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Thread: 50 Round Training Plan

  1. #1
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    50 Round Training Plan

    My son recently turned 21, and I gave him a LES Bear Thunder Ranch Special, holsters, Wilson magazines and a few other accessories to go with it. He is also taking a John Farnham pistol courses in April. He has access to ammo for training. He also has his concealed pistol license. He has been shooting for a long time and is pretty accomplished. You can read about his 21st birthday present here.

    I have a membership at a local indoor range, and extended my membership to include him. The net/net is that he has all he needs to shoot regularly on his own. He is not going to carry until his class in April, but he wants to get in some training on a regular basis. Before and after his April class.

    Most of the people at the range are turning money into noise, and may not be gaining or increasing their skill level. As long as they are being safe and having fun. No harm, no foul... More power to them. That is not us. We have fun, but are more interested in skill development. My thinking is that at an indoor range, we should focus on the fundamentals, with a low round count. Hang one target and get in and one without spending too much time in the process.

    My question for all of you is this. If you could shoot 50 rounds 3 times a week, how would you use those rounds on a square, 25 yard range. You can't draw from concealment but you can shoot rapid fire, and reload any way you want.

    Here is what I was thinking:

    1 - 10 Rounds with one magazine change
    1" dot 10 feet
    Slow fire from low ready. Manipulate the safety, acquire a sight picture and slowly get a perfect hit at the same point of aim, shooting a ragged hole with all rounds touching. The goal of this Exercise is drilling fundimantals. Trigger control, sight alignment and manual of arms.

    2 - 10 Rounds with one magazine change (vary round count in each magazine. 5/5, 4/6, 3/7)
    4" dot at 10 feet
    Increase the speed from low ready. Manipulate the safety, acquire a sight picture and fire two rounds as fast as possible while maintaining accuracy. All 10'rounds are inside the 4" circle. The magazine change will come at at random intervals. Reload and carry on as needed. Again this drill will focus on fundamentals.

    3 - 10 Rounds with magazines change (Vary round count in each magazine. 5/5, 4/6, 3/7)
    5 - 5" dots on the back of a target. Number each dot 1-5, but not in order. Change number patters session to session.
    From low ready shoot one round at each target, transitioning as fast as possible while maintaining accuracy, two times through. Reload and carry on as needed. This drill is fundementals, plus target transition and increases distance.

    4 - 10 Rounds with one magazine change (vary round count in each magazine. 5/5, 4/6, 3/7)
    6" dot at 21 feet
    From low ready. Manipulate the safety, acquire a sight picture and fire two rounds as fast as possible while maintaining accuracy. All 10'rounds are inside the 6" circle. The magazine change will come at at random intervals. Reload and carry on as needed. Focus on fundamentals, same as in drill 2' but at greater distance.

    5 - 10 Rounds with one magazine change
    6" dot 25 yards
    Slow fire from low ready. Manipulate the safety, acquire a sight picture and slowly get a hit, with the smallest group possible. The goal is to shoot all 10 Rounds inside the 6" circle. Trigger control, sight alignment and manual of arms. At this distance issues with the fundementals are amplified. Grip, sight alignment, trigger control... Can be used as a diagnostic tool.

    What else?
    Last edited by irondude; 03-04-17 at 16:05.
    I am just a regular guy, trying not to screw things up too much.

  2. #2
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    I'd put the ammo together and make one 150 round session instead. If possible use the other time you would've gone to the range to dryfire. Do you have a shot timer?

    I'd also pick 1 or 2 things each week to practice and focus on that. After the initital "beginner gains" I don't think you will see much progress doing 5 drills for 10 rounds each.

    If you want to better your basic marksmanship some drills i really like are:

    Frank Garcias Dot Drill

    Shooting 2 rounds at a USPSA target at 25 yards. Goaltime from low ready. 1,7 sec with all A

    Bill Drill @ 25y

    Two of these three e.g. would make up my 150 round marksmanship session. Dryfire the same week should focus on getting a proper grip on the gun, gripping it hard and being able to look at a spot snd having the gun come up there with aligned sights.

  3. #3
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    While good to get out and shoot that much, I think 50 rounds with that many drills is not going to build the muscle memory.

    Maybe 50 rounds with one of those drills and rotate the remaining 2 trips to the range.
    ETC (SW/AW), USN (1998-2008)
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  4. #4
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    I would consider shooting 150 rounds once per week and dry fire on the other two days. Buy him a dozen or so Snap Caps.

    If I were limited to 50 rounds per session, these drills are some of what I would perform.

    1 - Precision warm up: Place a 3/4" target paster on a sheet of paper posted at 15 feet. Fire 5 rounds or until the paster is gone. Repeat the drill at a slightly faster pace. If this gets to be old hat, shoot at an edged piece of cardboard until you fire 5 rounds or the cardboard is cut in two. 10 rounds total.

    2 - Precision drill: Place a target at 25 yards and practice shooting accurately. Firing no faster than one round per minute would be ideal and allow time to apply all the basics. 5 rounds total.

    3 - Reload drill: Load the pistol with one cartridge and place a magazine loaded with two cartridges where you would normally carry it. Fire one shot at a 3" x 5" card at 7 yards, perform a slide lock reload, then fire a second shot. Repeat 4 times. 10 rounds total.

    4 - Repeat exercise # 3 firing with the support hand. 10 rounds total.

    5 - Engagement drill: Place a silhouette or USPSA target at 12 yards. Load magazines with one to five rounds, mix them up and don't look at them when loading the pistol and placing a spare magazine where it would normally be carried. Practice rapidly acquiring a sight picture and firing one, two, three or no rounds C.O.M. That would train a concealed carry holder to not fire out of the habit every time the pistol is presented. In real life, you may not be justified to shoot and need to train to stand down when appropriate. 15 rounds total.

    Whatever the training regimen, the last thing I would practice during a live fire session is what I would most likely need to use before leaving the range.

    Once he has access to a place where he can draw from concealment, I suggest integrating moving during pistol presentation and shooting on the move to the live fire training sessions. There is no reason your son can't start practicing presenting and shooting on the move during the dry fire sessions.
    Last edited by T2C; 03-10-17 at 08:02.

  5. #5
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    Have him shoot the Paul Howe CSAT pistol standards. Only two of the drills are from the holster. Most of them are from the high ready. It involves a reload drill, malfunction drill, multiple targets. Its much better if he has a shot timer to use but is not necessary. Most of the drills are from the 7 yard line, one at the 25. Very practical and useful drills. If you go on his website you can download the drills in PDF format.
    Last edited by El Vaquero; 03-20-17 at 22:11. Reason: typo

  6. #6
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    I'll add to the 150 round minimum conversation that others are saying. My friend and I always warm up with a 150-rd Haley strategic dot torture drill (EDIT: Venti Drill). Which works incredibly well when you are short on time also. It forces you to learn the fundamentals and use them effectively, and makes for a great 'One thing to do" range trip.

    Last edited by WickedWillis; 03-21-17 at 15:00.
    98% Sarcastic. 100% Overthinking things and making up reasons for buying a new firearm.

  7. #7
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    I don't agree with large round count sessions, as if one isn't practicing with a purpose, then bad habits can arise and they take much, much longer and significantly more rounds to resolve than when 'learning' properly in the 1st place.

    I like your breakdown and would probably use only 1 or 2 per session coupled with expressed, purposeful precision shooting. The intent here is to get him to the point where he can "call each shot" and predict where it will land ... e.g., "felt good - in there, or pulled left, dropped right, etc".

    The other day I was coaching a newer shooter in offhand shooting at 200-yards when a current Camp Perry record holder arrived and watched me drill him. After a 10-shot session, the new shooter asked which rounds I liked the best, as the focus here was 10 good shots. Of the 3 I had mentioned - 2 were out into the 8-ring. He was stunned and wanted to know why I called them out. My reply was ... "because you called those shots perfectly". I told him his 'cone of fire' or 'wobble area' will decrease with more focused practice, and learning to call one's shots will ensure your form - and attention on the front sight - is where it needs to be all the way THROUGH the break of the shot.

    Let's just say that the top shooter nodded his assent and moved on down the range. As Harry M. Pope used to opine, good shooting, in reality, isn't 10 perfects shots ... it's having 0 bad ones!

    For pistol shooting, I also like having the shooter shoot at a blank target or piece of printer paper. Focus and shoot the 1st shot, then continue to focus on that shot and shoot at it while calling it shot aloud before dropping their stance (if they do, but I don't advise it - keep the gun up) or relaxing before the next shot.

  8. #8
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    I agree with others about dry fire. Especially since you are not allowed to draw at the range, getting in a large number of correct draw reps during dry fire is a good plan, in my opinion. I have been using the 6 2" dots (download at pistol-training) and working on the "press 6" drill. It requires a par timer, but works well when there are other shooters. I have a CED timer, but when I am at a busy indoor range, I'll use the par timer app on my phone and plug into my ear protection to hear the buzzer easier.

    You can't draw, but you can start from a low ready (or your preferred start position), and adjust the par times accordingly. The dot torture drill is also a good warm-up, which if you consolidate and do a 150 round session, you could start with that.

    One thing I really like about shooting competition is it makes it more apparent what skills you are lacking in, and you can focus on that during practice. I would use the bulk of your time/ammo during practice to improve a specific skill (transitions, reloads, accuracy). Find drills that you can quantify your ability at the beginning, and over the course of several weeks make that skill a focus in dry and live fire. Occasionally shoot your drill to track progress.

    For example, if you are wanting to improve accuracy generally, one of my favorite drills is the humbler, or the 700 point aggregate. You can easily track your progress, and find specific goals to improve on. Due to the scoring, you can easily track improvement.

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