My wife and I went shooting yesterday, a scenario which requires me to have a different mindset going into the whole exercise. Personally I don’t mind spending hours at the range (alone) shooting various drills and scenarios with both long guns and pistols, recording results and only stopping to drink water or shove a sandwich down my neck. This arrangement would not work out so well with my wife so I have to switch things up to keep it interesting and fun. It’s not that she doesn’t value shooting as she has a concealed carry license and practices frequently. Rather she just approaches it with a different mindset (one that isn’t borderline obsessive about shooting) and I can respect that, I think most married men could probably relate. Actually most married men would be thankful that their spouse even joined them out on the range for a day!
Yesterday the challenge was to be able to shoot with a purpose and incorporate some fun into it. I didn’t even bring my long guns as I wanted to solely focus on pistol work for both of us. What follows is a list and short description of some of the drills we did out at the range. I should include here that by range I mean large open field with a berm backstop on land owned by a friend. Some of these drills might get you in trouble at your traditional indoor ranges with lanes. As always anytime you handle firearms do so safely, just because I list something out here doesn’t mean you should attempt it.
Purse Draw
I had my wife put her pistol in her purse (as carried, zipped closed) and face downrange. I then told her to draw the pistol and take 1 shot at the target. She didn’t know it, but I stood behind her once I said “go” I started sprinting in the opposite direction until I heard the shot. I probably made it 25 yards before having to stop, I had her turn around and look at the distance I covered. The point was for her to understand just how much ground someone could cover in the amount of time it would take for her to retrieve her gun from her purse and put it into action.
Coat / Holster Draw
Here is where I break one of the rules of gun safety and I want you to know that right up front. I chose to do this because I feel confident in my abilities to “break” the rules and still not compromise safety. There were only two of us out there, I explained thoroughly the purpose of the drill, and at no time was her gun actually ever pointed directly at me. We were fortunate to be in a place which would allow for this type of training, I would not suggest even attempting this at any range where other people are present.
The first thing we did was to verify that her revolver was empty, once, twice, three times. Yes it was indeed empty. I then had her put it in her front coat pocket (or in side holster) as carried. I stood about 10 yards away facing her and told her to draw the pistol, point it at me, and pull the trigger (once I said go). She never even had the opportunity to get the gun up into the firing position, as I was on top of her every time before that could happen. The point of this drill was to show her that while having the pistol more accessible is a bonus it still takes time to draw and employ it, and that a grown man can cover 10 yards very fast. Standoff distance is very important, as well as lateral movement to avoid a threat.
Ball and Dummy Drill
My wife would face the target and I would take her revolver and turn around so she could not see what I was doing. I would then load one spent casing into her revolver and position the wheel in a way so she would either shoot a live round, or so that the hammer would fall onto the spent shell casing. The purpose of this drill was to show her just how much anticipating the shot would shift the round placement on the target. Quite often people will jerk their handgun down slightly before the round goes off, this is very obvious when doing this drill and the hammer falls on an already spent round. The goal is to have a smooth and consistent trigger pull throughout the drill regardless of whether the gun is loaded or not.
Chasing the Shot
This fun drill is done with two people, both facing the target. Think of it like playing PIG but instead of using a basketball you are using bullets. This is not a speed drill and there is no time limit. One person fires a round anywhere they want on the target, the second person has to try to get their bullet hole to touch the bullet hole of the first person’s shot. This drill obviously focuses on accuracy and all the components associated with it (proper sight alignment, trigger pull). If you touch the bullet hole of the first person’s shot it becomes your turn and the drill continues. Despite what you might think it is not that hard to put a round on top of (or touching) another round because we were at a distance of around 10-15 feet. This really is a fun drill and can get very competitive.
Overall we had a great time at the range and left with a feeling of having accomplished something. We did some basic drills and shot with a purpose, no rounds were expended downrange in a wasteful manner. While we did not spend time knocking soda cans off of a rack or blowing up tannerite we were still able to have fun while conducting some worthwhile training.
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