“The rifle is a weapon. Let there be no mistake about that. It is a tool of power, and thus dependent completely upon the moral stature of its user. It is equally useful in securing meat for the table, destroying group enemies on the battlefield, and resisting tyranny. In fact, it is the only means of resisting tyranny, since a citizenry armed with rifles simply cannot be tyrannized.”
–Colonel Jeff Cooper, USMC Ret.
Taking this thought into consideration, the armed citizen needs to be constantly evaluating his rifle drills to ensure they are Real-World Applicable and not “Gun Range Fantasy”.
The over-emphasization of accuracy and non-integration of movement and cover are the primary culprits in “Fantasy Gunfighting.”
I have put together a short list of drills that I use regularly. Take into account all of these drills can be “tweaked” to emphasize any number of challenges, such as reloads, malfunctions, multiple targets, etc.
As a sidenote, always take time to emphasize marksmanship fundamentals (sights, breathing, trigger, trigger, trigger!!) before moving into real world drills.
1. Snap Shots
Quite possibly one of the most neglected skills with a rifle but one of the most needed in the field.
A Rifle Snap Shot can be likened to that quick camera shot you have had to make sometimes on a vacation. You did not plan on taking it, but there it is in front of you, either make it or miss the opportunity for a great picture, the difference being of course with a rifle, either kill the enemy or he kills you!
Cover and Movement=LIFE!
Cover stops bullets from perforating your body and killing you.
A Moving Target is always harder to hit than a stationary one.
So to tie Snap Shots and Cover together, snap shots CAN BE as much about “COVER FIRE” as anything else, even if you do not have a high percentage shot, I can promise you, if you shoot at somebody it will buy you time to get to cover (if cover is available to move too of course).
Setting up staggered targets at 25, 50 and 75 yards, move to each yardage marker (I use 50 gallon drums for markers and cover) and work on snap shots; emphasizing speed and movement, fire between 1-3 shots at each target while getting to cover.
What should I see?
At these distances, for open sights with an AK or AR, simply super-imposing your front aperture on the mass of the target is sufficient, DO NOT take time to line up the shot with rear and front apertures!
If using a red dot or similar it is often sufficient that the target is framed in the “window” of the sight. This is also a good thing to practice in the event of battery failure, ie framing the target.
2. Positional Shooting
Learn how to quickly and accurately shoot from standing, kneeling , sitting and prone, with Prone being one of the most fundamental positions to learn.
3. Shooting from Prone
The ground offers the shooter two BIG advantages that are often overlooked:
Makes you a SMALLER target and able to take advantage of cover quickly.
Gives you STABILITY for more accurate shots.
4. Cognitive Stress Drills
A skill rarely emphasized much less taught in today’s rifle schools is DISCRETIONARY SHOOTING.
Now I know it is of some debate whether “No Shoots” have any place in CIVILIAN Self-Defense shooting as they do in Law Enforcement Training. The argument being; Why teach a civilian to hesitate at all with their weapon when their life is in danger? Isn’t that eventually just creating more risk for the student? After all, a civilian is not under the same scrutiny as a LEO, right? My answer to this is unequivocally NO!!
If anything, CS Drills offer more protection for the civilian student. I mean look at the George Zimmerman trial as an example..look at the spotlight put on that man and his actions (granted there were a lot of factors other than self-defense in play there) but still, when you go into a self-defense trial, you want the entirety of your actions to be UNDENIABLY, BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT, JUSTIFIED!
Imagine if Zimmerman had “accidentally” wounded or killed somebody during the shooting? His actions then would have been seen as reckless and indifferent..even though he had still acted out of pure self-defense. Teaching a student to ensure that his background is clear and that they have clearly ID’d their target ensures this; and the only way to TRAIN that into somebody is COGNITIVE STRESS. Now, Cognitive Stress is more than just“CHECKING YOUR BACKGROUND” and “NO SHOOTS” during a course, it is also engaging the “rational” side of the brain during the very exactingmechanical process of shooting a gun. Remember: You can NEVER“Take Back” a bullet…there are no “resets” in real life.
One of the ways to integrate CS Drills is the use ofLE Targets DT-4C “Command Training, Shape and Color” paper targets. These targets have a variety of shapes, colors and numbers, which allow the instructor to call out a variety of commands to make the shooter “Think” before pulling the trigger. Commands such as “Squares” or “Number 5”, “All Red” or “Odds” can be called out…this gives the drill variety and makes it engaging to the student also.
The Instructor is also doing his or her students a giant favor in adding this degree of SAFETY (and TACTICAL PRECISION) to the course. If in the event a student is involved in a self-defense shooting, when their personal training records are inevitably pulled by the DA, it will show that they went that extra step to ensure that they trained only to kill the bad guy efficiently and not wound or kill innocent by-standers. In this uber-litigious society that we live in, think of it as extra insurance!
in Closing, when you go out to drill guys, don’t use it as an “Ego Petting” session!!
Drill on the stuff you SUCK AT, not just the things you can rock thru and ace!
