Now that really isn’t the question at all, since it is easy to shoot faster, you simply press the trigger faster. The real question being asked is. How do I shoot faster and keep a good shot group on my target?
Faster shooting is actually built on a series of skills, not a single skill. Each skill needs to be developed in order to shoot functionally faster and maintain accuracy. The skill sets are Shooting Fundamentals, Rhythm and Speed vs. Range vs. Standard of Accuracy.
1. Shooting Fundamentals
Let’s face it, this is the most important and yet most often overlooked aspect of shooting. People don’t want to learn and develop their shooting fundamentals. They just want to fling lead down range, poke a few holes in the target and think they are great shots and are prepared for whatever may come their way. But that’s absolutely not true. The bad people, armed robbers, rapists, murderers and thugs in general are looking for easy targets, people just like you. They know you will be caught off guard and ill prepared for their sudden and vicious blitz attack.
Whether you have any defensive success with your firearm is completely dependent on your shooting fundamentals. Your shots will only count or have any effect defensively, when and if you are able to place multiple effective hits into your attacker’s high center mass when you want and need to do so.
Start here in your training. Go back and evaluate your Shooting Fundamentals: Aiming (Sight Alignment and Sight Picture), Hold Control (Grip and Stance), Breath Control, Trigger Press, and Follow Through. All of these fundamentals of shooting are integrated in the firing of a shot, no matter what your target might be. If you are not using the method that we teach here at ACT Personal Defense, you may be doing yourself a disservice that will prevent you from ever getting faster. It’s really important to get these fundamentals right. The three most important fundamentals for shooting fast are to focus on your Grip, Aiming and Trigger Press.
We teach a revolutionary Grip that will eliminate recoil issues that most shooters face. Our Grip allows you to recover your Aim (Sight Picture and Alignment) on target much, much faster. You will be amazed at how quickly your sights come back on target. Now, let’s talk about Trigger Press. If your trigger press is like 95% of most shooters, wild, jerky and undisciplined, your shots will be all over the target. Even when you try to take careful aim and only shoot one shot every 3 -10 seconds, your shots are scattered all over the place. Now add stress and the need for firing multiple shots in under 3 seconds, the likelihood that you will be able to shoot with any speed or accuracy is extremely unlikely. If you can’t press the trigger correctly without disturbing your Sight Picture when you take careful aim while shooting slow, you most certainly won’t be able to do so when you need to go fast because your life now depends on it. Don’t be delusional and think your skills are going to suddenly and miraculously rise to the occasion because they won’t. Your lack of training will keep you from it.
2. Rhythm
Shooting fast isn’t just wailing away quickly on the trigger. It begins with developing a disciplined trigger cycle and learning how to modulate that cycle based on speed needed or desired, the range to your target, and the standard of accuracy you need to maintain to engage that target “successfully.”
The trigger press we teach, is made up of four parts, starting from Staged (far left) position. We define “Staged” as when your sights are on the target and your finger is on the trigger. There is a gradual increase in rearward pressure on the trigger until the shot “Breaks”. Then there is just enough forward pressure release on the trigger to allow the internal mechanisms of the handgun to “Reset”. That’s when you have completed one complete cycle and are back to the “Staged” position again.
Too many shooters make the error of trying to develop speed by increasing the top half of this cycle: Staged to Break. The problem is the shooter doesn’t develop a disciplined “Trigger Reset” and the trigger press cycle turns into Slap-Slap-Slap. A slapping motion is generated when you allow your trigger to move to its most forward position and/or you take your finger off the trigger entirely. A proper “Trigger Press” should be more like a Press-Reset, Press-Reset, Press-Reset. You create just enough pressure to “Break” the shot and only release enough forward pressure to “Reset” the trigger mechanism. Your finger never loses contact with the trigger face and never moves more than a fraction of an inch (1/8 – 3/8) forward, depending on make and model of firearm.
Here is how you can develop your “Trigger Press” rhythm. We teach you to properly use a Shot Timer or a Metronome App on a smartphone to achieve this necessary rhythm. Our instructors use a SIRT pistol, working on getting the “Reset Phase” of the trigger press to be faster and yet still disciplined, instead of whack, whack, whack on the trigger. Our training will have you focusing on pressing slowly on the trigger on the down beat and very, very, very quick Reset to Staged on the up or half beat. The feel here is like Press-superquickreset, Press-superquickreset.
Develop this correct trigger discipline and then steadily increase the press – reset speed. We feel a very good rule of thumb is to gauge your trigger press, and reset is when you can accomplish the following. At a defensive engagement distance of around 15 feet you are looking to fire three to four shots in under 2 seconds and the group should be between 3-6 inch groups. When you can accomplish effective and consistent 3-6 inch groups speed up, push yourself to a faster time if possible. If your groups are smaller than 3 inches, speed up. If your groups are bigger than 6 inches, slow down.
3. Speed vs. Range vs. Standard of Accuracy
“Shooting Fast” is not the same thing in all cases. Take the image to the left. The shooting speed at which you can maintain a good standard of accuracy (3-6 inch group) on target #1 is in no way the same as the speed needed to maintain the standard of accuracy on target #3.
This means we need to balance our speed depending on the range of the target to the shooter and the standard of accuracy that is needed for defensive “success.”
For target #1, at 10 feet our standard of accuracy for success, your time between shots should be very fast. When you move to target #2, at 20 feet and the same standard of accuracy, you’ll need to adjust your speed a little because you’ve changed the range to your target. For me, this would be about half a second slower in speed. But then we get to target #3, our standard of accuracy at 50 feet, and is 5 times farther than target #1. You cannot have the same shot speed you had on target #1 OR #2. You would have to slow those shots down even further. For me, this would be maybe 1 to 1.5 seconds slower to maintain an effective round placement on target #3.
What does this mean? It means that if I draw and put 2 shots on target #1 at a range and standard of accuracy appropriate speed, I could draw from concealment and get two shots on target in 1.5 seconds. But, if I did the same drill on target #3, it would be two shots on target in 2.5 to 3.0 seconds. In both situations, this is reasonably fast.
Let me add one side note referencing taking a 50-foot shot. As a citizen defender I’m not indicating or encouraging you to be shooting defensively at this distance. I’ve seen many shooters in my career, even police officers, who couldn’t hit a 12-inch target effectively at 50 feet. Yes, you might have to defend or take a shot at this distance but let me issue a word of caution. Don’t allow your ego to bite off more than you can chew by testing your ability at that distance. Know with 100% accuracy that you are trained and capable of making the shot before you take it. Most defensive shootings (80%) take place within 3-5 seconds, at distances of 6 – 15 feet. The only time I could realistically see myself taking a 50-foot shot would be during an active shooter encounter. Remember, we are by law responsible for every round that leaves our firearm. I have to know my abilities and so do you. If I found that I needed to shoot at that distance, I would probably have moved to cover or concealment where I could steady my aim and place effective hits on a moving threat. How would you feel it you missed that 50-foot shot in a crowded mall or theater and took an incident person’s life all because you wanted to be the hero? If the shot is beyond your capabilities don’t take the shot! Having said that let’s wrap this up.
So, now I can better answer your question. How do you “shoot faster?” Work on your shooting fundamentals with us here at ACT Personal Defense until you can’t get them wrong. Learn our Grip and practice developing a “disciplined” trigger press – reset cycle so that each press and reset are definitive, fast and in good rhythm. Finally, understand that your speed is, and should be, dictated by the range to the target or threat, and the standard of accuracy required for success. I hope this has encouraged you to get the necessary training to develop your Grip, Shooting Fundamentals and Trigger Press. In doing so you will be well on your way to becoming a good citizen defender and a credit to the 2nd amendment community. Don’t be an untrained cowboy, we already have too many in the world already. Be one of the elite! We’ll see you in one of our classes or on the range.
Train hard and be safe!