How Do You Fire Your First Shot from Your CCW

How do you fire your first shot from CCW

  • Stop at wall, aim, pull and fire

    Votes: 2 8.3%

  • Pull straight through to fire

    Votes: 22 91.7%
  • Total voters
    24
  • Poll closed .
Unless you are very well practiced and calm under life-and-death pressure it is unlikely you will have both the presence of mind and the tactile sense to "stop at the wall" while under attack. Perhaps for a longer-range, defense of a third party type event, but even that would take impressive mental focus.
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Which is why you practice until it becomes muscle memory. It has worked every time I have had to fire my weapon in combat. It is doctrine and how SOF is trained as well as other premier shooting organizations in DoJ and DHS.

It works well. To claim it is "unlikely" with proper training is simply not the case.

Obviously, without proper training and developed muscle memory one would be relying upon the combat fairy which is never a good idea.
 
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Does this sun up what you guys are saying?(I'm talking practice and hope it is never ever needed).

"If your goal is speed later on, then you need to build the foundation for speed.
Right now work on a smooth straight back trigger press. Do not try to take up the slack and then press through the break as that will hamper your speed progression later on as you get better.
Straight, continuous, smooth press, release the trigger to just beyond the reset point then another smooth press.
Once you have a solid smooth press and have developed a little speed you can work on staging the trigger for more precise shots at speed.
It's easier to work on the speed/accuracy balance with a continuous smooth press than it is to work the hiccup out of your trigger press from staging the trigger as you develop speed."
 
Better learn to pull straight thru, of course I have a 642 mostly, occasionally , an old LC9, neither very good to try and stage the trigger on. Not like a Glock.
If at long range, concentrate on front sight.
 
I too was going to ask what is meant by "stop at the wall" but since it was answered, now I know. In Neo's Matrix world "there is no spoon". In my world, "there is no wall". :D
 
44 amp has been here since 2006 and I've been here since 2004--possibly earlier. Honestly this is the first time I've heard "stop at the wall".

Seems the idea is an old one but dressed in new clothes.

tipoc
 
tipoc said:
44 amp has been here since 2006 and I've been here since 2004--possibly earlier. Honestly this is the first time I've heard "stop at the wall".

Seems the idea is an old one but dressed in new clothes.

tipoc
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I first figured it was "Staging the trigger" but other than when making really long distance shots with some of the older bolt action rifles I can't remember it ever coming up. Then I wondered if it was related to some of the new striker "tactical" hardware but since I can't even imagine using anything called tactical I figured I was unlikely to do that. Then I remembered some one handed racking the slide drills where you push against some object to rack a slide (I always imagined I'd use that while while shooting with my other hand and kicking away opponents with my feet) but that didn't seem to fit either.
 
Adding a few words, as I hadn't heard of "the wall" in this context:

Unholster, with finger off the trigger
Bring the weapon onto the target placing finger on trigger
Take the slack out (the wall?)
Fire if require
 
It sounds like we are talking about step by step, pretty basic things here, and giving conscious thought, as to whats going on with the trigger, while the shot is made.

I would think that that wouldnt be going on as you gain experience, and youre focus would be on the target and the sights, if they were the proper response. Sometimes they are not.

I know when I shoot, I dont think about the trigger, or how the gun is setting itself up to fire at all, I just focus on what I want to shoot, and shoot it, or maybe dont, whatever my brain says is the proper response in the moment.

It seems to me here, that some are focusing on what the gun is doing, instead of what the target is, or might be doing, and taking the long way around to breaking the shot. Or am I missing something here?
 
The "wall" comes from relatively current articles about trigger technique using mostly strikers or LEM, not DA or DAO. I too do not like shooting step by step, however, to develope the correct muscle memory with say a HK LEM or any striker, good shooters press straight through and other good shooters say they find their sights in take up pausing briefly at the "wall". Is one better than the other?
 
Pull straight through. If you need to take your gun out to shoot someone don't hesitate. If you just want to brandish your gun keep your finger off the trigger. Once you decide that it's a dangerous enough situation be confident and be sure of your target.
 
While I sometimes stop at The Wall, I'm much more likely to play Wish You Were Here, or Dark Side of the Moon. :D
 
davidsog said:
Which is why you practice until it becomes muscle memory. It has worked every time I have had to fire my weapon in combat. It is doctrine and how SOF is trained as well as other premier shooting organizations in DoJ and DHS.

It works well. To claim it is "unlikely" with proper training is simply not the case.

Obviously, without proper training and developed muscle memory one would be relying upon the combat fairy which is never a good idea.
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Davidsog,
I have heard veteran SOF types recommend partial trigger pull during the push to the target, but prior to full extension/sight picture. For those with high levels of stress innoculation and who are willing to practice a hundred plus repetitions per week, that would seem to work.
Personally, I would advise most shooters to develop a smooth, consistent trigger pull, especially if they shoot guns with different triggers or are not going to consistently perform repetitions, as the level of pressure control under stress is difficult to achieve and maintain. Further, for most shooters, there are probably more important things to focus on during a violent encounter than applying "x" pounds of pressure but not enough to fire, before they intend to fire.

Also, which doctrine are you referring to? I don't see what we are talking about being advised in the 2017 version of TC 3-23.35 (although I'm not terribly familiar with it.)
 
chemcal said:
The "wall" comes from relatively current articles about trigger technique using mostly strikers or LEM, not DA or DAO. I too do not like shooting step by step, however, to develope the correct muscle memory with say a HK LEM or any striker, good shooters press straight through and other good shooters say they find their sights in take up pausing briefly at the "wall". Is one better than the other?
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Both are useful in the proper circumstances.

"The wall", as pointed out above is not new. It's just a newish term that "comes from relatively current articles about trigger technique". As chemcal noted.

It's staging the trigger in a semi and whether to do it or not. Or when to do it. This was mentioned earlier in this thread by a couple of different folks. It makes zero difference whether it's striker fired or hammer fired. As mentioned by others it was common in military rifles for generations.

All semis that I'm familiar with have some take up of the trigger. There is slack in the trigger, that is, the take up before you get to the point where the trigger breaks. Different designs of triggers will have a different feel but essentially they all have this in common. The point here, of the OP's question, is do you take up the slack and pause before pulling through the trigger break, or just pull through?

This has been discussed for a long time by shooters and there are different advocates. Mostly though, for most folks, both have their place and are useful. For a well aimed shot at distance the pulling through the slack, or take up, and firing when ready works well. Placing three shots into a close target in one second, trying to feel a pause, is well a bit harder and I don't worry about it and pull straight through. Some top level shooters may be able to but that ain't me.

A common thing is the "gun culture" is for a gun writer or a gun trainer to attempt to distinguish themselves by coming up with a new term for something that is old. Sometimes this is because they have an insight into something or are advocating a new approach (think of Jeff Cooper's "surprise break" of the trigger for example). Other times it's for self promotion. "The wall" seems to fall into that. It's an older discussion of trigger prep.

tipoc
 
Ultimately, skill with a firearm is of no use if you can't control your your emotions and mental state.
 
Shoot more, read less.
This thread has been a waste of time. Do yourself a favor, shoot some action pistol or IDPA competition, a little bit of stress while trying to make fast, accurate hits will help you answer your own question.
 
Ok, now that I know "stopping at the wall" is just a new name for "taking up the slack", then I would say that, for myself, in a defensive situation I would be pulling straight through, and point shooting without trying to use the sights at short range.

For any kind of accurate shooting at longer range, I take up the slack as I align the sights, then when the sights are on my target, I shoot.
 
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