Week 363: Draws and Challenges Dry

Week 363: Draws and Challenges Dry

Results may be posted until April 20th, 2020.

For this drill, all you need is your pistol, a target, and a safe direction. This is going be a dry practice drill that almost everyone can participate in regardless of range restrictions.

At bare minimum, verify gun is unloaded, have no live ammo anywhere in the dry practice area, and keep muzzle in a safe direction. But there is more you can do to ensure safety in dry practice. Please also read Robust Dry Practice Safety Principles and Procedure following the drill description.

Designed by Gabe White
Target: Any silhouette target
Range: Shooter's choice
Rounds: 0

[b]We are going to practice drawing and assuming various ready/challenge positions, drawing and pressing the trigger, and drawing and starting, but then rescinding, a trigger press.[/i]

First, pick two ready positions. Doesn't really matter which ones, but pick two that you personally use.

Next, complete as many cycles of the following drill as you want, until you get physically or mentally tired of it. It is fine to break the drill up over multiple sessions. Instead of doing a certain number of repetitions, just keep track of how much time you spend doing the drill.

One cycle of the drill is:

A. Acquire master grip on your holstered pistol but keep it holstered. You may optionally verbalize or include defensive body language such as extending the support hand in the universal sign for 'stop, stay back.'

B. Draw to the first ready position you chose. Your finger should be in register the whole time and you should be able to see the entire silhouette target from your ready position (or at minimum, be able to see the silhouette's hands, were they hanging naturally at its sides.) You may optionally verbalize.

C. Draw to the second ready position you chose. Your finger should be in register the whole time and you should be able to see the entire silhouette target from your ready position (or at minimum, be able to see the silhouette's hands, were they hanging naturally at its sides.) You may optionally verbalize.

D. Draw to sights and press one dry shot. You choose what part of the target to aim at (body or head.) You may optionally verbalize during the draw, but don't delay your dry shot waiting on the optional verbalization.

E. Draw to sights and begin to press one dry shot. But before you complete the trigger press, we're going to imagine that the situation has changed and you no longer wish to fire, so immediately stop pressing the trigger, put your finger in register, and bring the gun to any of your chosen ready positions. You may optionally verbalize.

Options and considerations:

Careful with the verbalization. If you are practicing in a place where there may be people unaware of what you are doing who might hear the verbalization and call 911 or otherwise intervene, please forego the verbalization.

You may use concealment or not.

You can vary your hand start positions as you choose.

This drill is designed to cover a range of the challenges/draws that a person might use. It's fine if you want to spend extra time and focus on a specific part or parts of the overall drill.

Please report: gun and holster used, concealment garment (if any), ready positions used, and anything you noticed during the drill.


Training with firearms is an inherently dangerous activity. Be sure to follow all safety protocols when using firearms or practicing these drills. These drills are provided for information purposes only. Use at your own risk.


Robust Dry Practice Safety Principles and Procedure (the closer you follow this, the fewer opportunities you will have to ND)


Principles:

Allow no distractions – focus exclusively on the task at hand

Keep muzzle in a safe direction

Use correct trigger finger discipline

Verify no live ammo in gun, on person, or in the dry practice area

Use dedicated dry practice targets that are put away until you consciously choose to begin dry practice, and taken down when you consciously end dry practice

Use dedicated dry practice magazines and dummy rounds/inert training cartridges that stay in the dry practice area (if you use any magazine or cartridges)


Procedure:

Unload gun in a location other than the dry practice area

Leave live ammo, and magazines with live ammo, completely outside the dry practice area

Enter the dry practice area

Verify gun is unloaded, that any magazines do not contain live ammo, and that any cartridges present are inert/dummy cartridges

Consciously choose to begin dry practice

Put up dry practice targets

Do your dry practice

Take down dry practice targets and put them away

Consciously choose to end dry practice

Exit the dry practice area and do something unrelated for a few minutes

Return gun to location and condition of your choosing