Defensive practice

[ken grant]

Due to my old eyes (79) , shakey hands and not so good balance , I have changed my way of defensive practice and no longer use paper targets.

I scatter fired shot shells on the berm and shoot at them at different points from the hip up to chin level at 3-10 yds. from the draw and one hand only .
I hit a few , move a few , miss a lot but always close enough to defend myself from them.

YES , I do pick them up afterward and save them for the next time.
I mostly use my G19 and a lot of times with a AA .22 kit on it. The last two times I used it with the .22 kit.
210 rds. the first trip with Rem. G.B. and had one dud rd. that fired after being turned a little. Plus started a blister on my middle finger.
Second trip with the kit I fired 210 Mini-Mags and had one failure to feed( nose caught on top of the chamber) and a worse blister. The trips were only a couple days apart.

I have been working on under cutting the trigger guard to cure the blister problem and it has worked until I tried to draw too many times on these two trips.

You might ask why 210 rds. but I have 21 magazines and at 10 rds. ea. that I load the night before my trip.
Several years ago I found a guy that had a bunch of new ones he wanted to dump and I bought them at a good price. Also in the deal I got 4 mags for a 17 kit and 1 25 rd. mag.
I only used them enough to know they work and set them aside as I am pretty tired after 210 draws and shoot.

 

[RossA]

I'm sure that this is just my unfamiliarity with certain terms, so I will ask.
I'm not sure what "scatter fired" means.
Also, you say that you fired "shot shells." To me, this sounds like shotgun shells, but you say you shot them out of a Glock, so I'm not sure what this means.
Thanks in advance for the clarification.

 

[ken grant]

I'm sure that this is just my unfamiliarity with certain terms, so I will ask.
I'm not sure what "scatter fired" means.

Also, you say that you fired "shot shells." To me, this sounds like shotgun shells, but you say you shot them out of a Glock, so I'm not sure what this means.

Thanks in advance for the clarification.

Scatter = Throw FIRED SHOTGUN SHELLS on the berm at different levels and distance

Shoot at the shells WITH a Glock

I have posted this on 5-6 different forums and everyone else has understood what I was doing.

 

[RossA]

Pardon me for asking. You may be assured that I won't trouble you again.

 

[ken grant]

Sorry , no intent to put you down but you are the only one so far on several forums who didn't understand what I posted.
If I did not come across clear to you ,I am sorry and ask forgiveness .

 

[RossA]

No problem, buddy.

 

[Eidolon]

Doesn't really sound like you're accomplishing anything but wasting ammunition

 

[ken grant]

Doesn't really sound like you're accomplishing anything but wasting ammunition

What do you suggest ??

 

[Eidolon]

What do you suggest ??

Really, based on what you've said the only thing I'd change is this shooting from the hip crap. You are responsible for every round that comes out of your gun. You need to work on aiming each round

 

[ken grant]

Really, based on what you've said the only thing I'd change is this shooting from the hip crap. You are responsible for every round that comes out of your gun. You need to work on aiming each round

Every round I fire when doing this hits the berm and most either hits the shot shell or makes it move
The only hip shots I fire is at close range and no more than 3-4 yds. Most shots are at 1/2 hip , 3/4 hip and chin level, depending on distance . Kinda hard to aim at these points when firing.

If over 12 yds. I do use eye level shooting but MOSTLY target focus or flash front sight. That is why I have my front sights painted white . I only practice defensive shooting and had rather have these skills and never have to use them than need them and not have them.

As far as wasting ammo , I have more than enough to last me the few years I have left on this earth.

 

[Eidolon]

Every round I fire when doing this hits the berm and most either hits the shot shell or makes it move
The only hip shots I fire is at close range and no more than 3-4 yds. Most shots are at 1/2 hip , 3/4 hip and chin level, depending on distance . Kinda hard to aim at these points when firing.

If over 12 yds. I do use eye level shooting but MOSTLY target focus or flash front sight. That is why I have my front sights painted white . I only practice defensive shooting and had rather have these skills and never have to use them than need them and not have them.

As far as wasting ammo , I have more than enough to last me the few years I have left on this earth.

Nevermind I misread your post

 

[MamaLiberty]

I'm 70 years old, and partly disabled. I practice mostly dry fire, all kinds of defensive skills. I spend time at the range each week, mostly verifying what I've been practicing in dry fire. I shoot from various positions, both hands, one hand at a time, point and shoot and using the sights - depending on distance. I shoot moving and standing, with very little repetition. Individual skills are repeated often in dry fire, but not in live fire. Never saw any sense at all in shooting until my hands hurt and blisters form... but each to his/her own.

Nobody knows what will happen in a defensive situation, and if you only practice ONE thing, that particular thing is probably not what you are going to need at the time. I also offer a general shooting clinic and coaching session once a week. It is marvelous to see others shooting and having fun practicing something life affirming. You also wind up with various levels of constructive criticism, back and forth.

Mix it up, and try lots of things. You will have a better and more useful practice, and quite probably lots more fun.

 

[Bikenut]

I am 68 years old in poor health but I still practice drawing and shooting both my hip holstered sidearm and my pocket BUG along with my ankle holstered other BUG from different positions on the move using each hand separately starting with point shooting that evolves into using sights as distance permits. I use multiple cardboard cut out targets of head and torso including situating two of them to represent a hostage situation. I also use the movable range cart as a stand in for maneuvering a loved one behind me as I am moving and shooting, or as an obstacle that I must deal with while I'm moving and shooting, or I use it as cover/concealment. Sometimes I will load a spent shell somewhere in the magazine.....

But when I can't get to the range I will take some cardboard targets and scatter them throughout the house in different places and then work my way from one end of the house to the other end using an air soft gun. That works the best when I can get someone else to scatter the targets so I have no idea where they might be.

Those plastic pellets make a lot of noise going through the vacuum cleaner after practice.

 

[ken grant]

I do a lot of the same things I posted using a KWA Glock 19 Airsoft around my yard and in my shop ( wife frowns on airsoft pellets in the house )

In the house I use a Laser Cartridge in my 19 and shoot at anything I see at different sizes , levels and angles.

All of the above from the draw (open & concealed ), one handed just like I posted in the OP

 

[ken grant]

Made a few changes to my defensive practice . Some of this post is a repeat so I am sorry but I wanted to get all the info across.
79 yrs. old , not so good balance and very bad Focused hand tremors so I have to shoot fast before the tremors kick in . If I try to sight and press the trigger , the shakes start. So I have had to find a way to work around the problems.

I don't get a chance to train with a real live person such as force on force but do use full man sized targets for my practice.
Drawing from open carry or concealment using Brownie's scoop draw and shooting an airsoft copy of my carry gun (G19) from the 1/4 hip , 1/2 hip , 3/4 hip and point shoulder I can handle the target up to at least 10 yrds and never use my sights . I do this everyday and some times several times a day .
I also have a Laser Cartridge that I use in the house or shop to practice the same things but use smaller items around the rooms. Pictures , light switches , TV and so forth.
I found that I can do the same with a .22 kit on my pistol or shooting 9m/m on my range trips . I try to do this at least twice a week .
A lot of times on my range tips I just scatter fired shotshells on the berm and do the same.
I hit a few , make a few move and miss a lot but always close enough to defend myself from them.
The only problem is I don't know how I could do in a real life event.