gunfighting. In the same sense, there is a great difference in those who are good “shooters” at the gun range and those who are good gunfighters.
“It is hard to make this clear to a man who has never been in a gunfight. ” – Wyatt Earp
The act of firing a gun at a target is known as shooting. We shall focus on handguns for the purpose of simplicity in this discussion. The three components of good pistol shooting are the grip, sight alignment, and trigger control. Many people will succeed in their desired aim of developing good expertise and competence with their own handgun with practise and instruction. When they need to unwind and relax, hobbyists can practise.
A encounter involving two or more individuals utilising weapons to resolve the dispute or disagreement is known as a gunfight. It takes more than simply good shooting to operate the same handgun in a defensive or tactical setting; it takes pistolcraft. Shooting makes up 10% of a gunfight, according to a wise guy who once said. a crucial element But it just makes up a minor portion of the total. It calls for tactical prowess, the use of cover and concealment, an understanding of the distinction between cover and concealment, poor lighting conditions, support hand only training, primary weapon only training, lateral movement training, shooting while moving, extremely close range shooting, legal ramifications, the use of force, and reality-based training. This is by no means a complete list of the abilities needed for gunfights.
Shooters who are tactically or self-defence focused practise because they must, because failing is not an option or because they want to keep their skills at a professional level. It is a way of thinking, living, and, for some people, a profession.
Does this imply that the self-defense-focused shooter has no use for competition? Without a doubt. It is an excellent method for inducing anxiety when moving around with a gun in your hand. This post from a few years ago on “Action Shooting Competitions” goes into greater detail about it.
So a “tactical” shooter doesn’t require shooting coaching or instruction? Not at all. Accuracy is a crucial component of tactical proficiency, as was previously discussed. The “Five Fingers of Tactical Skill” article, which was published more than five years ago, has a thorough description of my particular ideology on acquiring tactical proficiency.
My main goal in talking about this is to highlight the key distinctions between shooting and gunfighting.
I’ve had the good fortune to get instruction, guidance, and mentoring from several outstanding shooters and gunfighters.
For learning the foundations of shooting for both sport and self-defence, a skilled shooting instructor is tremendously helpful. Gunfighting is NOT shooting.
Choose your mentor wisely for the situation in which you want to learn.
Ben