Close Quarters Weapon Retention

Simulating a close quarters situation for practice can be difficult. There are many factors that aren’t present in traditional shooting when engaging a threat up close. Shooting accurately can be challenging enough on a range; when you introduce someone grabbing for your weapon, it becomes more dangerous and difficult. This is because you are now trying to focus on many things at once instead of just getting rounds on target.

Weapon retention is arguably the most important factor in a close quarters fight. Losing control of your weapon is a worst case scenario because it limits your ability to defend yourself and adds the potential of your own weapon being used against you.

As demonstrated at 1:00 in the video, Sgt. Don Gulla recommends using a technique where you grab the top of your muzzle with your off hand while drawing. By grabbing your gun, you make it very difficult for an attacker to get a grip on your weapon. You are enabling yourself to use both arms to move your weapon towards the attacker giving you more power.
It is important to note that you will only be able to fire one shot while holding your gun this way. Due to this, we recommend practicing following up the shot with multiple blows from your elbows in case the shot isn’t incapacitating. Sgt. Gulla demonstrates this at 2:00 in the video. Following the physical blows, you can repeat by chambering a new round and reengaging the target.


These techniques require a good amount of practice to become comfortable with. We recommend starting out with your SIRT training pistol at home. Make sure to remove all live fire weapons and ammunition from the situation. You can practice these techniques with a target or a friend. If practicing with a friend, only SIRT training pistols should be used. Once you are comfortable with this technique, it is important to validate with live fire. You will need to find a range where they allow close quarter training.


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