How can I shoot faster?

How can I shoot faster?

“How can I shoot faster?” is one of the most common questions I get at matches. As a Master class pistol shooter I am not a slow shooter, nor am I the fastest around (even at our local matches), but I am quite a bit faster than what I would call an average competitor. It is worth mentioning that the average competitor is quite a bit faster than the average shooter, which is a shooter that practices regularly but doesn’t shoot using a timer. This is important, which I will get into later.

Why does fast matter?

While I can put some numbers to it, and I will shortly, in the context of this blog I’m mainly referring to competitive shooting. That being said, being able to shoot quickly (and accurately) is certainly a fantastic skill to have if you find yourself on the two-way range.

In competition speed matters because it directly affects your score. If you can shoot as accurately as the next guy, but you can do it faster, you will score better. Shooting faster while maintaining accuracy increases score regardless of what game you’re playing.

In defensive situations getting rounds on target first is one of the single most important factors in winning. Never is winning more important than it is during a fight for your life, and speed coupled with accuracy will always work in your favor.

Lastly, and probably the biggest motivating factor for many, is that speed is impressive. Let’s be honest, shooting accurately when time isn’t a factor isn’t very difficult compared to shooting accurately with time pressure. Since most people don’t do it well they are impressed when they see someone who can and they want to be able to do it as well. I believe this is why I get asked about it more than anything else on the range. People aren’t impressed with accuracy, they are impressed by fast accuracy.

So, what is fast?

Fast is relative. It is relative to the task as well as relative to others performing the same task. If we set some parameters it will help us define what we mean. Let’s talk about shooting handguns, at a distance of 7-10 yards, in a competitive setting, at competition silhouette targets, with little or no movement involved. Since we are just talking about shooting it allows us to isolate some variables and measure our results. Measuring results is important because we can’t define fast if we don’t have some metric.

Looking at a basic speed drill, like the Bill Drill, will allow us to define what we consider fast. The Bill drill is simple: from the holster you draw and fire 6 shots at a USPSA silhouette at 7 yards. It is an excellent drill to evaluate and improve raw shooting speed. It has essentially two skills that must be mastered to perform well. You have to draw and fire the first shot quickly and then fire five splits (time between shots on the same target) quickly. I consider a Bill Drill in under 2 seconds with good hits to be reasonably “fast”. What’s funny is that when I tell people this they often adopt the exasperated “that’s impossible” look. Well, if it was easy it wouldn’t be considered fast because everyone could do it. Remember, fast is relative to the task and to others performing the same task. A 2 second Bill Drill is about where a high A class to low Master class USPSA shooter is likely to be. A 2 second Bill Drill typically breaks down to a 1 second draw to first shot and five 0.2 second splits. Currently my fastest clean Bill Drill (all A zone hits) is 1.73. My fastest is a 1.66 with three C zone hits. I normally shoot them in 1.8 to 2.0 seconds.

How do I know this? Simple, I keep track. If you really want to improve your speed you need to keep track. Getting faster doesn’t just happen, it requires directed practice. Three years ago I couldn’t shoot a clean Bill Drill in under 3 seconds regularly. By measuring my performance I had a benchmark and could set goals. I could talk at length about grip, stance, draw, etc (and there are plenty of good blogs and articles about this out there) but if you don’t measure your performance it is impossible to know if you’re improving.

I’ve measured my speed, now what?

I was introduced to the Bill Drill about three years ago by a friend and shooting teammate and I was frustrated by how much faster he could shoot the drill. In order to improve I started off shooting it at a pace I could get good hits. In other words, slow. Once I performed the drill enough at a slow pace my movement became more efficient (smooth) and my time started to come down in small increments (faster, but not fast).

In order to speed up the learning curve, I began shooting faster and faster until the proverbial wheels fell off. I would push speed beyond my capability at the time. I would continue to shoot faster each rep until my accuracy degraded to an unacceptable level. The purpose here is to find your new limit. Often that limit is faster than you think it is. You don’t know how fast you can shoot until you find your limit by going beyond it. If you don’t push yourself past that limit it will take forever to speed up because your normal will still feel fast to you.

Once I found my new limit I would back off and shoot some more. This would feel slow compared to the high speed-poor accuracy repetitions but would be faster than my old normal. After some repetitions I would push speed again. My speed came up incrementally. Over time it came up considerably.

You have to be willing to exceed your skill level and fail if you want to improve your speed. You need to know what fast feels like, and accuracy will suffer during this process, but over time you’ll be able to maintain accuracy and increase speed. You learn to grip the gun hard, track the sights, time your shots, and process all of it at a much faster speed than you did before. You may start out shooting a Bill Drill with good hits in 4 to 5 seconds. You’ll shave time off quickly when you start and once you get down under 3 seconds it will require more work to shave less and less time. Keep at it and before you know it a 3 second Bill Drill will feel slow to you, but look fast to your friends.

About the Author:

Aaron coaches the Purdue University Pistol Team, is a former officer of the Lafayette Police Department, and holds an Indiana Law Enforcement Academy certification as a firearms instructor. Aaron is the General Manager at Applied Ballistics and competes in multiple shooting disciplines including USPSA, IDPA, Steel Challenge, Rimfire Falling Steel, Indiana Multigun, and NRL22. Aaron is a USPSA Grand Master, a Steel Challenge Grand Master, and an IDPA Master class shooter. He has a National Championship title in Rimfire Falling Steel as well as several State Championship titles in IDPA and Steel Challenge. Aaron is the Match Director for USPSA at Applied Ballistics and for Steel Challenge and Rimfire Falling Steel at Wildcat Valley Rifle & Pistol Club.