safety
I carried a Beretta 92 9mm for two years at work and trained with it extensively (drawing from the holster and shooting). The original department instructor advised us to sweep the safety as we came out of the holster even if we left the safety unengaged in the holster; in this way, if it was ever bumped "on," when you pulled the trigger it would still go "bang."
I began shooting practical tournaments and when I moved from D to B class I thought I'd start shooting revolver as I could compete twice as often.
On the first competition, when the buzzer went off, I drew the revolver, swept the safety and fired. For a split second my brain buzzed "where did the safety lever go" but another split second later I remembered it was a revolver and began engaging the plates. All of that muscle memory kicked in and I tried to turn off my revolvers non-existnant safety for the first few rounds. After a while, the revolver felt more comfortable and I didn't repeat that move.
I am amazed at some at the range with shiny guns without scratches or wear; I'm proud of the worn bluing and scratches - it is one indication of practice and practice leads to proficiency.
When I'm visiting my best friend's house, we do this drill:
We buy some 3' tall flat wood stakes (the kind you attach yard sale signs to), a package of paper plates and then head to the range (back yard) with a staple gun. We put 5 to 7 stakes in the ground and while the shooter's back is turned, the buddy staples plates to the stakes. On some of the plates, an "x" is drawn through them with a permanent marker.
The shooter is 7 yards (21') from the plates and at a "random" time, the buddy says "draw." We have our pistols holstered, under the shirt, just like in a CCW situation. The goal is to draw and double tap each plate that does NOT have an "x" on it. The buddy records the time and low time wins.
We started out quite rusty but over time we became quite fast at turning, drawing and double tapping 3, 4, 5 or more plates.
Later, the shooter would hand his gun to his buddy who would take out some rounds (causing the shooter to exhaust his ammo during the engagement) - this of course required a magazine change. At first, mag changes were awkward and over time they were as smooth as the shooting.
I find this kind of practice much more fun and rewarding than shooting at a static target at a range. If you can find any land where you can perform speed drills, I'm sure that you'll find that they are a lot more fun than static targets.
As for muscle memory, drills like this with several different handguns each time to the range will make new muscle memories for each gun you shoot.
