
You're welcome!
You know, I really had to think twice before I posted this information on a public gun board; but, I consoled myself with the realization that, for anyone who's willing to spend a little time and run an internet search, this information has already been posted by other gunmen and is available! (I just haven't come right out and said it before. Well, maybe, I have; but on no more than one or two other occasions, and on some pretty classy, highly esoteric, gun boards.)
You've asked a few more questions like what learning method is best? Because very few shooters seem to be willing to say, I really don't know, '
How' other pistoleros have done it; but I can tell you how I did it. The biggest revelation for me was that I was working with
BOTH the top of the front sight
AND the measured muscular reflex of each muzzle bounce. In order to do this successfully the first thing I had to do was to take a proper grip on the pistol, disarticulate my trigger finger as quickly as possible, and then
TAKE A LOW HOLD on target COM.
After that it's, pretty much, like simply watching your front sight and allowing the pistol to, '
bounce' back and forth between the point-of-aim, and the top of the muzzle's recoil arc. (Up, down; up, down; up, down over a rigidly fixed distance that's actually determined by your physically acquired proprioceptive reflexes.) It should also be noted that the stronger and more experienced a shooter is then the less, '
bounce' is going to be involved.
HOWEVER excessive, 'bounce' in a shooter's grip is
NOT an insurmountable impediment to shooting a pistol repetitively and well - OK! What you're trying to do is to cause the top of the front sight to return to the exact point-of-hold at the bottom of the target's COM oval. Onesie-twosie shots are actually harder to place, accurately, than if you practice by firing shot strings of three or more. I began my own learning process by working in close at distances of no more than five to eight yards. Then, all of a sudden, I had an inspired revelation that,
IF IT WERE EASY FOR ME TO REPEATEDLY HIT THE TARGET AT SUCH EXTREMELY CLOSE RANGE THEN IT WAS ALSO EASIER FOR THE TARGET TO HIT ME, AS WELL! (A HAPLESS REALIZATION THAT WAS NOT CONDUCIVE TO MY OWN FUTURE WELLBEING!)
So, some sort of personal safety modification to my own CQB pistol gunfighting style had to be made! Next, I had one of those rare moments of, '
epiphanic realization'! All of a sudden I realized that every gunman has his own favorite distance at which he prefers to operate - to begin firing.
The, '
trick' then is to begin firing at the target
BEFORE the target is quite ready to do exactly the same thing to
YOU! '
How' do you successfully do this? First, you watch the hands. (The hand you can't see is the one you have to worry about!) Next, you watch for any visible tension in the target's neck and upper torso. (A slight forward tilt of the head is a sure sign of intended aggression!) Third, you watch the eyes. '
Why?' Because, in keeping with the old French proverb, the eyes really are the, '
mirror of the soul'.
Four important caveats? One, never allow a potential target to get within four or five feet of your body; two, watch out and be ready to react whenever a potential target brings both of his hands close together. (It's one of the oldest tricks in the book; and it still works very well.) Three, always remember that God gave you two hands,
AND two feet. Use them all as needed! Four, if -
IF - I'm able to, I like to encourage an opponent to turn his body in the direction of his gun side.
(Because a poorly skilled opponent will have a more pronounced tendency to miss his intended target's vertical body centerline! This is the same avoidance technique that you'll learn in a good martial arts class; and it's, also, the same trick that Miyamoto Musashi used against Sasaki Kojirō during their famous duel at Ganryū Island - The move that caused Kojirō's initial sword-stroke to be slightly off and miss its intended mark.)
Years ago I was pumping gas at an isolated pump when, all of a sudden, something didn't, '
feel' right. When I glanced to the side I saw an obvious street vagrant coming straight at me from about fifteen or twenty feet away. I turned the pump nozzle off, stepped away from the pump, and dropped my hand to my side. I never had to say a word! The fellow stopped dead in his tracks, immediately turned around, and walked away.