Ask an Instructor: What's your biggest training question?

Hey,
Just be aware that with practice a 3-5 foot head shot or even further is very doable. Also a head shot will stop the threat whereas a threat on the ground with a firearm can continue to engage you.

Absolutely, a head shot is much more effective. I’m just bringing up an observation that I don’t see the pelvic area mentioned. As more and more people become gun owners or begin enhancing their training, I wanted to open the conversation that it is an effective option having it’s pros and cons of course.

I agree with the statement that headshot can finish the fight…
But let me ask this: have you ever tried to hit 4" square (remember that proper headshot is even smaller - triangle) under real stress? Not at the range, standing relaxed, not even exhausted a little after 1 hr of shooting… I’m talking about the situation you fight for life and have to take a shot…
Or try this - run for 10 minutes, then make 10 squads draw your handgun and take a shoot. If you can repeat proper headshots 3 or 4 times - that’s the moment you can tell you are ready to finish the fight with headshot.

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Having been a medic, I think the pelvic girdle is a good second choice, especially if theY are wearing body armor. I actually shoot life like silhouette targets. More expensive, but they let me know if a shot was an effective one or not

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Hey Jerzy,
Yes I can but it took lots of professional training and running those types of drills that you mention about stressing your body out to simulate a DCI. 3 gun courses are a great practice tool.

Other types of training like the Balance of Speed & Precision drill in the USCCA Defensive Shooting Fundamentals course is an absolute necessity for being able to improve your skills to hopefully never take this shot someday.

It can be done, White Settlement was a great example.

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I like to go by the expressive term made famous by Tim Kennedy. “Reload when you want to, not when you have to”. Tim Kennedy’s Sheep Dog Response Pistol and Carbine Level’s are excellent training. Look into it. But you sound like you are on the right track. A “tac reload” a mag can still be dropped, and you are correct in a self defense situation seconds or milliseconds are everything.

This how I was trained. Shoot til threat is stopped, even if you have rounds left. Drop mag, put in fresh mag if safe for that moment. Place in reversed position to indicate some rounds fired.

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Yes, another agree. If you are trained well - you can do this.
I’ve attended USCCA DSF1 course twice, because I wasn’t happy with my results after first course.
During the second one, I’ve tried to avoid mistakes I’ve done first time. Unfortunately I made another mistakes, which taught me that even simulated stress doesn’t allow me to follow all advices learnt from books. :flushed:
Now I know that theory has nothing to reality. I’ve got bases that I can follow, but without continuous practice these bases are NOTHING.

That’s the reason I wrote that I didn’t take any chance for a headshot if stressful situation. I learnt that for a perfect or proper headshot I need up to 5 seconds… do I have 5 seconds during gunfight? No. But I have 1 second to put 3 bullets in pelvis area, and kick off the weapon from attacker who is down on the ground.

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agreed!

@Jerzees…I understand what you’re saying and definitely train for upper thoracic as my preferred initial target, if available, but sometimes the head is the appropriate target. Jack Wilson in the White Settlement church shooting here in Tx is a perfect example of the headshot being the correct shot and being effectively performed by someone under extreme stress.

As a side not, I often teach pelvic girdle as a very effective target. It can be used to defeat some types of armor, stop mobility, and create a permanent stop rather quickly.

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Yes.
I’d like to be so accurate as Jack Wilson. Damn, that was the best defensive shot I’ve ever seen. :ok_hand:
I’ve watched that shooting several times and it still amaze me how he did it with single shot.

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Hey Jerzy, have you ever tried 3 gun, or a pistol obstacle course? They can be really fun and it definitely can hone your skills. :slight_smile:

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3 gun… means AR included? Not for me yet. I still cannot convince myself to shoot a rifle.
Pistol obstacle course - that one will be for me !!! But I’ve never heard about it.

There are all kinds of fun variants. Rifle could be bolt as well, or even a shotgun with slugs. It just means the shots are longer in this section of the course. Of course most of it’s setup outdoor which is nice. Look up ranges in your area, I bet you can find one.

We have a pistol range, 200yd rifle, and a 3 gun. Moveable metal targets can be repositioned on our range for shorter pistol distances so you can actually run the course completely with a handgun.

You can keep a spreadsheet of your times and compete against yourself. At least at our range we do not have any formal competition days or what not. It’s all for fun and improving your skills.

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Just like swimming lessons! Don’t do it. Stay firm. Be the dad you are! She needs to learn and you need to know she’s able.

@Roger35
The exercise with the rubber band and the trigger finger is very helpful. It teaches you to use the trigger finger independently from your hand.
I had a guy in class who was all over the place even with a laser. He thought the laser was not sighted in. I took the pistol (Kimber ultra carry or whatever in 45 acp) and found the pistol was fine.
As I watched him shoot I found that he was squeezing his whole hand when he pulled the trigger. He is a finish carpenter by trade and was operating his pistol the same way he operated his nail gun. Also, I thought he needed to drop down to a 9mm. You should shoot the biggest caliber you can control. 45 acp wasn’t his forte. He didn’t want to hear that because I believe his ego got involved. He still insisted it was the gun and stomped off.
Oh well… :roll_eyes:

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I call this the “Smarty Pants Syndrome”

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I’m in the same boat brother. It’s called cross dominant. I started out in life as a southpaw but the nuns beat it out of me (it’s a right handed world- whack!)
Then a Marine Gunnery Sargeant straighten things out in no uncertain terms (as they are prone to do). After some funny profanity (“Recruit you are F’d up…un F yourself!”) he started giving me some real pointers. :flushed::laughing: Nowadays my “go to” is left but I can shoot just as well with my right. It’s fun to write my name right handed and shoot left it throws folks for a loop.
In class I show examples both left and right. Sorta like Ginger Rodgers… She did every step with Fred Astaire only backwards and in heels…,:grin:

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