For those of us in the northern half of the US – in my case
east central Iowa – the weather has started to warm. Spring is late this year to be honest, with
significant snowfall well into April.
And while I do my best, trips to the range diminish with the onset of
temps in, and below, the single digits.
So, it’s time to brush the rust off and see where I am at the beginning
of this year’s shooting and training season.
What I want to chat about is the “what” and a suggestion of
“how” your rust brushing should be done.
Yes. . . I know everyone has their opinion, this is simply mine.
First things first – does your gun RUN? What I mean by “gun” is your daily carry
gun. The one that, as you read this
post, rests snuggly on your hip or at your 1 o’clock in a AIWB holster. What I mean by “RUN” is that it should
complete your entire drill set error free.
The course of fire you choose should wring this out and include multiple
magazine changes as well.
Is your draw smooth and sure? Our past winter was particularly chilly so a
multi-layer system for me was common. My
draw stroke with an IWB holster under a Henley, under a Columbia cold weather
system, with gloves on . . . takes a bit longer. Not orders of magnitude longer . . . but
longer. On this range trip I was back to
a single, untucked shirt. Much
better! The process of smoothing things
out revolves around multiple draws from the holster. So, your course of fire should encourage just
that – a sizable number of draws prior to engagement.
Marksmanship is in the mix as well. Can you hit the threat or accurately place a precise
shot? Can you shoot a qualifying score –
in my case not less than an 80%. Of
course, this means you need to define scoring before your first shot and not “adjust”
things to make yourself feel better. In
my case I’m using my target of choice – the LETargets SEB target. A good hit is within the High Center Mass
box, Pelvic Girdle box, within the precision shapes or the Ocular cavity. Within means within or touching the
shape. What is does not mean is – “anything
within the silhouette is a hit”.
Next is round count.
How many rounds can be used to effectively evaluate where the heck you
are shooting wise? I have three training
magazines. My approach was to put 15
rounds in each magazine for a total of 45 rounds for each of three distances –
a total of 135 rounds. This also insured
9 magazine changes.
Finally, the course of fire. I chose three distances – 5y, 10y and
15y.
The first magazine was a single round engagement, high
center mass for each draw.
The second magazine was an accelerated pair of on the
pelvic girdle plus the remaining single round
The third magazine was all precision shots.
·
Draw and a single round engagement on the #1
shape. The next draw was a single round
engagement on the #2 shape. And so on .
. . through the #6 Shape.
·
Next was a draw and an accelerated pair on the
#1 shape. The next draw was an
accelerated pair on the #2 shape. And so
on . . . through the #4 Shape.
·
The final draw was a single round engagement on
the Ocular Cavity.
·
Total round count – 45 rounds.
This process was repeated for stage 2 at 10 yards. And, it was varied at stage three at 15 yards
in that I scored the High Center Mass and Pelvic Girdle boxes separate from the
precise shots. The reasoning for this I
that I considered it imperative that I “pass” on the boxes and see it as less
than realistic to shoot an 80% on 7 different boxes that are 3 ½”-ish at 15
yards. Again, the parameters are mine,
you may well choose a higher expectation of yourself.
Once I had this defined, I shot the course of fire from
three different targets at three different distances. As I am wont to do, I took photos of each
target. HOWEVER – pro tip – check to
make sure your images are actually recorded!
Sadly, I did not and I must not have been diligent in pressing the
button on the screen firmly or whatever was needed. The only target actually photographed was the
one at 10y. And, of course I had applied
one target over the other. Heavy sigh. But, I did go back and take a photo of the
summary at the top of each target for inclusion in this post.
There was one other change for the day that played in this
process – the previous week I had driven
to Brownells and purchased a Wilson Combat Match Grade Barrel for my carry
Glock 17. I had run around 60 rounds
through it previously, but this was it’s first go to evaluate reliability and
accuracy in my weapon. The obvious
concern is that with much tighter tolerances, would there be problems with the
gun not running as smoothly as I am used to.
The answer . . . it ran just fine, no feeding problems or ejection
issues at all.
So bottom line, how did the day go? On the 5 yard target I was down zero for a
score of 100%
On the 10 yard target I was down 5 for a score of 89%
On the 15 yard target I was down 6 on the High Center Mass
and Pelvic Girdle boxes for a score of 80%.
I did score the precision boxes as well . . . wasn’t pretty. For 15 rounds I was down 11 . . . for a score
of 27%. Nope, I can not constantly shoot
a 3 ½” group at 15 yards. Honestly, this
is also a place I don’t intend to spend a great deal of time on either. The primary focus of my defensive practice
will remain within the 7 yards range with some work done out to 10 yards.
So, if I did the math right for each distance there were
three magazines, 45 rounds and 34 draws from concealment for a grand total of
135 round and 102 draws. More than
enough, IMNSHO, to brush off the rust and get me headed in the right direction.
Take some time, plan your first big range trip of the
season, evaluate your skill set and see where your starting point is for this
year. Then post your approach and your
result. We can all learn from each other!
