Post
by charlesb » Wed Jul 18, 2012 10:11 am
I have noted that I can't always count upon being able to see the sights in 'iffy' situations where I might need my carry gun.
Lately I've been considering the 'point shooting' method. I believe I picked it up as a kid while reading Bill Jordan on developing a fast draw.
He would drape a piece of heavy canvas in his basement or whatever, hung about a foot from the wall and shoot wax bullets at a target there without using his sights. - Just pull and shoot, one round.
When you point-shoot, you don't have to spend that extra second or two to get the thing hauled up to eye level, and the sights lined up. If the gun is out of the holster and under control, it's ready to shoot.
You get the wax bullets by melting enough paraffin in a pan so that the wax will be about 1/2" deep when cooled. - Press an empty primed case down into the hardened wax, all of the way to the bottom, give it a twist, pull it out - and that case is loaded for wax bullet practice.
Just pull and shoot, just one round.
After you start hitting the target, try it from different positions, facing different directions, squatting down, sitting, while walking through the room, etc.. The wax bullets drop down from the canvas, and collect on the floor until you scoop them up to toss back into the pan for recycling.
It's cheap, and it gives you a valuable survival skill... - I'm seriously thinking about trying it out, again.
Point-shooting is most effective in poor lighting or when you are in a hurry, and does not advertise your location to everybody as a laser can do.
People often have difficulty identifying the direction of a single gunshot, and if you have practiced, chances are that a single round will do.
If nothing else, the shop that sells me primers will like the idea, no doubt about that. - I briefly worked on this some years ago.. You can recycle the wax indefinitely, it turns black pretty quickly but otherwise it appears to hold up well.
I also tried the Speer plastic bullet practice ammo once - but to be honest, it seems to me that the wax bullets are less trouble and work just as well.
All of that was 30 years ago though, I could use a refresher no doubt!