Practice Drills On The Draw

As many of you well know, there are numerous experts and many training programs out there today that do their best to make you believe that their techniques and training programs are the absolute best way to train for self defense (thank God for capitalism ). While all of the ones that I've looked into over the years have some excellent elements and training drills, as an older guy who doesn't move that well anymore, I'm not convinced that running through kill houses and multi-station events is the best way for me to prepare for that moment in my life that I hope will never come (I'm also not excited to blow hundreds or thousands of dollars just so that I can hang a certificate on the wall and brag that I trained for a week with "Blah Blah" at the "Blah Blah Blah" academy or placed first at a staged event). Accordingly, my practice routine is a simple process using elements that I honestly believe must be mastered in order to have the best chance of walking away alive if I'm ever faced with having to draw my pistol to defend myself. To that end my thoughts for what they worth are as follows (YMMV).

Since it is impossible to know in advance and practice for the exact self defense scenario that we all hope we're never faced with, my training drills focus primarily on the elements that I absolutely know will be necessary to give me the best opportunity to survive the event, which are: Drawing my pistol quickly/smoothly/cleanly and Getting accurate shots on target(s) quickly. The process that I use today has evolved some over the years and is comprised of three primary segments, each of which I consider to be an important building block for the next. The first two take place in the comfort of my home and the third at my local indoor range (I generally practice each twice per week with at least 20 repetitions).

1. Draw stroke from beneath my typical cover clothing (no dry fire). I think that we all would agree that if we are unable to cleanly "present our pistol" without clothing/equipment entanglement, we may as well be carrying a brick . To that end, and knowing full well that my fine motor skills will be compromised to some degree under stress, I practice drawing from beneath both casual and dress clothing with the focus solely on the speed and consistency of the draw stroke and disengaging the safety (Note here that both of my carry pistols are carried condition #1). When I first started practicing this drill (over 9 years ago), I was lucky to get a "clean draw" 40% of the time. Through much practice (I estimate that I'm currently over 18,000 repetitions) and modification of holster placement and the tucking/draping of my shirt, I rarely experience an entanglement issue.

2. Draw stroke (cover clothing) with dry fire. I added this drill roughly 3 years ago when I decided to convert to point shooting for self defense. For this exercise I use a LaserLyte training cartridge and a large mirror that allows me to see the placement of the initial and subsequent laser (center mass) hits on a human body target (me). I must admit that when I first started practicing this method, it felt rather odd shooting at a moving human form (with a gun pointed back at me) in lieu of paper targets. I practice this drill from various angles and positions, both stationary and with some lateral movement, and also practice at least 5 magazine changes during this segment. The picture below gives you a sense of what I see in the mirror with each squeeze of the trigger (note here that as I've improved, so has the guy in the mirror.

3. Engaging targets closing on my position from 15, 20 and 25 feet (live fire). While I always enjoy my "aim small miss small" target practice with a variety of pistols at a variety of distances, at least a third of my range time these days is dedicated to self defense drills. Since I'm fortunate to be a member at a range with equipment that permits me to program what I want my target to do, I take full advantage of the opportunity to fire at targets closing on my position. As with drill #2, this drill is also strictly dedicated to point shooting, and due to range rules and safety concerns, it commences with my pistol in the low ready position with the safety engaged. In addition to double tap and triple tap drills facing the target straight on as in a single attacker scenario, I also position my body at approximately 30 degree angles from the target with my head facing 90 degrees from the target (pistol pointed in a safe direction of course) to simulate attackers closing at various angles. While I use my 1911-22 for the bulk of this drill due to ammo cost, I always finish with several drills utilizing one or both of my carry pistols. To provide myself with as much challenge as possible I use a 6 x 10" target located at the level that would cover roughly from the top of the sternum to mid abdomen on a 6' tall man (see examples below). While point shooting is not for everyone, I have become very comfortable and efficient with the process and rarely place a shot outside of my intended target area.

POINT SHOOTING TARGET EXAMPLES

TARGET CLOSING ON MY POSITION FROM 15'

TARGET CLOSING ON MY POSITION FROM 20'

TARGET CLOSING ON MY POSITION FROM 25'

FINAL THOUGHTS

While it is impossible to know with 100% certainty how well this (or any) training will translate to real life, I believe that the muscle memory created with this simple practice plan will serve me well if and when it is ever needed. And finally, and perhaps the most important part of the self defense process in my mind is striving to always be aware of my situation and surroundings, and trying my best to never put myself in obvious danger. While I know full well that anything can potentially happen at any time, I think that we can all agree that we can certainly improve our odds by thinking in advance about what we choose to do and where we choose to go.

Thanks for taking the time to read my blog today.  Good shooting ... Practice often ... Stay safe!

GSG 1911-22 At 27,000 Rounds

By BuckJM53 7/4/12

For those of you who currently own a GSG 1911-22 and are interested in what they can likely expect in the long term, or for those considering adding one to your collection, I thought I would post a quick history of how mine has handled the first 27,000 rounds as it celebrated it's 2nd birthday this past Monday.

1. I initially purchased the GSG 1911-22 on 7/1/10 ($330.00) as a training pistol since my EDC is a 1911.
2. At approximately 4,000 rounds the alloy barrel bushing broke.  ATI sent me a new steel barrel bushing along with the updated slide stop and magazine followers that were necessary on the early production models.
3. At approximately 17,000 rounds the firing pin broke and upon sending it to ATI they replaced the following:firing pin assembly, sear, recoil spring, guide rod rubber disc, recoil spring plug and installed an updated safety.
4. At the 27,000 round mark, the slide stop notch finally wore to the point that it would not consistently lock back after the final round.  ATI sent me a new slide under warranty (arrived in 3 days), and since it only took a few minutes to swap out the sights and slide block assembly from the old slide to the new slide, it's back up and ready to rock and roll.

In looking back over the past 2 years, my observations (both positive & negative for what they are worth) are as follows:

1. As I suspected from the beginning, the finish has been a little fragile and has shown wear in several spots.
2. While the alloy slide has held up reasonably well, and the slide grooves have not demonstrated any significant wear, the slide stop notch is clearly the weak spot as you can see in the picture below.   
   
3. The upgraded/replaced parts listed above have performed well without any additional problems so far.
4. The grip frame and internal components have been perfect with the exception that the sear required replacement when it was damaged by a piece of the broken firing pin.
5. The barrel and barrel liner have held up well with no perceptible wear or appreciable loss of accuracy (see target below).  Note here that I'm still using the original barrel fixing screw.
6. The original magazine is still functioning fine and has seen approximately 60% of the rounds (I didn't add a 2nd magazine till after about 6,000 rounds).
7. All things considered, while it would have been nice if this pistol had been flawless, I must say that I've been pleased with the overall performance of the GSG and certainly with the service that I have received from ATI.  Based on that experience, I would certainly recommend the pistol to anyone who is considering it as a fun little plinker or as a 1911 trainer.

As a final thought, while it was my initial goal to get at least 30,000 rounds out of this pistol,  I'm now hoping (with the addition of the new slide) that I can extend its' life to about 50,000 rounds (guess we'll see).

GSG 1911-22 At 40,000 Rounds

By BuckJM53 - 11/10/13

It hardly seems possible, but another 15 months (and 13,000 rounds) have gone by since my last GSG 1911-22 report.  While I know that some in the rimfire community who won't want to hear that this fine little pistol continues to work very well at the 40,000 round mark (as it doesn't fit with their steel only agenda), I post this update for all of you that may be interested in what they can expect from their GSG as time goes on and the rounds mount up, as well as for those who are considering the purchase of one.

At the 40,000 round mark, my thoughts are as follows:

1. All upgraded/replaced parts discussed on the two previous reports have continued to function perfectly.  
2. No additional service or parts replacement was required  during the current reporting period.
3. The accuracy remains very good (see picture below) with no appreciable wear in the barrel, barrel bushing or barrel liner.
4. The grip frame and slide mating surfaces are still in excellent condition with no appreciable wear.
5. The slide stop notch on the replacement slide has peened a bit (which was expected), but has not resulted in any issue with the lock back so far.  I'm certain that it will at some point in the future and is the one issue IMHO that GSG needs to resolve going forward.

All in all, given the fact that my initial hope was to get to the 30,000 round mark before a replacement pistol was required,  I am still very pleased with how the GSG has held up and performed.  It is now my intention to take it to the 50,000 round mark and beyond.  Will it ever rival my MKIII512 in terms of quality and durability ... of course not, but nothing would make me happier than to be discussing this pistol if/when it hits 75,000 round mark.  Will it get there .... Only time will tell.