Training Differences

There is a difference between training once a year, and training daily or weekly. I had someone tell me that they didn’t need to practice. Every time they went shooting, they were very accurate. I balked at the idea. They swore up and down that they were good even though they have not picked up a gun in several months. I had them meet me at the range to “prove” it. We met on an outdoor range in the middle of the day. The weather was nice and there was even a little breeze. Beautiful day to shoot. I watched as my friend shot, and hit pretty well, with plenty of time from a modified weaver stance. I told him “Good shooting! Now what if someone was shooting back at you? What if an attacker was running at you with a bat? Or a knife? Or a gun? What if it were overcast, or raining, or night? What if you just got wounded in your shooting hand and had to shoot one handed? What if there was rain in your eyes? Or blood? What if you are being chased and have run 2 blocks? What if your gun malfunctioned? Or your ammo? What if you had to shoot and move? What if you had to shoot from behind a car? Or a building? What if your wife was with you? What if your children were with you?” He just stared at me. I then said “Defensive shooting is rarely like shooting at a range. You must put yourself in many positions to cover many situations. When I was in combat we were being shot at constantly. We always shot from cover. But even being in a fighting position I found that I shot in many ways from many angles. Then in a patrol situation, that all changes.” Learning to shoot from many positions and 6 to 10 feet is realistic training. I shoot generally from 15 feet to 5. Most of my training is focused on about 5 feet. Richard Mann put together a great collection of drills for this purpose. This is from Gun Digest April 10, 2019 https://gundigest.com/more/how-to/firearm-training/6-defensive-handgun-drills-to-master I went out and put these drills to the test and found that they are very much like my own training regime that I’ve been shooting for years. The drills are: Single Head Shots drill The Double-tap Drill The failure Drill The reload Drill The Forty-five Drill Adrenalin Dump The Shadowland Drill Single Head Shots Drill- This is pretty simple. The target is about 2.5 inch circle. One shot from the holster. Distance is about 5 yards (15 feet). Par for it is 2 seconds. Double-tap Drill-This drill is also 5 yards. Target is a 5 inch circle 2 shots from the holster. A quick 2 shots in center-of-mass. Whether its called double-tap, controlled pairs, or hammers, this is quick force downrange. Par for this is 2 seconds. Failure Drill-2 targets 2.5 and 5 inch. 3 Shots from the holster at 5 yards. The idea is to deliver 2 shots center of mass, and then 1 head shot for insurance. Par for this drill is 3 seconds Reload Drill-This is often overlooked in training. I’m here to tell you, in the thick of the battle, you will not know how many rounds you’ve used. There is a horrible sinking feeling when you get a “click” rather than a “boom”. Place two 5 inch targets next to each other 10 feet apart. 4 Shots from the holster. Draw and do a double tap on the first target, then do a mag change. Double tap the second target. Par for this drill is 6 seconds. Forty-five Drill Adrenalin Dump-5 yards, 5 inch circle, 5 shots. The drill is called 45 because it is 4 elements of 5. Place a target 5 yards away and fire 5 shots in a 5 inch circle is less than 5 seconds. You’ll be surprised how hard this is. Par is 5 seconds or less. Shadowland Drill-This drill ties them all together. 3 targets 5 feet apart 5 yards away. 15 total shots at 2.5 and 5 inch circles. The single head-shot on the right target, the double tap on the left target, and the Failure drill on the center target. That’s 6 shots. Now go back to the right target and do 2 shots at center-of-mass, reload, then 2 shots on the left target. Then do the 45 drill on the center target. Do this with no misses in 10 seconds or less and you’re a champion. A former police officer and serviceman with the U.S. Army, Richard A. Mann is one of the most well-respected firearms authorities writing on the subject today. He serves as contributing editor for several magazines, including NRA’s American Rifleman and Shooting Illustrated, Varmint Hunter, and Combat Handgunner, and is the editor for Gun Digest’s Cartridges of the World 13th Edition. Thank you Richard for this very practical and simple program. Richard says this is not training, training is when you learn new skills. This is practice. It was refreshing to me and I would recommend it. Semper Paratus Check 6 Burn