Favorite Self Defense Drills

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GnarlsR2 said:
I watched a YouTube video of a man drawing appendix, hitting the A zone in under 1 second. How much "training" did that take?
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A bunch, though "practice" is a better term. It probably involved a whole lot of dry practice at home.

My favorite drill is the Five Yard Roundup. It's done at five yards on a B-8 repair center with a time limit of 2.5 seconds per string. The first string is one round from concealment, the second is four rounds freestyle from low ready, the third is three rounds strong hand only from low ready, and the fourth is two rounds weak hand only from low ready. I like it because it's a good test of the skills you'd need in a defensive shooting and it's only ten rounds. And it's also snubby-friendly since you can load five rounds, shoot the first two strings, reload, and shoot the last two.

I haven't maxed it (yet!) but I've shot a couple of 99s, one with my G19G5 and one with my M&P45 1.0 Compact. My best with a snubby is a 96, done with my 642-2 and wadcutters. My usual scores are in the low-to-mid 90s.

The B-8 repair center is popular because the black is about the size of what you need to hit to shut down a determined attacker, the heart and surrounding blood vessels, or the head. This isn't news, since there are pictures of Charles Askins training Border Patrol officers in the 1930s using B-8Cs stapled over the upper chest of silhouette targets.
 
Another Drill I like is Get off the X.

Defensive pistol experts constantly preach “getting off the X,” and what they mean is you don’t want to just stand in one spot when engaging a threat. This simple drill teaches you to get off that X, and the more you do it, the more instinctive and easy the actions become.

Shooting Drills – Getting off the X - Handguns
 
Chuck Edwards said:
A bunch, though "practice" is a better term. It probably involved a whole lot of dry practice at home.
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This is an excellent point. I often see here the term training used without any thought as to what truth is being taught, or whether that is even going to work or not. Around our wonderful forum here, "range time" is stressed even though what people are doing at the range is exactly the opposite of what they need to do.

Most ranges do not even allow you to practice the way you need to. And considering the clodheads that come in there, including me :-) you can't blame them one bit!

At the local ranges, I always see somebody standing in his/her stall holding a handgun out in front, with finger on the trigger, and no shooting. I think they are slooooooooowly increasing pressure on the trigger in hopes that the eventual trigger break will "surprise" them. Perhaps some of them are waiting and hoping that the sights will finally stop wandering around and will stay finally on the target long enough for them to complete the trigger activation process.

Why on earth would anybody EVER need to do this???

Best to You and Thanks!
BrianD
 
My favorite "drill" is to not go to stupid places at stupid times. I practice it so much that it is second nature. I can avoid trouble is less time than it takes to read this sentence.

But seriously, I have friends that get all wrapped around the axle about drills. Comparing the effectiveness of one online "combat master's" drill vs another. They get obsessive about doing the drill in the allotted time, as if they complete the drill in 2.5 seconds they are somehow a much better gunfighter than the guy who does it in 3 seconds. Speed is always emphasized over hits and tactics. I have no issue with any shooting regimen that improves one's abilities. I also don't have an issue with the those that like a challenge or to just have fun on the range. But I have heard many discussions at the range over the years where one side claims that "if you can't do drill X in 2.5 seconds you aren't qualified to carry a gun." These time limits always seemed a bit arbitrary. I always thought it more productive to get people to shoot these drills to attain THEIR best speed and accuracy, without worrying about a clock. Certainly, the clock measures the improvement and can be useful, but I think fumble free smoothness and accuracy are more important. Just my observations, FWIW.
 
What do you think about competition shooting as a way of practicing?

I shoot USPSA matches where their is a lot of different scenarios and they are all timed. They are scored by hits.

I don't use my carry gun to compete but I do practice with it at the range.
 
I always felt that cowboy action shooting was great practice, particularly because you couldn't waste time after you pulled the trigger because a clock is running and there are more targets awaiting! I presume IPSC and IDPA are no different in that respect.

OTOH, at the ranges that never let you do what you really want to do, I pick up my handgun, whatever it is, and point shoot at personal "attacking" targets at close ranges. Over and over. I'll practice at longer ranges just because but, to be ready to fight, close in shooting is better practice because at long distances I figure I can run and hide. Hopefully. ;)
 
Normally firing at the club ranges must take place from the fixed firing line. The 7, 15 and 25 yard pistol ranges have had "no blue sky" baffles installed to prevent errant rounds from leaving the range property and as a result all firing on those ranges MUST be done from the fixed firing positions.
When I can get "alone" time on the "non-baffled" 25 yard rifle range I try to keep it simple. If I have extra target frames with me, I might introduce a second target. What I get to do, depends on how busy the range is and how much time I have.

I start at arms length or even closer with a standard sized humanoid (B27) target or smaller version. I draw from my standard EDC holster and fire from the "retention/speed rock" position. I usually start with single shots until the muscle memory is refreshed and then move up to doubles and triples. I repeat draw & fire as necessary until I start to get consistent COM hits.

Once COM hits become standard from retention, I then introduce first shots from retention and then movement backward or on backward angle while bringing the gun up and using both hands firing until I get to around 10 feet or so. (Creating distance while addressing threats.) I usually will also incorporate a series of 3 shot failure to stop drills (2 COM, 1 to head) just to introduce the third precision shot.

As I start to get consistent COM hits again I move back a little further, 10 to 15 yards, and start with drawing and bring the gun up into standard 2 handed sighted fire just using a flash sight picture. Single, doubles and triples depending on how I'm shooting.

I usually finish up with a few rounds at 25 yards, single action if firearm equipped or even dropping to kneeling for the added support and precision.

Nothing fancy.
 
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What I enjoy doing is picking up a sack of potatoes at the grocery store. I go out into the desert and scatter the potatoes around a 50 foot or so circle. I then walk randomly through the "field" drawing and point shooting double-action at the potatoes as I get within 10-15 feet of them as I walk, changing direction as I do. A decent hit scatters the potato shreds in a satisfying manner and some I can take 2-3 shots at, either because of a miss, or at the larger fragments! Elevation, azimuth, and distance vary at every shot. Varmints and bugs will eat the remaining potato fragments, or they will simply rot. No pick-up and no resulting pollution!:D:D

Naturally you need to be somewhere that you can shoot indiscriminately in any direction safely! A shot at that sort of angle toward the ground isn't going too far though!

Far better point shooting practice than stationary paper plates or silhouettes and no polluting fragments like clay shotgun targets leave behind.
 
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Practice what you are bad at more than the drills you are good at.

From time to time, shoot when it is freezing, raining, summer heat.

Spend some time shooting at something other than a well marked paper target. Get used to hitting center of mass instead of a specific bullseye.Shooting 2 inches from bullseye is a bad shot in bullseye, but maybe a great shot in in selfdefense.
 
Wingmaster said:
What do you think about competition shooting as a way of practicing?

I shoot USPSA matches where their is a lot of different scenarios and they are all timed. They are scored by hits.

I don't use my carry gun to compete but I do practice with it at the range.
Click to expand...

I am also of the opinion that action pistol games are not only great practice, but they are a great way to learn what your capabilities *really* are.

I shot my first competitive match around 16 years ago. I have told friends many times that I was more nervous standing there waiting for the timer to beep, being watched by a dozen complete strangers, than I was when people were actually shooting at me. The pressure was very real, and I don’t know if I ever saw my front sight the whole match. If memory serves, I finished 41st out of 43 shooters. And I was totally and completely hooked.

I am a much, *much* better shooter these days, and—just as important—I now have a very good idea of what I can reliably hit at what distance. Since the score isn’t important to me I shoot whatever gun tickles my fancy at the moment, including the guns I actually carry.

I’m not saying this is the answer for everyone, but I do think anyone who hasn’t given this a try might be missing out on something.
 
A Thought ABout Competition

Wingmaster said:
What do you think about competition shooting as a way of practicing?

I shoot USPSA matches where (there are) different scenarios and they are all timed. They are scored by hits.

I don't use my carry gun to compete but I do practice with it at the range.
Click to expand...
I like the kind of drills that are scored by time and the misses add seconds.

You will often see on our wonderful forum here considerable hostility toward the idea of competing to prepare for combat.
"A gunfight is not a GAME!!" they say.
Mas Ayoob says, (pause here reverently until the class is quiet and ready :-)
"A competition is not a gunfight, but every gunfight is a competition!"
(Applause erupts here;-)

Well, you sure don't need to listen to me after Mas has spoken, but here goes anyway. I like sports analogies:
If you know the difference between boxing and a street fight, and
If you know that it is stupid to use the rules of boxing in a street fight,
If you know that under law there ARE rules for a street fight but only the survivor has to live by them,
etc.
Then yes boxing is excellent preparation for street fighting.
And really, what most applies to IDPA, IPSC, and USPSA matches just like boxing, is the physical preparation and/or the hard skills development getting ready for the match.

When Ken Hackathorn speaks, Mas Ayoob is always respectfully quiet (me too), and Hackathorn says,
"Only your first cold run counts!"

Regards!
BrianD
(No, I can't compete.)
 
Every drill, course, qualification and shooting game will get stale if you do it enough. You end up training to the drill, etc. Soon enough, you are Master Class! In your mind only.

In my experience it is best to vary your practice. Try something new frequently. Then go back to your "favorite" as a benchmark. Don't get stuck in a rut that you don't realize.

At least twice annually I tweak my practice regimens and personal qualifications. Every practice session I also do one drill or whatever that I may not think is particularly relevant, but it IS different.

I competed for many many years in pistol competitions of various kinds - PPC, Bullseye, IDPA, USPSA and Biathlon - and placed very well. These games are useful to the extent that they produce stress - at least initially - and force you to shoot accurately, and operate your firearm under time constraints. Most shooters don't do that, but that is an important part of realistic training. It enhances familiarity with the weapon, smokes out problems with equipment and technique, and builds confidence.

But after about 2-10 matches, depending on your personality, the stress is done and it's just a game. And games they are! In actual self-defense you don't get to examine the course of fire beforehand, "airgun it" and plot strategy, shoot at multiples of static targets mostly without cover, and have the sole goal, in certain of these, of being the fastest to finish without any regard to tactics and self-preservation. They tend reinforce several bad ideas, yet are often called "combat" matches.

Any practice is better than none, and these games have good aspects, but when I used to hear shooters telling me that they are there "for the training".... well, question the source.

Variety is a good thing. It makes you better.
 
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