Tactical Pistol Marksmanship: How to Improve Your Combat Shooting Skills [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

Suarez starts with a brief history of combat handguns and combat handgunning. Then he proceeds to weapon and ammo selection, and he also touches the subjets of accessories. These chapters are short however, and you just can't make a selection on proper defensive ammunition, for example, by just reading three pages. Suarez gives a few valuable pointers on what to take into consideration when choosing proper gear, however.

Next Suarez addresses the basics of handgun shooting: the grip, stance, loading and unloading the gun, proper sight picture, and safety rules. After the basics he advances to ready positions, tactical and speed reloads and so on. Interestingly, he is not as strict in his opinions as he used to be. These chapters contain some ideas that are very interesting and were new to me.

The next few chapters are what sets this book apart from most: Suarez gives detailed training program to improve your accuracy and speed. He also advises that you don't have to spend vast amount of money on trainig ammo, as majority of training can be conducted as dry practise. Besides, quality beats quantity anyway. This section is worth the price of the book alone.

At the end Suarez tells "the truth about point shooting", and answers to some frequently asked questions. The question of point shooting seems to be a hard one, as Suarez defends aimed fire by giving what seems to be almost the same rationale as point shoters use when defending their point of view.

In the end, I would give this book 4  stars, if it were possible. Full five stars is reserved for special occasions, so I give this book "only" four.

If police academies taught the fundamentals of tactical marksmanship the way Gabe presents it in his book then they are getting some really good initial training that could very well save their life. The problem with this book is that it concentrates on the basics of not only marksmanship but practical tactics that can make you a really good and effective shooter but people don't want to do the leg work any more, they want to skip right to advanced techniques that couldn't be executed without having a strong foundation anyway. Then what they ultimately miss out is what this book really does well. It takes you from the basics of marksman ship and fundamental tactics and molds you to a practitioner of a useful skill. It's not the end of your training but part of it. There are so many books and videos out there that promise you what Suarez delivers for a few dollars.

My shooting was frustrating me. I reached a plateau and wasn't improving. I wasn't able to attend a shooting school and I seemed to have more empty casings than holes in my targets. I have had pistol training in the past but it was forgotten and I was just relearning bad habits. The book takes you through the necessary steps you need to make you better and more effective. It is that simple. It is concise, well written, it teaches concepts that are easy to grasp and no matter how good you shoot I would bet that you would be even better after reading and practicing what is taught. I was able to make the jump from practicing a lot to practicing more perfectly a lot. There is a huge difference. My shooting has improved immensely from this study. When I feel I am starting to slip I either re-read it or review the appropriate chapters. I am a better shooter because of it. It is that simple. I still need to learn, I still need to continue to dry fire and then go to the range and validate my practice but I am a better shooter. This book has really motivated me to improve even more. That's what you will get from this book.

Gabe teaches Gunfighting, not shooting. real gunfights are violent and while violence seems to offend some of the more timid readers, it is reality and anyone that is carrying a gun ahs a responsibility to be trained in its use. This book is a big step toward that training. Unlike many of his detractore, Gabe has actually been in gunfights and won. He knows what happens when it is time to sling lead and he knows how to win. I highly recomend this book for anyone interested in using a firearm for self defense.