Do you dislike practicing things that you’re not good at? Things that are difficult? I think many of us fit that description. I certainly do. Today we’ll talk about a difficult training subject—Single Hand Shooting Techniques. I can hear the groans out there already. I’ll add my groans to yours.
Why Bother?
Most of the time, we have the use of both of our hands, which is cause for rejoicing. Unfortunately, not everyone does, though. There are people who put up with permanent injuries, but who still would like to be able to shoot.
Occasionally, we might experience an injury ourselves, maybe a broken arm or hand that’s in a cast. Injuries do happen on occasion in the Real World. In that event, we still want to be able to defend ourselves.
Finally, the injury could happen during an attack upon our person. Getting shot, stabbed, or cut in an extremity is certainly something that could occur during an attack. Any one of these could cause us to have to function without the use of a limb.
It’s worthy of note that, these days, many people operate from the thinking that, “It rarely happens in a gunfight, so I’m not going to practice it.” This line of thought can apply to a lot of things, including reloading. I’ve heard people say, “Most gunfights only expend 2-3 rounds, so why practice reloading a lot? You’re probably never going to have to do it.” Maybe so. For that reason, I know people who don’t carry a spare magazine or spare ammo.
In the same vein, you’ll hear people say, “We usually use two hands to hold the pistol in a gunfight, so practicing otherwise is a waste of time.” Maybe. Until it’s not.
Have You Ever?
Have you ever trained to shoot and manipulate your firearm(s) with one hand? Maybe it’s one of those skills that you’ll practice “Next Time” at the range. And it keeps getting pushed back each range session. I totally understand, as I rarely practice this skill, and I should!
It is difficult. It’s awkward and forces us to use parts of our brain that we normally don’t. It takes us out of our comfort zone, which we don’t typically like. It’s bad enough using our Dominant hand by itself during shooting, reloading, and manipulating our handgun. However, when we have to use our Non-Dominant hand, it sucks that much more, given that we’re normally not as dexterous with that one.
Just the same, we need to practice using our non-dominant hand. It’s important.
Techniques
A few of the shooting schools and law enforcement training that I attended had us practice one-handed shooting. Generally, the same basic stance that you use two hands to shoot with will work for one hand. Often, the functioning arm is locked straight out to provide good support and is likely consistent with how many people train to shoot in the first place. Maintaining consistency, even when shooting with a single hand, is a good thing.
Let’s remember, however, that if we’ve been injured and we’re under attack, we may need to keep Weapons Retention at the forefront of our mind. The bad guy is likely in close proximity.
CAR To the Rescue
High Position
The Center Axis Relock System (CAR) has a very good technique that comes in handy under these circumstances. It’s called the High Position. Normally, two hands tuck the pistol into the chest and the bladed body is used to sight the weapon. Here, using one hand, the body provides support and also aims the pistol as though two hands were being used. It keeps the handgun tucked in close so that it’s not hanging out there to be grabbed, which makes this technique a real winner for one-handed shooting at close quarters.
Combat High And Extended Positions
Also from CAR, we have the Combat High and the Extended positions, both of which have the arms bent and the handgun very close to the head. Again, for Weapons Retention, this is good because the handgun is not way out in front, telegraphing our movements and begging to be grabbed. Using these positions with one hand is going to be slower than with two hands because we don’t have the support hand to stabilize the weapon.
Reloading With One Hand
Before we get into reloading with one hand, remember that you’ll have to be able to access your magazine with either hand in case one hand goes down. Can you do that where you normally carry your spare magazine(s)? Some acrobatics may be required.
There are a couple of methods to get a magazine into the mag well with one hand.
Between Your Knees
Pinch the pistol between the knees with the magazine well facing forward. This allows us to remain upright while reloading. Assuming that the empty magazine is already ejected, drive the full magazine home so it seats properly. Easy, right?
Maybe not as easy as we might initially think. The issue with this technique is that the pistol can shift around while pinched between our knees. Just the act of looking around can cause the pistol to shift.
Behind Your Knee
An alternative is to kneel down and lock the pistol behind a knee. The weight of the entire upper body really locks in the pistol, making it easier to exert force when inserting the magazine. Just be aware that the barrel will be pointing outboard, toward your side as you reload. If anyone is next to you, the muzzle will be pointed at them.
Use the Holster
One more way to get a fresh magazine home is to holster the pistol after ejecting the magazine. While the holster holds the pistol, you can insert a fresh magazine. This works a whole lot better if you’re using your dominant hand, as it would be a very awkward angle with your non-dominant hand.
I’m sure there are other techniques out there, but I’m trying to keep things as simple as possible for the article.
Racking The Slide
There are a couple of options for releasing the slide to chamber a round. Assuming the slide is locked back, all we have to do is press the slide release. That sounds easy enough, especially if there are ambidextrous slide-release levers on the pistol we’re using. Although not all pistols have those. If we are using our non-dominant hand, the ambidextrous slide release would come in very handy.
If we cannot operate the slide release or if the slide is not locked to the rear, we’ll need to rack the slide. That can be done in a few various ways. We can rack the slide by catching the rear sight on our belt or holster, pressing in, and exerting pressure downward.
If we’re already in the kneeling position, we can use the sole of our shoe by hooking the rear sight there and pushing. Or we can use things in our environment, such as the edge of a desk, table, or a curb, to catch the rear sight and rack the slide. Any solid object will do, really.
In Conclusion
Now you have some simple methods to practice one-handed shooting and weapon manipulations. It’s a good idea to practice some of the basics before something bad happens. By practicing, you may realize that it would be a good idea to relocate the position of your spare magazines so that you can access them with either hand.
Incorporating these techniques into your practice sessions will help them to become second nature, even if they’re not a lot of fun. As mentioned, there are other techniques out there, we just mentioned a few here to keep it simple and give folks a start to training. If you’re going to train on your own, make sure your weapon is safe and unloaded.
