Combat pistol shooting

Combat pistol shooting is a modern martial art that focuses on the use of the handgun as a defensive weapon for self defense, or for military and police use. Like most martial arts, combat pistol shooting is practiced both for defense and for sport.

Many of the action shooting disciplines are based on combat pistol techniques, and take the form of simulations of defensive or combat situations.

History

Combat pistol shooting, as separate from target shooting, began to evolve in the early 1900s. William E. Fairbairn and later Rex Applegate enumerated many of the early combat pistol practices developed during their training of Office of Strategic Services and British Commando troops in World War II. These techniques live on in modern point shooting techniques. Jeff Cooper was also instrumental in establishing both a combat pistol based sport, International Practical Shooting Confederation (IPSC), and a combat pistol training school, Gunsite. Cooper's methodology has become known as "The Modern Technique". The methods promoted by Applegate and Cooper differ in many respects, and to this day there are often emotional arguments between supporters of the different methodologies.

Techniques

One of the techniques common in combat pistol disciplines is the requirement that two shots be placed on each target. This reflects a common practice in police and military training, where it is assumed that a single shot might not disable an opponent. Since a repeated shot on the same target takes very little time, two shots are fired in rapid succession to increase the chances of causing a disabling wound. This technique is called a "double tap" or a "hammer"; these terms are often used interchangeably, but others use each term to describe a slightly different technique. In a double tap, the shooter visually reacquires the front sight and places it back on target before firing the second shot; this is enough to ensure close placement of the shot, since the recoil will not have disturbed the alignment of front and rear sights. A hammer involves an immediate second shot as soon as the gun returns to position after recoil; no attempt is made to visually reacquire the sights, the shooter relies strictly on kinesthesia to determine when the gun is realigned. Competitive shooters will tend to use a double tap, as the greater accuracy will often result in more points than the slight gain in speed given by a hammer.

Another technique in combat pistol disciplines is the use of reactive targets, or targets that move when hit. Steel plates are the most common, and they may be roughly human shaped or simple round or square plates. In the case of reactive targets, a single hit may not be sufficient to knock down the heavy steel target, so the shooter may have to come back and fire again at remaining targets, or continue firing at each target until the target is obviously going to fall.

Nearly all combat pistol disciplines have some attempt to incorporate combat or defensive role playing elements in the target layouts. Multiple targets will be spread across a wide area, targets may be partially behind hard or soft cover, there may be "no-shoot" targets representing bystanders, and even "hostage" targets, where a target will be partially hidden behind a no-shoot target. There will often be cover for the shooter as well; walls, windows and doorways that must be maneuvered around, with penalties given if the shooter exposes too much of their body to the targets.

No-shoot targets carry a significant penalty if hit, and often there are only subtle differences between the no-shoot targets and the real targets; police often train with photographic targets, where the only difference between the real and the no-shoot target will be a picture of a gun in the hand of the real target. Trying to differentiate real and no-shoot targets while running against the clock can create a large amount of stress in the shooter, which is the goal—training under stress will make real life and death situations that much easier to handle.

Combat pistol drills

The El Presidente

Perhaps the most famous combat pistol drill is the El Presidente drill, developed by Jeff Cooper in the 1970s and published in the January/February 1979 issue of American Handgunner magazine. This is still used as a benchmark to gauge a shooter's skills. The El Presidente drill is set up as follows:

• 3 silhouette targets are placed 1 meter apart in a line 10 meters from the shooter
• The shooter starts with 6 rounds in a holstered handgun, and a spare magazine or speedloader with another 6 rounds
• The shooter begins facing directly away from the targets, often with hands clasped in front or over the head.
• Upon the starting signal, the shooter turns and draws, fires 2 shots at each target, reloads, then fires two more shots at each target.

Scoring varies; the simplest method uses hit/miss scoring, with a time penalty (often 10 seconds) for each miss. IPSC El Presidente matches usually take the target score (possible 60 points) and divide by the time, with time pentalties for misses. A time of 10 seconds with a stock handgun is considered good, though shooters using modern IPSC raceguns with muzzle brakes and red dot sights are close to breaking the 4 second barrier.

The Dozier Drill

This drill was invented by Jeff Cooper after the kidnap of Brigadier General James L. Dozier by Italian Red Brigade terrorists. The terrorists had entered General Dozier's apartment by posing as plumbers. As many as eight completed the gang and four or perhaps five entered the apartment. One of the terrorists removed a submachinegun from his bag of tools while another terrorist read a political statement to General Dozier. At that time, US military personnel were prohibited by Italian law from carrying firearms within their areas of accommodation, which were within the local community and not on US bases. General Dozier was unarmed and unable to defend himself. In response to this incident, Jeff Cooper designed the 'Dozier drill':

The range is set with five metal silhouette targets which are hinged at their base (called 'Pepper Poppers') so as to fall backwards when struck. A second participant stands well to one side and is tasked with retrieving a pistol and a magazine from a toolbag, which he must assemble and ready for action. This action mimics the terrorist who retrieved his submachine gun from his toolbag and provides a datum against which the shooter must compare his performance. On the signal, the shooter must draw his pistol and engage the five targets, representing the five terrorists, before the participant representing the terrorist retrieves his pistol and readies it for use.

External links

• IPSC Classifier CM 99-11, El Presidente, setup and scoring sheet
• IPSC 2006 Annual, with information on El Presidente times
• List of IDPA courses of fire
• Rob Leatham discusses IPSC El Presidente times and strategy
• USPSA, United States Practical Shooting Association
• IDPA International Defensive Pistol Association
• Sensible Shooter streamlines the conduct of practical shooting events

See also

• Shooting sports
• Mozambique Drill
• IPSC