Teaches:
sight acquisition and rapid first shot.

Requires:
3 x 5 card, 7 yard range

Principle:
A gun should be held at low ready when danger is probable but the threat is not immediate. It gives the shooter a complete field of vision while enabling her to get the gun quickly on target and fire should it become necessary.

The "foot-shooting" low ready often seen on television is less than optimal. You want to keep the gun just low enough to see well over it, and no lower. If holding persons at gunpoint, you want to be low enough to see their hands. Finger should be off the trigger, gun decocked (DA/SA semi-autos) or safety engaged (SA semi-autos).

A gun is held at combat ready after shots have been fired, and the immediate threat neutralized. The gun is in condition zero (cocked, no safety engaged), held in the same stance as low ready, while the shooter assesses the target and then breaks tunnel vision to perform a scan of the area. This should be practiced until instinctive. Don't reholster the gun until you have assessed your surroundings and are satisfied that no further threat exists.

Some people advise decocking DA/SA semi-autos when returning to ready. It's up to you, but keep in mind that in a defensive situation the gun might not be pointing in a safe direction.

Drill:
Tape a 3x5 card to a target at 7 yards. On a signal (if you have one available to you), raise the gun from low ready and put a round in the card.

Many indoor ranges prohibit drawing from a holster, but if you are familiar with the drawing track, you can simulate the last half of the draw by starting with the gun near your chest instead of at low ready. If you are not familiar with the drawing track, this drill won't help you. Do more dry-fire drawing first.

Variations:
Low-ready/combat-ready reloading drill. Load three rounds into each of your magazines (on your belt or on a table), and two rounds in the mag in your gun. The drill is then:

• 1. Fire (and return to combat ready)
• 2. Fire; reload; fire (and return to combat ready)

Repeat #1 and #2 until you are out of magazines. Tape up your target after each drill so you are actively monitoring your accuracy.