I know I don't practice enough with any of my carry guns but the good news is that when I do I always surprise myself with how good I am with them. After years and years of shooting them, and lots of other guns, not practicing enough doesn't bother me as much as it did when concealed carry commenced. So this weekend I'll guess it's time to shoot some more!

As for stress, there is a great way to stress test your shooting but it is hard to do with a lot of people around. If you can shoot with just one person as your range officer and coach all you have to do is put out a dozen or so numbered targets at varying distances and pretend you are being confronted by a group of thugs. First you yell at them to stop, leave you alone, etc. Then your RO/Coach says they're coming closer - s/he yells it, actually.

DO SOMETHING!!

If you are where you can draw and shoot this is where you draw. If you are where a draw is impermissible then you simply stand at the ready to comply with range rules. And then here is where it gets stressful and fun - - YOU DO NOT PICK THE TARGET.

Then the RO yells "6" or "12!" or Eight - Five!!.

You can only shoot the targets (use targets that are mixed in size) from the numbers s/he calls out. Within reason you can do a tactical reload. I did one of these once with two guns, a CS-45 and a 2.5 inch Ruger Security Six. When the .45 ran dry I tossed it and drew the .357. Believe me, it's stressful.

You look at the targets, see how you fared, reload and do it again. Of course give your coach a turn, too, and you do the RO job.

This is fun but it is also a great way to see how you can perform under stress. Sadly, finding places to do this are relatively slim.