How do you train on your range outings???

Went to the range today with the wife and I did quick-draw mozambique drills all night long. Each target has 99 rds through it (various loads and bullet shapes) and was fired in rapid fire manner with three rounds loaded (2 COM, 1 Occ Vault). The first target was shot @ a lil under 10 yds and the second was shot at a lil under 15 yds.

What all do you do to train when you go to the range??? I am curious as to what drills you all do to stay confident with your pistol skills. I routinely do weak and strong hand drills as well.

Target #1 at a lil under 10 yds
http://www.neptunecreative.com/andy/DSC02420.jpg

Target #2 at a lil under 15 yds
http://www.neptunecreative.com/andy/DSC02421.jpg

~A

Some of what I describe I know is not possible at many ranges with offensive safety nazis who prohibit rapid fire, draw & shoot, etc. Thankfully, I'm not on the board of one of those. :)

Typically I'll do several mags of draw & shot at progressively further targets, starting around 10m and working out to 150m. I know 150 is overkill for most things, but I typically practice at the 50m and spend a lot of my time there. Moving beyond it is no big deal with practice.

I'll do some point-shooting plinking on the 25m berm keeping a can or whatever moving the whole mag rapid-fire.

I typically finish with some two-handed shooting practice at 7-10m. I can keep everything on the silhouette firing as rapidly as humanly possible just point-shooting now with the .44 in one hand, the Sig in the other. They\'re empty in < 3 seconds, but the looks I get from the onlookers are usually quite funny as it's a bizarre rhythm with the 9mm clattering and the .44 booming.

I do almost all my training with my weak hand. I've never gotten any better or worse with my primary - I was one of those wierdos that shooting a pistol just fell naturally to for whatever reason.

I also do other bullseye type training in the early spring to remind myself that I can't teach the 4H kids combat drills.

If I'm with a friend of mine, we sometimes do simultaneous shooting on multiple targets or set up 5 or so different targets on the line and call out for each other which to engage in no apparent sequence. Doing this while moving etc is a good show.

For fun, we have occasional informal 200m combat handgun matches. ;) A 35% hit rate on a silhouette is a good show, but hey, that nets me 5 hits rapid fire at that range. When we really go for broke, it's snubnose or pocket pistols at the same range. Makarov you have to arc like a mother to get it down that far, ditto with a .38 S&W snubby and the .44 snubnose.

Every few months we do car fire practice, shooting out the open window at targets or getting in and out of the car. And ok, we've done drive-bys for fun, but that's not exactly training. :)

The last thing I don't recommend (my lawyer would kill me) is occasional, and I do mean VERY occasional, live-fire training without hearing protection. You have to know what the round is going to sound and concuss like in the real world where you don't have the luxury of decibel limiters. I suspect personally it's why so many police first shots are lousy.

Nice Shootin Tex! :bowdown:

Really nice groups...I must say when I do that even slow fire the hits may be scattered even on a good day.
Don't forget to once in a while put a dummy round in your partners magazine. It does wonders to carch flinching and helps to train as a simulated misfire. Just a thought.:P

Yes those are nice groups.

Right now, I'm doing some pretty basic shooting because I want to work on using the 3 dot sights on my Ruger. The first time I fired it I was all over the place. I'm now considering blacking out the rear dots because I find I shoot much better when I keep my dominant eye on the front sight and let it flow naturally from there.

I am experimenting between the isoceles stance, which is basic but I'm actually more accurate when I shoot this way, and the charge stance, which is not something you'd necessarily reccommend for all situations, but it comes very naturally to me and it's the stance I'm most likely to take in an encounter just out of instinct. I also find the charge stance better for shooting single handed.

The only fancy-ish things I'm doing is I'm trying to train myself to point and shoot at 7 yards without using the sights consistently. I'm not there yet but it's getting better. Generally the first couple of shots will be in the black but then I lose my grouping and I have to start all over again. That's much better than the first time I tried it though. The other day I fired 51 rounds this way, trying not to use the sights. 46 of the 51 were in the black but my grouping was poor.

I'm also going to get some .38 snapcaps and do some flinch drills. I flinch way too much firing .357 magnum especially considering how often I've fired it.

I like using variations of El Presedentas, the standard run is to use 3 targets, start with your back to the target; turn and draw, fire 2 shots on each target reload (remember this was set up for standard 1911s) fire 2 shots on each, reload fire 2 shots on each. I have a shot timer with random start signal that I use.

I will make runs of 2 shots each COM then go back across with 1 to the head, do the 2 +1 each any combination you can think of. I have my own property where I have set up a range so I can do any set up I can think of. I also set up some that I shoot from inside my Bronco, often using my left (weak) hand and out the right side window. I also set up a card table and practice drawing seated, falling backwards, draw and fire etc. That is one thing I liked about shooting USPSA/IPSC, running through a variety of situations and having a bunch of guys of similar mind thinking up the situations.

That must be a nice setup F-350. Rapid fire drills, shooting from the draw, and other things that are actually safe if done correctly are not allowed where a lot of us shoot.

And I understand why too and I don't blame the range owners one little bit. I'm lucky to even have my range; it almost got the plug pulled a few years ago when a bunch of people who had moved into the area tried to have it shut down.

Multiple targets, all shot on the move, use of cover, walking, running, etc. Zero standing still while shooting. Always NY reloads, multiple guns, at least three.

Distances, 3 yards to 15 yards.

semi static shooting at 50 to 125yds, always at least one step to right or left.

thanks for the compliments on the shooting. The range I frequent allows "some ppl" shooting from retention. I am lucky my wife and I are some of those ppl. The only thing is hte pulley system is about to be replaced so right now the pulleys and target holders are thrashed. I was trying to rig up a target with a hostage and see how my draw and two to the head would work.

~A

I can get away with double taps pretty easy at my range im well know but anything else is a no no...

So baically i shoot from 5 yards to 15 no drawing from holster allowed..


I will also do mag changes say one in pipe empty mag etc etc ... Also will take a few dud cartridges no primer no powder fill in primer hold and have some load the mags for me for a tap rack and bang drill ... Pratice a lot with weak hand as it really is after 2 shoulder surgrys im not the best with it .

We do a lot of snap cap drills as well with randomly loaded mags. Great drill to clear, but when you rip back on any of the 1911's there is no telling where the snap cap ends up therefore on this drill, we have a spotter.

~A

Euclidean-

Really nothing too fancy, I have 90 acres, mostly rolling hills covered with hardwoods (full of deer and turkey), probably isn't 10 acres of flat land. I shoot in a valley that used to be a hay field (I am converting it to native warm season grasses for wildlife). There is a creek on one side with a ridge that is 50-75 feet tall on the other side and a natural backstop so I can easily fire in a 45 degree cone from the field.

I made target stands from 21/2 PVC pipe (4 feet long on the ground, and 18 inches tall, filled the 4 foot part 1/4 full of cement for weight) which you can put 2X2 in and made the target holders out of 2X2 so I can move the targets around. I also have a rifle range with a max range of 325 yards, with a little brush clearing I should be able to stretch that out to 400 yards. Other than a couple shooting benches for rifles there isn't anything permanent, nothing fancy but flexible so I can set up various shooting situations, including shooting while driving.

F350 if I had a homestead like that I would never go to work. Sounds like the Taj Mahal of gun owners. Congrats

~A

That is nice F-350.

I don't really regret not having the best facility in the world too badly however because I feel the most likely scenario for me can be simulated with what I do have access to. A single aggressor at a very short range when I'm armed with a handgun is actually by far the most likely thing to happen to me.

It will be a long, long time before I outgrow my current facility so no rush.

Sounds nice F-350 could do about anything you wanted there ..