How to improve speed while maintaining accuracy with semi-auto pistols?

make sure you learn the fundamentals first.

a lot has been covered in the post already. If your shooting quarter sized groups at 15 yards - push yourself faster - but don't violate the fundamentals

fast accurate shooting is the fundamentals done quickly.

DRY FIRE ( a lot) but dry fire with discipline - don't just bring the gun up and pull the trigger - consciously acquire that front site and and discipline yourself to get that additional site picture before bringing it down - your shot sequence ends on an additional sight picture - period

and OF COURSE you aim in a combat situation - instinctive fire (looking at where you want it to hit) is for close in shooting (under 7m or imho under 5m) Use that flash sight picture . (see DRY FIRE)

practice then practice then practice some more
 
Take it from a chapion pistol shooter

Get a shot timer. They even have apps for your smart phone. What feels fast or slow is not reliable you need to time it.

It takes a lot of practice but learning not to flinch or even blink is Key!

Dry fire and practice with a .22 almost all of your learning can be done like this. Dryfiring everyday is better than going to the range once a week.
 
Great reading and lot's of good advice. Like has been said above...

Don't blink. Watch the brass fly and see the front sight go up from recoil and come right back down on target. If it does not come down on target, your grip or stance is wrong for you. See the muzzle flash too, then you know your eye's or eye is are open. A 22lr pistol is good for learning this. Once you know your grip and stance are right, start dry firing with your same grip and stance.

I have land where I can step out the door and practice whenever I want. I have lot's of 22lr ammo and an M&P22 which is what I use the most.
 
Glad to see this thread is still alive and has helped others. At this point I need to just get to the range. The ammo shortage has kept me away but I have enough to get out. Just need to make the time. Especially before this Texas summer comes on full blast. Maybe this weekend.
 
General fitness and gender specific upper body fitness will help anybody. Getting the correct grip out of the holster is so important. i.e. not having to readjust. Don't neglect your core muscles as they add stability to the whole body. Coordination before speed, coordination and speed before power and speed. Practice itself does not make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect. :eek: GL everybody!
 
Sometimes I get the impression that the suggesting of training without using sights implies, "using sights is bad." That's not exactly the case.

I think you need two kinds of training: aimed and unaimed fire. Sure, you should aim if your attacker is 20-25 feet away or more - if you can remember to do it under stress. Note: I'm NOT talking about battlefield situations where you're shooting at enemy 50 yards away from cover. I'm also not talking about police shootings, which are totally different from a civilian self-defense shooting.

But the vast majority of civilian self-defense shootings happen at very close range, like 5 to 7 feet. They may happen instantly, by surprise, when you're not expecting it, in the dark, when it's windy and cold, and when you're looking at your watch wondering when you need to take that roast out of the oven.

The BG may already have his gun in his hand and you may have a fraction of a second to either put him down or die. What will save your life in that situation is NOT hunting for the front sight, but quickly drawing and firing.

I've practiced quickly acquiring the front sight just fine: I used to shoot Steel Challenge.. but I can also draw and fire 3 shots into a sheet of typing paper at 8 feet in under a second.

Either way, sights or no sights, is important, but it's a mistake to go off thinking there is only ONE way to do it and ignore the other. That kind of thinking can get you killed.
 
milito227 said:
Get a shot timer. They even have apps for your smart phone. What feels fast or slow is not reliable you need to time it.

It takes a lot of practice but learning not to flinch or even blink is Key!

Dry fire and practice with a .22 almost all of your learning can be done like this. Dryfiring everyday is better than going to the range once a week.
Click to expand...

Wow. It took 42 posts before a shot timer got mentioned! :). There's also a surefire iPhone app that you can plug in an earbud under shooting muffs. It's not as good as a Pact timer, but it's less than 3% of the cost.

I'm by no means a fast shooter, yet. But I heard a quote from one of the many esteemed shooters/instructors paraphrased,"I can take an accurate shooter and teach him speed easier than I can take a fast shooter and teach him accuracy."

At least 2 of the drills mentioned are refinements of the "Dot Drill" or "Dot Torture" drills.

Good stuff. Buy a reloading press. You're going to need it.
 
Reach out with your other hand and touch the frame or barrel on it's bottom side, if it does not move in recoil on your gun, with your other hand.

I use my thumb and forefinger on my .22's. It makes a very big improvement in accuracy.

Of course we can't do that with revolvers.
 
I recently found a free android app shot timer. I still have to figure out some of the settings. Shooting at steel it seems to pick up either the steel getting hit, or maybe the echo - so it shows more shots than I've made and is pretty useless for split times - but it does seem to work well for getting a first shot time.
As it's been hard to get ammo recently anyway, I've found drawing and shooting for every shot extends the amount of time I have with my ammo ration, and has been cutting down on the time.
What's worked for me has been not actually going for speed. I draw, aim, and fire a shot as fast as I can, but don't rush myself. After a few dozen repetitions the time goes down on it's own.
I'm certainly not as fast as anyone who's actually "fast", but after a few weeks I'm down to about 1.2" from my OWB hip holster, and about 2.5" from my IWB holster (@5:00, under a shirt). Not particularly impressive times, but better than where I started, and much faster than I would have guessed. I also didn't realize it takes me about twice as long to get my gun out of my concealment rig, so that was useful info too.
I'm switching from a soft IWB to a hybrid in the hope that it improves that time, but with free apps out there there's no excuse not to get a timer and actually know what's going on.
 
dayman, very cool. That's exactly what I'm talking about. Glad to hear you are training and being critical of your technique. I tried a timer app too. Wasn't any good. Will pick up a real one sometime.
 
The best way I have found to increase speed is to use a shot timer as others have mentioned.
I use IPSC Shot Timer Pro on my iPhone with a set of ear buds under my muffs.
It works perfectly at our indoor range even with other shooters close by.

The drill I use is simple and can be adapted to your type of shooting.
I load 2 rounds into the magazine in the gun and a full spare mag.
I use an IPSC target but a USPSA is just as good.
Draw and fire 2 shots reload on slide lock and shoot 2 more.

The reason I use this drill set up in this method is that you get to practice a reload at the same time.
Always reload with a full mag which keeps the weight of the mag constant.
You don't want to practice with a mag holding 2 rounds which is lighter and will not handle the same.
By using an IPSC or USPSA target you have a realistically sized "A" zone.
If all your shots are in the "A" zone you are shooting too slowly.
If your shots are not in the "A" zone at all you are shooting too rapidly.
A few lessons with a local instructor can really help you out by improving your stance and grip.

I took a local intro to IPSC course which helps by also watching others shoot and see their errors and see what corrective measures were needed to improve their technique.

When drawing and firing each individual step should be performed and when put together creates a blueprint for repeatability.
1)grip. Drive the web of your hand between the thumb and index finger into the butt of the gun with your index finger pointed straight out and wrap your fingers around the grip maintaining a straight trigger finger.
2)Draw. Draw the gun straight up and out of the holster so that the muzzle clears the holster while still maintaining a straight trigger finger.
3) Rotate. Rotate the gun so that the muzzle points forward.
4) Raise. Raise the firearm up to eye level, quite close to your face, while the support hand comes across to find its place on the grip.
5) Extend. While extending your arms forward, acquire your sight picture and place your index finger on the trigger.
6) Shoot. Squeeze the trigger.
7) Reload. Trigger finger straight against the frame. Release the magazine while simultaneously bringing the gun closer to your face. Use your index finger on your support hand to guide the tip of the magazine home.
Slingshot the slide, sights on target while extending and putting trigger finger on trigger.
Shoot.
 
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For me trying to shoot faster and still be accurate was a game of diminishing returns. In other words whatever increase I achieved in speed while maintaining my accuracy required a bigger increase in the percentage of ammunition I shot in practice. Since my ammunition budget won't stretch any further I'm as fast and accurate as I'm going to get. I do have a really good handle on how fast I can shoot at 4,7,10 and 15 yards and still keep everything in the A zone of an IPSC target and that's a good thing to know because it's a lot different depending on the distance.
 
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