Retaining proficiency level, revisited

Last year, I wrote about some things shooters can do to retain their proficiency level.

The three recommended items were, dry-fire, reloading, and transition from target to target

Those items were written when the shooter cannot go to a shooting range due to time or resource constraint. But what if you can actually go to a range, but the range has some restrictions, such as one shot per second commonly found in many public ranges?

Many public ranges, especially indoor ranges, have the restriction to deter shooters from rapid firing and curb chances of errant round hitting wrong places. Some places don't allow holster work, fearing you will become the next Tex Grebner ("I just fucking shot myself!")

It is a bit discouraging, but there are some things a shooter can do to retain, and maybe even improve one's skill.

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1. Picking up the gun from shooting bench - this skillset can be used for both defensive use and competition. Put your gun on table, and wait a few seconds. Then pick up the gun, aim and if you can, fire. You can use one or both hands.

Caution: Don't try to go too fast. People will end up with their trigger finger in trigger guard and end up sending a round unintended.

2. Shooting from a ready position - If you are investigating a bump at night, you probably will hold the gun in a ready position. Having the first well-placed shot is important if the unfortunate event do happen. Most ranges do not like a loaded gun pointing up, so you might have to limit yourself to the low ready position.

Work on bringing the gun up and getting a good sight picture, then on breaking the shot.

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Both skills are just a part of many skill sets a good shooter needs to have, but can be  useful in case you need to fire a shot.

For target, instead of using a big silhouette, try something relatively small like 4-6 inch diameter circles. Place them beyond 7 yards and aim to get all rounds in the circle. For more challenge, you can put the target further out, but I recommend something inside of 15 yards.

Also, make sure you get a good follow-through. This is one thing dry-fire can't do.

Of course, it helps to have a good timer.