Author Chuck Klein with Glock M36, .45 ACP x 200gr SWC bullet used to break aerial targets.
Preface: Recently, I had occasion of corresponding with a couple of current IALEFI instructors. These guys are in their 30s – about 40 years younger than me – and had never heard of my book and the concept of instinct shooting with a handgun. In other words, there is a generation or two who are not familiar with this tactic. I, of course, didn’t invent the practice, but I did pioneer and define the methods beginning with a feature article for Law & Order Magazine (Oct 1971) and later in my book, the latest of which is now in its 4th edition having been in print for over 35 years: INSTINCT COMBAT SHOOTING, Defensive Handgunning for Police.
There are five basic types of close-quarter-combat handgun shooting: Traditional Sight picture, Front Sight Focus, Flash Sight Picture, Indexing and Instinct. Instinct Combat Shooting is defined as: The act of operating a handgun by focusing on the smallest portion of the target and instinctively coordinating the hand and mind to cause the handgun to discharge at a time and point that ensures interception of the target with the projectile.
Shooting under extreme stress of a lethal force encounter one instinctively wants to keep all eyes on the threat. Any deviation from that condition takes time and when milliseconds count, time is not something one wants to waste.
A person trained to seek any type of sight picture requires focusing and refocusing between the sights and the target. If the target is moving, the time factor is multiplied. Time is the only element that can’t be regained. Once it is lost, it is gone forever. If you have to spend time seeking the perfect sight picture – or any sight picture – that moment is awarded to your adversary. In other words, if the perp is about to waste you, you can’t call time-out, kings, ollie-ollie-income-free….
Yeah, I know, the champion shooters we see on TV shooting competitions all claim to use their sights, but these experts are … experts – very practiced experts and they don’t have to make a life or death decision in the time it takes to draw and defend themselves.
Instinct shooting, specifically Instinct Combat Shooting, is not just looking at the target, per se, it is looking at (focusing – intense focusing) on a small portion of the target. When the handgun comes into battery (out in front and pointed toward the target) is when the mind will have conditioned the trigger finger to pull (squeeze, press or whatever term is in Vogue).
During the micro-short span of time when a decision to shoot has been made your concentration level should be only on the target. To put it another way, all of your concentration might best be on the intended point-of-impact and not conscious of barrel/slide/sights or any other peripheral objects. Taking the occasion, even if only a split second, to visualize a sight alignment or locate the front sight can mean the difference between life and death.
Some might call this intense focus tunnel-vision. It is. Though tunnel-vision has historically been projected as a no-no, it is mandatory during the brief moment when you transition from deciding to shoot to the completion of that shot(s). Of course, you have to be aware of additional threats and background, but only before the decision to shoot. Having decided to shoot, full concentration – oblivious to all else – is required. This instance during which you are engaged in tunnel-vision is a very short span. Perhaps, World Champion race car driver, Phil Hill, said it best: “True concentration is not aware of itself.” (Car and Driver, November 1962).
Now interject this feedback concept to the milliseconds required from deciding-to-shoot to the trigger-reaching-its-terminal-position and the idea of trying to add reaction-action-reaction into the equation should be clear – it’s deadly time consuming. Self-correcting, when faced with a shoot-now situation, is not conducive to survival. If you are trained to interrupt your decision to shoot by relying on visual feedback (sight/slide alignment) then time is lost.
In the stay-alive world, if you see a potential threat advance toward you with felonious intent, you will most likely be – instinctively – looking at this perp with your undivided attention. That is not enough. Having decided to engage in a close-quarter firefight you should, while in the process of going from that point of decision to battery, be focusing on a small point – a target within the target. This intensity of vision and concentration at the instant just before firing will allow your natural mental powers to coordinate the hand and trigger finger to cause the firearm to discharge at the most opportune moment.
INSTINCT COMBAT SHOOTING is not for amateurs. It is a concept that requires goals, knowledge, basics of handgunnery and practice. The basic principles are:
1) Acknowledge the target;
2) Decide to shoot;
3) Secure the practiced/consistent grip;
4) Start the gun moving toward battery (the point where the gun is at its shooting position – usually when the support hand contacts the shooting hand);
5) Focus on a small target-within-the-target;
6) Condition yourself to pull the trigger the instant the firearm reaches battery.
The human brain has an uncanny ability to adjust trigger pull, arm motion/angle and other related tactics – all without consciously thinking about it. That’s why it is possible to hit a moving target – even with a handgun. As the eyes and body follow the target, the mind almost instantly computes and directs the course and speed of the firearm as it moves toward the focal point giving the trigger finger the command to act at the instant of battery. From another perspective, if the mind is forced (ingrained teaching) to focus and adjust for a sight alignment or other time-consuming methods, it throws this natural timing off – especially if the target is moving.
Unless you are a top-notch competitive shooter who practices almost daily with your speed-rig, wouldn’t it be better to learn the method you will be doing instinctively – looking at the target?
Chuck Klein is the author of INSTINCT COMBAT SHOOTING, Defensive Handgunning for Police (now in its 4th edition) and other police and firearm related books and articles. He may be reached through his web site: www.chuckklein.com
