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Originally Posted by Razor
P, I don't think you mentioned in your step-by-step whether you intended the shooter to keep the weapon extended during reload, or if he is to pull his weapon hand back toward their torso, while keeping the weapon oriented toward the threat. You did say that after reload the shooter extends his arms to the firing position, so I'm inclined to think you prefer the 'pull the weapon close in' method, but it may be a good idea to spell that out in the instructions.
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Finally - somebody who wants to play! Razor, thanks I was starting to think I had "killed" the thread. The answer is no, I don't like or use what some people refer to as a "close guard" position while reloading. We have an (experienced) instructor who swears by it and demo's shooting from that position at every opportunity - he's good at what he does, but he's also practiced it to the point of being a circus stunt. I don't believe in what amounts to barely aimed fire. I do retract the pistol somewhat, but this is an issue of ergonomics. (I'm left-handed, I usually have to contort the gun [mess up my grip] a little to manipulate some of the controls - part of the reason I don't own a Sigg, even as much as I like the way they shoot.) To be honest it didn't occur to me that somebody might want to take their attention off the threat which is what usually happens when somebody retracts the weapon all the way during a reload. Observe novice competetive action shooters and you will invariably see them shift focus from threat (extended) to reload (close) and back to threat (extended). I prefer to teach keeping everything in the same "plane", perhaps dropping the pistol slightly to increase field of view, but keeping it where it can be brought back into action as smoothly as possible. When I say "the shooter extends his arms to the firing position" I'm actually saying "get/return to a solid firing platform and engage the threat." Basically - dress your shooting position and pull the trigger.
As an aside/extension of this discussion there are a lot more knowlegeable people writing about combat training. The significant trend (from my perspective) is the shift away from marksmanship and towards mindset. The important thing about this observation is how mindset applies to more than just lethal force encounters. Initial discussions focussed on COL Boyd's OODA Loop (discussions by/from a lot of people who didn't really understand the concept - buzz word of the day - or know how to explain it). Those discussions are now expanding to the point where they are actually useful to students of "personal conflict resolution". An example is the May issue of S.W.A.T. Magazine - the article "Clean Lines" by Scott Reitz. (I love my current job - except for the fact that I can't keep up with the professional reading and still do all the other work I'm supposed to do.) This is just food for thought, hopefully I've chummed the waters and incited a feeding frenzy. (Since I'm busy writing a Force on Force training/lesson plan that will concentrate on taking advantage of the mental game while applying some basic principles of low-light encounters.) Comments anyone?
Peregrino