My thoughts are, I used competition as training, never trying to win the competition, but rather, trying to live Cooper's mantra, "Diligentia, vis, celeritas," Accuracy, Power, Speed. I didn't "push the pace" until I'd mastered the accuracy. I wanted to have the smallest groups of anyone in the competition. I wanted the other competitors to know that it wasn't a game to me, but rather training. Power was 2nd and speed was a distant 3rd for me.
On duty, with OSI, I carried a chopped .45acp, I believe built by the armorers at Brooks AFB from a Remington Rand 1911A1, so my competition gun was a Series 70 Colt. I used full house ammunition, 230 grain lead truncated cone loaded to 890 fps average and it was a stout load with stout recoil, compared to the barely functioning race loads my fellow competitors used. My competition weapon was street stock, with the only major modifications being the sights and doing away with the collet bushing. No compensator, full length guide rods, funneled mag wells etc.
Finally, I worked on my speed. Sometimes, I'd just shoot for the head. Other times, the heart and sometimes, the belly. My first rule per Cooper was accuracy. I had many competitors tell me I could improve my speed if I wouldn't worry so much about groups. Then, when they saw what ammo I was using, they'd shake their heads coz I was a lost cause.
At the end of the day, even with my pace, invariably I'd be in 2nd or 3rd place, and occasionally, in 1st place. I really shined with the steel challenge style matches. Having worked so hard on my accuracy, smacking those steel plates was a breeze. I started taking home more prizes.
My philosophy was, speed would come, but I saw too many competitors who were blazingly fast with 10" groups, while I was just a shade slower, with 3" groups. Yes, I know, a periphery hit will probably slow an attacker and allow for a quick follow up, but there are too many cases of bad guys soaking up considerable lead before they are dispatched. I wasn't just satisfied with center mass. I wanted to pick out the left or right atrium of the heart or the left or right eyeball, in the same time frame.
As for analyzing the failure...if your physical technique was correct, then the failure was always one of two things. Sight picture or trigger squeeze or a combination of either.
Once I reached the level I was satisfied with, I stopped competing and just did individual training to satisfy myself. Drawing that USAF modified Remington from concealment was a snap. Multiple targets, partially obscured targets, targets behind penetrable surfaces, I practiced it all.
One day in Germany, I was spending some training time on a range shared by the German GSG9 crew in Wiesbaden. I was doing my typical training drills and started to draw a small audience. I finished with a draw from concealment and engaging three silhouettes. All three shots were head shots. I drew applause. It's sort of neat drawing applause from anti-terror operators.
So, my thoughts are, above all else, hit what you intend to hit. Once you can do that, push the pace until you can't do it and then back off and work on the accuracy again. It won't be long, and you'll be faster than you ever though possible, but you'll also be shooting groups others will be envious of.
Postscript: Last week I drove to the range to burn my carry ammo and freshen the magazines with new stuff. I walked up to a target, stopped at 10 yards, drew and smacked it in the head, first shot from my little Springer XD-S. About 2 seconds from the draw. Not top speed, but good enough. Then I burned off the remaining 9 shots from my two mags, and went home. No extended range session, no grueling hand-pounding training. Just a couple mags and home, satisfied everything is till working well, both mechanically, and physically.
Last edited by Dan_Chamberlain; 11/29/15.
