What skills are most essential?

[Porkchops]

I'm new to guns--just got my first less than a week ago (Sig P229).


Aside from being able to shoot straight, what would you put as your top 5 to 10 must-acquire life skills with a handgun, and how would you go about practicing them?


These can be anything from fundamentals to tactical skills. I'm working on the fundamentals I learned in the NRA Basic Pistol course.

[S.E.R.T.SGT]

Give you my number one and let everyone else fill in the next ones:

1.) Gun SAFETY Gun SAFETY Gun SAFETY

[45 Fu]

Here are mine, all of equal importance - if you reove one, the others crumble:

Mindset, marksmanship, morals.

Mindset: You must decide that, if you are going to be armed, you are going to take an active part in your defense. The will to train, practice, strategy, and tactics (as much as I'm loathe to use the "T" word) all fit under mindset.

Marksmanship: Possessing the skills that enable you to shoot well under a wide variety of conditions. Sight alignment/trigger control is the foundation of marksmanship.

Morals: Handling, carrying, using, and shooting your weapon in a responsible manner. This means not showing off/brandishing, being sure of your target and what lies beyond it, trying to avoid trouble instead of seeking it out, doing your absolute best to do no harm in any way unless you are forced to by the actions of others. Practicing enough so that you are proficient with whatever weapon(s) you have, not just what you carry.

All these skills are essential. How you go about sharpening these skills is up to you. None is less or more important than the other.

[Frenchwrench]

The best thing you can do is to get experienced,qualified instruction in defensive weapon use.If you are totaly new to shooting, a gun safety class by NRA would be the perfect first step.
Dry fire,for trigger control and sight alignment every chance you get.

[SamD]

Top 5 skills other than marksmanship?

1. Safe gunhandling, Acquired through training
2. Good judgement, Acquired through living
3. Strong moral focus, Acquired from your parental units, hopefully
4. Decisiveness, Goes hand in hand with #2 and 3
5. Tactical skills, Acquired through training but not strongly required in most cases. You are just in there and don't get a whole lot of time to plan.


Sam

[KSFreeman]

1. Ability to run;
2. Awareness;
3. Coolness/Calmness;
4. Aggression when needed;
5. "mindset"--ability to control self before and during and after fight;
6. gunhandling--includes drawing, loading, inter alia;
7. marksmanship;
8. skill at arms--combination of all factors.

[bclark1]

just to chime in with one, i'd say physical fitness is often overlooked. i know a lot of fat guys at the range just because you could grease me with a one-quarter-inch-sight-radius-derringer at 300 yards doesn't mean you shouldn't be physically prepared for any more than that. it's obviously not THE most important thing, perhaps not even top-5, but i think it's definitely top-3 on the "usually ignored" list.

[Wraith]

I must say, as a NCAA shooter, physical fitness plays a good role in accurate shooting. Based on experience, lived and observed.

But I must agree: Saftey is paramount.

[goalie]

1. Ability to run

About the best advice I have read in a while.

[shield20]

Fundamental skills?

safety 1st
weapon functionality
acguire/maitain proper grip
acquire/maintain proper stance
Front sight / trigger press
presentation from holster


For Tactical purposes?

concealed draw/presentation
speed & tactical reloads
Malfunction clearing
one handed operation/shooting
weak hand operation/shooting
multiple target engagement
low-light shooting
CQB handling/shooting
use of cover/concealment
shooting from different positions - sitting kneeling prone

To learn them - go to a good class, or atleast buy a good book(s) (like Gabe Suarez's Tactical Pistol books) to 1st learn how to do them right, then repeat the drills as often as possible - 1000s of times. Dry firing drills can be used for just about all of them, and will help to instill the skills in your brain; and alot of time on the range of course. Work to do things right 1st, then smooth, and then speed can/will come.

[Duxman]

Wont repeat the safety measures as explained.

Will say this:

Practice in the same conditions as you would use your weapon in real life. If you practice fast draws on the strong side hip, do it with a coat, with a shirt tucked out, and with other obstructions such as this.

You will not always be walking around with your gun in a cowboy rig ready to draw.

Dry Fire - a lot! Helps with getting more accurate and used to your weapon.

[Bobarino]

1: gun safety

2: become proficient with your firearm through training and practice.

3: ability to check your pride and walk away from a situation that could escalate into a fight, even if you are in the right and someone is trying to goad you into it.

4: realize that if you decide to carry, you give up your right to flip people off on the freeway, quarrel over trivial things with strangers, drink excess alcohol while armed etc.

5: realize that it is your duty to do everything possible to avoid a situation that might lead to you having to use your firearm.

when i first started carrying, i had a hero complex. now i realize that carrying does not make you tougher, or a hero, it should make you into the most polite little weenie possible until your life or someone else's life is actually threatened.

Bobby

[Mr. James]

^^^ More good advice, Bobby.

[Dwight55]

Porkchops, . . . of all the posts, . . . I think Bobarino stated it about as well and as succinctly as most of us could use.

The only "other" line I would add to his post is just a simple caution, from a pastor's perspective.

If you decide to carry a concealed weapon, before you take the class, take a moment and determine for yourself if indeed you would use the weapon. I know folks who have weapons on top of weapons, . . . love shooting and hunting and fishing, . . . would never ever in their wildest dream consider shooting another human being.

In a shooting scenario, . . . if they had a weapon, . . . they would be a liability. Would you be?

Please don't think I am trying to discourage you, . . . as a pastor, . . . my SA stainless .45 gets just a little less carrying time than my Bible.

You asked for important items, . . . and the mindset, attitude, personal philosophy, (whatever you want to call it) is to me a very important item, . . . one that I would rank up very close to 2 or 3 (safety being first of course).

May God bless,
Dwight

[Double Naught Spy]

The ability to run is a very good skill and I consider my shoes one of the most important self defense forms of gear that I own. After all, the best way to not lose a gun fight or other type of fight is to NOT BE THERE!!!

The ability to run comes with a stipulation. You must also be willing to run. While most have the ability, some let their ego get in the way of backing down or retreating. So you need the ability to run, the willingness, and in my case, I try not to scream like a pre-adolescent child while doing so. It just isn't attractive.

As noted, you must also have proper mindset and situational awareness. A lot of good folks end up losing fights because they really didn't know what they were up against before the fight or were surprised by the start of a fight. It is hard to defend yourself from a threat when you don't know that there is a threat or that the threat has started aggression toward you.

And as touched on, enough can't be said about learning to do reloads and learning to clear malfunctions. A lot of good people and bad guys die as a result of not being about to clear malfunctions, often because they don't know how to clear the malfunction. People also die because of not being able to effect a proper reload under pressure. It is fine when malfunctions and reload issues plague the bad guys, but it sucks when it happens to the good guys.

[jonathon]

1. Strong moral foundation, you MUST know good from evil and LIVE IT. Otherwise, sell your guns and become a mindless drone like the Commu-Nazi Democrats want.

2. Common Sense(includes safty really, you need to gain it from expirience and habbit.. just like all other "common sense" skills)

3. Everything else

Master 1 and 2, and you'll be great.. to tell the truth, that would be hard

[Mannlicher]

So far as skills go, I would rank the following, in this order:
situational awarness
gun handling, including safety
accurate shooting

But as important, or maybe even more so, is a mindset that allows you to pull the trigger on another person. There are a lot of guys who are awsome at the range, that could not decide in a split second to shoot. He that hesitates is lost, or dead.

[KSFreeman]

00, I cry like a little girl when I run.

Serves to summon help and is a great diversion technique.

[alpineman]

I'm pretty new to shooting, too, so I'm not sure how much I can add to the valuable comments above. From my perspective, if I had to sum it up, I'd say "mindset" is the most important thing. Or, if you want to say it like the Jedi (saw Episode III & can't help myself...), always be "mindful":

-Be mindful of your safety and those around you
-Be mindful of your surroundings
-Be mindful of your moral and ethical obligation to protect your life and the lives of those around you
-Be mindful of the huge responsibility a firearm brings with it

[chris in va]

Nunchuck skills. Definitely.

[918sgt]

The ability to swallow your pride, apologize and get the hell out of there as gracefully as possibly unless you like being in police departments, court and emergency rooms.

Remember, WHATEVER you say immediately prior to a shooting will be repeated to a jury by some witness. Keep it polite. Lots of sirs and pleases.

If all else fails two rounds is the MINIMUM response..

[yekimak]

1) Safety is learned...practice safely handling your gun over and over and over till it is second nature. I.E. finger out of the trigger gaurd, being mindful of the direction it is pointing, etc.

2) learn when to shoot (legally)

3) learn to shoot, and then learn to shoot under a variety of circumstances, because BG's usually don't hold still at 25 yards with a handy backstop behind them. Even basic skills puts you at a distinct advantage over the average gun wielding punk, but why stop there?

4) Learn how to be aware.....of where you are, of other people, of surroundings, and practice daily....you don't need a gun to do mental exercises, to judge distances, cover, backgrounds, etc.

[Dave R]

To the topic of handgun skills...

My brother in law changed my attitude toward handgun training. He's in the FBI. First time we went shooting together, I was prepared to impress him with how small my groups could get at 15 yards.

Instead, he impressed me mightily with his ability to draw from concealment and get multiple hits on the target FAST. That's what he trains for. Sorta a modern-day quick-draw skill. His point is, if you need to use your handgun, the ability to get multiple hits on the target FAST is probably what will save your life.

So now I do a lot more draw-present-fire drills and spend less time on small groups at long range. BTW, I do most of my draw-present-fire drills in the garage with Speer's plastic training bullets. But range time with real recoil is important, too.

[Eghad]

Basic Marksmanship skills practiced over and over and over.

also try to be the adult in a bad situation.......and de-escalation skills.

ftw