I went to the Range last week with 3 friends and we all carry the same exact revolver for self defense, which happens to be the Model 60. We all went there with the idea of practicing with our daily CCW piece and out of the 4 of us I was the only one who would have qualified had we been shooting in a Police qualification. I am NOT bragging here, I simply want to make an important point about how important it is to practice with your CCW piece. The reason I did much better than my friends is that I practice a LOT more than they do with my carry gun. I am now retired so I have a lot more free time, but even when I was working and running a business, raising 2 kids, wife, house , etc. I always made it a point to shoot my carry piece often. This applies doubly to the fellas like us who carry small snubbies that are a little more challenging to shoot well with. Just figure I would post this and maybe jar a couple of fellas into to practice drills the next time you are out at he Range.

Chief38

Chief, there are many things an average concealed carrier needs to practice. And sadly many of those don't know just what it is they need to practice.

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Life Is A Gift. Defend it!

chief, if I'm not mistaken, I believe I remember you carry the same load in your Stainless Chiefs that I do, the BB 158 grain +p hollow point. I practice pretty regularly with my various j-frames, but I usually don't expend those expensive loads but about three times per year. I like to renew the loads every three or four months. How often do you use those loads for practice?

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Georgia On My Mind

reddevil,

I rotate my carry ammo usually twice a year. I shoot the 5 in my revolver and the 5 in my spare ammo pouch (that I always carry) and put 5 new ones into the gun & pouch. I am a big BB fan and have also found that because the crimps are so tight on their ammo, they never loosen up over time. I use to have a minor problem with Remington ammo loosing up occasionally. Never was a real issue, but some of the bullet heads would actually rotate in the cases after a while. The BB Never does that.

Yes, the BB ain't cheap, but with all the money I waist on other less important things, I can easily justify blowing through a box of BB's a year to keep things fresh. Runs me under $30 /box which is less than going to the movies once with my wife! When there is a sale on the stuff (not lately obviously) I will pick up 4 or 5 boxes.

Chief38

Excellent advice, Chief. I've always believed that one should be so familiar with a carry piece that muscle memory automatically kicks in when the proverbial "Ship Hits the Sand," so to speak. When adrenalin starts pumping, clear thinking often goes out the window. That's why it's important to have that muscle memory down.

Good post.

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Pack light and cinch tight.

reddevil,

for regular practice sessions I will usually use 158 grain +P's manufactured from the "Big 3" as I will typically shoot 50-100 rounds in a practice session. I also make up some descent hand-loads for practice as well. My Dad was a shooter and he left me tons of Factory +P ammo. Some of the ammo he left me is 30+ years old - still works great!

Chief38

The range that I frequent does not allow "shooting from a
draw", I guess maybe to discourage wild west type stuff &
so that they have less liability to worry about. While I do
practice drawing & presenting at home, I feel it would be a
lot more effective to be able to draw, present, & fire for real.
Still, its better than not doing it at all.

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Lounge Lizard Extraordinaire

Thanks for the info on the Remington ammo having bullets loosen in the cases. They seem to have all sorts of ammo and gun problems these days!

I have bought a box of their lead Plus P HP ammo with one bullet having been seated so poorly that the mouth of the case was partially crushed. I guess I won't be too surprised if their bullets start loosening in the cases. That is so far something that I've only experienced with bad .22 rimfire ammo.

I'm going to unload a gun that's been filled with their SWCHP loads and sub. Speer's Short Barrel 135 grain load.

Even Federal let out some uncrimped SWCHP lead ammo. What has the world come to?!

Instead of bashing those boys--at least praise them for carrying----hope and a prayer is better than a cell phone.
Blessings

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TEXAS, by GOD

I usually begin a range session by putting at least 100 rounds through my carry gun, a 442. I do such things as point shooting, shooting from a draw, off hand shooting and whatever else I can think of. Also, I'll use the laser to practice my trigger control, putting a hole where the red dot is without jerking the gun.

I try to shoot my carry gun twice a month. I reload so I load a round as close to my carry ammo as I can. I want to put a hundred rounds down range at each trip to the range. I will change gun once in a while just because I want to carry a different one. When I do I will make an extra effort to go to the range 2-3 times a week and fire a hundred round so I can renew the muscle memory before I make the switch. I practice draw and fire, off hand shooting, one hand and two hand shooting, shooting from behind cover/concealment and have even will shoot from a prone position. After the weather warms up I will practice low light shooting and shooting with a flashlight. The one thing I need to get better at is hitting a moving target, that is my biggest weak point.

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Carpriver.

William, the people I bash don't care to learn any more than they THINK they have to. Praising them just for having a gun is wrong if they don't know how to use it.

The mentality that "just having a gun" is prevalent amongst us. Those are the few that we hear about it the news that make it difficult for the rest of us. I'm sure you know the type.

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Life Is A Gift. Defend it!

This is why i never understood the logic behind phrases like "this is the type of gun you carry a lot but shoot a little". Usually referring to pocket guns that are "painful" to shoot.

That brings me to the other logic i never understood. Why carry a gun thats painful to shoot? Almost seems as though some people just buy the most convenient gun regardless of reputation, caliber, or how usable it is

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk 2

I've coached a lot of people new to handguns over the years, and my first bit of advice is always to "find a gun your hand likes". That, and it has to have sights you can actually see. Amazing how many people carry guns that hurt them, with sights they can't see. Common Sense Ain't!

I rotate between a 642 or a 638 and try and shoot at least monthly. More when the weather is nice. I shoot mostly home brewed wadcutters and mu carry ammo gets shot up twice a year.

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Support your Police, & NRA

During the months of daylight saveings time I help a group at church get practice once a month. Everybody's shooting skills have improoved. And one non-shooter has become a big fan. Most people don't believe me when I say you will want to upgrade in a year or two, but my wife is the only person in the group that hasn't upgraded yet (the other main gun-guy and I have been upgrading our guns for decades). My carry guns are a 49 (the gun that is on me at all times), a LCP (lives in my coat), A Tomcat (for ankle carry once and a while), and an Officer's sized Para LDA 45 IWB (for when the mood or itchy feelings strike). These 4 have there own holsters that are worn in 4 different positions on my person and can (and have) be worn in any combonation at the same time and I have worn all 4 a once for practice. Once and a while, subsitutes of the same type of opperation are worn in their place, e.g. instead of the 6 shot LDA, I'll carry a 12 shot LDA, or I'll sub a DS for the 49. I seldom carry reloads, instead I carry BUG's or more Bugs! When out in the woods or mowing, there is usually a open carry 1911 or Sig 220 with the 49 in its normal position. My wife is Left handed, so it is very convienant to walk weak side together and neither get "swepted" when drewing, something that is practiced about every 2 months.