New practice exercises?

[Rastoff]

In my concealed carry class I try to add a few shooting exercises beyond the qualification to make it fun. I always add some timed controlled pairs, shooting with the support hand and a reload exercise.

The reload exercise goes like this:
Empty gun on table.
Mag with only three rounds in it on table.
Upon the beep, pick up and load gun, fire three rounds in the target.

This is timed and the goal is to do it in under 5 seconds. To date all the students have loved it.


I'm looking for some more ideas to mix it up a little. There are some limitations that I need to add for safety.

• All exercises must start with the gun on a table or held at the ready. Many of the students are new and starting from the holster can be dangerous. Some don't even have holsters yet.
• No reloading from a mag pouch. While this is a great exercise, some students don't have one. Plus, it can lead to some muzzle control issues if they haven't practiced it previously.

So, let me know what you do for fun and practice. I'm curious to see what you come up with.

 

[Shorty 45 MK2]

Don't know if this would work but sometimes I run 1/2 mile then shoot the El Prezadenta drill, how about they run a little to get their heart rate up then pick the gun off a table and shoot two rounds each on two targets.

 

[Jiman]

As a basic class, I’d focus on trigger/sight alignment drills.

Ear plug drill:
• 5,7, 10 yrds (Instructor preference based on skill of class)
• Cut a small X in a cardboard target and place a soft ear plug in the target
• Load a full mag
• As soon as the shooter hits it, they stop until the either the other shooters run out of ammo or get a hit. Each person stops once they hit the ear plug.
• Everyone that could not hit clears out their weapons and watches while the others stay on the line.
• Everyone that hit in rd 1 takes 2 steps back and repeats with a full mag + whatever they have left in the 1st mag (bonus ammo for being accurate the first round).

A variation of the ear plug drill is the 1” dot drill, where you sharpie or spray paint a small circle (like at the carnival with the BB gun machinegun) and see who can punch the circle out with a full mag.
IME, breaking groups into teams makes thing fun too…betting something and it gets better still.

 

[Bartman3562]

Do your drill, but split them up in pairs and give them 5 seconds, then combine score of hits to advance or eliminate the pair. Award winners at end.

 

[RobzGuns]

If you can get a good deal on this style target, use it like 'Twister' and call out either Colors (white, orange, yellow), or shape (triangle, square, diamond, circle), or combination to aim for.

 

[OKFC05]

Due to the very detailed CLEET lesson plan and OK regulations, I tend to follow the CLEET plan exactly. They even have each string of the practice specified.

However, in the NRA First Steps and Basic Pistol, I do use some drills, often picked to help with what I see the student doing wrong, e.g. if the student is resetting their hands after every shot, I teach brief double-tap drill, emphasizing NOT stopping after each shot to re-grip.

If they are taking forever trying to hit the exact center of an NRA target, I use steel plates so there is no center bullseye to obsess on. Students often seem to loosen up and enjoy knocking down a plate.

 

[Biggfoot44]

Weak hand is good , also include strong hand only.

I wasn't totally clear on your "reload" exercise, is there an empty mag in place at the start ? If not , there should be.

Jiman's ear plug exercise is a little complex for students at what I percieve the level of your students to be. BUT there is importance in teaching hitting small targets at close range. Both as abstract marksmanship lesson , and practical defensive application.

Once your students have a little grasp of basics , try using a 1.5 to 2.0in orange dot at 5-7 yds .