Enjoy the next article in my series about getting into USPSA and other practical shooting competitions! Keep in mind that I am not very good, especially considering how long I have been shooting, but you can follow along on my journey to get better. Match videos and other content are available on my YouTube channel!
So you bought a pistol, you read my last article, and you bought enough gear to get started in practical pistol competitions. Maybe you even pulled up the rulebook, and if you did that you saw how complicated the rules look. At the very least, you should have read the safety rules and the rules for your planned division.
The next step is to find a match. So, you check your local gun range’s website or PractiScore and find out the next match that you are willing to drive to is a month away. How do you make the time in between now and your first match productive enough to not look like a complete fool?
First, do not worry about looking like a fool. No matter how slow you move or how poorly you shoot, nobody will really judge you unless you violate the safety rules. The folks who are sprinting through stages and taking it super serious probably aren’t paying attention to your stage runs, they’re too busy thinking about how they did. If there’s a group of these superstars, they’re probably too busy competing with or slapping each other on the back to notice you anyway. Nobody cares!
Next, you will want to develop a training plan. What I would recommend while getting started is to adopt a live fire – dry fire – live fire process. For clarity, “live fire” means target practice with actual live ammunition and “dry fire” means practicing with an unloaded pistol. Typically, the live fire occurs during the weekend when I have time to go to the range, and the dry fire practice occurs whenever I have time. For those of us who have limited access to ranges that allow “dynamic” movement or drawing from a holster, that’s okay. We can adjust our practice to accommodate any range shortcomings.
The first live fire practice should be intended to establish a baseline of skill. If you’ve been using your pistol a bit, you should be familiar with it by now. This first range session shouldn’t take up too much time or ammunition, you are just looking to confirm your fundamentals. I typically assign between 100 and 200 rounds to this “checkup” type of practice. With just 100 rounds, I can typically diagnose issues for me to work on during my dry fire practice later in the week.
After shooting pistols in the Air Force, practicing for matches, taking a few pistol classes, and watching God knows how many hours of videos on the subject, I have developed a series of live-fire drills that I use for my practice sessions. Keep in mind that I am not as good as I once was (but I was good once as I ever was), but I think the drills hold up. What you will need is at least 100 rounds of ammunition, your pistol and magazines, a couple targets (I usually use two or three but you can get by with one), and your holster if your range allows for it.
I like to warm up with slow fire at 5 yards. I load up three magazines with 10 rounds each, then fire the first magazine using both hands, fire the second magazine with my strong hand only, then the third with my weak hand only. I check the target after each magazine and mark any shots that are outside the “A” box. These thirty rounds are intended to check how dialed in my fundamentals of trigger press, sight alignment, and grip are doing. If you are throwing shots outside the “A” box, you’re doing something wrong. What exactly you might be doing wrong is outside the scope of this article, so check in later or watch some YouTube on the subject.
Second, I work on doubles. I will push the target back to 7 to 10 yards and load forty rounds into my magazines. Since I am in Hawai’i and have a boatload of 10-round magazines, that’s four magazines of ten. If you are in an unrestricted state, you can fill your magazines however you like. I will shoot the first two magazines at 7 yards. The idea here is to start slow and get faster. By the end of the second magazine at 7 yards and the second (fourth total) magazine at 10 yards, you should be pushing the ragged edge of your ability to keep all the bullets in the “A” zone. Check the target as often as you like to diagnose issues.
My next string I work in a group of Failure to Stop/Mozambique drills. The drill is something that I refuse to give up from my time in the Air Force, as most of the Air Force’s basic pistol qualification are variations on the Failure to Stop drill. I start at 10 yards with one magazine of 10 rounds, then push the target out to 15 yards and go through two more magazines of 10 rounds. Since the failure to stop drill consists of two rounds to the center “A” box and one round to the head “A” box, this gives me ten reps total. At 10 yards, that gives me four reps with a reload during repetition four. At fifteen yards, that gives me six repetitions, with a reload during repetition three. The failure to stop gives you the opportunity to work on target transitions without needing multiple targets. The center “A” zone is much larger than the head “A” zone, so you should see yourself shoot fast at the center, then slow down to hit the head.
That’s 100 rounds worth of ammo exchanged for holes on paper. That basic course of fire should give you a pretty good idea on what to work on. You can adjust however you need, but I think this works well for all ranges, but especially ranges where dynamic movement and holster work are forbidden or less accessible. I actually use my dry fire practice as my opportunity to practice movement, draws, and reloads anyway.
Hopefully you learned a few things about your skills as a pistoleer. With those data points in mind, you can enter the dry fire phase of your training. Consistent dry fire training will actually improve your pistol skills faster (and cheaper) than simply going to the range and blowing through ammo. There are tons of videos and articles about effective dry fire practice, and here are my additions.
You really will not need very much to conduct a productive dry fire practice. All you need is your pistol, belt setup, a couple empty magazines, and some points to aim at. For aiming points, you can use spare targets, sticky notes, or just random things about your house. Take a good look around at all the door knobs, hinges, lightbulbs, etc. that you have. Any of those little points work just fine.
Dry fire is the time to work on your draw, reloads, sight alignment, trigger control, and some movement if you have the space. Make sure that your pistol is unloaded and clear, and there is no ammunition in your magazines. You don’t want to blow a hole in your wall and schwack your neighbor’s dog. I primarily shoot a Beretta, so I can make the trigger “dead” by putting the pistol on safe. You can do the same dry fire drills with any pistol, regardless of trigger style, just make sure the hammer or striker is down on an empty chamber.
I do dry fire in two ways. The first is to put on my belt kit, holster the pistol and spend about twenty minutes running through a series of drills. I start by practicing my draw. I will do a few reps standing with my hands below my belt in a “relaxed” position, then a few reps standing with my hands above my shoulders in the “surrender” position. These are the two most common starting positions in USPSA. I draw on a random beep from a shot timer or an imaginary one, establish my sight picture, and dry fire at a selected aiming spot. After a few reps of each starting position, I will re-start the process again but pull the trigger twice per draw.
Next, I will add a reload. Picking a new aiming spot, I will again mix it up between the “relaxed” and “surrender” starting positions, draw, and pull the trigger twice on my aiming spot. Once I have pulled the trigger twice, I will conduct a reload, then pull the trigger twice more on my chosen aiming spot, before holstering the pistol and starting over.
Finally, I will add in some movement and target transitions. All I am really doing is taking a step or two in a direction during my draw, or during the target transition. Using two aiming points, I will step into my draw, aim and pull the trigger twice at one spot, then step another direction while aiming at the other point. When I want to spice it up, I will add a reload while moving.
The other way I like to do dry fire practice is to put on an action movie and do all the same things above, but using the action on the screen as my indication to draw and dry fire. It is pretty fun and you should try it. Whichever way you choose to do your dry fire, you should pay attention to your fundamentals and see if there are any parts you need to work on. I also think it is good practice that whenever you are out at the range, you try each drill dry fire first before conducting the drill with live ammo. Again, there are tons of videos and lessons out there on how to dry fire, you can do it however you wish.
Our final step in the program is to grab another 100 or so rounds and head back to the range. This time, you are trying to confirm what you think you learned during dry fire. You can repeat the same drills above, or you can do other drills that you make up yourself. The world is your oyster! This time at the range, you should have a good idea of your shortcomings, and will likely discover more. Which is why you then repeat your dry fire practice later in the week.
After a bunch of dry fire sessions and a couple practice runs at the range, you should now be ready to tackle your first practical pistol match! Just remember to take it safe and slow, and to have fun. Practical shooting is a sport where you compete against yourself more than anyone else, and steady improvement is the goal!
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