Starting Gunfighter
Interested in shooting Gunfighter? Fill both hands and get to work.
Ok, enough of the bad one liners or stage lines. GF is a hoot. There's no question about that. But how do you get started? The answer is, plenty of practice. All of the drills and techniques listed below can be (and should be for a while) done dry fire practice. So put all the live ammo away, get it out of the room, and make sure your guns are either empty or loaded with snap caps. I won't be held responsible if you put a hole in the wall!
 The first thing you'll want to do is get used to handling your guns with one hand. So set up some small targets on the wall and do some dry fire duelist practice with your strong hand. Make sure to stand pretty square to the line with your arm out in front of you as in the picture to the right. Work on the draw and 5 shot sequences, making sure to hold a sight picture for each shot and follow through. When you get comfortable doing that with your strong hand, do the same with your weak hand.
One word of caution, make sure you don't cock the gun until it is out of the holster and on the way to the target.
Bet your arms and hands are gettin' tired now. Might be a good time for a break.
Feel a little more refreshed now? Good, let's move on.
There are three different techniques for cocking and firing the guns.
1. Gunfighter Level 1: I call this "Gunfighter Intro." Cock one gun and then shoot it. Cock the other gun and then shoot it. Repeat that for another 8 shots. This is probably a good place to start your dry fire practice. Using those same targets on the wall, draw both guns and alternate the "cock one gun and fire" sequence for 10 shots. Do this for a while until you get comfortable with it.
2. Gunfighter Level 2: Cock both guns together, fire 1 and then the other. This technique can be used very effectively, and has been used to win GF at Winter Range. Take a few minutes and dry fire this one for a while. Get comfortable with it. Make sure to practice the draw too.
3. Gunfighter Level 3: Cock one gun while shooting the other. This technique avoids the downtime of level 2 as there is always one gun cocked and both hands stay busy. This technique takes quite a bit of practice to get comfortable with. Work on this one periodically until you get comfortable with it.
Now that we've talked about the physical techniques for shooting gunfighter, we'll move on to things you might see presented in a stage. You'll need five targets on the wall for dry fire practice. In some instances, you'll use less than all five of them. Practice each of these starting with the left gun and starting with the right gun.
As you dry fire through these examples, pay attention to how the sequence flows. In some cases it will flow better starting with the Left and in others starting with the Right.
Let's start with a simple one, 2 left to right sweeps. Draw and: R1 L2 R3 L4 R5 L1 R2 L3 R4 L5. That started with the right gun. Now do it starting with the left: L1 R2 L3 R4 L5 R1 L2 R3 L4 R5
How bout we make it easier? A double tap left to right sweep (I'm going to start each one after this with the right gun, you'll have to make sure to practice starting with the left gun too.) Ready: R1 L1 R2 L2 R3 L3 R4 L4 R5 L5. That was pretty easy, huh?
How about a 4 target continuous Nevada sweep? R1 L2 R3 L4 R3 L2 R1 L2 R3 L3 Now do it starting with the left gun. Which one flows better? Starting with the left!
3 targets, 2-1-2 and repeat the sequence. This is where you have to start thinking like a gamer. Can each sweep start on opposite side? In other words, can I go 2-1-2 from the left and then 2-1-2 from the right? If so, it looks like this: R1 L1 R2 L3 R3 L3 R3 L2 R1 L1. If not, it looks like this: R1 L1 R2 L3 R3 L1 R1 L2 R3 L3.
Are you starting to get a feel for this? Once you do, dry fire every different possible combination that you can come up with. Start with the left and then start with the right.
Practice shooting the sequence mentally. At a match, you don't have the luxury of shooting it over and over again. You have to prepare ahead of time so that when you get to the line you'll know what to do. Shadow shoot it. Work through the sequence and decide if it flows better starting with the left or the right. Make sure you understand any possible options left open by the stage writer. When there are options available, you can often make it easier on yourself.
What do you do if the pistols are split? Well, that ultimately depends on the stage design. If there is a prop, you can shoot 5 GF style, stage your guns, shoot a long gun, and then come back to your revolvers to shoot the other 5 GF style. If you elect to do this, make sure you DON'T cock for the 6th shot! If a cocked gun leaves your hand, it's a stage DQ. If there isn't a prop available to set your guns on, you have no choice but to shoot double duelist. Make sure to dry fire practice both of these situations.
The other one that can come up is the pistols are together, but shot from 2 different places. In this case, you can move with the guns out - as long as they aren't cocked. So dry fire practice firing 5, moving, firing 5. Make sure not to cock a gun for the 6th shot! Again, you can really prepare for this up front by shadow shooting the sequence.
When you are reasonably comfortable dry fire, get out to the range and do some of this with live fire. Then shoot your first match GF! It's not that difficult, just takes a little planning.
Make sure to check out the articles on a Proper Platform and GF Transitions.
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