Shooting requires constant, realistic practice to hone and maintain your skills with a weapon. This is especially true when preparing for the possibility of human beings attacking you or your family. Many people shoot for target practice or hunting, but they do not train for hostile encounters. Training with firearms for prepping must be intentional and planned, not merely a recreational activity. In this article I will show how to train for hostile encounters, including drills you can do with or without ammunition.
Given the enormous breadth of this subject, I will be limiting the scope of this article to range shooting drills with semiautomatic rifles. This will be divided into four sections: pre-fire, basic, intermediate, advanced, and expert shooting drills. It will begin with very common and simple – yet essential – exercises, and progress into more advanced drills meant to train your brain, eyes, and weapon to work together in order to successfully engage multiple targets under realistic and complex situations.
This article would be amiss if I did not discuss weapons safety. I implore the reader to always be careful around firearms, and to communicate and enforce the rules of weapons safety with each and every person he or she brings to the range. These five are especially important:
1. Always treat all weapons as if they are loaded.
2. Never point a weapon at anything you do not intend to destroy.
3. Keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to fire.
4. Keep the weapon on “safe” until you intend to fire.
5. Always be aware of what is in front of, to the side of, and behind your target
Firearms are designed to kill, and there is not any margin for error when lives are
involved. Ensure that a range master is assigned and present, that each person understands the rules, and do not allow anyone to progress in training faster than he or she is ready. A range is not the place to have an ego.
After each person understands weapons safety, you can move on to the fundamentals of marksmanship. For anyone to become proficient and effective as a shooter, he or she must become an expert of these basic fundamentals:
1. Firing position
2. Sight picture
3. Breathing
4. Trigger squeeze
The three main firing positions are prone, kneeling, and standing. There are some differences while moving or firing behind a barrier, but they are very small. I will discuss each firing position in detail later in the article.
Sight picture is often misunderstood, yet it is essential to achieving a consistent shot group. In order to gain a proper sight picture, you will need to understand how to see, and what to look at, while shooting. ‘How to see’ refers to the shooter looking at the same part of the optic, from the same angle, every time. This is best achieved by placing your cheek on the same part of the buttstock every time. Some people place their nose on a certain part of the charging handle; others like to place the upper part of their cheekbones on a certain ridge on the stock; no matter which way you choose to position yourself with the weapon, just make sure it is consistent. Then you will consistently be looking at the optic from the same angle, achieving a good sight picture.
The aforementioned point of ‘what to look at’ refers to the shooter looking at the target, rather than the sight or scope. Too often, people look at the crosshairs or red dot, losing focus on the point they are aiming at. Shooters should instead focus on the target. Focus on the point you are aiming at, then meet the crosshairs or red dot to that point. You will be able to consistently aim at smaller points on the target, causing tighter shot groups. This is especially important when engaging multiple targets, as this allows you to transition between them with more speed and accuracy.Continue reading“Shooting Drills for WTSHTF – Part 1, by T.Z.”
