The way we practice on the range has a habit of showing up in real gunfights. If your typical session of practice at the range consist of you standing still and working on making small holes in the target with slow deliberate fire you aren’t preparing yourself for a gunfight.
First, work on combat accuracy and speed. I define combat accuracy as placing the majority of your rounds in the high chest, in an area that is centered and about 4 inches wide from the bottom of your ribcage to the base of the throat. This is the area is most likely to stop a fight quickly.
How fast is combat fast? The Force Science Institute indicates that officers in real gunfights shoot an average of 5 rounds per second. If you have never shot that fast in training, don’t expect good results in the street. Shooting at that speed will test your shooting grip and recoil control. If you are having problems staying on target shooting that fast you need to work on one or both.
Once you have gotten when you can hit at that rate add in movement. Side stepping both left and right to get you off the X. The X is where your assailant is presenting their weapon and rounds. By moving off line you make them have to adjust to your movement. The sideways movement can be a side step of a several feet or even farther.
If you are forced to shoot from a booth at the range start with your foot against one side, as you draw you should be side stepping at the same time to other side of the booth. Your draw shouldn’t take any more time than the side step, so as you are coming to a stop your weapon should be up and on target.
If you are able to move around on the range, add in movement that gets you off the X and keep walking. Move side to side, forward at an angle to the threat and backwards at an angle. Moving straight at or away from a threat makes you an easier target to hit. Move towards and practice taking and shooting from behind cover.
By ingraining this movement in your range training, and reinforcing its’ use in Force on Force simulations you are training to win a gunfight.