Ragnar Danneskjold
Member
What sort of self defense scenarios do you train for, and what does your training consist of? When you think of what your most likely self defense situation might be, and how it will turn out, what things do you train for to mitigate possible downsides?
For instance, for self-defense shooting (not military shooting, or as-accurate-as-possible shooting) I usually do variations on 2 threat targets at distances of 3-10 yards, 3 hits in critical areas per target, sometimes with a move to cover, or full out run away, reassessing the situation and making followup shots or reloading as necessary. When I can afford to go shooting on some public land outside with a buddy, we take turn setting up targets for each other while the other isn't looking so we don't know what the target layout is. We also throw non-threat targets in as bystanders to make things harder. Using a few dummy rounds in each other magazines to simulate misfires is also helpful. My buddy will load my mags, set up my targets, and then I will face them with my eyes closed. I know to open my eyes and engage when my buddy slaps me on the back really hard to simulate surprise and distraction.
I don't mean to make this a caliber/weapon thread, but talks of "one shot stops" got me wondering about what exactly people are training for. I've never put any thought into one shot stops, because the idea of firing one round at one threat and calling it a day is frankly ridiculous. Once I started doing this sort of training, I found I needed a lot more rounds to confidently get the job done. When you're not at an indoor range in a lane with target you set up in front of you, taking your time to draw and shoot, it becomes far more difficult to make good critical shots on multiple targets. This is not to say that I don't train fundamentals at a range, but fundamentals alone will not get you through a deadly threat. One of the biggest reasons I sold my Ruger P345 is because I didn't want to carry an 8+1 shot weapon any more. 3 hits per target only left me 3 rounds, and that's if every shot was a critical hit. Statistics of real shooting incidents throughout the country show that hitting your target every time is a fantasy. I also try not to rely on reloads too much. I do train to reload, but I don't factor the extra mag in my available round count. If a magazine fails or gets jammed, or if I'm wearing clothes that make carrying a reload impractical, I don't want to be missing a critical part of my plan. So the extra mag is just a true backup, not part of the self defense plan itself. Because of this, I will not carry a weapon that holds less than 12+1. I want to be able to put 3 shots into at least 2 targets, and have enough rounds to do it all over again if I missed or there were more threats than I thought. And knowing that misses or non critical hits will probably happen in the real world, I try to carry a 16+ round weapon whenever I can.
So know that I gave you an idea of what I so sometimes to train and my philosophy behind it, what does your training look like, and why did you decide to do it like that?
For instance, for self-defense shooting (not military shooting, or as-accurate-as-possible shooting) I usually do variations on 2 threat targets at distances of 3-10 yards, 3 hits in critical areas per target, sometimes with a move to cover, or full out run away, reassessing the situation and making followup shots or reloading as necessary. When I can afford to go shooting on some public land outside with a buddy, we take turn setting up targets for each other while the other isn't looking so we don't know what the target layout is. We also throw non-threat targets in as bystanders to make things harder. Using a few dummy rounds in each other magazines to simulate misfires is also helpful. My buddy will load my mags, set up my targets, and then I will face them with my eyes closed. I know to open my eyes and engage when my buddy slaps me on the back really hard to simulate surprise and distraction.
I don't mean to make this a caliber/weapon thread, but talks of "one shot stops" got me wondering about what exactly people are training for. I've never put any thought into one shot stops, because the idea of firing one round at one threat and calling it a day is frankly ridiculous. Once I started doing this sort of training, I found I needed a lot more rounds to confidently get the job done. When you're not at an indoor range in a lane with target you set up in front of you, taking your time to draw and shoot, it becomes far more difficult to make good critical shots on multiple targets. This is not to say that I don't train fundamentals at a range, but fundamentals alone will not get you through a deadly threat. One of the biggest reasons I sold my Ruger P345 is because I didn't want to carry an 8+1 shot weapon any more. 3 hits per target only left me 3 rounds, and that's if every shot was a critical hit. Statistics of real shooting incidents throughout the country show that hitting your target every time is a fantasy. I also try not to rely on reloads too much. I do train to reload, but I don't factor the extra mag in my available round count. If a magazine fails or gets jammed, or if I'm wearing clothes that make carrying a reload impractical, I don't want to be missing a critical part of my plan. So the extra mag is just a true backup, not part of the self defense plan itself. Because of this, I will not carry a weapon that holds less than 12+1. I want to be able to put 3 shots into at least 2 targets, and have enough rounds to do it all over again if I missed or there were more threats than I thought. And knowing that misses or non critical hits will probably happen in the real world, I try to carry a 16+ round weapon whenever I can.
So know that I gave you an idea of what I so sometimes to train and my philosophy behind it, what does your training look like, and why did you decide to do it like that?
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I also try to focus a bit on my weak areas, painful as that is to most of us.
