Posted: 6/30/2013 2:52:37 PM EDT
|
For those of you that are fortunate enough to be able to shoot outside, dynamic shooting should be something you practice when you have the opportunity.
Shooting while moving helps incorporate a multitude of skills, you are in essence multitasking. While moving; you are maintaining visual ID of the threat/target, navigating terrain, watching your front sight as you are firing. By practicing moving and shooting, just a short "burst" or distance is all you truly need as a citizen going about your day. By shooting on the move, you also can help develop your natural point of aim (NPOA), or "point shooting" by covering the rear sight and front sight to help develop where your NPOA is currently and where it needs to be. For those who can only shoot indoors where being static is not an option, it has its advantages also. Shooting static will show you where your "baseline" for shooting is.This comes from being able to positively ID your bullets impact on the target without added pressure. Once you can maintain a group no larger than your closed fist at fixed distanced while static, you can then assume you have the basic fundamentals of shooting (grip, trigger pull, sight alignment/picture) in your toolbox. To test yourself, set a time with a shot timer (available on smartphones via app) and begin to test your skill set with a series of drills. Start with simple "double taps" at 5m (5yards) and see where your follow through is in relation to your first shot. If your followthrough is not within acceptable parameters, you can then judge yourself if you are jerking/slapping the trigger or other causes depending on location. Another useful drill is from the low ready, set the shot timer to 1sec, then aim for center or fixed point of aim (POA) and see where your point of impact (POI) is. Now you can add a little stress to your training. You can make the most of your time at the range by seeing what you need to work on by simulating real life situations and incorporating them into your training program. By practicing a simple, yet challenging drills into your program, you can see an improvement in your overall shooting ability in a relative short period. If you are short on training ammunition, dry firing these same drills will help you see where your NPOA is and aides in your training. Below, are a few of my favorite drills that help aide me and I pass this along to my students. Remember, you are responsible for each round you send down range, you miss your threat and you are held liable. Train, Train Train, but most important, perfect practice makes perfect. "Putnam Post". This is named after Clayton County PD Firearms Inst Capt. Bill Putnam. With the use of a 4x4, a target is then placed over it, allowing a 180* firing platform. This alows you to only 4" of space to shoot. The drill is simple, fire 10rnds (2mags of 5) while walking in an arch, 5yrds out, this makes you focus on your movement, trigger pull and front sight or NPOA. You then perform a magazine reload (combat) and walk in the opposite direction. To push your skills, set a timer for 5seconds each pass, count your hits and do 10 pushups for each miss. Shooting One Handed. In a real situation, you probably will not be able to quickly obtain a two handed grip between responding to the threat, firing hand drawing while your support hand is clearing any obstruction in clothing. Work on drawing from your holster with your offhand and performing reloads one handed. By doing this, you eliminate a "weak" hand and will have a "support or off" hand. The rounds in the target are my "point of aim" drill. I stood at 5m away without the use of my sights, fired three rounds in 3sec's. Proper grouping is there and my NPOA is on target for where I "thought" my front sight should be. |
