Slow, Aimed Fire

It’s been a busy few months.  I have been running classes for a wide variety of students.  Firearms classes for us “normal” people, as well as some for local Law Enforcement and Government Agencies.  One of the consistent things I’ve seen in all the classes is the desire to go fast.  That’s normal.  Running the Half & Half drill and the variations of the Rhythm Drill will definitely allow you to improve your speed on target.  You need to push yourself to the failure point, but you can’t just be cavalier in throwing rounds.  As the man said, there’s a lawyer attached to every round that exits the barrel. 

It is important to get in slow, aimed fire as well.  Always go back to the basic principles of shooting.  I designed a target specifically for slow aimed fire.  You can get it as a free PDF download here.  It’s designed for you to focus on the center of the target.  It has various sizes so after you get consistent hits, move on to the smaller one. 

Shooting is a perishable skill.  In a real fight, you get no cool points for missing faster than the other guy.  You also don’t get to do 47 retries to get it right for the Gram.  This is real life and accuracy matters.  Take the time to do slow, aimed fire.  Do single shots -- slowly and deliberately to get a perfect repetition.  Do controlled pairs.  Focus on the “controlled” part of that drill. 

I promise you, by making slow, aimed fire a regular part of your training, when you do shoot fast, you will be much more accurate for it.  This is life and death. No gimmick can make up for putting in the work.

—Jared