[plowboy22]

I go to the range every 8-9 days to improve my shooting and handling skills. I usually fire 100-200 rds. each session. I also do dry-fire drills at home at least once a week. Here is a list of things I currently practice.

two-handed shooting
weak-hand only
strong-hand only
draw and fire
double taps
reloads with and without retention

I also started shooting IDPA to improve my move and fire skills.

If anyone can recommend anything else I would appreciate it. My goal is to improve my overall defensive shooting skills. I have my CCW and I carry 99% of the time. Thanks in advance!

 

[Bud White]

You look like your Doing pretty well With what ya got listed.. Not a whole lot else you could really train with except flashlight


And as a side topic that cool stuff from the Matrix never know when it might come in handy :rofl:

 

[Barry in IN]

I can only suggest:

Formal training. Nothing like another set of eyes to see what you may be doing wrong.
Training shows you what you need to practice and how to practice it.

When practicing strong hand only or weak hand only- make sure you are doing everything that way. In matches, you draw strong hand and can use both hands to clear malfunctions, reload, etc. But if you are restricted to one hand from the start of a fight, you probably won't get the use of the other hand back.

Practicing night/flashlight techniques like Bud said is a good idea too.
We can "dry" practice pulling the light and assuming whatever light grip we like, but that sometimes falls apart when we actually shoot. The light may shine in a less than ideal angle, the recoil may shift everything around in your hands too much, etc. I've seen people who suddenly found they could not see their sights at night without some serious re-working of their light hold so it illuminated from a different angle and any other way got them nothing. These people had otherwise excellent vision, which made it even more of a surprise to them.
You never know about something until you really do it.

 

[plowboy22]

Thanks guys I appreciate the advice. I have taken the formal training. Every couple of months I take a lesson from a local instructor that has really helped my shooting. I will work with a flashlight as I currently don't do any light work. Again, thanks for the advice. I know I will never stop learning.

 

[R.Butler]

I go to the range every 8-9 days to improve my shooting and handling skills. I usually fire 100-200 rds. each session. I also do dry-fire drills at home at least once a week. Here is a list of things I currently practice.

two-handed shooting
weak-hand only
strong-hand only
draw and fire
double taps
reloads with and without retention

I also started shooting IDPA to improve my move and fire skills.

If anyone can recommend anything else I would appreciate it. My goal is to improve my overall defensive shooting skills. I have my CCW and I carry 99% of the time. Thanks in advance!

Sounds like you are off to a great start. I would suggest that you dry-fire more. Dry-firing will improve you more than live fire. It sounds incredible, but it is true. You must dry fire properly, and safely.

Make sure you dry-fire EVERY ASPECT OF YOUR SHOOTING. From the removal of your cover vest or other method of CCW, to unsnapping your holster if equipped. Move SSSLLLLOOOOWWWLLLYYY. Do NOT try to "work for speed". Make sure every single movement is smooth and slow. Do not use the TV, or a mirror to dry fire. Besides being unsafe, it focuses part of your attention AWAY from your firing. Use a simple dot target on the wall.

If you have a laser on your pistol, so much the better. (This is actually one of the rare two or three situations were a laser is useful) It will greatly exemplify any movement in your gun as the hammer/striker falls.

Eyes on the front sight as you press the trigger. Work for no movement at all as the pistol "fires".

The most common mistakes I see is when dry-firing.........

1- distracted sessions (tv, people moving around, etc)
2- going too fast. I cannot overemphasize moving slowly and smoothly.
3- dry-firing for too long. About 20 minutes is the max before you get sloppy.
4- dry-firing infrequently. Three to four times a week is great.

I teach a class at Ft. Benning that has to be broken into two 4 hour sessions on subsequent Sunday mornings. On class day two I can separate those who shooters into 3 groups.

1, those who dry-fired during the week
2, those who did not dry-fire.
3, liars. :wink:

If you are interested, just pm me and I will email you a hand out I give my students to guarantee that you dry fire safely.

 

[plowboy22]

Mr. Butler you sound just like my firearms instructor here! Your post sounded just like my first session with him. I asked how much range time we would have and he said "Today? None. We are strictly doing dry-fire." At first I thought he was crazy but now I am firm believer in it. Quality instruction is the best thing I ever spent money for on my guns.

An example of dry-fire paying off was my first IDPA match. I was put in the newbie squad (where I belonged) and we were all joking about how bad we were gonna be. I was nervous but as soon I shot my string I realized how much dry-fire helped. I watched everyone else fumble draws and reloads while mine were very smooth. I shot FAR better than anyone else in my squad. I had everyone ask me at the end of the day why I didn't tell them I had competed before. When I told them I hadn't I would get "c'mon man don't BS us!"

 

[R.Butler]

Mr. Butler you sound just like my firearms instructor here! Your post sounded just like my first session with him. I asked how much range time we would have and he said "Today? None. We are strictly doing dry-fire." At first I thought he was crazy but now I am firm believer in it. Quality instruction is the best thing I ever spent money for on my guns.

An example of dry-fire paying off was my first IDPA match. I was put in the newbie squad (where I belonged) and we were all joking about how bad we were gonna be. I was nervous but as soon I shot my string I realized how much dry-fire helped. I watched everyone else fumble draws and reloads while mine were very smooth. I shot FAR better than anyone else in my squad. I had everyone ask me at the end of the day why I didn't tell them I had competed before. When I told them I hadn't I would get "c'mon man don't BS us!"

Very good sir! It is like I tell my students. It is not rocket science. It is simply the repetition of an act over time until that act is ingrained into your "muscle memory".

Once you have trained to THIS point, you will become faster without trying to train for speed.

If you continue you current regimen of training, and keep you current attitude, might I suggest building an attractive case to hold a more than a few trophies? I am sure the wife/gf/so detests a clutter! :biggrin:

 

[Denis S]

more drills

Shoot on the move. Not the IDPA kind of "barely shuffle your feet to avoid the penalty move " but serious evasion movement. Most of the time you're doing lateral movement to your strong side (your opponent's weak side if he's right handed).

Shoot from prone position; having one or both knees down.

Shoot from behind cover.

Effective combat shooting means moving and utilizing available cover.

Get Massad Ayoob's "stressfire technique for pistol". (I'm not sure if I got the title exactly, but if you go to Amazon and search for Ayoob and stressfire, anything that pops up will be a good read).