Weapons Training: What’s The Goal?

I can remember back in the late 90’s going to the rifle range as a young Soldier, if I recall it was twice a year.  We would get 18 rounds to zero our rifles and then 40 rounds to qualify on the range.  Outside of any other live fire training (not likely) that amounted to just over 100 rounds a year on a primary weapon for one Soldier.  Back then we never thought that was an issue but looking back it’s almost a joke, how could one ever expect to be remotely proficient with that level of training.  We would even be chastised for not shooting “expert” on the range – as if one should just go out there cold with nothing more than a few classroom courses and dime and washer drills and be expected to perform at a high level.  Of course there were lots of factors at play which influenced that, the military “big Army” culture back then and even budgets.  There were times we couldn’t go to the field or even start our vehicles in the motorpool for lack of fuel.  I share all that and look back on it with fondness because I want to contrast that with the here and now.

Much has changed since those days and the war played a huge part in that.  I won’t get into the military side of that but will share my personal training experience as it contrasts significantly with what we did back in the day.  With my carry pistol I typically like to get out once a week and put 300 rounds through it, already triple what we would shoot in a year back in the 90’s.  Take that 300 and multiply it by 52 weeks and now that’s over 15,000 rounds a year in total.  Understanding there is some flex in there and scheduling conflicts so maybe we back that round count down to a conservative 10,000 -12,000 rounds a year.  Here’s the thing, even that pales in comparison with respect to what high level shooters in the military put through their weapon systems where numbers can easily top 100,000 in a year.  As I fund my own training that simply is not attainable for me but the point is this: with a structured plan and lots of trigger time I become intimately familiar with that platform and more importantly what I am capable (or not capable) of.

Having a Plan = Measured Success

A few days ago I went to the range and put 600 rounds through my carry pistol which happens to be a Wilson Combat EDC X9.  It’s a great platform but it won’t do the shooting for me, as the operator of that pistol I’m still accountable for every single projectile that exits that barrel.  Before I even left to the range I spent time with a pad of paper and wrote down my plan, what drills I would be conducting on what type of targets and the associated round count.  The plan was also graduated, starting with dry fire and ending with presentation shots with lots in between to include but not limited to stoppage drills, strong and weak hand, rhythm drills, high and low percentage and target discrimination.  All of that was structured to test me and build upon existing skill sets or simply refine what I already had.  I worked various distances and got out of my personal comfort zone, logging instances where I needed to improve.  Contrast this versus most folks who simply show up to a range and push a target out to 10 yards: bam bam bam bam bam bam bam bam (a bunch of holes in a target), a few mag dumps to finish up and call it a day.

The Ultimate Goal

I hope to never have to use my personal firearm to protect myself but if I’m going to carry it I expect to be proficient with it.  That proficiency comes with a comfort level and that comfort level comes through training.  I should point out that while round count is one aspect of it (i.e. 10k a year or whatever) there is also much that can be done without ever putting a round downrange (read: dry fire).  My goal is to be the best shooter that I can possibly be while being responsible and safe with my firearm.  I push myself beyond my comfort zone and known limits to places where I make mistakes so that I know where those breakdowns occur.  I have an understanding and awareness of what I am capable of and if one is carrying a firearm out in public that aspect cannot be overstated enough.  There is a popular phrase that goes like this: “when T-SHTF, you will not rise to the occasion but will default to the level of your training.”  Sitting here typing I know I can draw from concealment on a flat range and hit a static target (presentation shot) in the A zone at 7-10 yards in a range of 1.5 to 1.9 seconds just about every time.  I can get that down to 1.0 or 1.2 but my accuracy suffers and it’s not a good look.  I know that I can run El Presidente on steel and have a clean run somewhere in the 7 to 8 second range, once I go faster things start to fall apart.  I know that past 10-12 yards a clean and confident hit on a low % target (hostage target) gets a little troublesome as there is zero room for error.  All of these examples are on a flat range in a controlled environment both indoor or outdoor, add real world into that mix and all bets are off.  I state all that to make the point of: if you are a shooter that goes out twice a year to dump 2 boxes of ball ammo at that target 10 yards away – do you understand what you are truly capable / not capable of?  Also with that keep in mind I’m writing about drills, I haven’t even gotten into scenario based training.

Final Thoughts

On a scale of 1-10 with respect to shooting proficiency I consider myself somewhere in the 6.5 range.  I consider a 10 some of the world’s top rated competition shooters or guys from Tier 1 units who are capable of amazing things with firearms.  It’s relatively easy to go from a 1 to a 6, to get from a 6 to a 10 requires lots of effort, talent, resources and quite frankly I’m not sure if I’ll ever be more than a 7.  For reference back when I got my first carry gun in 2003 I was firmly a 1.  I obtained a CCW permit but did not even carry with a round in the chamber, and I was that guy who only fired a couple boxes of ammo a year at a static target 10 yards away.

Right now lots of folks are getting into firearms because of what is going on in the world.  Those who already had a firearm for self defense are looking into carry permits or training more.  I would encourage everyone to seek out professional training and to set measurable goals in an effort to achieve that awareness and comfort level with whatever platform is selected.  While I hope that we all agree that using a firearm for self defense is a less than desirable situation the opposite side of that coin is if it ever happens…we will be trained and capable.