Train for Accuracy at Speed

“Rapid fire” is a boogeyman term. It’s used not only by gun control advocates to scare people and demonize shooting, it’s used at many indoor and outdoor ranges to justify safety restrictions. Its meaning is inconsistently defined, conflated with “automatic” weapons and often understood to mean “mag dump,” “out of control” and “unsafe.” But the boogeyman isn’t “rapid fire.” The real boogeyman is the low skill, untrained shooter who thinks speed is just about pressing the trigger fast, without any knowledge, training or ability to manage recoil efficiently and get the gun’s sights to return to the target quickly, for accurate hits — at speed. 

Why speed matters

The challenge is that placing “rapid fire” restrictions (one round every one or two seconds) reinforces poor shooting technique and masks obvious training and skill deficiencies. The result is lot of shooters who are woefully ill-prepared to use their handgun for self-defense, which will demand shooting fast. Statistics are clear. Most self-defense encounters are over in 2-5 seconds, averaging about 3 shots fired. Shooting with urgency is a skill that demands training and practice. It is absolutely essential for self-defense and separates marginally skilled shooters from top level shooters.

Efficiency equals speed

Speed isn’t about just pressing a trigger faster. It’s about how efficiently you can draw your gun, get your gun on target, acquire your sights and get your sights to return to the target for the next shot. Speed is set by how quickly you can visually process what’s happening.

Speed — a byproduct of efficiency — requires eliminating or mitigating unnecessary movement or adjustments as you are firing. This tests your grip (correct pressure and durability). It tests your vision (staying locked on a small focal point).

Shooting with speed doesn’t mean sacrificing accuracy. However, it demands a deeper understanding and higher level of proficiency of grip and vision, and a lot of dry fire practice. 

Once a student can handle a gun safely and has a rudimentary understanding of fundamentals, I believe instructors should begin working on speed. Focusing solely on slow fire, close target shooting will mask deficiencies in fundamentals and result in bad habits that hinder progress.

Speed as a training tool

Is this familiar? Shooting one round every second or two, aiming in hard, adjusting your grip after each round? That’s inefficient and it indicates a skill deficit. And in a stressful situation, that grip will deteriorate even more. You will not be able to maintain a strong grip through a longer course of fire and accurately put rounds on target.

It’s necessary to experiment and find the right grip pressures that will not only remain consistent and durable through a longer string of fire, but allow your gun and sights to return to your focal point again and again without adding any unnecessary input. You also need to work on finding a small focal point and training your vision to stay locked on that focal point while firing.

You must continually pressure test grip and vision, to reveal skill gaps that need attention in your practice and training. Use a timer and run drills that will help you build repeatable, efficient movements and techniques — solid fundamentals that stand up under pressure.

The Bill Drill at varying distances

I use a Bill Drill at 7, 15, 25 yards to test my ability to intentionally adjust the speed of fire based on context. I want to make sure I’m not engaging targets at different distances the same way. I don’t want to waste time shooting too slowly on close targets that might just need a flash sight picture, and I don’t want accuracy to suffer because I’m shooting too fast at farther targets that might need a more refined sight picture.

To intentionally adjust speed, you must learn to understand what you need to see to confirm you’re on target — visual cues based on your skill level. For example, if using an optic, a flash of red, a bouncing dot, or a stopped, stable dot — in order to take a shot. Visual cues change based on context, or the size, distance and risk associated with a target. Your skill here dictates the speed of fire.

At the closest distance, I know I can shoot seeing just a streak of red over my focal point. This is my visual cue. I’m comfortable seeing less and don’t need to wait to see a stopped, stable dot and waste time over confirming my sights. This enables me to shoot sooner. At the farthest distance, I need to be more patient to see a more stopped, stable dot over my focal point. 

I’m not shooting a “cadence.” I’m shooting based on visual cues. And when understood and applied correctly, I’m able to achieve consistent splits and accurate hits at max speed for my skill level.

Set yourself up for success

Shooting at speed has important training and practical applications. It will reveal deficiencies that will not necessarily be apparent when shooting slowly. And in a self-defense situation, you won’t be dictating the pace or the context. It will most assuredly be faster than one round per second at a distance you have no way of predicting. Speed doesn’t need to be blazing fast. Not everyone will be able to run a sub 2 second Bill Drill with all Alphas. However, running a sub 4 second Bill Drill consistently — that means again and again, on demand, not a one-off parlor trick — is achievable with practice. Set higher standards and learn to adjust and control speed, while staying fully accountable for every round.