Pistol Transfer: Right to Left

Since 06-17-08

Even in the gun world, before the onset of modern training, we see pictures of early gunmen with two guns; one on each side...

By Gabe Suarez
From Concealed Carry Magazine, June 2008
http://usconcealedcarry.org/free/righttoleft.html
 

If you study any of the combat martial arts, you will find that they involve both sides of the body. They will teach you the left side as well as the right side, so you are "fully developed." We see this in any combat-oriented study from knife, sword, stick--even wrestling. Some systems even teach the less dexterous side first, in an effort to equalize the different sides of the body. Historically, we even read of warriors in ages past who could fight right side or left side as necessary. King David's "Mighty men" are noted to have been able to pull a bow right or left and swing a sword right or left. Even in the gun world, before the onset of modern training, we see pictures of early gunmen with two guns; one on each side.

Then some time around the two world wars, where the study of arms became compulsory, codified, and not a personal endeavor, we saw for the first time mass training at the level of the lowest common denominator: "Let's get them through this basic stuff as quick as possible," seemed to be the over-riding motive, and a checkbox approach developed. And for the first time we saw an oversimplification of material for the unskilled masses. No longer was there a desire to push the limits, but rather just to meet the minimum requirement. This thought process has continued since the world wars and into the present day. It has been embraced by mass police academy training, and by the civilian training that often emulates it. It is the thinking that gives rise to the concept of "weak side -- strong side."

In my classes I do not teach weak-side -- strong-side, but merely right and left. We don't have a weak side, and I teach ambidextrous applications early on. "But Gabe," I hear the protest, "under stress, how can we possibly use our 'weak' hand?" My reply is that your ancestors did it routinely. Are we not the men that they were? I think we are. And I think the perceived difficulty is simply due to hearing that something is impossible for so long, you eventually believe it.

Now I will admit that we all have a more dexterous side, and it is on that side where we will carry our pistol, seeking to use our stronger assets first. However, rather than ignore the other side, we should seek to bring as much parity as possible to both sides of the body. We may never be totally ambidextrous, but we will get pretty good at it by training it.

The next question we get is simply "Why?" I believe that in order for a student to realize he needs to practice something, he must understand its relevance to him and his situation. Primarily I began this area of development when we realized that movement off the line of fire sometimes requires firing one-handed, or with only the non-dominant side. Remember, moving keeps you from getting shot. Therefore, moving is more important than a shooting position. Rather than adapting your movement around your shooting position, your shooting "platform" must accommodate your movement.

In our Close Range Gunfighting Series and its close cousin, the Interactive Gunfighting/Force on Force Classes, we establish early on that you must move off the line of attack. In fact, if you do not move--regardless of how fast your combat master draw is--you will get shot or stabbed by the other man. Remember that gunfights do not happen at ten yards, but rather ten feet and closer, thus the difference between a 1.0 second draw and a 1.5 second draw is not very great. At ten feet, even a neophyte with a rusty Raven .25 Auto can get lucky, and ten feet is a long distance in true gunfighting. Movement off line is key and mandatory to avoid being shot.

In order for the student to grasp the lines of motion involved we use a clock analogy. The student imagines standing at the center of the clock with his adversary at the 12:00. When we move off line, we prefer to move laterally (3:00 or 9:00), or at angles such as the 5:00 and 7:00, or 2:00 and 10:00. We prefer to walk as God designed us to walk: forward. The popular sideways "crab walk" will not move you off the line fast enough. Similarly, almost never do we want to move backwards. Again, this is shown in force on force drills when every backpedaler gets literally run over by his adversary.

When moving at these angles it's sometimes impossible to maintain a traditional two-handed grip, or even a dominant-side grip on the pistol. Your goal is always to keep the muzzle pointed at the adversary. You maintain that objective and move your body around that orientation. Sometimes, keeping a two-handed grip will be easy, at other times it will not. Rather than give up the objective of keeping muzzle on contact, you may need to go one-handed.

As an example, take a right-handed shooter moving to his left. At some point, he will be unable to maintain both hands on the gun and keep the muzzle oriented on the threat as he moves. As the angle between him and his adversary grows, so will the tension in his torso. Eventually he must let go with the support hand in order to keep the muzzle on target; the result? One handed shooting.

Another example is the same shooter moving to the 5:00 angle. At some point the torso tension from the incompatible desire to keep the right-handed pistol pointed on target and the run to the 5:00, will require he abandon his target, or that he transfer the pistol to the other hand. Again, before some range dude tells us this is impossible, I have had first time force on force students (who did not know it was "impossible") do it on demand at the run and hit the other man.

The easiest and surest way to execute a weapon transfer is to clear the firing thumb from its usual position and bring it up along the rear of the slide. This will create a gap where the other hand's thumb can get into and the transfer of the gun is completed. It is not hard to do and all it takes is a little effort.

In our new DVD: Advanced Close Range Gunfighting, we show the pistol transfer at full speed from a concealed draw, on the move. It is not a big deal and is easily accomplished with an open mind about what is possible, and with a little bit of sweat in training.

Dear Friend,

I hope you enjoyed this complimentary article from the United States Concealed Carry Association.

Take care and stay safe,


Tim Schmidt
Founder, US Concealed Carry
Publisher, Concealed Carry Magazine
Publisher, USCCA Inner Circle

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