Shooting With A Barricade

 I was at the range yesterday.  It was raining, my favorite time to train.  It brings in an extra element of challenge.  My wife just shakes her head.  I sent her a video of the rain.  First, we live in the southwest U.S.  A desert that gets little rain.  We’re experiencing drought, so this rain is very welcome.  Anyway, as I was leaving, I saw a guy who pulled in earlier yet didn’t get out of his truck.  As he was leaving, he pulled up next to me and said, “Do you always shoot in the rain?”  I said, “I don’t know, it doesn’t rain that often!”  I think this friendly guy, and my wife, think I’m a little daffy to shoot in the rain.  I’ll tell you why I do.

I practice and train hard for several reasons.  One of those reasons is I love it!  I like shooting on any level.  The guy that was teasing me shoots for recreation.  Most people that like basketball would never play outside in the rain.  If you see someone playing in the rain you may be watching the next Larry Bird.  I also think that if I am ever called upon to use my weapon it will probably not be a wonderful, perfect-conditions kind of day.  Shooting in the rain has a few extra challenges you must overcome.  I want at least the experience before I may be called upon to perform perfect shooting under other-than-favorable conditions.

I like to practice shooting in odd positions.  I’m equally convinced that if I am ever in a firefight I will have to shoot from cover.  Cover is a little sparce out there.  There’s plenty of concealment, but actual cover, something that will stop a bullet, is not always easy to find. House walls, vehicle doors, large appliances, these are all not cover.  Even solid exterior doors may not stop a bullet.  So if you are fortunate enough to find some cover, it may come in a strange form.  I want experience with these bad conditions ahead of time.  I honestly do not feel I will ever get into a firefight with anyone.  But I have been in a firefight and I never want to be caught unprepared.

The 9 hole tactical barricade is an excellent way to practice this type of shooting.

Homemade barricades can be built without spending a lot of money and pretty easily.  Here are several ideas of plans from some sites that were good enough to share. These barricades can give you the experience in shooting from odd places and cover.

Here are some of them:

https:www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2018/08/03/training-aids-barricades/

https://safe.menlosecurity.com/doc/docview/viewer/docNDF0B017ED0FE1b3848a7e75d4ad77472836fa5e2213bda09efe46c573b6ba3fa34fc9389d728

https://gunsamerica.com/digest/building-barricades/

Thanks to The Firearm Blog, Menlo Security, and GunsAmerica for sharing plans and ideas.

I would recommend building one of these.  I think they are a great asset and training aid.

Semper Paratus

Check 6

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