Shooting Range Practice

[Double Naught Spy]

Not always.

This is strangely true. I have worked with some longer range shooters who had trouble shooting quickly and well at 5 and 3 yards. What is fast for shooting at 50 yards and hitting a target inside a 6" circle is virtually all day long at 5 yards. Sure, they could hit at 5 yards, but were horrendously slow. When they tried to keep up with the "short range" (defensive) shooters on speed, their accuracy was crap by comparison. Why? Simple. The way in which the targets were addressed by the long range shooters was really very different than what was done by the short range shooters. They each addressed the target and consistently shot based on their shooting needs and contrary to what was perceived, the long range shooter's skills did not immediately translate into the seemingly easy short range shooting distances and times of defensive shooters. Yes, they could shoot very well up close, but not quickly.

I will say this, most of the short range shooters really didn't expect to be great shooters at long range, even when they slowed down. The long range shooters extremely minute detail attention to sight alignment was something short range shooters had not practiced and as a result, did not fair as well.

The bottom line was that being very good at one type of shooting need, defensive short range shooting where time is critical did not translate very well to long range shooting and vice versa.

 

[finalcut]

My buddy & I practice with multiple targets at different distances...
One may be at 7 yards while the other is at 20 yards. We mix it up.... The one thing we always practice for is fast draw as close-up as 3 yards, because you need to be able to get the weapon out & fire an accurate shot as fast as you can when a BG is trying to do the same. You also need to be able to do this while backing up quickly, so a BG with a blade can't close in on you while you're drawing....
We constantly watch each others form, and critique one another in an effort to fine tune. Having my bro to practice with has helped us both progress at a very nice pace.

Today I was able to move my shirt out of the way & draw - hitting center of mass two times in under two seconds, getting the first shot off in 1.7 seconds repeatedly....
I've seen trainers that are much faster, and my goal is to be able to do this from 3 yards to 25 yards - much faster.

If the BG is more than 25 yards away, I would more than likely try to find cover while drawing the weapon....

 

[AK103K]

The one thing we always practice for is fast draw as close-up as 3 yards, because you need to be able to get the weapon out & fire an accurate shot as fast as you can when a BG is trying to do the same. You also need to be able to do this while backing up quickly, so a BG with a blade can't close in on you while you're drawing....

Not to be a smart ass, and I'm not picking on you here, but I see these type comments a lot. Why is it that the firearm seems to be the only answer in any and all of these type scenarios? Is it because you have a gun and feel now your safe in all situations?

Whats the contingency for those times you cant access your gun fast enough? At 3 yards (15ft), he's already 6 ft past the so called 21ft minimum to beat the guy to the draw, and even then, he will still be on you if your lucky enough to get the gun out and the shot off. I think we all know handguns are poor stoppers and even if you make a good hit, will it be enough and where are you now? Are you prepared both mentally and physically for a grappling fight to control his weapon?

Things like this is where airsoft goes a long way in bursting a lot of bubbles on how you train. Those paper targets just sit there waiting to be shot and theres no pain to reinforce a negative experience. Close range airsoft hurts and so do rubber knives.

 

[Kilgor]

Who said it was the only answer?

Not to be a smart ass...

 

[AK103K]

It just seemed to me that thats where most of the replies tend to go. You've got a gun, who needs to practice 'chi sai chimpo ney'.

You dont often hear.... "my first thought was to control the on coming weapon thats 3 feet away", it always seems to be, and very calmly I might add, ....."I'll just stand here and execute my fancy IPSC draw I always practice down at the range and blast'em."

Just wondering if we all have a little.... something else to fall back on, besides our smart asses.