In my last post I talked about practicing your draw from concealed. This time I want to talk about grip. A proper grip is about maintain control of your firearm.

At the range, or in training we have sufficient time to ensure our grip is correct. What about in a self-defense response? A self-defense event last just seconds. Each movement we make to respond must be exact and take minimum time.

This is where dry-fire practice comes in. While it may seem tedious, dry-fire practice is a crucial tool. When it comes to a self-defense response, a proper grip can mean the difference between stopping the threat and succumbing to the threat. It may mean losing control of your firearm.

With a cleared firearm (and no ammunition in the area) in its concealed location, expose the grip. Place your hand firmly on the grip with your hand high on the backstrap. Your trigger finger should be indexed, most likely outside your holster, or if IWB carrying, your  belt. Your thumb should be along the frame.

When you draw the firearm from the holster your strong hand grip should not require adjustment.

As you bring your firearm up to engage the threat your support hand should wrap firmly around your strong hand.  
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Practice this slowly at first to ensure you can get a proper grip. At first watch the steps. Then transition to picking a point to simulate a threat and get your grip without breaking your visual lock on the threat. Practice getting the proper grip along with drawing from concealed until you can draw from concealed with a proper grip consistently and quickly.

Any skill gained needs to be exercised to be retained. That is why aircrew had to attend simulator refreshers regularly. That is why we had to go to the altitude chamber for refresher training. That is why a pilot has to regularly accomplish take-off and landing maneuvers or not carry passengers until they have made three flying solo.

If an aircrew member has to regularly accomplish training, shouldn’t those who attend a concealed carry training session have the same need? I put it to you that they do, we all do.

There are many skills that can be reinforced by dry fire practice. The basics of grip and trigger control are just a start.

The basic and most available training device is your own firearm. It is critical that when using your firearm for dry fire practice that you check and verify it is clear. Magazine and chamber. Then ensure there is no live ammunition in the area. This is a critical point that, if violated, can result is death or serious injury. I encourage practice but that practice shouldn’t result in the need to employ your emergency medical skills.

The first practice you should be doing does not involve actually pressing the trigger. It is drawing from concealed. Each day when you are dressed you should practice deploying your cleared firearm. Practice getting it out from concealment. This may mean negotiating your clothing.

I have a video made by a mainstream ‘news’ program. They took three individuals who had varying levels of firearms proficiency to feign balance. Their experienced individual was a person who did a lot of airsoft shooting. Not one of the three were experienced with actual firearms. They gave them some training on how to shoot the simunition firearms they were given.

What they weren’t given is how to deploy the firearm from concealed. Then they dressed them in oversized sweatshirts and a helmet with full face protection. They were placed in a lecture hall with like dressed individuals. They were told they were the only one in the room armed.

During the ‘lecture’ several armed individuals stormed the room and started firing at the participants. In each of the three drills, the armed participants were unable to draw and employ their firearm before they were hit.

Having weekly or daily practice on the range practicing good grip, trigger and breath control, without practicing draw from concealed can leave you in the same situation as those in the hit piece I just described.

Drawing your firearm in a self-defense event is a different challenge. Seconds count. Keeping your eyes on the treat is imperative. You need to practice getting your firearm out of its concealed location as quickly as possible.

In this situation you are under stress and in fear for your life (at least you had better be) and under the fight or flight effects. This is a very difficult scenario to practice during dry fire. The best you can do is practice your draw.
Begin slowly and deliberately. Practice the mechanics of deploying until it is smooth and requires little thought. When you can smoothly deploy (remember not muzzling yourself, others or sweeping the area) start doing it faster in steps. Each time you get the deployment smooth at the quicker pace, repeat the cycle quicker. Keep shortening the time interval keeping in mind a self-defense even is over in seconds.

When you have the draw interval as short as you can practice it daily with what you are wearing for the day.
Things to consider when drawing from concealed:
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     - Keep your finger off the trigger and out of the trigger well. There are some holsters that have the latch release right over the trigger well. In a self-defense event and under the fight or flight response physical effects, it is likely for the rapid deployment to cause an inadvertent discharge. There is a YouTube video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3kJ6SU3ycs) of a guy using one of these holsters in a drill. When he drew his firearm, he shot himself in the leg.
      -Maintain muzzle discipline. Do not allow the muzzle to cross any part of your body. Do not swing your firearm out to the side. Keep it close to your body and get to either a Low Ready or High Ready position.
     -Keep your eyes on the threat (or designated spot) while drawing. Keep both eyes open to ensure the widest field of peripheral vision. 

In addition to practicing deploying your firearm you also need to practice placing your firearm back into your concealed location. It is not uncommon for someone to get a piece of clothing around the trigger while placing their firearm back into its holster.

If you are in a self defense event and are placing your firearm back into your holster the threat should be no longer a threat. In that case you have plenty of time to holster your firearm. You don’t need to do it one-handed without looking. Take your time, move your clothing out of the way and look at what you are doing.
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I will write more about dry fire practice in future posts.