in-home training

[xMINORxTHREATx]

Hey all.

Winter is setting in (at least in Ohio) and my range time is going to be cut down a lot. My usual range is at a friends house, out doors, and the only indoor range around me is about 40 minutes away, and I'm lazy.

So I'm trying to think of some drills I can run at home to keep me on my toes.

One drill I'm fond of is the "bang bang click" drill I learned from the Army.

You hold the pistol out in a firing position and have some one hit the barrel and say "bang." They do that a random number of times, then say "click" and stop just an inch or so from the barrel. This drill is two fold. It helps to teach to not anticipate the kick, and when they say "click" you run through a misfire drill.
Obviously done with snap caps. NEVER TRY WITH A LOADED FIREARM....

Other drills I have been doing are your basic defense drawing of the weapon, rapid reloading, and one hand drawing.

I was wondering if any one else had some good suggestions.

Once there are a few, I would like to compile them all in a thread and sticky it, giving credit to each who adds to it.

Also, once there are a few, I can make a youtube video of how to do perform the drills, since sometimes words cant describe them perfectly, and post it in the sticky as well.

[BILLtheDJguy]

Reloading weapon/reloading clip in the dark...

Drawing your holstered weapon from a seated/prone position...

Clearing a FTF (auto) with one hand...(the trick is to figure out a way, so that if the need arises, you have another option besides throwing it at the BG)

[xMINORxTHREATx]

Never thought of in the dark.

Prone and sitting are good ones.

Reloading a mag is a good thought, but I don't see being in a scenario where you would have extra rounds laying around. Then again, better to have the training and not need it, then need it and not have it.

[BILLtheDJguy]

I keep my ammo separate from my guns, and I practice pulling them out, dumping them on the bed and reloading two clips in the dark....It was the proverbial monkey and a football the first few times, but I've gotten pretty good at it...The last one replicated being shot in one arm and having a FTF...I try to think of every scenario...Like you said, It better to have it and not need it.

I even tried to get my wife to bite my arm real hard while I tried to reset my Glock, to simulate the pain, but she wouldn't do it...lol

[X_shooter]

The dark room adds a dimension. I know I can drop and re-insert a mag with my eyes closed or in the dark. I do it by feel anyway and I have deleoped that essential muscle memory. Loading the mag with rounds or grabbing the appropriate mag in the dark would be tougher.

[xMINORxTHREATx]

I keep my pistol under my bed, in the case it came in (SW M&P case, black plastic, two latches, foam inside) and the mags are loaded, just not in the gun, so rolling out of bed and grabbing the mags would be a good scenario. Thanks!

I understand the one arm scenario. Forgot to comment on it but I agree its something I need to do.


In my opinion, muscle memory is key. I practice new moves at a comfortable pace at first, then slowly speed it up. Thats how I was taught combatives in the Army, and it really helps.

[xMINORxTHREATx]

Anymore comments? I can start filming next weekend and have it finished in another week. I would just like more material.

[BILLtheDJguy]

I've got a ton of live-fire drills, but few that could be done effectively with snap caps. Mainly, accuracy drills, in many "uncomfortable" situations.

Let me know when you do a live-fire session...

[BILLtheDJguy]

Weak hand drawing from strongside holster.

Shooting/reloading weak hand.

Clearing your home safely...Waking to noise/coming home to find forced entry/after taking down a BG.
Obviously, calling the cops and watching from a safe vantage point is the best option, but if there are others in the home, I personally, would have to follow-up.
Make sure if you call LE first and then go in, make it very clear to dispatch that you are inside the home.

Most people don't carry inside, all the time. Try to imagine all the entry points available to a BG, and how you would obtain your weapon from different living areas of your home. Trust me, it gets hairy, after the first 10 scenarios. And, those are just the ones that you can conceive.

[xMINORxTHREATx]

I was thinking live fire might be my third or fourth video.

I want to do a in home video, an intro to cleaning and safety for people new to firearms, and a basic range guide one too.

I'm actually getting kind of excited about it. I used to make video's like this with my paintball team for our sponsor. He sold the DVDs with starter kits.

I would really like to make them and post them on youtube, and affiliate it with this site.

[BILLtheDJguy]

Great idea and Good luck...If you need some computer chair editing and critique, let us know...

[xMINORxTHREATx]

Will do.
The live fire ones will have to wait for a month or so seeing as...... I woke up this morning to a decent snow fall and my car was covered in a 1/4 inch of ice!!!! I hate Ohio. haha

[BILLtheDJguy]

We supposed to drop to 20 degrees, tonight, here in central FL.
At least you get to play in the snow. We just get the bitter cold.

[xMINORxTHREATx]

Ohio snow + Yamaha Raptor = one trip to the ER. haha

[g.willikers]

Airguns.
The blowback, recoiling, airsoft and pellet guns have become so realistic, that regular practice will not only preserve skills, but actually improve on them.
A great addition, in my experience, to dry firing exercises.
Much like practicing with .22s.
And you get to see actual holes in the targets.

[xMINORxTHREATx]

True. I have a few of those laying around, but I like to practice with MY weapons.

But they do make a GBB (gas blow back) M&P, which is the next best thing to shooting my M&P I suppose.

[Dwight55]

Take a brand new, lead pencil and sharpen it very sharp.

Use masking tape to make two little doughnuts around it, about 3 inches apart. The diameter of the doughnuts should just allow the pencil/doughnut combination to very easily slip in and out of your 1911 barrel.

Unload your 1911, . . . tape a white piece of paper on the wall, . . . put an aiming mark on it. Load the pencil up, . . . cock the hammer, . . . get some good "anti flinch" drills. If you are good, . . . you'll only have one mark on your paper other than your aiming mark.

May God bless,
Dwight

[xMINORxTHREATx]

Dwight, do you mean to shoot the pencil out of the barrel?

[Dwight55]

Yep, . . . that is the process. Of course you are just a couple of inches away from the wall when you do it, . . . and it can open your eyes as to how much flinching you may be doing.

Dropping the pencil down the barrel and "shooting" it upwards is an old, tried, and true determination that you put the thing back together correctly when you just had it apart for cleaning, etc.

Adding the tape and shooting it horizontally also is a bit dated, . . . but it's kinda like that old "boy meets girl" thing, . . . been going on for a long time and it is still fun.

May God bless,
Dwight

[ProShooter]

A few suggestions.....

Practice tap/rack drills while moving through your house, or back yard. Getting off the X is not always easy while working around furniture.

Practice "cutting the pie" in your home with various weapons, i.e handgun, shotgun, etc. Whatever weapon you have available is something that you should practice with.

[xMINORxTHREATx]

I would clear my house room by room, but with a 7 and 9 year old running around pretending to be insane, or maybe they are insane who knows, I end up tripping about three rooms into it. haha

[JC57]

Something I have done (more of a self-awareness drill rather than training per se) is to practice responding to an intruder using the "finger gun" - i.e. no weapon, just a pointed finger.

I start from rooms I typically occupy - bedroom, office, den - and react to potential intruders breaking in from different locations. My main intention is to plan for the best options of cover, concealment, and retreat. Following my personal rule #2 in a gunfight - which is to not get shot, staying behind some form of cover and peeking around corners is a big part of this.

One of the interesting things I have learned from this is that due to the layout of my house, the vast majority of the time I find if I needed to shoot, I would be using my left hand and shooting one handed if I were trying to expose as little of my body as possible. This has changed my range practice focus a lot, so that I shoot "weak hand" a lot more than I used to, as well as one handed with both hands.

I've also recognized where the best defensive points are and where my best retreat paths are, so that I could cover a doorway effectively behind as much cover as possible while being on a land line phone to the police.

The other trick is to practice this same drill at night with all of the lights out in the house. You can assume that an intruder who just came in from outside probably has adjusted to the dark, so turning a light on when you first get up to see what that noise was may put you at a disadvantage.

I like to practice the dark-house drill three ways. With handheld flashlight, with weapon-mounted flashlight or laser (if you have either) using an unloaded gun of course, and with no flashlight at all. For the flashlight drills you tend to need an unloaded or blue plastic gun so you can get used to dealing with a flashlight in one hand and a gun in the other, swapping hands if need be, peeking around corners and pulsing the light as needed to illuminate and hopefully dazzle intruders. I prefer a small bright (100+ lumens) LED flashlight but others may prefer the big D-cell Maglites that double as a club.

As I mentioned earlier, the main value I get from this is for self awareness and to adjust my range time so that I practice the things I need to work on.

[insolentshrew]

As someone else said, 1 handed drills...for just about everything you can think of. Especially drawing from a strong side holster. All your practice shooting weak handed only is fine and dandy, but pretty useless if your strong arm gets disabled and you cant clear leather with your weak hand.

I would also recommend doing something along the lines of the Tueller drill (google it if you've never heard of it) to go along with situational awareness. This can give some fore site for people as to when people become within danger close range. This could be adapted for dry fire exercises in the yard to help with practicing clearing leather. Obviously different carry rigs, draw speeds of individuals, speed of attack will change the range in which someone could clear leather and effectively fire a round - but it will be an eye opener as to what people should actually consider a safe vs dangerous distance of a potential attacker etc.

I really like the bang bang click drill you mentioned, I have heard of people doing similar drills at the range when you go with a friend. Friend loads magazine for auto's and loads 1 snap cap randomly, or for a revolver leave 1 chamber empty. The snap cap for the semi can serve 2 fold though, can practice doing a clearing drill when the snap cap is encountered and also look for anticipated recoil

[xMINORxTHREATx]

Tueller drills. Good addition.

Originally I was just thinking simple drills you can do if you have a few minutes of down time, but I like the direction its taking here.

Another one I'd like to add is target transitions and acquisition.

One thing I started to think of is what if the threat is coming from behind you (IE you are walking down the street and the BG comes up behind you and yells "gimme your money") Turning, accessing threat, drawing and firing.

Or if you are approached by BG's on opposing angles. (IE front and behind)

So I came up with a drill, you can set up targets yourself, or preferably have someone set them up for you. For in home use you can simply stand in the middle of your living room, GUN EMPTY, eyes closed. Have a friend put red plastic plates up in front and behind you. Ones with X's (BGs) and ones with check marks (by standers.) Friend shouts "front" "back" or "both."
You then turn to which ever side he yells, acquire the target, say bang (since you cant shoot) and move on to the next target.

[Dwight55]

Well, xMINORxTHREATx, how about changing "Bang" for an air soft pistol that is at least geometrically similar to whatever you carry?

May God bless,
Dwight