The vastly underappreciated "Zipper"

[dgg9]

At the range today, I worked on the "Zipper" for the first time in a year or so. I forgot how quick and effective it is.

John Farnam is the most vocal advocate of the Zipper, as far as well known instructors go. I saw it for the first time not quite 2 years ago, when he taught a class here in Philly. There were some really raw beginners there, yet in an hour or so they were getting very fast, effective hits with this technique.

IMO, there is no quicker way to get telling hits on board than the Zipper, and possibly no quicker way to get someone with no previous training up to usable ability to hit something.

Here's how it works: you draw and fire, aiming for somewhere in the belly region. But instead of firing 3 or 4 shots at that same location, you let the muzzle rise bring the gun up with each new shot, so that your shots form a vertical string up the centerline ...hence the name.

Here's why it's blazingly fast: a well trained person can draw, aim and get a good COM hit, and then get into a rhythm where you let the muzzle rise and fall, and during that time, you reset the trigger and re-acquire sight picture. You can do that pretty quickly with practice.

The Zipper is even faster because:

- you're NOT waiting for gravity to make the muzzle fall back to the original position: you're firing as it rises to the new location.
- you're not really aiming for a specific first shot ...anywhere in the middle of the belly will do. As long as it's reasonably centered left to right, you don't care where on the vertical axis it is. So the sight picture you need for the first shot is much looser. Up close you need no sight picture.
- you don't need ANY sight picture for the subsequent shots. As long as you have a decent two handed grip, the gun really can't stray left or right significantly, nor do you care exactly where the shots fall. You'll stripe up 3 - 5 shots on the centerline literally as fast as you can pull the trigger.

Are 4 hits spread up the centerline less effective than 4 COM hits? I have no idea, but IMO any centerline hit is telling. Also -- and this is just speculation -- having hits across a longer stripe might be more disruptive than piling multiple shots into the X ring. At the least, the hits are all good, and you're getting them on board as fast as possible.

It's also extremely easy to teach someone this, though some might argue that teaching a beginner what amounts to a point shooting technique might conflict with him learning "front-sight, press." I don't know one way or another, but there's something to be said for taking a student and giving something effective he can use even if he's unable to focus on the front sight. I always like the idea of having a workable basic technique to give beginners so they have something NOW, during the time they're learning other things.

The Zipper seems to me to be less useful as the distance increases, but its intended close-range venue is exactly what's most likely to happen.

Try it sometime; I predict it grows on you.

[MarcS]

A good technique for sure and there's some good anatomy you can be hitting all the way up. I can light off COM hits at 6/second without much thought so it's not really something i practice much. Good technique for harder kicking pistols like some of those micro-compacts out there

[dgg9]

A good technique for sure and there's some good anatomy you can be hitting all the way up. I can light off COM hits at 6/second without much thought so it's not really something i practice much. Good technique for harder kicking pistols like some of those micro-compacts out there

You're right, and I also was actually thinking that it's a way to turn the recoil of a .40 or .357Mag to your advantage.

At any rate, I think it's something everyone should try on for size.

[LittleRedToyota]

imagine the zipper you could shoot with a g18...and a 33rd mag

[Suburban]

If you shoot up the centerline of an attacker, you have a good chance of hitting the spine. End result is that the attacker crumples into a pile on the ground, one way or another.

Spine hits are not particularly "humane," but if someone really deserves being shot, I don't really care, personally.

[BearTitan]

That makes alot of sense. I have taught a few people to shoot and it never occurred to me. Thanks for the info

[Lycanthrope]

The Zipper is even faster because:

- you're NOT waiting for gravity to make the muzzle fall back to the original position: you're firing as it rises to the new location.
- you're not really aiming for a specific first shot ...anywhere in the middle of the belly will do. As long as it's reasonably centered left to right, you don't care where on the vertical axis it is. So the sight picture you need for the first shot is much looser. Up close you need no sight picture.

I dunno. I think there are some good points, but even at .15 splits the muzzle is back down on target at close ranges if your grip is good. Most people just don't pull faster than that. Gravity isn't doing much for bringing my muzzle down, my grip and, to a lesser extent, the slide inertia is. I think letting the muzzle just run away may ingrain some bad habits.

As for "aiming"......I think everyone should get good at using optional sighting techniques at extreme close range. That does not, however, mean that you don't "aim". Instead you use a target focus or the slide as an index. That should be a conscious technique or you end up spraying and praying. I've seen a lot of targets missed at 3 yards. Many use the term "point shooting", but what that means is often misunderstood by new shooters.

Still, whatever works.....

Lycanjustthingstothinkaboutthrope

[MarcS]

just some anatomy. Hits to the spine obviously offer your best chance for instant incapacitation, otherwise, you're relying on blood loss. There's a lot of things you can hit down the midline that will do that, descending aorta and vena cava, liver, etc.

[dgg9]

I dunno. I think there are some good points, but even at .15 splits the muzzle is back down on target at close ranges if your grip is good. Most people just don't pull faster than that. Gravity isn't doing much for bringing my muzzle down, my grip and, to a lesser extent, the slide inertia is. I think letting the muzzle just run away may ingrain some bad habits.

Depends on your grip. Weaver: yes, you're muscling the gun back down. Isosceles (my own style) = mostly gravity (not just the weight of the gun, but the weight of your arms). With Modern Technique isosceles, you're managing the recoil, not fighting it.

Also, the gun doesn't really just race upwards on its own steam. You're getting a boost from the recoil, but you're still driving. Most people can't maintain .15 second splits without the group getting really wide. Some can, with enough practice, but it's not common, whereas almost anyone can, within a short time, get to that rate with the Zipper. Given the same amount of class time, you can get good with it pretty quickly.

At any rate, comparing myself against myself, I can shoot the Zipper faster than shooting at a single spot, for all the reasons I mentioned. For an up-close, super reactive self defense scenario, that extra speed is not something to dismiss lightly.

It's not for everyone to use, but IMO everyone should at least try it. My main point is that I'm a little surprised a valid option is so out of favor among mainstream trainers, that's all.

[Lycanthrope]

Depends on your grip. Weaver: yes, you're muscling the gun back down. Isosceles (my own style) = mostly gravity (not just the weight of the gun, but the weight of your arms). With Modern Technique isosceles, you're managing the recoil, not fighting it.

I use modern isos. You're right that you don't fight the recoil, but the mechanical lock of the grip has some preload. With a good grip you can feel some tension in certain muscles...particularly if you cam teh weak hand down. The passive (you aren't pushing) tension pulls the gun back into position. I disagree that it's just arm weight.