The Secret to Mastering the Handgun (complete video)

I'm Alex Thomas of the Silverado shooting academy we specialize in training for mastery of the handgun the handgun is the most difficult of all firearms to shoot effectively the real challenge of handgun shooting is poorly understood and conventional training does not effectively deal with that challenge this video presentation will give you a clear understanding of why handgun shooting is difficult and show you the secret to mastering the handgun very few people reach their full potential with handguns most people struggle to some extent and don't know why they struggle a common scenario is that a novice will buy a handgun usually for defense and then take some generic training course they'll shoot a couple of hundred rounds reach some level of mediocre and then they'll put the gun away they'll be the first to tell you that they know how to shoot but that handguns just aren't very accurate the problem is not the gun handguns even short-barrel ones are far more accurate than the shooter if you own a handgun and plan to rely on it then master it don't rely on spray-and-pray I've heard people say a handgun is just what I use on my way to getting my rifle home invaders won't give you time to open up the gun safe even in a complete meltdown of civilization you may not have the option of being conspicuously armed your safety may depend on your skill with a handgun mastering the handgun is about controlling shot placement to the limit of your physical ability shot placement is determined by one thing and only one thing the direction of the muzzle at the instant the bullet clears it your ability to control the shot depends on how well you can stabilize the gun while pulling the trigger there's a simple way to test your potential for doing this you'll need a handgun with a laser and a paper target put up on a wall you're not going to use the sights on the gun but holding the gun up at eye level as though you are siting hold the laser beam on the center of the target observe the laser beam as you pull the trigger the smallest circle you can keep the beam inside of while you trigger is your maximum potential for accuracy if you can keep the beam inside of a 2-inch circle at 10 feet you should be able to consistently hit a 4 inch target at 20 feet you can also increase the tempo of your triggering to see how rapid fire affects your ability to control the muzzle compare the results of this test to what you actually do with live fire eliminating the difference between the two is mastery of the handgun handgun shooting is not a complex skill it's not like learning to play the piano or violin which takes a lot of time in practice let's look at the mechanical sequence of shooting a handgun suppose we wanted to build a machine that could shoot a handgun a robotic shooter what would we need that machine to do first the gun must be held steady in visual alignment with the target second the trigger must be pulled back to the breakpoint without disrupting the alignment third the operating energy of the gun will disrupt the sight alignment so the gun must be realigned after the shot fourth the trigger must be released back to the reset point for the next shot so we have four basic steps freeze the sight picture squeeze the trigger without disruption realign the sights on target and reset the trigger freeze squeeze realign reset so why is this so difficult to do and live fire the answer to that is pretty simple this is an improvised pyrotechnic device it's 20 inches in front of the camera which is about how far a handgun muzzle is from your face when firing this is what happens when you pull the trigger on a firearm when you pull the trigger on a firearm you're setting off an explosion right in front of your face the concussion and hard recoil of firearms causes a panic reaction it's our natural response to powerful shockwaves or sounds this happens no matter how tough we are we all have a natural aversion to holding onto things that explode the lower animal part of our brain doesn't like concussion and tries to move us away from the gun at the same time our higher thinking brain is trying to carry out a new skill this high brain low brain conflict is why handguns are difficult to master and why many people lose interest in shooting after their first exposure the very first time a new shooter fires a handgun they'll probably make a good first shot the gun will fire and the novice will experience a startle response better known as a flinch a flinch will never mess up the shot because it's a reflex that happens after a loud sound by the time the sound wave reaches you the bullet is already two feet out of the barrel nothing you do at that point will affect the shot this is a novice student try firing a single action revolver chambered in colt 45 without her knowing when we will insert a live round into one of the chambers she is only trained with air guns up to this point she puts a near-perfect Center hit on target with a large caliber handgun you got me this shows us two very important things first is that the skills from air gun shooting apply directly to firearms the energy difference changes recoil control but not shot placement second is that these skills are easily applied with good results when there is no anticipation of concussion and recoil after the first shot we will associate the trigger brake pressure applied by our trigger finger with the concussion of the gun this kind of mental connection is called classical conditioning when we fire the gun again our anxiety level will increase as we increase pressure on the trigger we will reflexively brace for the shot our reactive animal brain will have us take defensive action against the expected explosion right at the trigger breakpoint we'll start to shake lose concentration push the gun away or down or turn our head away all of this can happen very quickly and quite often the shooter is unaware of it these reactions interfere with the skill of handgun shooting we call this reactive interference this is the real problem in dilemma of handgun shooting the exact instant which is the most critical for shot accuracy in control is the same instant we lose control of the gun due to reactive interference right at the trigger breakpoint reactive interference has nothing to do with good technique it's the effect of the animal getting into the shooting process if you can't control the animal your skill won't matter you won't be able to apply that skill one of the things we do is put a laser on a gun and set it parallel below the barrel so the shooter can't see it when using the sights but observers can we see students hold the guns steadily on target right up through the trigger pull but right at the breakpoint the laser beam will flick off target in a split instant almost too fast to see the student has no clue why this is happening they know what to do when are doing their best to apply proper technique they're frustrated by this mysterious force that pushes the gun off target as they shoot the student has the skills but they don't have control over the animal at this point you may be starting to realize that mastering the handgun consists of two separate problems first is about the physical skill it's what we do with the gun that affects the shot it's the freeze squeeze realign reset sequence of shooting this is about 10% of mastering the handgun this is the easy part the second is controlling how the operation of the gun affects us reactive interference this is the critical 90 percent of handgun mastery the mental discipline conventional handgun training focuses on shooting as a mechanical technique and not a mental discipline it applies technique to the problem of reactive interference leading to solutions that don't work very well the most popular example of this is dry fire practice which is triggering the gun without ammunition the theory behind this is that it develops muscle memory of correct trigger pull that will carry over when using live ammunition this idea is based on an illusion that bad trigger technique is the major cause of handgun and accuracy since the gun is pulled off target during the trigger pull it's assumed that it's caused by trigger pull because that's the part of technique occurring at the time in reality bad trigger pull will only produce minor variations in shot placement it will drop your score and precision target shooting but it's not the reason people will miss a 14 inch circle at 25 feet I've got a double action training gun here equipped with a laser that I'm gonna drive fire at a 14-inch steel plate at 25 feet I'm gonna pull the trigger in a crude exaggerated manner to see if I can produce misses as you've just seen ruff triggering will only produce about an eight to nine inch variance at 25 feet it will not take a shot completely off the target now triggering issues and bad trigger control will cause a scattering of the bullet impact points around this very large plate but it's not going to take the shot off the plate itself when you look down at the support beam you'll see a cluster of bullet impact points below the plate going to an extreme of three feet below the target this is not the result of triggering this is a complete loss of composure during the shooting process reactive interference this is the result of allowing the animal to fire the gun dry fire practice will not solve the problem of reactive interference pulling the trigger when nothing happens is one thing but when the gun discharges you're going to react to it there are other similar techniques like trying to create surprise with a slow trigger pull balancing a shell casing on the gun and using a combination of live and dummy rounds while shooting no technique based on physical mechanics is going to solve the problem of reactive interference that's because the problem is not out here it's up here the popularity of dry fire practice does illustrate one very important point you can't perfect handgun skills with firearms and live fire if you could there would be no reason for dry fire practice conventional training insists on starting the novice with firearms because that's the way it's always been done new shooters want to do this because they don't know any better people will go out and buy a large caliber handgun having no experience and then expect to train with their gun if you don't know how to ride a bicycle should you be trying to learn on a harley-davidson that's not the place to start and the same is true for handguns if you begin training with firearms your reaction to the concussion and recoil will dominate the entire training experience starting with firearms presents the novice with two problems at the same time the challenge of learning a new skill while dealing with the problem of reactive interference these two problems conflict with each other which is why very few people reach their full potential with handguns effective training has to be done in two phases first is learning the physical skills without reactive interference the second is learning the mental discipline to overcome reactive interference with firearms a novice needs to know before picking up a firearm that he or she has the mechanical skill otherwise the student can't separate a skill problem from reactive interference this leads to confusion and frustration so how do we learn technique without using firearms this is a handgun it is not a firearm it's a compressed gas training gun that duplicates a firearm in weight size and function unlike dry firing it shoots a projectile and has blowback and muzzle lift products like this didn't exist until recently they allow us to quickly train a novice shooter in basic skill and safety prior to picking up a firearm Zen refers to an intense concentrated focus of attention on a single task to the exclusion of any distraction no matter how strong that distraction is we're going to apply this to handgun shooting mastery of the handgun means eliminating reactive interference getting the animal out of the shooting process we have to become the robotic shooter we can't eliminate our reflexes but we can suppress them blinking your eyes is both a reflex and a voluntary action you blink hundreds of times a day without thinking about it and you can also blink it will that's because the muscles of your eyelids are subject to both voluntary and involuntary control you can also stop from blinking as a matter of voluntary control you can override or stop reflexive blinking by concentration and practice all of the muscle movements involved with reactive interference are subject to voluntary control we can override them too it just takes concentration discipline and practice we're going to actively suppress the animal with the gun loaded ready to shoot a non target you start the trigger pull slowing down as you approach the breakpoint the objective is not to fire the gun but to find the point at which you lose composure embrace for the shot it's important that the closer you get to the trigger break the slower you increase the trigger pressure so you can stop the trigger pole at the instant you become aware of bracing for the shot hold the trigger pressure without releasing it at that point and get refocused and recomposed before resuming a very gradual trigger pull if you can't get control and stop the bracing responds release the trigger and start over put the gun down and rest if you need to you can use the support at your wrists like sandbags a crutch works well in the standing position do not support the gun itself do not under any circumstances snap the trigger or allow the animal to fire the gun make sure that you go slowly enough with the trigger to ensure complete presence of mind and composure right up to the point the gun fires if you can't do this do not fire the gun at all never fire a shot while you're out of composure not only is it a wasted round but you're practicing the wrong thing this practice may sound simple but it will test the limits of your concentration and self-discipline it can mean standing in a firing position without taking a shot for several minutes or more it doesn't matter if you ever fire the gun at all as long as you work on pulling the trigger back as far as you can and holding it without bracing for the shot once you can bring the trigger all the way back without bracing for the shot it's just a matter of being consistent while repeating this until you can do it faster your speed is limited by how fast you can go without losing focus are bracing for the shot you should be able to completely train yourself with one box of 50 rounds if it takes you more than that you're not following the discipline of this method conventional handgun training won't teach you this aiming a loaded handgun without firing it doesn't fit the common mindset of handgun training it's quite literally meditation with a loaded gun the alternative for dealing with reactive interference is known as habituation it's the process of slowly getting accustomed to the concussion and recoil of the gun over time just by doing a lot of shooting it's why people will slowly improve their shot groups over time it's not the practices making you better so much as repeated exposure to the concussion gets you accustomed to it and gradually reduces reactive interference you could accomplish the same thing just by firing a lot of blanks many training organizations pride themselves on how much shooting you get to do with them we take pride in how much shooting you don't have to do in order to reach your potential after all who's buying the ammo I've outlined the most efficient approach to mastering the handgun it's about getting to your best in the shortest period of time with the least amount of ammunition it's a transition from low to high power learning accuracy and then moving towards speed the basic skill and safety needs to come first which can then be applied to firearms to learn the Zen of the handgun this is really just a common-sense approach while this training method is best for any new shooter it's particularly well suited for women and minors who tend to be more sensitive to concussion and recoil it's important to get your spouse or children involved with handguns shooting it's a powerful way to push back against the anti-gun paranoia that the media and public education create make no mistake if our personal liberty is going to survive we need to win over our own family members especially girls and young women but it's critically important to do this the right way I've been shooting for years I can teach my family members how to shoot too often handguns shooter will put a nine millimeter or larger and his wife or children's hands to show them how it's done the rationale is while they may not enjoy it at least they'll know how to do it if they need to this is not a good trade-off because it usually turns out like this gee dad that was fun I can't we can never do that again you may only get one chance to get a gun in her hands don't make it when she'll regret don't bother your family members even if you know how to train them don't good firearm coaches will not train their own family members and they'll tell you not to train yours that's because your egos involved in the process it's either he's dad or hubby and I worry about what he's feeling or he's dad or hubby what is you know a good spouse or child will be concerned about how you feel about how they're doing and not totally focused on what they're doing get them trained but scratch Bubba's discount handgun school off the list the majority of our female students are women over 40 who share a common story when we asked about their prior experience with handguns these women will say some guy in their life dad husband or boyfriend took them shooting when they were young usually in their teens or early twenties they shot a handgun once and haven't touched one since they've reached midlife still afraid of handguns they got bud we're happy to see these women coming to us for training but between the ages of 20 and 40 they've been voting and raising children maybe they supported the Second Amendment and influence their children that way or maybe they didn't maybe they didn't have strong opinion either way but the point is this handgun training is not just about learning how to use a handgun it's about overcoming fear gaining real-world self-confidence a sense of empowerment and a true appreciation of the right to keep and bear arms handgun training is a life changing experience the best gift we can give young girls is a sense of dignity and confidence that's based on real-world experience and not unpopular rhetoric the ideal age for introducing girls to handguns is from 12 to 15 they have the mental and physical capacity for it while still being young enough to find it interesting after age 15 you'll hardly get them away from their mobile devices many adults believe that young teenage girls can't handle large caliber handguns this is nonsense females reach their physical prime around age 15 and they can handle a colt 45 as well as an adult male the problem is not in their ability but in getting them interested in doing it teenage girls will rarely ask to shoot a handgun even if they'd like to they probably won't ask because of social pressures as parents or grandparents you need to guide them into the experience because they won't necessarily see the value of it for themselves the challenge is to find a way to get them into training children today are raised with the expectation that someone else will always solve their problems for them and take responsibility for protecting them the idea of handgun training for personal protection is not likely to appeal to teenage girls they want to do things that are exciting cutting-edge things that'll make them more interesting or give them standing with their peers whatever approach you'd need to take with them make it a priority pick a date and make it happen someday never comes time passes quickly and as they get closer to college age the harder it'll become they'll always have more pressing things to do meanwhile public education continues to pile on anti Second Amendment propaganda time is not on your side the reason we are losing the battle for the American culture is because we don't make a stand for what's important we have not been good conservators of what the Founding Fathers gave us we haven't kept the ideals behind the American Revolution our Constitution and Bill of Rights alive in the hearts and minds of our children and grandchildren we've allowed the radical left to hijack public education the public discourse the media and the courts by our apathy silence and failure to act I'm asking you to take action I'm asking you to become the radical activists pro-gun extremists constitutional conservative that the big government status have nightmares about work to get the youth of your family and of your community solidly behind America's first freedom the one freedom that really matters get them into training you

Channel: Silverado Shooting Academy

Views: 2,610,641

Keywords: Handgun Training, Pistol Training, Handgun, Handgun Shooting, How to shoot a handgun, Silverado Shooting Academy, handgun accuracy, handgun basics, handgun fundamentals, Handgun Mastery

Id: nYzheuJE47E

Length: 25min 28sec (1528 seconds)

Published: Thu Jul 30 2015