Concealed Carry & Firearms Safety Training Blog

Look for Disconfirming Evidence: How to Measure Real Pistol Shooting Performance

Wed, 07 Jan 2026 15:41:40 Z

If you’re using words like “I think,” “I believe,” or “I’m probably” when talking about your pistol shooting performance, you’re talking about opinion. Without quantitative evidence — personal range data — it’s not objective reality. It’s just a personal judgment. Or, to put it more bluntly, it’s fantasy.

Because I carry concealed, I want to be able to reliably predict my performance in real life. I want a demonstrable, verifiable level of proficiency that’s evidence-based. How I feel or think I’ll perform — untested — has no basis in reality. In order to predict my performance, I must measure my skills using benchmarks or recognized standards. And it’s only then, after I establish benchmarks for my own personal performance, that I have a reference point from which I can gauge my progress, identify skill gaps, and set goals. “You can’t change what you don’t measure.”

Test and Test Again

To get a realistic view of my skill set, I want to test and challenge my beliefs about my performance and training by running “tests.” For me, that’s:

Running qualifications or timed shooting drills from credible sources
Competing in practical shooting matches
Training with instructors who offer a POV that might contradict my current beliefs

If selecting a qual or timed drill, choose different degrees of difficulty and complexity to test your fundamentals. Look at the results objectively. The target isn’t judging your performance. The goal is to get an objective assessment of your skill set in a point in time, giving you that reference point from which you can measure yourself against recognized standards, identify areas for improvement, and then track progress.

If you make the times and get the hits in a qual or drill, celebrate your success but don’t stop there. These are benchmarks but not the end of the training journey. When you don’t know what the fight might look like, “good enough” may not be enough. Keep pushing the envelope on speed and accuracy.

Five-Yard Roundup

Today I worked on the Justin Dyal Five-Yard Roundup. In his words, it’s a drill that tests your ability to get “solid hits under realistic time pressure at relatively close range.” It’s a quick, low round count drill that assesses key concealed carry skills, like draw stroke, grip, vision and single hand shooting. All at close range where you are more likely to actually engage in a real life defensive encounter. The drill is 10 rounds run on a B8 at 5 yards. There are 4 strings: one round from the holster, 4 rounds from the ready, 3 rounds from the ready with strong hand, 2 rounds from the ready with support hand. You have 2.5 seconds to complete each string and want all your hits in the black. Because it’s close range, it’s a great drill to test your vision and your ability to focus on the target and react to your sights more efficiently, rather than slowing down and over-confirming. At five yards you can go fast with full accountability. If you carry, this is an achievable benchmark for defensive purposes.

Assessing results

My biggest takeaway today was I still need to put in more work on my strong and support hand shooting with a focus on building a better platform and maintaining a more solid grip so I can get the gun to return more consistently. Second, at close range I don’t need a stopped, stable dot or even a bouncing dot. I just need to see a slash of red to give me what I need to shoot sooner. Ideally, I want to get my times down to 1.5 seconds for the draw and free style strings. Why? Based on research, the fight may be over in just three seconds.

Incorporate tests into your regular practice

I like to select a different qual each range practice day and run it cold. This gives me a realistic assessment of my fundamentals and on-demand performance. I know how my performance stacks up and what gaps I need to fill — based on reality.

Unfortunately, someone with low skill or a newer shooter probably doesn’t have enough knowledge or experience to accurately judge or assess his or her own performance. Making it that much more important to look for evidence that disconfirms beliefs or to train with a vetted instructor who can observe and provide valuable feedback that will inform your practice.

Dispelling Myths and Fallacies About Pistol Optics

Fri, 29 Aug 2025 16:24:00 Z

Single focal plane. Faster target acquisition. A more natural, intuitive way to aim. These are the key advantages of running an optic on your pistol — for sport, home defense, CCW or competition.

Optics are now the standard.

Optic-ready guns are more readily available. Manufacturers are offering handguns with an optic already mounted. Glock recently launched their Glock + Aimpoint COA combo to the general consumer and has been unable to meet the demand. Carry Optics is now the largest division in USPSA competition. It’s the only division with its own standalone Nationals event. And today nearly half of all new USPSA members are choosing Carry Optics as their first division.

Just ten years ago the landscape was much different. The Carry Optics Division got its start in mid-2015 as a provisional division. Iron sights dominated the competition world at this time. In 2015, If you wanted to run an optic, you needed to get your slide milled to mount the optic, which was costly and time consuming. After its first year, Carry Optics accounted for just 2.45% of all USPSA activity. But by 2021, it was the most shot division, accounting for 30.8% of reported activity. And by 2022, it accounted for nearly 40% all activities.

Why does this matter? What happens in the competition world is where the industry is going. And it’s influencing the adoption of trends and training techniques by the general shooting population.

I’ve put tens of thousands of rounds through my guns, running irons and pistol optics, shooting them in training, practice, instructing and competition. With that experience, I want to try to clear up some frustrating misconceptions that persist about optics:

You do not need to learn how to shoot with irons first. Fact: Learning irons first isn’t wrong. But it will require you to unlearn one technique: front sight focus — and learn a new technique: hard target focus. There is no reason you need learn to use iron sights first. You can apply hard target focus when using irons if you want to address the argument that you may need your back-up irons if your dot fails.
You shouldn’t have to “find the dot.” Fact: Regardless of whether you’re using a red dot or irons, you must develop your index. If you’re looking for the dot, then this is a red flag that you don’t have a developed index. It’s a signal that you need to work on fixing your grip and learning how to bring the gun up consistently into your eye target line, with the dot landing on a small focal point, centered in the glass so you can take your first shot immediately. This is a training issue, not a gear issue. The dot just makes it much more obvious and easier to detect this deficiency. It’s not a con, it’s an advantage. Develop your index. It is the foundation for all of your shooting.
You should not be aiming with your dot. Fact: if you’re looking at the red dot and aiming with it, then you’re not using the technology correctly. You should not be looking at your dot. A dot allows you to be target or threat focused, which is more natural. Keeping both eyes open gives you a wider field of view as you superimpose the dot on a small spot on your target. If you’re looking at the dot through the window, then you’re applying old techniques to new technology. Both eyes should remain open and stay locked on that small spot.
The optic window is not easily obstructed. Fact: Your optic window isn’t a failure point. I’ve trained in all kinds of conditions, heat, cold, fog, rain, indoors, outdoors, dealing with dirt, sand, sweat, dust and water. I’ve dropped my gun in mud and run competition stages in the rain. A smudge or some dirt will not obscure your target. If the dot remains clear and visible and you stay target focused, with both eyes open, lens clarity is less critical. In fact, because of how our eyes and brain work, you can occlude the dot by covering the front of the optic with tape and still acquire your target. Not only is this a great training tool to learn how to shoot target focused, you’re less likely to be distracted by debris on the lens.
You have no idea what your fight will look like. Fact: You do not know if you’ll need to shoot at 3 yards or 25 yards. Don’t be lulled into a false sense of security about what skill or gear you need for a self-defense scenario. You want the maximum advantage possible. Because you are accountable for every round that leaves your gun, you must be able to get at least minimal confirmation that your rounds are going where you want them to go. Dealing with a single focal plane, superimposing a dot on a threat, is easier to execute under stress than aligning a front and rear sight, especially with higher risk targets that may require a more refined sight picture.

The cons for running a pistol optic that may have existed in the past are no longer relevant. A high quality optic is built to withstand a lot of punishment. It maintains its zero. It’s reliable and stable. It’s intuitive and easy to learn.

Ultimately, the decision to run irons vs. an optic really just comes down to personal preference. But be honest about your reasons. Don’t let the challenge of learning a new skill or being uncomfortable with an ugly target while learning get in the way of becoming a better shooter.

If you’re still unsure about adding an optic, take a class. Vet your instructor to ensure he or she is staying current with industry trends, investing in training and testing skills under pressure through competition.

Interested in taking a firearms class near you? Trainers, register as a shooting instructor today.