At home non ammo target and training ideas

[JAD]

. A *good* one day class that uses 200-300 rounds of ammo will save you a lot of time and help prevent you from developing nasty habits on your own. .

This should be emphasized. I don't want to get too semantic, but shooting and dry firing isn't training, it's practice. Practice is good, but only in that it reinforces what you've learned in training.

Videos aren't training, they're instruction. Instruction is good, but only in that it provides knowledge that can be made practical by guided practice.

The combination of guided practice and instruction is training -- and I really think anyone who is going to bother to buy a pistol and carry it needs to be trained.

I think Gunsite 150 is an adequate baseline. There are lots of equivalents to that particular curriculum -- I think that would be an interesting topic for another thread.

Practice isn't training. Videos aren't training. They're both good things, but if one is thinking seriously about having to shoot to save your life, one needs training.

I need some more training.

Jon
KC

[BWT]

What I'd do if I had time and money is buy a SIRT pistol, a shot timer, snap caps and research drills here. Shooting is good to learn recoil management and sight tracking.

But, practicing reloading, dry firing your actual gun, drawing, reholstering, etc. are all things you can and should do at home. A shot timer and drills focused on specific tasks are a great for shooting at the range. Better than loading the gun to capacity and shooting a target.

If you're doing a drill like the FAST or doing ball and dummy, or loading one or two rounds in a magazine, firing to slide lock and reloading firing a few more, etc. you can really effectively utilize the small amount of time you can shoot.

Bring 3x5 note cards and shoot smaller amounts of rounds at distances, focusing on smaller targets will drive accuracy.

Here's the cheapest honest to goodness advice I can give you. SIRTs are great, Shot timers are great.

Your friend is snap caps and an empty brass casing. Practice with a spent casing from time to time on the front sight post, see if you can keep it there until the trigger breaks.

Practice dry firing daily, consistency beats intensity, seriously. Practice unholstering and reholstering, drawing and finding sight alignment and trigger press. Practice reloading. Going to a class and running a gun hard and shooting a 1,000 rounds once a year and a monthly match, aren't going to drastically improve your shooting like daily gun handling and dry firing will.

To be completely candid, the last Two gun match I shot, with LE, military, competitive shooters. I took third, if I hadn't missed one target and fumbled a reload, I would've taken first. I haven't shot 2,000 rounds through my Glock 17, or more than 4,500 through my BCM Midlength, there were probably 50 shooters at that match and I don't shoot regularly and I didn't at the time. I beat a Vicker's Shooting Method instructor and members of our City SWAT Team. With a CCC Shaggy pushed to my right hip because they wouldn't let me run it AIWB and I never shoot from the 3 o'clock position. I've taken the state class to get my CWP, and I repair computers for a living.

I'm not saying this to say I'm great, I'm just saying it to say, practice daily, and 5-15 minutes, keep the gun in your hand. Keep the gun in your hands and practice, you can see results with the proper tools for very low cost. You don't need 1,000s of rounds. Get a pack of snap caps and come back here after you have.

ETA: Here's another piece of advice, grip strengthener. Develop a stronger grip, it will strengthen your tendons and your wrists. I do about 50x5 compressions with each hand and hold it compressed with each hand for a minute after 50 compressions five times. I use a Extra Heavy Tension Pro hands by Grip Master from REI. Give it a shot, go with heavy and start with 3 sets of 50 with each hand and alternate hands.

Ask any Pro shooter, most of the Pros have incredible grip strength.

Daily routine my friend. Daily.

[dbateman]

Manufacturer: http://nextleveltraining.com/

Just a few PF threads:

• Next Level Training SIRT Training Pistol
• 10 Months with the SIRT
• SIRT Training: Worth It For Non-SIRT Model Shooters?

Besides classes, it is absolutely the best money I've ever spent on pistol training. Actually, I got the first one as a gift, but thought well enough of it to purchase a second.

I can see the value in that as long as the thing feels and handles like your pistol.

One thing though I think they should be treated like a real firearm.

I'm not sure if we can get them over here... We cant get airsoft it's illegal.

[Byron]

One thing though I think they should be treated like a real firearm.

I strongly disagree, but rather than ramble on about it, I'll just link to Todd's blog post on this very issue: What Is a Gun?

[Mr_White]

I strongly disagree, but rather than ramble on about it, I'll just link to Todd's blog post on this very issue: What Is a Gun?

Me too. The essential purpose and function of blue/red guns, SIRTs, and any other ballistically inert gun-shaped object is to demonstrate or participate in activities that have educational or training value, but would be unsafe with a real firearm, no matter how unloaded we thought it were.

[dbateman]

I strongly disagree, but rather than ramble on about it, I'll just link to Todd's blog post on this very issue: What Is a Gun?

I'm not arguing about it my statement was made after a watched the video on the website you linked I just don't see any need to be wandering around in front of the firing line wile people are engaging targets even if the guns being used are laser guns.

I understand they are a good tool to teach people things like clearing but the safety fundamentals should still apply.
Fair enough for drills where you are learning how to deal with being at gun point but other than that I feel the safety rules should apply.

Maybe I'm a bit odd ?

[Mr_White]

I'm not arguing about it my statement was made after a watched the video on the website you linked I just don't see any need to be wandering around in front of the firing line wile people are engaging targets even if the guns being used are laser guns.

I understand they are a good tool to teach people things like clearing but the safety fundamentals should still apply.
Fair enough for drills where you are learning how to deal with being at gun point but other than that I feel the safety rules should apply.

Maybe I'm a bit odd ?

What do you think the Raison d'être for blue/red guns and SIRTs is?

[dbateman]

What do you think the Raison d'être for blue/red guns and SIRTs is?

Teaching people bad habits apparently.

[ToddG]

Teaching people bad habits apparently.

I wave a SIRT around nonchalantly in class all the time. Yet somehow I've been switched on enough not to do the same thing with a live gun. I used to steer my cat all over the house using my SIRT laser yet somehow I'm innately talented and brilliant enough not to do the same thing with a live gun. As others have said, the whole point of having non-firing training guns is so that we can do things with them that would be unsafe using a real loaded gun. Like aggravating cats.

[Mr_White]

Teaching people bad habits apparently.

This seems like a nonserious response. Which, hey I understand, because I love to be silly. But for real, it's hard for me to believe you are actually saying that you think ASP, Rings, NLT, and whoever else makes inert trainers is doing so to teach people bad habits. Unless that's your real answer, why do you think they exist?