Shooting from retention? yes. Not often but, confident enough to know where my muzzle is pointing and take action if some asshole runs up on me at the gas pump or front door.

“Hip shooting” was the original topic of this thread, and if it’s for fun, then there’s nothing wrong with doing anything that’s safe for fun.

For serious though, and as discussed, shooting from “retention” (whatever that word is supposed to mean ), is also valid. The last LE shooting in my locale involved the officer’s doing that because of how he was attacked. But that’s not traditional “hip” shooting.

Otherwise, though, the old “FBI crouch” method of shooting at targets beyond arms reach makes no sense. First is that the adage about fast being fine but accuracy being final is absolutely correct. Shooting in the conventional two-handed manner is far more accurate for almost anyone. Sure, with enough practice hip shooting can be accurate, but how much better would it be to use that practice to master better methods?

And how much faster could an accurate hip shot be than the way the vast majority of us would do it? Mention was made of a half second, but how valid is even that? One drill I have shooters fire over and over is to draw from a level 3 holster and hit a 12" plate at distances from 7 to 10 yards. Even moderately-skilled LEOs can get to the point of doing that in less than two seconds. The process of getting to the two-handed aiming position after the gun clears the holster takes far less than a quarter of the total time (i.e., 1/2 second). And then they can be reasonable sure of hitting the target or close to it—unlike most people can be when shooting from a “hip” position.

As a bit of historical trivia, when I first became an Army counterintelligence agent in the late 1960s, our issued weapons were 2" 38 Special revolvers, and one stage of the qualification course I fired a few times before it was dropped was one-handed crouching hip shots. Fortunately even the Army didn’t have a stupid no-misses-permitted qualification requirement, otherwise none of us would have passed.

You should setup a table and chairs and practice it sitting down, you never know when you might need a little Justifed action.....

If/when I get my own range......

The question was shooting from the hip. Back in the day, I was fast. Not Bob Munden fast. Not Ed McGivern fast. But Jerry Lewis fast. Sammy Davis Jr. fast. Glen Ford fast. Blanks, dry fire, wax bullets (I have a hole in a curtain as testimony). That engraved Colt was worked over by my Colt guy, decades ago. Timing, action, trigger, hammer. The locking notches cut square and deeper, and the cylinder bolts refined. The bolt never touches the cylinder until it clicks into the stop, and then it grabs it like a Valkyrie. No sharp edges anywhere, grip or frame. It's on its second nickel plate. I trust that gun at any speed. Contrast it to the USFA show gun, just the externals. I'd no more think of drawing for time with the USFA (not to mention not wanting to scratch it), than flying to the moon. Or drawing the Colt fast, cocked in the holster with live loads. Because fast SAA hip shooting is a game, not real life for keeps. And it never was even in the fondly remembered Wild West - "Take your time in a hurry" per Mr. Earp. Bob Munden was unbelievably fast - 0.2s fast, and clocked .02s fast - occasionally with blanks, or wax, or bird shot, although he was perfectly capable of sending a 250g .45 LC bullet downrange faster than you can blink, and more usually did - not with a race gun but a full weight factory Colt worked on by him. No one will eever be faster. But he was also a careful man, and an incredible gunsmith as well, and was very critical of live loads for Matt Dillon wanabees with untuned guns.

So yes, I do practice hip shots (occasionally, still in my dotage), as above, but drawing from retention is a practical skill as mentioned that I do need to practice more, so my Wilson Combat and Milt Sparks need more range time. For any of us that carry, full time or even now and then, we all do. Thanks for the reminder.

I think more in line with the video above, instructor at the range. That’s as opposed to a Matt Dillon type of ‘quick draw’. I’m an advocate of ‘bent elbow’ type shooting, of from a position of retention.