Advanced shooters with tens or even hundreds of thousands of rounds down range is one thing but the problem more often than not when teaching a novice shooter to ignore reset with the trigger finger coming off of the face of the trigger, the subsequent "slap" almost always drive the sights off target causing the typical low left impact.

Fractions of a second in competition? Certainly.

Fractions of a second in the civilian lethal threat context? Preoccupation with Insignificant Increments.

How fast is fast enough? And competition notwithstanding, when does it cross the threshold from the practical into the theatrical?

I'm not bashing the technique as allot of competitors certainly use it to good effect. Just suggesting that the need for leatham / jarret / koenig speed in the home and on the street can become a matter of diminishing returns for the average gun owner. It has to be balanced with the spare time one has to dedicate to the effort as well as the cost of the ammunition expended.

I would agree with both statements.



I didn't mean to inject anything foreign into this thread but in Leatham's own words he started "sweeping the trigger" in an effort to gain speed (at close range). But I would still disagree with you regarding speed in the competition vs. civilian context. Starting a stage in an IDPA or IPSC match from the surrender position is a far cry from the many variables that can occur in the home or to the average John Doe on the street. Everything from contact distance threats and always typically being behind the curve as the threat will always initiate the first action.



Well, I think it's noteworthy that no one has ever been willing to answer the question "how fast is fast enough". More to your point about an excuse for being slow, what do you say to the elderly gentleman with poor eyesight from old age or diabetes, or the elderly woman whose reflexes aren't as sharp as a twenty-somethings? Are we to infer that because of this or that infirmity they are going to be "toast" because they can't achieve a certain level of speed?

I have a buddy who I think said it best, "you shouldn't shoot faster than you can think". Processing information as the situation unfolds is a critical part of a gunfight. I just don't think a lethal threat encounter will ever be as clearly defined as a stage in an IPSC match.

I'm going to end this by stating that "sweeping the trigger" works. But I believe it is more difficult to teach to a novice shooter than riding reset (which was my original contributory point to this thread).