Day two of Haggard’s visit to The Complete Combatant in N. Georgia was for Close Quarter Handgun. This class addressed some of the often neglected problems of close range shooting with Haggard’s proven methods. The class was a very approachable, easy to digest, well contextualized, and less intimidating treatment of similar topics to Shivworks’ ECQC. Several students had taken both, and we all agreed on that. So, whether you want to build similar skills, want Haggard’s take on the problem, or just want continuing education, I highly recommend this offering.

We touched on weapon access, skills to avoid muzzling no-shoots, weapon retention techniques, appropriate extension and compression of the handgun, handgun striking, handgun grip and trigger manipulation requirements for the close range problem, command fire, live fire compressed and full extension shooting, contact range shooting, muzzle contact shots, and moving and shooting. A lot to fit into a single day.

The first half of the day was spent with inert guns while we contextualized the afternoon’s live fire. This was actually the most useful part of the day for me because I’ll be stealing these drills for my classes. After an in depth discussion of the 4 fundamental firearms safety rules, Chuck transitioned into practical drills to practice obeying the rules we all constantly parrot in ‘real world’ application. Primarily and most importantly, muzzle discipline and navigating a cluttered foreground and background to find clear shot angles and shot trajectories to minimally endanger bystanders or no-shoots, and safely moving with a gun in hand through a crowd. The inclusion of these drills shows congruence with Claude Werner’s observations about downrange no-shoots and the importance of building skills knowing that they are likely. The key nugget here was that you should strive to avoid taking shots within a no-shoot’s wing span, because most people can move that distance in the time it takes to press your shot. He cited force science institutes studies on this and LAPD SWAT’s training goal of .5 second split times to allow information processing. I also loved the note about having a crispy draw to low ready and the projection of skill and intent that it displays.

We then spent a chunk of time working gun retention techniques when someone gets ahold of your pistol, as well as how to jam up a draw stroke and peel guns from the bad guy.

After lunch we started the live-fire portion of the class. Chuck had a thorough emergency medical brief, which I always love to see. We did a quick doubles drill so he could evaluate the general skill level of the class. After addressing some specific students, we moved on to types of trigger manipulations (prep/press, rolling, and slapping) and the primacy of a consistent and firm grip regardless of which type of press is required. We then live fired some command drills from 3 to 7 yards, and were able to play with different grip pressures and trigger press styles.

Next was the live fire extension and compression shooting progression while stationary. Then movement was added. Side note, any time you can get in a class where you can move and shoot, or shoot in low-light, you should take it. It’s usually hard to find places that you can live fire in those scenarios. The class then got some lateral movement drills, which was contextualized prior in the dummy gun drills when searching for an appropriate shooting lane around no shoots.

Then we were able to live fire the contact pistol technique he showed earlier. The technique is for when we have to make a shot while a shoot and no-shoot are in intimate contact. It involves clamping the gun near the muzzle to keep it in battery, and pressing the muzzle into the largest chunk of meat that is also a safe direction for the no-shoot. He likened it to shooting someone, and then stuffing a lit m-80 into the wound channel. Before his explanation, I wouldn’t have seen a legit need for something like this, but I get it now.

The last drills we did involved shooting from the #2 position (the Thumb-Pectoral Index). I demoed while he talked through the position, and then I assisted him with the drill progression to keep the line safe. It’s always a learning experience for folks, and more than one mentioned how loud and violent this position is.

As I mentioned in the start, this is a great class for the close range shooting problem. I love that it both touches on the close range as well as entangled shooting problems, while addressing the real world concerns of a cluttered fore and background of no-shoots. Highly recommended class. Chuck is an excellent instructor and a great dude.

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