Kevin calls this the one hole drill - and tries to put all of the shots through the first hole he shot in the target.
Some of you find @KevinM’s version an exciting challenge and want to go right for it! Others may want a stepping stone to keep them engaged and moving forward.
Kevin’s had a lot more experience than I have, so I make a small modification to his goal and call my version connect the dots. Instead of trying to get all of the rounds through one hole, I try to connect all of the shots together to make one hole. It will be larger than the hole in Kevin’s target when I started out.
As I’ve improved, I get closer and closer to Kevin’s version. But I don’t want to get myself so frustrated with this drill that I won’t use it. I try to reduce the size of the hole from a half-dollar to a quarter to a nickel to a dime.
How do you train - go for perfect or stepping stones to perfect?
In engineering we differentiate between repeatability and accuracy. Repeatability is about shot-to-shot variance… how small is your group, regardless of where it is relative to the bullseye. Accuracy is how close is your shot to where you intended to put it, how close to the dead center of your aim point.
If I’m training for repeatability, I try to do exactly the same thing each shot. If I’m training for accuracy, I try to correct after each shot based on how close to accurate I was each time.
Sometimes if I’m training for accuracy but my group isn’t improving, I switch to train for repeatability for a mag or two, then return to training for accuracy.
I do a LOT of dry fire training. Live fire is great but can get expensive. With dry fire you can practice drawing which is a skill that is practical to real life situations. I also utilize the MantisX system which can be used to dry fire and live fire. It is unforgiving and will not only chart your progress but tell you exactly what you are doing wrong and how to fix it!
I believe as a USCCA member you can get it at 10% off through members discount using discount code you can find in your USCCA Dashboard.
They have a new one coming out called MantisX-10 which is even more comprehensive and has more features.
I looked into the Mantis and just don’t have $150 to drop on a dry fire training even though it is something I need. Wish I could find something to help with training without it costing a lot of money since I’m kinda strapped for cash having to pay several thousand to fix the engine in my car.
As was mentioned, live fire is great, but does nobody any good if you can’t draw your firearm under duress.
I dry fire throughout the week, and draw from my holster even more so. You can make up so many drills of your own that you’ll never get bored. I draw from my holster with removing my cover garment with my other hand, draw from my holster with just one hand, draw from my holster with my off hand from behind my back, draw from my holster while two feet from a wall using my other hand to push off and backing away, draw from my holster sideways and squaring off to my target, draw from my holster pointing my firearm behind me and stepping into it. I do a lot of drawing from my holster and getting on target.
The club I just joined allows drawing from holsters on the range, so I’m also able to draw, get on target and fire as quickly as possible. As a concealed carrier, I’m not so concerned with hitting a target 15 yards down range as I am drawing and getting shots off quickly and hitting a target 5 to 10 feet from me.
Aside of the live fire aspect, the rest costs me nothing.
I practice drawing from my holster while driving since I’m in the driver’s seat more than anything else, but I also need to get better at hitting my target in the same spot and not all around the world.
Glad you’re training so much, @Damon! Are you training to draw from the holster with a cleared firearm?
I would recommend training with a cleared firearm so that you can train for pulling the trigger as well. I’d hate for your muscle memory to stop at the draw.
@Dawn… No I always have one in the chamber and I practice drawing from the holster to see what’s the best position to have it in so I can get to it easier and quicker if needed while driving. I have to be careful doing this only early in the morning so it’s still dark and really little traffic out so someone doesn’t come up beside my truck thinking I’m pulling my gun on them.
I wish to request to make any adjustments, type of firearm that you are
going to carry that day, and feel comfortable walking, driving, at stores,
lifting packages, and can run, well run away to safety. There’s enough
information here to fill a book alone. Can you drive to work or travel
none stop!
I trained to leave my firearm alone for 24 to 48 hours 30 days and only touched
it when it was only a must to; bath time and etc. It works well and comfortable.
I also carry a shoulder harness with a Glock 20, 10mm. Need a nice leather
jacket to fit too.
I would highly suggest doing some training without live ammo ammo so that you don’t have 100% muscle memory for the draw with no follow up. I know it sounds almost corny - like “Of course I’ll be able to pull the trigger if I’m in danger” however it might not be the case.
Train the way you will fight - including pulling the trigger. (Please use snapcaps or dryfire in training away from the range.)
@Zee this particular target is a drill to keep all your pistol rounds in the grey (prints green for me) area. Anything in the white is considered a miss.
Those trailing low right misses were from rushing the shot and poor grip.
I like to use this one to diagnose what’s going on with my stance, grip, sight picture, etc.
My Shield is great for shots in the personal space zone, once I hit the 14’ range I’m not as accurate. With my M&P 2.0c and my HK P2000 SK I’m accurate out to 45’.
Part of the problem is the shield is too small for my hand, I’ve considered selling it or adding a hogue grip. Love the HK accurate right out of the box and almost as ergonomic as the M&P 2.0c.
When I was last at the range, the family member I was with preferred to pull the trigger with the tip of the shooting/trigger finger (the pad of last joint of the finger); Not with the inner crease of the joint. I tried it and found my accuracy improved. I think I could feel that the gun was moving less when I used this technique compared to when I used the joint part of my finger. When I used the joint-bend of my finger, I could almost feel the gun pull inward and downward to the left more, as I’m right handed; Compared to when I used just the last “pad” part, higher up on my finger- then the gun would stay more straight.
Aside from using that part of the finger, I also found better accuracy when I pulled the trigger in one faster but smoother motion, compared to when I pulled the trigger too slowly, again, slower resulted in too much gun movement from my finger and hand, whereas when I pulled more quickly, but not harder, the gun remained more still in position.
I’d love to hear more experienced or experts’ remarks on what I found to be a less talked about aspect, the trigger pull itself, and its effect on accuracy. Thank you all.
