A quote that really made me think

[scottkennedy]

Being a new carry myself, I have been considering getting involved with IDPA matches to change up training. Would you consider that as a good way to increase or test skill levels?

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[tacman605]

Scott. First welcome to the site.

In regards to your question, IDPA can be a great training tool. Shoot with what you carry, with the gear you carry it in, if allowed, and don't get caught up in the gamesmanship.

IDPA was developed to get away from the race guns and custom equipment from other shooting sports where the average guy with standard equipment could compete and win. Over time it has in some ways morphed into something worse. Equipment is covertly enhanced to still fit within the rules, to me there are rules in place that have nothing to do with the real world but that is just me.

If you go to a match with your daily carry don't go to win. Go for the value of the training that you will receive and the chance to shoot under pressure at multiple targets and so on. Use it to your advantage.

[Boracho]

I liked your analysis of carrying with one in the chamber. For folks new to carrying, the thought of having it loaded and ready to go can be somewhat intimidating. Switching weapon systems can require some adjustment as well. When I decided to carry a 1911, it took me awhile to get used to the idea of having one in the chamber and the thumb safety engaged. To get over it, I left an empty chamber, put it in my carry rig with the safety on, and proceeded to notice how many times the safety DIDN'T come off, how many times the hammer DIDN'T drop... Getting around your own mental handicaps/hangups seems to be a huge obstacle in a lot of things.

I am glad I found this forum. There seems to be a lot of intelligent and thought-provoking discussion going on here. I also like the way it's focused primarily on concealed carry, and the issues faced therein.

[Spirit4earth]

What is the recommended training for someone who has access ONLY to an indoor range where all we can do is pint and shoot? How can we learn how to move and shoot if there's no place to do it?

[azchevy]

You need to travel.

[tacman605]

Spirit. This is where dry fire comes into play. After checking to make sure all is unloaded and no live ammo around practice at home.

Move, draw, snap. Get a set of snap caps to cycle through your gun. Yes by all means travel if you can to a place you can do this. When at the range visualize what you would be doing as far as movement. If you are not allowed to draw from the holster start with the gun on the bench or in a compressed ready.

Attend a school somewhere and get instruction from a good instructor. When I say school I mean a defensive pistol/fighting pistol school not a "This is how you shoot bullseye school". Find a local IDPA match and attend but read what was asked and answered earlier in reference to the matches. Use them for training opprotunities for yourself not so much to win in the matches.

Here I cannot go out and shoot as much as I want. The Iraqis have control of the ranges so it is a pain to get their and then you have them wandering around constantly so to get some practice in I sit in my room and while watching a movie or something practice reloads with strong and weak hand or clearance drills. I snap in with my rifle anything just to be hands on with the weapons.

Nothing beats the real thing but practicing the skills dry will always help.

[Spirit4earth]

Spirit. This is where dry fire comes into play. After checking to make sure all is unloaded and no live ammo around practice at home.

Move, draw, snap. Get a set of snap caps to cycle through your gun. Yes by all means travel if you can to a place you can do this. When at the range visualize what you would be doing as far as movement. If you are not allowed to draw from the holster start with the gun on the bench or in a compressed ready.

Attend a school somewhere and get instruction from a good instructor. When I say school I mean a defensive pistol/fighting pistol school not a "This is how you shoot bullseye school". Find a local IDPA match and attend but read what was asked and answered earlier in reference to the matches. Use them for training opprotunities for yourself not so much to win in the matches.

Here I cannot go out and shoot as much as I want. The Iraqis have control of the ranges so it is a pain to get their and then you have them wandering around constantly so to get some practice in I sit in my room and while watching a movie or something practice reloads with strong and weak hand or clearance drills. I snap in with my rifle anything just to be hands on with the weapons.

Nothing beats the real thing but practicing the skills dry will always help.

Great advice----thank you! I need to get the gun out more. I think I'll order some snap caps today. It's a 9mm---any recommendations on snap caps? Do they actually cycle through just like regular ammo?

[tacman605]

Yes they do. There are a couple of versions one is the bright orange ones they work fine. I THINK there are some that have a brass case and a plastic bullet or something like that but I have always used the orange ones. They come in like a 6 pack or something you don't need many.

When you do go to the range if you can have someone else load your mags and put one or two in the mag to simulate malfunctions or simply put some in different mags and blind load your weapon so you do not know which mag is which.