Rapid Fire > Index > Warnings > Human Targets > Reloads > Train Yourself > Other Drills

Many indoor gun ranges won't let you practice any rapid fire drills, so you may need to go somewhere else to practice this. Nevada Gun Rental can provide the area for you to do this. There are two main groups of weapons, and trigger manipulation is different for each.

1. Glock and other Constant Double Action (DAO) pistols (such as QA Walthers, LEM, and DKA triggers) have a trigger which has a reset-point after the gun has been fired. Fire a round at your target; now, slowly release the trigger until you hear a click, and resistance on the trigger is lessened. At this point you can pull the trigger again. This not only allows you to be more accurate while doing single-shots (due to the shorter trigger pull), but when you get your finger used to the motion, it is the best way to shoot the gun quickly.

2. Most other pistols (single-action—SA, double-action—DA, double/single-action—DA/SA) are a bit more standard. You have to release the trigger completely before it can be pulled again. SA and DA/SA will be easiest for this drill, as they will have lighter trigger pulls than their DA (or DAO) counterparts.

3. After you have your trigger pull down. The first thing is to practice (at close range — 4-8 yards) shooting the gun as fast as possible. The faster you can pull the trigger the more options it leaves for you.

4. The process of the gun when you fire a bullet is such: bullet is fired, slide racks back, shell ejected, as the slide moves forward the rest of the gun (frame, barrel, etc.) raises (this is called muzzle flip), as soon as the slide is back in battery (full-forward) the gun can fire again. The final slide position happens before the gun has gone back to its original position in your hands.

5. If you pull the trigger before the gun is at rest in your hands you will shoot higher than the first bullet. If you wait too long, the gun will actually bounce below the original position, firing during that stage will cause the bullet to land low. You can either wait a bit longer (but that removes the word "rapid" from this drill), or you can time the firing to when the gun is falling past the rest position.

* You can also increase the cycle speed of gun in your hands by getting a tighter/firmer grip on the gun (too firm for accurate single-shot shooting). If you do this, timing is more important, but it allows you to shoot faster.

* Note that each gun, and each caliber will have totally different cycle times, so being practiced with few handguns is best. If you get the timing wrong, you will find hitting a target consistently even at 5 yards can become difficult.

* If your bullets are hitting high after the first one, try shooting a bit slower. You can alternatively try tightening your grip on the gun. If you are shooting low, either shoot faster or loosen your grip on the gun.

6. With some practice you will find you can do 10-12 inch groupings at 7 yards. Once you are able to do that, or get close to that, you can add other drills: setup two or more targets. Fire four or five rounds at one target, then turn to the next target and so on. This combines one of the earlier-mentioned shooting drills and the rapid fire drill.