0.99 Second draw from a retention holster

While working on draws the other day with my Safariland ALS 1911 holster I spent some time working on raw speed, trying to get the gun out as fast as possible. I managed a few 0.99 draws; this one happened to be my very first rep. Mobile users view the video here.

The point of this kind of practice is that it’s part of a progression. I don’t do a lot of single shot draws because it’s easy to cheat your grip or other things in the hopes of going a little faster if you’re chasing a number on a timer; however there are times when you need to chase that number. Last night’s practice session I was working on 2 shots to the A-zone at 10 yards, and my draw was consistently a 1.40-1.50 on the first shot. In order to get faster, I needed to go faster. So I moved the target in to 5 yards and did a few of these one shot reps just as fast as I can move the gun. Consistent times in the 0.99-1.05 range, but accuracy was awful. After a few reps, move the target back out to 10 yards and then apply the same “go faster” mentality but allow myself enough time to pick up the sights and make good hits. All of a sudden my first dropped to the 1.15-1.25 range from the retention holster.

Whenever you do “max speed” work like this, it’s important to remember the point. Pushing sub-1 second draws is where my accuracy starts to really suffer, but if you don’t sometimes push your speed to the point where the wheels fall off, you’ll never be able to go faster.

3 Comments

  1. Nice time, plus you’re using a manual safety.

    Quick question, it seems I remember you building an ar pistol a year or so back. Wondering if that turned out to be just a ridiculous idea or the greatest thing since sliced bread. Been toying with the idea myself, but still on the fence.

    1. AR pistols fall in the category of “fun but not really practical” toys for me. I’d honestly rather just pay the tax stamp and wait for an SBR after trying the AR pistol route.

  2. Are those the Magpul 1911 grips? If so, how are you liking them. I’m a big VZ grip fanboy, have them on all my 1911s and CZs. The magpuls are interesting at the pricepoint and cause magpul.

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