Concealed carry & drawing

If you for some reason have to carry your weapon concealed, such as a condition of your carry permit, or in your work, here are some pointers on how to improve your skills.

First of all, "training makes perfect", or as somebody has put it: "Perfect training makes perfect". You must practice. All gunhandling skills are perishable skills. If you don´t practice, don´t expect to perform as you would like to.

When you have chosen the weapon, and other equipment that you want to lug around, practice with this equipment on, as often as possible.

If you carry bodyarmour and a suitcoat when carrying a weapon, practice with the vest and coat on. Don´t throw away old suitcoats, keep them for the training on the range. If you live in an area where the weather gets cold, practice with gloves on. Choose a type of glove that allows you to utilise your sidearm.

At our local gun club, me and my shooting buddies practice IPSC shooting the whole year around. It is an experience worth trying, to shoot a IPSC stage when it is -10 degrees Celsius below zero.

Suitcoats, or jackets, require you to somehow move the garment out of the way to be able to execute a smooth draw. The easiest way to do this, is to stand in your preferred stance, and with your shooting hands outer edge push the jacket to the rear in a "brushing" movement, to gain access to your weapon. A loaded magazine, keys, or a roll of coins in the pocket of the jacket helps in getting it out of the way. The above mentioned technique can be used when you carry your weapon on the "stronghand" side.

If you carry your weapon in condition three, (chamber empty, magazine inserted), after you sweep the jacket out of the way, you will have to rack the slide of the semiautomatic to chamber a round. This is not so timeconsuming as you might think. My draw is about 1/10 - 2/10 ths of a second slower, having the weapon in condition three, drawing, racking the slide, and firing single action, to having a round in the chamber and firing double action.

I urge you to practice all of the various techniques that you find necessary for you become a better pistolshooter, whether you use your weapon for bullseye shooting, selfdefense or in your profession. I will not get into too much detail here, as there are good training to be had in this field.

I am a qualified pistol instructor, but I think that some things should be taught in person.

For some exellent training for both citizens, and professionals, I can highly recommend the SIGARMS ACADEMY in Exeter New Hampshire.

I have been there a couple of times for training and the staff is very knowledgeable and friendly. Give them a call, and say that you saw the link on my homepage.