We all want to shoot fast and accurately, but does fast and accurate matter? If you are in a competition, it usually does. If you are shooting for blood, whether during deer season or in self-defense, I would argue that it doesn’t. We’ve all heard that there are no timers in a gunfight and that competitions are not gunfights, but gunfights are always a competition. That sounds cool and is true as far as it goes, but it overlooks some important stuff.
While fast and accurate theoretically matter off the range, and can even theoretically be measured, they are not useful metrics for us to focus on. What is fast? What is accurate? “See what you need to see” should cover it (and it actually does), but most people very quickly outrun their abilities when under stress. And stress is the key issue here. Just because you can do it on the range, does not mean you can do it off the range. On the flip side, if you can’t do it on the range, you probably can’t do it off the range. The range is full of artificialities and if you don’t recognize them and mitigate them in some way, they can come back to bite you.
If stress is the issue, and fast and accurate are not the answers, then what is? Careful shooting is the answer. We need to shoot carefully in the real world. We do this by inculcating a mindset that every shot really matters, and the guy who keeps his wits about him will probably end up with the best hits. It’s often been said that the first accurate shot wins the fight. It is certainly true that one good hit will put venison on the ground, rather than a volley of poor shots and a lot of tracking.
We accomplish this by truly believing that errant rounds are not in our best interest. Not only are they not doing the work needed to win, they are endangering anyone who may be down range of your little tete-a-tete. I don’t want to win a fight, only to find out I shot a little kid half-way down the block. I don’t think you want to live with that either. Building the mindset, through shooting practice and mental conditioning, that you MUST shoot carefully, and not outrun your headlights, is essential. If you believe you will be panicky, you will be. Instead, realize that many people throughout history have managed to keep their wits about them and you must be one of them. There is no alternative. Careful shooting wins the day.
There are of course actual training methods to build this mythical ability to remain calm enough to shoot carefully. Things like stress courses, force-on-force training, hunting and competition can all help build your ability to shoot carefully if crafted correctly. And that is a big if. Most of what passes for training leaves a lot on the table. Peer pressure helps a lot, but most civilians will never really experience that in a useful way. Of course, many professionals won’t either.
All that means is that it is up to you to train yourself correctly. You must create the peer pressure, you must create the mindset and you must put yourself in situations that challenge your ability to shoot carefully. If not you, then who?
good article, brings to mind a situation a Law Enforcement Officer friend of mine had a few years back, he was doing a background check on an officer candidate, went to a house to speak to a reference, a dog answered the door and burst through the screen and began attacking him, biting his legs, he drew his firearm to shoot the dog but was on concrete pavement and quickly decided the risk of a ricochet was to great with the surrounding homes, he took the dog bites and fought the dog off with his hands
Well stated, Simon. Good performers in fights keep their composure and hit with most of, if not all their shots.
Thanks! I know this is a topic near and dear to you as well.
I find hit factor scoring a really useful metric for conceptualizing relevant speed. To that end, hit factor is most relevant when used in conjunction with a large amount of no-shoots and partial targets to reinforce accountability. Competitive shooting is a useful tool to learn how to “be careful quickly.”
Exactly; “at the end of the day”, it is about the shooter and his or her commitment to doing the work and maintaining the skills. In the ancient of days a man named Cooper wrote a little book entitled “Principles of Personal Defense”. One of them he elaborated on was “Coolness”, meaning handling pressure under stress; when using a firearm, he specifically mentioned precision as you did. “Draw quickly, shoot carefully.”
I had the privilege of speaking with Jim Cirillo of the old NYPD Stakeout squad. He was involved in multiple lethal gunfights. He gave some credit for his success and survival to being a competitive shooter, amongst other activities.
A few “real world” combat veterans have achieved positive automaticity through high volume disciplined practice, ending up shooting carefully. FWIW, my successful handgun hunts personally give me confidence to make a careful hit.
I won’t drone on and will end with the recommendation to think about emergency situations and one’s response often. The mental rehearsals can help with one’s “cool”. Thank you for elaborating on this vital topic.
I didn’t mention them, but Cooper and Cirillo were certainly instrumental in my early development in this area.