Fundamentals and training - Are you ready for a fight?

When it comes to self defense, most people think simply owning a gun is enough. The thinking is "if the SHTF I'll rise to the occasion becoming an elite John Woo bad ass and take out the bad guys with surgical precision". That couldn't be any further from the truth and that mindset will get you killed real quick. You need to train. Mentally and physically. The problem is there aren't tactical gun fighting schools on every corner like there are Karate schools (though that would be frigging sweet). If you have an opportunity to take a course at a school like Magpul Dynamics, Gunsite or Thunder Ranch go for it. If spending a few grand on a course isn't in your budget you can still train on your own. The best place to start is with the fundamentals. When it comes to training, a lot of people tend to blow past the fundamentals and go straight for the high speed fun stuff. You need to be able to do the basics really well before you move onto the crazy jedi stuff. Here are a few basics you should go over and practice every time you go out to the range. Master these and watch your shot groups shrink.

Trigger Control

- A common mistake that new shooters make is to jerk the trigger or flinch. Jerking or flinching causes the gun to move in your hand. A few millimeters of movement in your hand can translate to inches or feet on your target. You want a smooth even trigger pull with a suprise trigger break.

Sight alignment / Sight picture

- It's counter intuitive but the right way to use your open sights is to focus on the front sight and not on your target (with optics it's the opposite). So a proper sight picture would be to have your rear sights and targets blurry while the front sight is in sharp focus. The front sight should be centered in your rear sight. On a handgun you want the top of the front sight post to be aligned with the top of the two rear sight posts. On a rifle you want the top of the front sight to be centered in your ghost ring. Your target should be sitting right on top of your front sight. Remember focus on the front sight!

Follow through

- this is one of the basics that most shooters tend to forget about. After the shot is fired don't release the trigger until the gun is finished recoiling and your front sight is back on target. Keep your eyes focused on your sights, don't let them drift to the target. People tent to let their eyes drift to the target as the trigger breaks causing a miss. You should be able to call where your shot went went the trigger breaks. This is just the tip of the iceberg. If you are serious about learning how to fight with your guns you should really invest in the Magpul Dynamics DVD's. They're packed full with the latest training techniques taught buy guys who have been there and done that.