Thinking Man's Corner

Article by: William G.

It’s not how much you practiced, but when you last practiced. Your skills are sharper if you practice in shorter sessions more frequently than long sessions periodically. Most of us could stand getting to the range more often. Even those of us with the ability to practice weekly, are about to see another ammo crunch. It is about to get more expensive, and less available. My recommendation on being able to maintain skills with minimal range time is a range session every other week, of 50 rounds. That breaks down to 1,300 rounds per year, and roughly 26-30 hours worth of practice. Doesn’t seem like a lot to some of us, but it is a lot to others. This article is about making the most out of minimal resources.

What do we do with our 50 rounds? I like to use 20 for different drills, and 30 for a “qualification” course. This should be alternated in that one session we warm up with 20 rounds then qual, and the next we qual first and then use the 20 remaining rounds for sharpening our skills that are lacking. When we qual, we need to focus on going as fast as possible, while getting acceptable hits. For our purposes an acceptable hit is inside a 6-8 inch circle for chest shots, and a 3×5 inch box for head shots.

What kind of drills? Vary them up, but mainly I would go for accuracy. Some examples are:

Aimed in, fire a 5 shot group, trying to make each round go through the same hole, or touch.

From the ready, fire 1 round into the “group,” then come back to the ready. Relax, prep, and repeat, until 5 rounds have been fired.

Same as the above, but from the draw this time.

Finish with a walk back drill, increasing the yardage by 3-5 each time until you finish the last 5 rounds.

Alternately, you could:

Draw and fire 3 to the chest and 2 to the head at 3, 5, 7, and 10 yards; or alternate from the ready or the draw at each yardage; or you could alternate even more:

3 yards: From the ready fire 4 rounds to the chest, and 1 to the head

5 yards: Draw and fire 3 to the chest and 2 to the head

7 yards: From the ready, fire 3 to the chest and 2 to the head

10 yards: Draw and fire 4 rounds to the chest, and 1 to the head

Now take any of these drills and do them primary hand only. Occasionally, do them weak hand only (to include the draw).

Start incorporating dummy rounds, randomly inserted in the magazines. Work malfunction clearance into the practice session. Randomly short load the mags with live rounds, and work reloads. There are so many variations, and so much you can accomplish in only 20 rounds, you just need to get creative. What are you trying to accomplish? Yes, but is it practical?

As far as “qual” courses go, there are plenty of 30 round ones on the market. Whichever you choose, use the 6-8-inch circle in the chest, and the 3×5 inch card in the head parameters for your scoring; even if the course calls for a more generous target. Also, change up the course you shoot, so you do not get comfortable. If you find yourself deficient in some portions of the course, consider working on improving those skills in your 20 rounds worth of practice.

You can work all sorts of other skills, dry and at home. Focus your limited range time and ammo on confirming your dry fire, and getting reps on things you cannot do dry. Practice more frequently, and keep your skills sharp.