What can we do to keep training, but not expend too much ammo? We answer these questions....
Ammunition shortage can be a real pain. A lot of people have cut back on their weapon training time because of this shortage. In our opinion, not a single person in this world benefits from cutting back on training time, except maybe bad guys. The worse you are with your weapon the better it is for them. So what is the solution? What can we do to keep training, but not expend too much ammo? We answer these questions with questions of our own.
1. Who says you have to use ammunition every time you pull your weapon out?
One of our exercises is to practice acquiring a firearm from the holster or sling, 25 – 50 times per day. I can honestly say that this dry practice has increased my handgun recoil management by 60 – 65%. Practicing clearing the house with my AR has helped me speed up my left-to-right shoulder transitions and clearing corners. I can’t even tell you how much my speed and tactical reloads have improved from dry practice. Any time I get a new piece of gear (holster, mag pouch, dump pouch, sling, plate carrier, weapon, etc.) I practice with it at home first. What’s the point in going to the range and expending ammo when I haven’t gotten used to it or adjusted for me yet? I can save a lot of ammo by preparing to go to the range. Adjust my gear, my grip and stance at home, then practice it live to see the results.
Understand, I am not saying that dry practice can completely replace live practice. I am saying that dry practice can drastically improve your performance between range visits. Take notes, while you are at the range, of the things you want to work on and correct before you hit the range again. Go to the range with a plan. Say "These are the things I want to improve today" and focus on drills that will build those skills.
– C. Bertin The more you sweat in training, the less you bleed in battle.
2. Who says you have to fill your magazine to capacity every time you go to the range?
As most of my Canadian readers know, north of the 49th parallel we have significantly stricter gun laws than are currently in place in the United States. One of these laws is a magazine capacity restriction. In a pistol it is legal to have a magazine that holds 10 rounds at a maximum, and in a rifle it is legal to have a magazine that holds 5 rounds.
This tends to pose a problem for pistol and carbine training and has been a turnoff for many people. However, there are several ways around this. One of those ways is to obtain magazines with an illegal capacity. Obviously I don’t condone this, though its been done by many people.
Assuming my readers want to stay on the legal side of things other options are available.
One of the common misconceptions is that you need high capacity magazines in order to train effectively. This is simply not true, all that is needed is proper ammunition management.
When training for speed shooting, if you can fire 3 rounds fast you can also fire 12 shots fast.
On the other hand, speed is not everything. There is a quote that is commonly attributed to Wyatt Earp- “You can’t miss fast enough to win.” Truer words were never spoken. A drill we do every time we go to the range is to draw our pistol and fire one shot. This gives us plenty of practice with that first shot, which statistically is almost guaranteed to miss. It gives us plenty of practice on our draw, which has to be near perfect to make a fast first shot at 25 yards, as well as acquiring a sight picture and consistent trigger manipulation. In theory, if you can make that first shot hit, you can make the subsequent shots hit.
Some people are concerned that this may cause training scars. Shooting set numbers of rounds in a combat situation has the potential to be either excessive, or not enough to stop the threat from being a threat.
Our next article will address our ammunition conserving method for avoiding these types of training scars. – D. Bertin
While you read this, your enemy is training.
1. Who says you have to use ammunition every time you pull your weapon out?
One of our exercises is to practice acquiring a firearm from the holster or sling, 25 – 50 times per day. I can honestly say that this dry practice has increased my handgun recoil management by 60 – 65%. Practicing clearing the house with my AR has helped me speed up my left-to-right shoulder transitions and clearing corners. I can’t even tell you how much my speed and tactical reloads have improved from dry practice. Any time I get a new piece of gear (holster, mag pouch, dump pouch, sling, plate carrier, weapon, etc.) I practice with it at home first. What’s the point in going to the range and expending ammo when I haven’t gotten used to it or adjusted for me yet? I can save a lot of ammo by preparing to go to the range. Adjust my gear, my grip and stance at home, then practice it live to see the results.
Understand, I am not saying that dry practice can completely replace live practice. I am saying that dry practice can drastically improve your performance between range visits. Take notes, while you are at the range, of the things you want to work on and correct before you hit the range again. Go to the range with a plan. Say "These are the things I want to improve today" and focus on drills that will build those skills.
– C. Bertin The more you sweat in training, the less you bleed in battle.
2. Who says you have to fill your magazine to capacity every time you go to the range?
As most of my Canadian readers know, north of the 49th parallel we have significantly stricter gun laws than are currently in place in the United States. One of these laws is a magazine capacity restriction. In a pistol it is legal to have a magazine that holds 10 rounds at a maximum, and in a rifle it is legal to have a magazine that holds 5 rounds.
This tends to pose a problem for pistol and carbine training and has been a turnoff for many people. However, there are several ways around this. One of those ways is to obtain magazines with an illegal capacity. Obviously I don’t condone this, though its been done by many people.
Assuming my readers want to stay on the legal side of things other options are available.
One of the common misconceptions is that you need high capacity magazines in order to train effectively. This is simply not true, all that is needed is proper ammunition management.
When training for speed shooting, if you can fire 3 rounds fast you can also fire 12 shots fast.
On the other hand, speed is not everything. There is a quote that is commonly attributed to Wyatt Earp- “You can’t miss fast enough to win.” Truer words were never spoken. A drill we do every time we go to the range is to draw our pistol and fire one shot. This gives us plenty of practice with that first shot, which statistically is almost guaranteed to miss. It gives us plenty of practice on our draw, which has to be near perfect to make a fast first shot at 25 yards, as well as acquiring a sight picture and consistent trigger manipulation. In theory, if you can make that first shot hit, you can make the subsequent shots hit.
Some people are concerned that this may cause training scars. Shooting set numbers of rounds in a combat situation has the potential to be either excessive, or not enough to stop the threat from being a threat.
Our next article will address our ammunition conserving method for avoiding these types of training scars. – D. Bertin
While you read this, your enemy is training.
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