand is placed flat on the abdomen near the same level as the grip of the pistol. This helps assure that the weak hand isn't swept by the muzzle and also puts the weak hand in position to take its grip of the pistol over the strong hand.
[3] The pistol is withdrawn straight upwards from the holster, and the muzzle is rotated toward the target after it clears the holster. If using a 1911, Browning High Power, or some other gun with a safety engaged, the safety may be disengaged here, but the trigger finger remains off the trigger, outside the trigger guard and indexed along the frame.
[4] When the muzzle is rotated toward the target the strong hand is at about the level of the strong side pectoral muscle and the strong hand is held against the side with the muzzle pointed to the threat. If the threat is very close, 1-2 yards, the gun may be fired from this position. This is called the retention position.
[5] At the retention position, the weak hand comes up to assume its part of the grip. The two hands then together extend the gun either fully up to shooting position or partially at a downward angle to the low ready position, depending on the circumstances.
[6] The gun is holstered by following those steps in reverse. I have been taught to follow these steps whenever removing my gun from, or placing my gun in, the holster.
[7] I've also been taught to begin moving my strong hand to the gun from about my belt buckle. The thing is that if I'm carrying my gun concealed I will need to displace my covering garment to gain access to the gun. If I sweep my strong hand from approximately mid line I automatically sweep aside my covering garment.
Two key words here: smooth and control. The goal is to do this smoothly. If one concentrates on being smooth and practice over and over again, he will get fast. Speed comes from smoothness and no wasted motion. And one must be in control at all times. At lot is going on, and a misstep on the presentation can be devastating. But by being smooth you retain control, and by being smooth you become fast. And by being smooth and in control you will be accurate.
Fast is fine, but accuracy is final.
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