Best Use of Range Time Question

[RI_John]

There is a local public range run by the state of RI that's free to go to and about 10 minutes from my house. 50 yards, well maintained, 10 covered stations, really nice. However, tons of rules there-

- no centerfire rifles
- no drawing from holster
- 2 seconds between shots
etc.

They have a RO there that really will give you grief if you start squeezing off rounds without 2 seconds in between each shot.

So, whatever, it's free and close by and I get there at least twice a week.

My club range is a 45 minute drive and they have a 200 yard rifle range. So when I make the trek there, I'm shooting rifles exclusively.

So, given the restrictions at the free pistol range, I'm looking for some training ideas that I could implement with the restrictions in place.

What I would LIKE to do is practice drawing from concealed and putting 2 quick shots center mass and one to the head, again and again. I do that at my club range sometimes, but again, if I'm driving up there, I want to take advantage of the 200 yard range.

So what else can I do if I want to improve from a tactical standpoint? I shoot strong hand, weak hand, weaver, modified isosceles, etc. I do 7 yds, 10 yds, 15 yds, 25 yds, and sometimes 50 yds.

I've found I just try to be creative sometimes, like yesterday I spent 30 minutes shooting a 44 magnum one-handed (weak) with my dominant eye closed. Just making stuff up like that. But I'm guessing there are probably a lot of real training exercises that I can be doing instead of just mucking around like that.

Thoughts? Ideas?

 

[Bugs100]

The 2 second rule would drive me nuts.

I was taught over and over again, the old school way of shooting. Never pull it until your going to use it and if you do pull it, start blasting away as fast as you can when your gun starts to clear your holster and keep shooting until the threat stops and then give them a few more to make sure and after that walk over and kick them in the head a few times and if they moan, start all over.

But that method of shooting for self defense is frowned on now.

Any way it took me years to slow down and I still shoot real fast. But I found a couple of ways to slow me down that I like. I use real small targets and hang them out at 33 to 50ft. Using these makes you slow down but after a lot of practice you'll notice you can do it even real fast.

Another thing I like to do is hang a target at 35ft and cut it in half using 45 wad cutters. I thought this would be easy to do but it really isn't.

 

[pernox]

Can you hang multiple targets? Hanging plates at different elevations and attempting to hit them in different sequences to simulate different situations could be a useful drill.

 

[atilla]

you could always travel to sig or S&W for training--a little out of the way but for some real deal heavy-duty training where no one will yell at you for shooting more than once every two seconds it might be nice.

 

[P2A]

Do dot drills. 1 live, 3-5 dry fire. That way you can burn up the time between shots. And improve your accuracy.

 

[01SVTvert]

Weak hand shooting one handed, multiple failure drills, draw from concealment and dryfire, dot drills.

 

[soloman02]

For the multiple failure drill, you could load a mag with a mix of live ammo and snap caps to simulate failures.

It would work even better if someone else loaded the mag because then you would have no idea where the snap caps (IE failure rounds) are.

 

[RI_John]

Do dot drills. 1 live, 3-5 dry fire. That way you can burn up the time between shots. And improve your accuracy.

Sorry to be dense, but can you elaborate on this. I've read about dot drills online, but never done them. How would it work with what you're suggesting with live/dry fire with a semi-auto handgun? Alternate live rounds with snap caps and dry fire 3-5 times on the snap cap, then clear the snap-cap?

 

[P2A]

Sorry to be dense, but can you elaborate on this. I've read about dot drills online, but never done them. How would it work with what you're suggesting with live/dry fire with a semi-auto handgun? Alternate live rounds with snap caps and dry fire 3-5 times on the snap cap, then clear the snap-cap?

Not a problem. turn a target backwards, so its blank. Put on a bunch of target 1in pasties or make a bunch of 1in squares on the paper. Dry fire your gun, 3-5 times, then fire 1 live round. I just dry fire it. I never use snap caps, if I do use training rounds their the cheap orange kind. On the 3rd dry fire insert a mag, chamber a round eject the mag, fire then restart the process. Start close, then work your way out. You will see results.

 

[RI_John]

Not a problem. turn a target backwards, so its blank. Put on a bunch of target 1in pasties or make a bunch of 1in squares on the paper. Dry fire your gun, 3-5 times, then fire 1 live round. I just dry fire it. I never use snap caps, if I do use training rounds their the cheap orange kind. On the 3rd dry fire insert a mag, chamber a round eject the mag, fire then restart the process. Start close, then work your way out. You will see results.

thank you! I appreciate it.

 

[P2A]

No problem man.

 

[Jose]

I was taught over and over again, the old school way of shooting. Never pull it until your going to use it and if you do pull it, start blasting away as fast as you can when your gun starts to clear your holster and keep shooting until the threat stops

That's exactly what Suarez International teaches.

But that method of shooting for self defense is frowned on now.

It's frowned upon by the Modern technique fanboys wearing starched 5-11s, straight drop plastic belt holsters, and carrying super-duper-custom 1911s. They worship at the altar of .45ACP and Mozambique.

 

[Bugs100]

One drill that was taught years ago for close in fighting was a drop and shoot one handed drill.

You had to drop to a squat postion as you were drawing, at the same time you were throwing your left hand up to your right hand shirt pocket and keeping it there to protect your heart, at the same time you were drawing and firing with your right hand.

It's a real hard drill and it takes a lot of practice to do right. The basic idea of it is to reduce your body as a target and give your organs as much protection as they could get from your left arm and forearm covering a lot of your body.

 

[Biggsy]

One drill that was taught years ago for close in fighting was a drop and and shoot one handed drill.

You had to drop to a squat postion as you were drawing, at the same time you were throwing your left hand up to your right hand shirt pocket and keeping it there to protect your heart, at the same time you were drawing and firing with your right hand.

It's a real hard drill and it takes a lot of practice to do right. The basic idea of it is to reduce your body as a target and give your organs as much protection as they could get from your left arm and forearm covering a lot of your body.

that's cool. Gonna try it.

 

[jar]

One thing that you can do if you can't draw from the holster is try to replicate as much of your drawstroke as you can without getting yelled at. You can do a lot of drawstroke practice dry fire at home. The part that's harder to replicate dry is firing throughout the horizontal line of presentation. So, when you pick the gun up, start at the top of the vertical part of your drawstroke, and try braking shots at various points along the horizontal part. You'll be surprised at how accurate you can be at closer range as long as you have some visual reference of the gun.

 

[twortley]

I practice drawing on the buzzer & dryfiring at home 10-20 mins every day. Have my camera set to video to check form etc. My timer/buzzer on its most sensitive setting picks up the sound of the dry-fire click. Added benefit - its free

Can't recommend formal training enough through - I've gone through a lot of SigSauer classes, and it gives you the drills and the background, but, IMHO, its the ongoing practice that counts, not the training.

With reduced access to range time over the winter, I will get a Sig P229 airsolf which I can practice with all winter in my basement.

 

[TheRoland]

IMy timer/buzzer on its most sensitive setting picks up the sound of the dry-fire click.

Will most timers do this? If not, what timer do you use? (I'm in the market).