Unfortunately, I don’t have many drills that can be used on a square range, especially an indoor range. I was once on leave and went to a new indoor firing range that opened in a very exclusive suburb. They would not allow me to draw from an holster, stating , I had to start with the pistol lying on the range barrier. Didn’t want anyone to “shoot themselves in the leg”. First and last time there, and, I was not allowed to use my own targets, had to buy their brand.
If you have access to any outdoor range, even a small one, I have had some success in the range master allowing me to run this drill, depending on the number of shooters present. If I can get at least two or three spaces, I can run a modified version of this drill. If I don’t have the space, I will use three cones in a triangle formation, just to get a little movement in. This is a very basic drill, but, hits all the high points in good weapon manipulation with both hands.
A couple of years ago, I was able to acquire a little property in a very rural area, now, I don’t have to worry about this crap, I set up my own courses. Makes the monthly payment a little less painful.
Yeah, I’ve run into that a lot with civ ranges. Having your own spot would definitely be the way to go. Pretty much all of the indoor civilian ranges in my area are like that: must pay a monthly membership, must buy ammo from them (never heard that about targets though, talk about squeezing milk from a stone). TN wildlife maintains an outdoor range within driving distance, it is my go-to spot. But it is unmanned, so we only go first thing in the morning to beat any crowds that might show up, and the requisite yahoos that come with that. They’ve got covered shooting stations which are pretty restrictive as to movement, so (depending on who else is here) I just shoot from in front of them. Way easier. Haven’t gotten too crazy with movement there, but I am starting to work the wife on shooting while moving, especially lateral.
Good, at least you have access to some type of outdoor range. As simple as it sounds, having someone draw their handgun from concealment, then stepping either 6 inches to the left or right before firing will probably be a great benefit in surviving a shooting. As you know, most untrained people just simply freeze and stare at the gun pointed at them, instead of reacting, drawing and moving out of the line of fire. That lateral movement for your wife is the way to go. IMHO.
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I know this wasn’t directed at me, but one of my favorite square range drills is “walking in walking out”. You put up a standard B-8 target and shoot 5 rounds from the holster at 3,5,7,10,10,7,5,3 yards. Can be done with or without a shot timer
That’s a possible score of 400. The goal is to shoot it as fast as you can keeping them in the 10 ring. Obviously your splits at 3 will be faster than at 10. It’s a really nice warm up and fundamentals drill. Not very sexy or tacticool though.
Edit:
Also like cadence fire with a metronome app and ear buds under my ear pro. Shoot it from a distance where you can reliably shoot a “ragged hole” group (I.e. all rounds touching) then push the cadence or the distance until the group starts to open up, then back off a bit.
Another simple drill that humbles me every time I attempt it is the KD4 “Hat Qual”. B-8 target at 25 yards. 10 rounds from concealment or duty rig. 20 second par time. 90 is a pass. I have a ways to go. 25 is where I still start to fall apart on pistol.
That one’s going in the ole tool box. Wish I’d seen it before I went to the range earlier. I’ve been doing a lot of shooting, working on pistol and rifle skills in order to successfully move up from static to mobile. I’ve never gotten to put this kind of time in on the range, it’s pretty cool to see the improvements I’ve made in the last month or 2.
Speaking of pistol work, I wanted to thank you Idaho. Way back at the beginning of this thread in ‘17, you posted a simple 50 round course of fire for working pistol fundamentals. That drill has become my bread and butter, I go through it a few times each day I work pistol, with some modifications of my own. I’ve always been a pretty decent pistol shot, but using your drill has helped me make some serious improvements. I’ve been using a steel disc, about 6 inches. If anyone is interested:
Starting at the 7 yard line, from concealed (draw as quick as you safely can, then prioritize accuracy over speed, speeding up your shots as you improve) (each string is a 10 round mag)
draw and fire 1 round (strong hand supported), reholster
draw and fire 1 round (strong hand only), reholster
weak hand only, pistol at low ready, aim and fire 1 round, reset
1 round in chambers empty mag, draw and fire 1 round, reload, fire 1 round, reset drill(10x)
repeat weak hand only line
That’s 50 rounds, not sure how long but doesn’t take me very much time to complete. After this, you can repeat the same lines, or what I have started doing is the same lines but 2 shots each on every thing but the reload drill (more in line with our qual). Also, once you are consistently hitting at the 7 with some level of speed then start moving back. I have been doing this between the 7 and 10 yard lines. Today on weak hand, I would fire 1 round and if I hit then I would take a step back. If I missed, then I stayed where I was till I hit. Believe I moved beyond the 10, but not quite to the 15.
Going from that to a steel target the size of an IPSC c-zone, I can just about double tap weak hand only (strong hand only as well) and reliably hit from the 7 or 10.
No problem, that is a great drill that I use all the time. Speaking of 6 inch plates, I recently ran into a range that was going bankrupt and picked up a 6 inch falling plate rack for next to nothing, as you know, most of those are over thousand dollars. I have two 'Defense plates" smaller than a standard IPSC plate that I hang from cut 2&4’s and these are my first plates that I can call my own. 6 inch plates from 20 to 35 yards will certainly remind you that you are definitely not Rob Leatham.
Motivational Monday: Don’t quit, Don’t wavier in whatever you are doing. Life beats on you everyday, get angry, fight back. Be the leader for your family, tribe, or unit .
