Target Practice

[iammarkjones]

Here is a good thing to try. At 7 yards stick up a 4' x 4' piece of cardboard. Now right in the center of that tape a 3"x5" index card. Keep the target at roughly 7 yards and do a walking draw and fire one round into the index card. Don't stop walking before you fire. I have been working on this now for the last couple of weeks shooting 50 to 100 rounds a day. I have gotten up to a pretty good pace both walking and drawing from a concealed holster. I use the 3x5 cards because that is about the size of the (mostly) instant kill zone in the human head. It's very hard to walk at a normal pace and shoot that accurately. However practicing at this level makes center of mass shots easy as heck even running.

[jim]

Interesting.

[OzarkMtnDaredevil]

Hot Dang! I likes the way you think, Mark! :)
Why not contract and expand? Take 4 steps, turn and fire from the hip. Point-blank can always use practice, too.
At 7 yards, do you ever practice turning and dropping to a knee or going prone?
Move out to 30 feet. Sight at first, then try from hip.
When I get agrivated with my results, I bring out the 12 ga and shoot the target in the back. I sleep a little better for some reason. :-X

[Farmer]

Try it walking/running and backing up while you shoot. At 7 yards, you are too close and need to be gaining distance. The current thinking is that you need 30 feet for your personal defense envelope - a man running with a knife can cover 21 feet in too short a time.

Good thinking and good practice!

[hunter63]

Good thoughts on practice. Good point.

Be profeciant at a lot of different scenarios is the name of the game, be it walking forward, backward, around and behind barriers etc.

A saying I once heard, maybe even here,
"If you have a good position and a good sight picture, your position is too exposed and your not moving fast enough."

Back when I picked up my first scoped rifle, after learning the gun, zeroing it in from the bench, I spent a lot of time with the "two shots at a paper plate" at all different positions, standing, sitting, prone, and kneeling.

I started just by carrying the rifle as I would while hunting.
Then some one would say "pull" and I would pull up, pick up the plate in the scope, fire, work the bolt, pick up the target a second time, and fire.
After this drill I had a whole lot more confidence in both the rifle and my self.

P.S. It's good to have your own range as most ranges won't let you do this unless they have a "combat shoot" or some such.

[rAcErRicK]

Combat shoots are priceless if you can find a local club that does them. Handguns, carbines, and scatterguns. Great practice and a ball to shoot. Running while reloading, through doorways, over obstacles, through small holes, every conceivable place and position. My old club used to do a cowboy shoot off a bucking barrell, and people loved it. (for levers, breakdowns and wheels only). Shooting wasn't too bad, but reloading was a hoot. The combats usually use 1/2" steel plates of various diameters, on knock down stands. One can really learn first hand what "knock down power" is all about there. That's where you find out, you either got it or ya don't. It's great to see what you've got, compared to what everyone else has got.