Ready Positions and What They Are For
Dry-Fire · At Home
Verified clear. Fifteen presentations from low ready and fifteen from a compressed high ready with the gun held close to your chest. From each, press straight out to a verified sight picture. Low ready lets you see hands and the ground. Compressed ready keeps the gun close in tight spaces.
Live-Fire · At the Range
Five strings of four at 7 yards: two rounds from low ready and two from compressed ready, all inside the box. Keep your finger off the trigger until the sights are on the target.
Service Pistol
Know which ready position your agency teaches and why it teaches that one.
Concealed Carry
A ready position is where the gun sits while you are still deciding. Most of a real encounter is spent there.
Carbine
Carbine version: low ready and high ready to a first hit at 25 yards.
AUX (when ready): a first hit in the box from either ready position in under one and a half seconds.
The gun spends more time at ready than it spends on target. Practice being there safely.
Your Daily Callout — By Archetype
Ready is not a pause before shooting. It is a position you may hold for a long time.
Low ready is your position because it lets you keep looking.
A muzzle that is pointed at the ground cannot hurt the wrong person.
Choose a ready position for each situation in advance, so the choice is already made.
Layer: hold each ready position for ten seconds before presenting.
- Treat every firearm as if it is loaded — always, no matter what you think you know.
- Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy.
- Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on target and you have decided to fire.
- Be sure of your target — and everything beyond it.
Dry-fire: no ammunition in the room. Verify the firearm is clear — twice. Use a safe backstop. When you finish, say it out loud: “Dry fire is over.”
The Four Universal Safety Rules
Non-negotiable. Every drill, every rep, every time. This applies to live fire and dry fire.
- Treat every firearm as if it is loaded — always, no matter what you think you know.
- Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy.
- Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on target and you have decided to fire.
- Be sure of your target — and everything beyond it.