What's Your Favorite Drill?

orthosophy, I do the same type of thing with my GP100. I just put empty cases in the "off" cylinders.
A also do the same with dummy rounds in my CZ75. I load one or two into a few mags along with live rounds. Then shoot.

It's a really good way to judge just how much movement to point of aim you have when squeezing the trigger. Since I have been doing this, my handgun shooting has improved tremendously. I'm still not a great shot, but I'm a helluvalot better than I was.:o

In autos, it's also a good way to practive clearing malfunctions quickly
 
funny thing is that my favorite drill doesnt involve any actual firing!
I like the pencil/wall drill.

Find a wall, put a sheet of paper on said wall, centered at where eye level is when you're in your firing position. (if you have a landlord or a wife who will get upset about you screwing up the walls of their fine abode, then put a piece of cardboard behind the paper)

put a pencil down the barrel of your pistol so that only about 1/2" or so sticks out of the muzzle. You can also use a pen, but for max training value, make sure it doesn't protrude too far from the muzzle.

Holster your newly made training monstrosity as if you were carrying it (in you carry holster, on your armor, etc. I do this alot with my leg rig)

for about 10 min a few times a week, practice drawing and presenting your pistol by drawing it, pushing it out into firing position (close enough that the pencil should make a mark on the paper without hampering your extension of your arms). Repeat, and try to get your dots on the paper as tight and consistent as possible.

The plus side of this drill is that 1. for cheap bastards like myself it takes exactly $0 of ammo or range fees or gas to work on your draw 2. it never rains on me when I'm doing this 3. it allows me to focus on draw and sight acquisition FORM without the added complication of a target. This works fine in the real world where all i have to do it look at the center of mass, and I bring my pistol up to what I'm looking at.

you can addapt it to trigger squeeze too by leaving the pencil in contact with the paper, and squeezing the trigger.
 
the other drill I absolutely love is to load a magazine with 3 live & the rest dummy rounds, and practice trigger squeeze. they're randomly mixed, and every time i flinch, push, or pull on a dummy round, practice 5 good DA trigger squeezes. Lots of prep, but simple, and effective.

good to do this with a buddy so he can load the mags, and you can load his. changing up the number of live rounds (should always be a low number), and adding to the surprise
 
Revolvers

With live and dummy in the cylinders that jumps out as a good one for my five shot snubby.

I like the idea of a few snap caps in the mag so you have to tap, rack, and bang.

Keep em coming guys this is where I was headed in the first place.
 
There are several variations to this, . . . but the basic goes like this:

Mark off 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 feet.

Set up a target, . . . I like the 7 inch or so diameter paper plates, . . . big black aiming dot in the center.

Shoot 10 rounds at 10 feet, . . . count only "hits" (anywhere on the plate), . . . add up your score, . . . 1 point per round.

Shoot 10 rounds at 20 feet, . . . 2 points per "hit".

Shoot 10 rounds at 30 feet, . . . 3 points per "hit".

Shoot 10 rounds at 40 feet, . . . 4 points per "hit".

Shoot 10 rounds at 50 feet, . . . 5 points per "hit".

The ringer or kicker to this is that you cannot move to the next level until you have completed a full 10 consecutive hits on the current level.

You also have to shoot in "blocks" of 10 shots.

It can be one frustrating challenge, . . . especially if you drop one early on in the shooting, . . . trying to make up for it later on in the shooting series.

Anyway, . . . I like it, . . . and once you start shooting 150's at the 7 inch plate, . . . drop to a 5 inch plate, . . . that'll make ya do better :D

May God bless,
Dwight
 
.357 Blackhawk

Load one chamber with a shell (.38 or downloaded 357 if you have one). Spin it. Without looking load another with a .357. Took me a wile to get the motion down so I could do this without looking.

Spin it, close the gate, dry fire till both are gone.

Focus on keeping that front sight rock steady. (I use the blackhawk because the GP100 still allows you to see the edges of the cartridges in the loaded chambers.)
Click to expand...

I do something similar with DA revolvers. Have a partner load 2-3 rounds into your gun, while you load his. Then draw and fire rapidly into targets at 10 yards. The empty chambers simulate misfires, and you also can see every movement of the sights if you are flinching. I find I get the most education per round fired this way, which is important when ammo costs so much.
 
I have always shot sighted fire a lot, at most any distances off and on from 5yds to 100yds with my service pistols and revolvers, but some of my favorite drills, are some of the most basic for CCW.

Of course I have played all of the games with hostage targets in the mix, etc, but some of my favorite drills go something like this:

set up one or two IDPA cardboard targets at very close range, like 2 to 5 yards and just practice drawing and firing as fast as possible, like it really counted. I want good hits, but speed is everything, and unsighted fire is often the order of the day. I want to practice like I expect it to go down, in a close range, whoever gets there the quickest with the mostests is the winner.

I usually practice this one handed, sometimes from an odd angle in relation to my body, and often start the draw from under a typical ccw position, with my gun covered up to start. I practice this with various weapons from tiny back up guns to full blown 1911's, basically it just bottom line, get some lead in the air, ASAP! because this ain't no target match, I am talking about.

I also practice firing as soon as the gun clears the holster, typical of the old speed rock, or at least with that idea in mind. I believe in practicing like I might have to fight.
 
I practice a lot of double taps with my ARs and AK type rifles and then do double taps with my handguns. Then I practice 2 to the chest and 1 to the head. Later on I transition back and forth between my different firearms. I also deliberately space out my shots a little bit, about a hand's width or so. This slight spacing is thought in some circles to allow shock to set into the target's body a little quicker than 2 shots right on top of one another.
 
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