"Tactical Pistol Shooting" by Erik Lawrence & Mike Pannone

• Skill with the pistol is the measure of shooting proficiency in many units around the globe.
• It is the mastering of the basics that allows a shooter to progress to an “advanced” level, which means doing the basics faster and more accurately.
• No expensive handgun or accessory will replace true skill and solid fundamentals in a less-than-desirable situation.
• It cannot be over emphasized that the difference between marksmanship and combat marksmanship is truly the difference between practicing against paper and fighting for your life.
• Have a plan of why you are going [to a gun range] and know what drills you will practice and then how to execute the exercise while perfecting the proper form/fundamentals.
• Targets are human beings, so you must accept this point before you seriously take on combat-oriented pistol shooting. Competitions are fun and organized; spur-of-the-moment close gunfights are neither fun nor organized.
• Action is always faster than reaction. If someone initiates an attack, you will have to play catch-up. The only way to increase the chances of survival is through preconditioning or mental conditioning.
• If you choose a firearm for personal protection, you have an obligation to perform to a significantly higher level.
• Your mind is what will keep you alive in a gunfight. Your mind is your real weapon.
• The backbone of the combat mindset is the essence of self-control.
• Color Code of Awareness
• White: The color white can be considered to be the absence of alertness. A person in white is totally relaxed, completely unprepared and absolutely unaware of his surroundings. If you are attacked in white, regardless of your ability or equipment, you may not survive.
• Yellow: Yellow is the state of mind in which one is relaxed with a nonspecific alert. There is no immediate threat, but you are alert to any possibility. You are not looking for trouble, but are prepared if it happens. Yellow is comfortable and you can stay in it indefinitely.
• Orange: Orange represents a specific alert. Someone, something, or some action has attracted your attention. It is much easier to move into your reactive or fighting mode from the awareness state of Orange then from Yellow.
• Red: Red is the knowledge that “The fight is on.” This is the state of mind when your “mental trigger” or “go button” is tripped. The decision to use deadly force has been made.
• Principles of self-defense
• alertness
• decisiveness
• aggressiveness
• speed
• coolness/precision
• ruthlessness
• surprise
• fear
• Fear is said to have three components:
• cognitive: Which is an anticipatory anxiety -- a sixth sense.
• physiological: From our body’s chemical cocktail of adrenaline.
• overt behavior: The manifestation of our actions.
• Anger is the proper antidote to fear.
• Gain knowledge of your mind and body’s stress responses. Recognize them and learn what you can do to direct those physiological actions.
• You can manage the effects of fear and the startle response through survival stress management.
• Immediately slow your breathing (tactical breathing)
• Prioritize threats.
• Visualize what needs to be done to stop the attack.
• Take the proper course of action.
• The keys to threat avoidance:
• A street-smart mindset
• threat analysis
• trade-craft
• Accept responsibility for your actions. What you do in a heartbeat will be reviewed by many others over a long period of time. Deal with it.
• Don't’ be a victim. Don’t look like prey.
• Skills are perishable and training must be continuous.
• If you cannot safely handle your weapons, chances are you are just as inept at firing them.
• The primary safety on any weapon is not the mechanical one; it is your brain attached to your shooting index finger, which will be resting along the pistol’s frame until it is placed on the trigger when you decide to shoot.
• Instinct is the inherent disposition of a living organism toward a particular behavior.
• A learned pattern of response is an action that has been learned, and over time has become so rehearsed that it appears to be automatic or “instinctive” (automated neural control).
• Economy of motion is the hallmark of efficient weapons handling. Because it is a learned pattern, economy of motion can and should be continually refined in every training session.
• The modified isosceles stance is the most stable and natural technique for a combat pistol shooter. It also allows the shooter to face square to his target as he would do naturally, giving the added benefit (if wearing body armor) of having his armor cover the maximum amount of critical surface area, while not exposing a far more lethal oblique shot.
• When moving and shooting, take up a good shooting stance and then , as you step off, create a slightly exaggerated bend in the knees and walk heel to toe as though you were sneaking up on someone. Adjust your pace and gait appropriate to your ability and the acceptable level of accuracy required.
• Anywhere from the neck to the pelvis, from the center of the spine and 1.5 inches to the right and left (a 3-inch band with the spine in the center) is called the “spine box”. Shots within that space have a very good chance of disrupting spinal function and rapidly incapacitating a human.
• The shooter should always aim with his dominant eye yet keep his non-dominant eye open also.
• Train to use your natural instincts, not counter them.
• Sight alignment is centering the front sight in the rear sight notch.
• Sight picture is taking sight alignment and superimposing it onto your desired target. A correct sight picture is the proper sight alignment with the front sight placed on the center of mass of the available target.
• Since the eye can focus on only one object at different distances, you must focus on the front sight.
• You must keep both eyes open from the start of learning to shoot, thus allowing you to be more aware of your surroundings when you are aiming.
• Accurate shooting depends greatly on your control of the trigger.
• The part of the index finger to be used is halfway from the tip to the first joint.
• Remove slack and apply initial pressure to the trigger once you are on your target. Then begin applying a positive increase in pressure on the trigger, maintaining a smooth and even press to the rear without interruption. As you maintain your press to the rear, continue applying pressure on the trigger for a split second and release the trigger forward, only far enough to re-engage the sear, but do not allow your finger to lose contact with the trigger. Remove the slack and prepare for the next shot.
• You should maintain concentration on sight alignment even after the shot has been fired.
• Remember to dry fire five times for every one live fire practice; there is no need to waste your training resources on incorrect techniques.
• The draw is essential to all other practical combat shooting.
• For shooting around cover you put the knee down on the side you are shooting around (this limits your exposure).
• Be very cognizant as to your muzzle direction. At no time should it be oriented at anything you are not willing to destroy.
• Dry firing is the best way to practice a draw from concealment.
• Remember, you carry them more than you use them, so you must find a happy medium between comfort and practicality.
• All magazines should face down with the bullets facing forward and to the center of the body.
• Never practice an administrative reload.
• When possible, perform the tactical reload; it is safer to reload with a round in the chamber to fire in an emergency.
• In a fight, reload when you can, not when you are forced to.
• The tactical reload is used to reload your pistol -- either with a fully loaded or almost fully loaded magazine -- before you move or anticipate a renewed assault on your position.
• Proper training will do more to save your life than technology and the arms race to be bigger and better.
• To fix a failure-to-go-into battery malfunction, ensure your finger is off the trigger and outside the trigger guard and then slap the back of the slide with the heel of the non-firing hand.
• The failure-to-fire malfunction occurs when the operator has loaded a dud cartridge or failed to load the chamber. The universal fix for this is the “Slap, Rack, Ready” technique.
• Slap the bottom of the magazine with a hard palm to ensure it is fully seated and locked in.
• Rack the slide fully to the rear and release it to shut by its own recoil spring tension.
• Ready or re-present and prepare to fire the shot as you intended before the malfunction if your situation dictates that action.
• Think about every motion you practice and make sure you know why it is the best solution.
• The failure-to-eject malfunction (commonly called a “stovepipe”) is created usually by the slide being retarded by not setting one’s wrists (“limp wristing”) in its rearward movement to re-chamber the next round or by a broken ejector. This malfunction is easily corrected by sweeping the expended case from the port. With the non-firing hand, extend your fingers, and with fingers join, reach over the slide. Roll your fingers over the top of the slide, and with a firm, vigorous sweeping motion to the rear against the stuck casing, sweep it free.
• The failure-to-extract malfunction (commonly called a “double feed”) is created when the spent casing is not extracted from the chamber, and the next round to be loaded is rammed from the magazine into the rear of the stuck casing.
• With the non-firing hand, rack the slide to the rear and lock it with the slide release by pushing it up into the notch and let the recoil spring tension hold the slide release in the notch.
• Remove the magazine from the pistol.
• Rack the slide to the rear at least two times to ensure the casing is extracted and elected from the pistol.
• Properly insert and seat a loaded magazine with a hard palm.
• Rack the slide fully to the rear and release it to close by its own spring tension.
• Continue the engagement as the situation dictates.
• Most crippling and killing hits result from maintaining the focus on the center of mass.
• Double tap is two shots fired with flash sight pictures at fairly close targets.
• Controlled pair is two well-aimed and well-laced shots at moderate pistol ranges.
• In the common failure-to-stop drill, engage the threat with two rounds to the center of mass, then one to the center of the head. Other variations are to fire two rounds to the center of mass then fire two rounds into the hip/pelvic area to break the pelvic girdle in case the threat is wearing body armour.
• Dry firing: This is the most effective and cost-efficient type of training.
• Never have loaded magazines or ammunition in the room in which you are dry firing.
• The key is to never quit the fight. If you have to head butt the aggressor to death, then this is what you will have to do.
• Shooting drills for practice (In order of progression)
• dry firing practice
• ball-and-dummy drill
• slow-aimed fire
• presentation position three to four drill
• controlled pairs
• double taps
• drawing from a holster
• rhythm drill
• kneeling drill
• prone drill
• supine drill
• high barricade
• low barricade
• turning left/right drill
• turning about drill
• weapon retention
• move forward, stop, shoot, whistle drill
• move forward and shoot whistle drill
• strong-hand draw drill
• weak-hand draw drill
• shooting from a vehicle
• shooting into a vehicle
• shooting while wounded, strong-hand reload
• shooting while wounded, weak-hand reload
• shooting while wounded, strong-hand malfunctions
• shooting while sounded, weak-hand malfunctions