This is the 3rd article in our 3 part series; Preparing The Citizen Gunfighter | Range Training and Fitness. Part 1 covered Mindset and Conditioning while part 2 covered Weapons and Equipment Selection.
Develop a Range Training Plan
Before we touch upon this, please understand this article is not meant to train you, the intent is to help you focus on the correct aspects of training. Please refer to the recommended vendors list at the end of this article for quality training. Employing the right drills at the range is important. First, do your very best to find a range that allows you to do two things: Draw from the holster and rapid-fire. If you are in an area that only allows one of those two options, choose rapid fire. You can train dry from the holster at home if needed. If you do decide to perform concealed carry, consider that drawing a loaded weapon from a holster, and placing it back can be a very dangerous task if not practiced. Learning to defeat your garment, and retention mechanism (if there is one), can be a difference between life and death. Likewise, placing a loaded weapon back into a holster inside your trousers can be just as dangerous. Next, rapid-fire: The only way to get better at shooting faster, is to shoot faster. How can you know your limitations and capabilities under stress if you haven’t trained that way? Once you have selected a range to conduct training, create a plan. Ammunition is not cheap, and your personal time is valuable, make both count. 500 rounds can go fast with little to no benefit if you don’t approach the range with a solid plan. Always ask yourself what you need to work on and make the range trip about that one task. Do not try to attempt every task poorly, pick one thing, and do it well. For example: Are you focusing on Accuracy, Speed, Target transitions, or Shooting on the move? Here are my basic recommendations for the new pistol shooter:
**Before performing any of the below steps, purchase ammunition and attend basic firearms training with a qualified instructor.**
- Go online and research these two things: Proper pistol thumbs forward grip and fundamentals.
- Ensure the weapon is completely unloaded, with no ammunition in sight.
- Place a small half-inch circle sticker on the wall inside your home.
- Stay 15 feet (5 yards) from that half-inch sticker, and with the unloaded firearm, focus on your front sight while slowly pressing the trigger.
- Evaluate if your front sight moved at all. If it did, keep practicing with your unloaded weapon. This will take many repetitions, be patient, it will come.
- Take those dry fire skills to the range and practice with live ammunition.
- As you get better, push your half-inch target out further.
Purchase a shot timer and move onto CTEs (Critical Task Evaluations). They are proven tactical shooting building blocks that build upon each other.
**Before you perform these drills, purchase ammunition and attend firearms training from a QUALITY Vendor. A recommended list is at the bottom of this article. All drills are performed on an IPSC Target.**
Bilateral Transference Drill
I recommend starting and ending your range sessions with basic accuracy. Begin with 5 fully loaded magazines. Place 5 x half-inch circles 5 yards away on a target, spaced 12 inches apart. The goal is perfect hits at your own pace. No misses are acceptable.
- Circle 1: Two-handed grip, one full magazine
- Circle 2: Strong hand, one full magazine
- Circle 3: Weak hand, one full magazine
- Circle 4: Weak hand, one full magazine
- Circle 5: Two-handed grip, one full magazine
**The intent of this drill is to improve your grip and trigger press. Teaching your brain to shoot with your weak hand well, will improve your shooting with your dominant (or strong) hand.**
Single-Shot Draw from the holster
At 7 yards (keep your hands above your shoulders), upon the buzzer, draw and fire one round into the A-Zone of the target. I recommend only shooting the upper half of the A-Zone. Par time: 1.5 seconds
Pistol Combat Reload
You will need one fully loaded magazine in a pouch, and a magazine with one round loaded in your pistol. At 7 yards (keep your hands above your shoulders), upon the buzzer, draw and fire one round into the A-Zone of the target. When the slide locks, reload and fire one round into the A-Zone of the target. When complete, remove the full magazine from your weapon, placing it back in the magazine pouch, and place the empty magazine into your weapon. Repeat the drill (one round will be in the chamber of your weapon). Par time: 3.5 seconds.
Pistol Now
You will need one 5-round magazine in a pouch, and a magazine loaded with 1-round. At 7 yards (keep your hands above your shoulders), upon the buzzer, draw and fire your entire magazine. When you experience slide lock on an empty weapon, reload and fire one round. Par Time: 8 seconds.
Bill Drill
You will need one 6-round magazine loaded in your weapon. At 7 yards (keep your hands above your shoulders), upon the buzzer, draw and fire 6-rounds into the A-Zone of your target. Par Time: 3 seconds.
Pistol Distance
You will need a 2-round magazine loaded. At 25yds (keep your hands above your shoulders), upon the buzzer, draw and fire 2-rounds into the A-zone of your target. Par time: 8 seconds.
El-Presidente
You will need 3 targets (spaced one target width apart), one magazine loaded with 6 rounds in a pouch, and a magazine with 6-rounds loaded in your pistol. Keep your back to the target (10 yards away), from the buzzer, turn, draw, and fire 2-rounds into each target. Then reload and engage each target with another 2-rounds. Par time: 10 seconds.
Please know, these are very basic drills, the bare minimum, and the base for more advanced shooting. Remember the fast and cool looking drills only happen because you are skilled enough to perform the basics without thinking about them. They need to be hard-wired into your brain to build efficiency and proficiency. Efficiency will, over time, allow you to move both faster and smoother as your brain refines the process. With that noted, keep your repetitions clean, the only thing worse than not practicing, is building a solid foundation of poor habits that are difficult to break. The next vendor training investment I highly recommend is tactics. Shooting is fine, but If you do not understand that gunfighting in and around structures is a game of angles, and how to exploit and negotiate those angles, you will remain at a disadvantage.
Be a Student of Weapons Craft
When you become skilled with the tool you have chosen, learn to use other weapons. Clint Smith said it best “There’s nothing that says you are going to fight with just your gun.” Find a range that allows you to rent and fire other platforms. Learn to use Double Action/Single Action, Single action only, and striker-fired semi-autos, revolvers, and rifles. If you are unlucky enough to find yourself in a fight with an armed assailant, learning to load and clear a malfunction is far easier if you are familiar with that weapon. This is something you won’t want to figure out on the fly. Imagine fighting your attacker, and gaining control his loaded weapon, only to die because you didn’t know how to operate the safety.
Fit for the Fight Ahead
Lastly, I’m going to end with fitness. I’m sorry to be the one to say, along with your friends, and your doctor, fitness and diet are important (I am writing this as I sip a glass of whiskey). The fight will go on for an undetermined amount of time. It can last seconds, minutes, or hours. In that time, your weapon can malfunction, and the fight can go “hands-on”. Accept this won’t be Rocky IV, and that this may not be a stand-up fight of America versus Russia. If you experience a malfunction, be ready to fight for your life with your bare hands. In the end, you may need both strength and stamina, so you must prepare yourself for that. If you cannot afford a gym membership, at the very least try to incorporate 20-minutes of cardiovascular training 3 days per week, and some strength training daily. A pull-up bar is a one-time $30-dollar purchase; pushups, crunches, and air-squats are free, get to it. If you don’t have the stamina to sustain a fight, and can’t push or pull your own body weight, how do you expect to be effective?
In the end, the time you invest in an event that may never occur is on you. On the other side of the coin, if that ever does happen, do you want to be the one who let your spouse and children down? I encourage you to reflect on the cost of your personal decisions and how you choose to spend your time and money. Remember, law enforcement may be 15-minutes away, a lot can happen in that time. You can lose your whole world in 15-minutes. If you are ready to accept that risk, so be it. But, if you believe your life, and the lives of your loved ones, are worth every ounce of your effort, train like it. Train like they matter. You have already chosen to purchase a gun for defense knowing this is a distinct possibility. The modern “Casual Range Culture” and the mindset of the average gun owner neglects the second most important aspect next to safety, and that is discipline towards using your weapon as a familiar and trusted life-saving tool. If you purchased a weapon for protection, you are the first responder. It’s time we understood that.
Recommended Training Partners:
Jonathan Fietkau is a former SOTACC from 1st Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group, and a graduate of the Special Forces Advanced Urban Combat Course (SFAUCC). He is a combat veteran of Iraq, and other theaters of operation, with previous service in the 101st and 82nd Airborne Divisions.
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