By Donovan Beard

February 17, 2025

 

I want you to think about training with your firearm in a similar manner to working out at the gym. If you are new to working out and you get your gym membership and are walking into an area that is full of training equipment, then it may be hard to know where to start. Many people elect to have a personal trainer or fitness coach teach them how to properly use the gym equipment, discuss human physiology regarding major muscle groups and create exercises that are easy to understand and perform that achieve the person’s physical fitness goals. Now, if the person who is on this journey to achieve their physical fitness goals follows through and commits to consistently showing up to the gym and doing the prescribed exercises, then more likely than not they will increase their proficiency with the use of the gym equipment and will achieve their physical fitness goals. If, however, the person doesn’t consistently go to the gym, and when they do show up, they don’t do all the exercises that the personal trainer or fitness coach recommended, then more likely than not they will fail to achieve what they are trying to accomplish.

Firearms training works the same way, just because you purchase a high-speed, low drag firearm with all the lights, lasers and high-tech sighting systems does not make you a special forces operator. I can usually get a pretty good idea on the level of proficiency and training someone has after watching them handle a firearm on the range for about five minutes. Just because you are certified or possess a credential does not mean that you are in possession of the training, skills, talent and technical expertise that you need to confidently and proficiently navigate a use of deadly force encounter with a handgun. The goal you need to set for yourself is to put the time in, through consistent hard work, to continuously educate and train yourself to increase your individual proficiency in the use of firearms for the specific situations you are going to encounter.

Having said that, where do we start if we are new to guns? An online training course is a good first step to understanding the basics in a low stress environment. Take notes, write down the questions you have and start thinking about what your specific training goals are. This could be as simple as “I want to learn how to confidently load my gun and hit the target at 7 yards” to “I want to be able to successfully pass the same pistol qualification course that my local law enforcement officers are required to pass each year and score above 90%.”  I then recommend taking a few in-person live fire training courses or alternatively having a certified firearms instructor do a couple of one-on-one training sessions with you. This would preferably be done using a rental firearm before you buy your own pistol, so you can let your training influence the gun you end up purchasing. I also recommend taking courses from multiple different certified instructors who have different backgrounds. That will give you a more well-rounded understanding of the thought process of each instructor and allow you to draw different viewpoints on what you need to work on and where your overall level of proficiency is. Don’t forget, that the reason we take training courses is to learn what to practice on our own.

The next part is important, and that is to challenge yourself to 5 -10 minutes of dry fire practice at least 2-3 times a week and to go to the range at least once every 2-3 months and shoot at between 100 – 200 rounds on ammunition through the gun you are using for personal protection. Hold yourself accountable on this part. I consider a firearm used for personal protection much like an insurance policy, I hope I never have to use it, but if I do I need it to work and me training with that firearm accounts for more than half of the probability that it works. If the last time I touched my handgun was 6 months ago and the last time I shot it was a year or more ago, then I am probably not going to be good at using it and will be upset with the outcome of whatever reason I had to grab my gun in the first place.

Let’s talk about dry fire practice first. Make sure your gun and magazines are completely unloaded before you do this; and make sure you are in an area that would be safe if that “phantom round” found its way into your chamber and went off that you wouldn’t end up in prison for 25 to life.

The first dry fire drill I work on is drawing my firearm from concealment using the holster I use when I carry concealed. I work slowly on this drill to start making sure I am going through all points of my 4-step weapon presentation process and increase speed as I progress through repetitions. Additionally, I always make sure I have some point to aim at with my sights and do a trigger press when my sights are on target. You can use a minimized target or a small piece of masking tape, just make sure it is a small aiming point. When I am done with each repetition, I always bring the weapon back to a ready position, look over my right and left shoulder and re holster slowly and deliberately.

Next drill I do is my reload drills, I start by drawing my firearm and performing a tactical or retention reload, this is where I grab my spare magazine, bring it up to the handgun, remove the magazine that is in the gun and replace it with the magazine I had on my person while retaining the magazine I had in the firearm to begin with. From there I work on my slide lock reload, this is where I have the slide locked to the rear on an empty magazine, and the magazine I have on my person has a “snap cap” or dummy round loaded in that magazine. I usually start this from a ready position. I will present the firearm towards whatever aiming point I am using, I press the trigger to feel the “dead trigger,” then I bring the weapon back to my workspace, eject and strip the magazine that is in the gun and let it hit the ground and grab the indexed round from my person, insert it into the firearm, run the slide which chambers the round then line my sights up on my aiming point and press the trigger.

After that I work on my malfunction drills, I start by having a magazine loaded with snap caps or dummy rounds, I will present the firearm, pull the trigger, then tap the bottom of the magazine, rack the slide aggressively to remove the snap cap in the chamber and get the next round in the chamber before lining the sights on my target or aiming point, then pressing the trigger. From there I work on my double feed malfunction. I set this drill up by locking the slide to the rear, inserting a dummy round in the chamber then inserting a magazine loaded with snap caps or dummy rounds, then letting the slide go forward. I run this drill again from the ready position, I will present the weapon, pull the trigger so I feel the dead trigger. Then I do a 15 degree tilt, bring the weapon back, lock the slide to the rear, remove the magazine and index it between my pinky and ring finger on my firing hand, then rack the slide aggressively 3 times, then re insert the magazine, rack the slide, present the firearm towards my aiming point while lining up my sights, then press the trigger when I have a good sight picture.

This dry fire sequence is important, and it can take roughly 10 minutes to complete if you are doing about ten repetitions of each drill. As I stated earlier, I do this roughly 2-3 times a week and it does few things for me. First off, the more time you spend with your firearm the better you will be with it, especially if you are actively manipulating the controls of your firearm in a slower, more controlled and methodical way. The key is to do each drill slowly with perfection and build speed with proficiency. If you are going fast and missing steps or fumbling, that is a good indicator that you are going to quickly. Remember that perfect practice makes perfect, and the key is to get 1000 repetitions of doing each drill perfectly every single time.

As far as live fire range training is concerned, I recommend drawing from concealment if you can, however some indoor ranges will limit your ability to draw from the holster. If this is the case, then you can do most of these drills from the ready positions. I will load my magazines with about 8-10 rounds and reload as necessary. I generally will run about 100 to 150 rounds per session. I start at 7 yards and will draw and fire one round with both hands, then I draw and fire 2 rounds with both hands, then 3 rounds with both hands remembering to bring the pistol back to a ready position and looking over each shoulder before I re holster. I will then repeat the drill at 10, 15 and 25 yards, taking a little more time to place my shots on target as I am getting farther away from the target.

From there I will shoot using my dominant hand only, then my non- dominate hand only at usually 7 yards. Then I can start working on shooting from kneeling and prone positions if I can from 10, 15 and 25 yards. Now, the goal I have always had for myself is to shoot the same qualification course that law enforcement shoots at least once or twice a year. These courses of fire are typically broken into several stages of fire and are done on specific targets within certain time restraints. You can find most of the courses of fire online and I prefer the federal law enforcement qualification course like the ICE qualification course or FBI qualification course a lot because they are challenging. After running each one of these courses of fire, I will always assess how I did and use my performance on each stage as guidance on what skills I need to work on.

In closing, I highly recommend that you put the time in to become proficient. Shooting is a very perishable skill and it takes time, effort and energy to become good at shooting. Shooting can be a very humbling experience and is best done with another person on the range with you who can monitor what you’re doing, how you’re doing and provide guidance on making corrections for things that you may not immediately realize you are doing. If for some reason you are on the range training on your own, I will often put my phone on a tripod and video how I am doing things so I can evaluate what I am doing to make corrections. As I have said for many years, there is luck, talent and skill. If you are using your firearm in defense of your life or someone else’s life, you are not lucky, and there is no amount of talent someone can possess to successfully navigate a use of force encounter. Which leaves us with skill, and the only way you can build skill is through repetition. Repetition builds confidence and that is exactly what you need to become proficient with a Handgun.

 

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