What are your favorite rifle drills?

Eating cookies in the shower to simulate an over the beach and rough weather test while defending the local Tim Hortons.

SgtShowerCookie.jpg


:p
 
Built a V-TAC 9-Hole Shooting Barricade the other day ($50 in lumber)

Went out this afternoon to try it out for the first time. It sure put's you into some awkward shooting positions. I suggest trying it for those interested, very challenging, some of the holes are pretty small, and you have to cant the rifle on some weird angle to get a sight picture (This is the idea after all). Times were pretty slow, but this was our first time out with it, we'll speed up with practice.

Video here: http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php?836976-V-TAC-9-Hole-Shooting-Barricade-Easy-to-build-Fun-Black-Rifle-Drill&p=7973640#post7973640
 
Last edited:
Just getting into the AR-15 family rifles. My first build was a M4 copy and love shooting it at the range but I want to start practising more with it other than target work. Since we have no run-and-shoot type areas and I am basically confined to just the rifle range what do you guys suggest as far as basic skills and practice? I have been doing 2 targets at 100M, jam clearing and of course mag changes. I am slow but hopefully I will get better.
 
To be honest, and I know I sound like a broken record about this, I really recommend that you take a carbine course. It will benchmark your skill sets and give you a basis from which to expand your training. It's odd the amount of money CGN members spend on rifles, gear and ammo, but don't seek professional instruction to learn how to use their equipment properly.
 
Clobbersauras said:
To be honest, and I know I sound like a broken record about this, I really recommend that you take a carbine course. It will benchmark your skill sets and give you a basis from which to expand your training. It's odd the amount of money CGN members spend on rifles, gear and ammo, but don't seek professional instruction to learn how to use their equipment properly.
Click to expand...

I have been looking for one in the Edmonton area and so far to no avail. I am going to keep asking around and maybe someone knows where or if there is a course out here somewhere.
 
Steve Janes said:
I'm definitely not worried about my mags getting beat up or dirty, I do agree that I may be able to shave some time by just ditching them after each mag change, however, the problem for me with not retaining your magazine's, is that when you need more magazines, you won't have them. Real life is not call of duty ( not that this is what you were suggesting or anything), and every time you re-supply on ammo, in my experience it's usually not conveniently stored in magazines, especially magazines that work in my rifle. This is why I almost always retain my magazines, otherwise when you need them you won't have any.

Remember that movie Black Hawk down? I read somewhere that during that firefight (which lasted all day and all night long) several re-supply's of ammo needed to be choppered in for the ranger's, as they had been engaged all day long and were running low on ammo. Well, in come the ammo drops and surprise surprise, it's all loaded in stripper clips. Apparently the ranger's had been ditching there magazines all day long expecting nothing more than a short 15-30 minute mission, BAD IDEA, stripper clips don't exactly work very well without a magazine to load them into. From what I read, they had to actually heli drop extra magazines during the evening on account of the troops running low on not only ammo but magazine's too. Retain your magazine's. Definitely one of my motto's
Click to expand...

What does any of that have to do with your situation though? You're not a military unit, so you're not getting a helicopter to drop you ammo. If you were in some sort of unit that can get resupp, you should have your speed balls set up so the ammo is in mags.

Ditch your mag on an emergency reload to get the weapon back up. You can pick them up the mags later.

One thing you can incorporate into your drills is to top up your weapon every time you run dry. Don't complete a drill with an empty weapon.

You should also scan and assess after an engagement. Follow your target to the ground to ensure it is no longer a threat, and then look around to see what else is going on. NOT a Costa style robotic head spasm.

Besides that your drills look great, better than the vast majority of black rifle owners.
 
Big_Red said:
What does any of that have to do with your situation though? You're not a military unit, so you're not getting a helicopter to drop you ammo.
Click to expand...

Umm, yea, that's exactly my point, there is no re-supply other than what you scrounge yourself so if you find some ammo and chances are if you find any it will be bulk .223 (probably american eagle), magazine's will not be included. So if you dropped three along the way and forgot to pick them up, there may not be more laying around. This is why whenever I have the opportunity I always practice retaining my mags. It's all about muscle memory under stress, and if my muscle memory says retain your magazine, then my body will, even under stress.

Big_Red said:
Ditch your mag on an emergency reload to get the weapon back up. You can pick them up the mags later.
Click to expand...

Really, you can ditch your mags and pick them up later all you want to, I choose to retain my magazines and believe my times to be more than respectable doing so. There are certainly times when I do NOT retain my magazine, but it is usually more a result of my awkward position at the time (like during a 9-hole drill) and being unable to quickly and comfortably reach my dump pouch.

Big_Red said:
One thing you can incorporate into your drills is to top up your weapon every time you run dry. Don't complete a drill with an empty weapon.
Click to expand...

If I change magazines and re-load every time I finish a drill, then I would just have to immediately clear the weapon again or else the entire time I am either watching, recording, running beside, or scoring my partner's run, I would have a hot weapon, either slung over my back, or sitting beside the car un-attended. This is not good practice. I also feel if we didn't have these 5 round mag restrictions this wouldn't be an issue as very few drills would deplete a full magazine, and we wouldn't be having this discussion. And then of course there is the matter of the shot timer, when we use it, it stops the clock for the drill upon the last round being fired, not upon a magazine change.

Big_Red said:
You should also scan and assess after an engagement. Follow your target to the ground to ensure it is no longer a threat, and then look around to see what else is going on. NOT a Costa style robotic head spasm.
Click to expand...

I have heard you suggest to others that they follow there target to the ground to ensure it's down. How do you do this with a cardboard target? There is also the fact that the idea for most drills is to transition to the next target as fast as possible this often if not always happens far to fast to be following anything to the ground, and often the target is to far away to follow anything to the ground.

I often perform a search and assess after a drill, and sometimes the drill doesn't call for it. For example the nine whole drill. This is not a simulated scenario. It is a drill designed to put your body into awkward shooting positions, that's it, there's no search and asses performed after such a drill. However in an El Prez drill I often if not always perform a search and assess after the drill, it's just been edited out of the video's.

Big_Red said:
Besides that your drills look great, better than the vast majority of black rifle owners.
Click to expand...

Besides all the criticism, thank you!
 
Answers in bold.

Steve Janes said:
Umm, yea, that's exactly my point, there is no re-supply unless you find some ammo and chances are if you find any it will be bulk .223 (probably american eagle), magazine's not included. This is why I always try to retain my mags.

Where are you going to "find" ammo? If this is some sort of doomsday scenario, keep a bunch of spare mags with your ammo cache.

Really, you can ditch your mags and pick them up later all you want to, I choose to retain my magazines and believe my times to be more than acceptable. There are certainly times when I do NOT retain my magazine, but it is usually more a result of my awkward position at the time (like during a 9-hole drill) and being unable to quickly and comfortably reach my dump pouch.

Retaining a mag is slower than dropping it. Your acceptable time may be a fraction of a second too long for a gunfight.

If I change magazines and re-load every time I finish a drill, then I would just have to immediately clear the weapon again or else the entire time I am either watching, recording, running beside, or scoring my partner's run, I would have a hot weapon, either slung over my back, or sitting beside the car un-attended. This is not good practice. I also feel if we didn't have these 5 round mag restrictions this wouldn't be an issue as very few drills would deplete a full magazine, and we wouldn't be having this discussion.

Actually it is good practice. If you attend training by any reputable instructor it will likely be run as a hot range. Meaning your guns stay topped up at all times.

I have heard you suggest to others that they follow there target to the ground to ensure it's down. How do you do this with a cardboard target? There is also the fact that the idea for most drills is to transition to the next target as fast as possible this often if not always happens far to fast to be following anything to the ground, and often the target is to far away to follow anything to the ground.

I often perform a search and assess after a drill, and sometimes the drill doesn't call for it. For example the nine whole drill. This is not a simulated scenario. It is a drill designed to put your body into awkward shooting positions, that's it, there's no search and asses performed after such a drill. However in an El Prez drill I often if not always perform a search and assess after the drill.

Your imagination. You know how the targets are orange steel instead of brown terrorists but you shoot them anyways? Use the same part of the brain.

Besides all the criticism, thank you!
Click to expand...
 
Big_Red said:
Where are you going to "find" ammo? If this is some sort of doomsday scenario, keep a bunch of spare mags with your ammo cache.
Click to expand...

My ammo cache is my chest rig man, I know I should have some hidden somewhere but I don't. My cache is what I can carry.

Big_Red said:
Retaining a mag is slower than dropping it.
Click to expand...

We could go on like this all day, you drop your magazines, I retain mine, people are allowed to have different opinions. I respect your opinion that dropping them is better. Ok. If I used STANAG mags then I would probably feel different, but I don't.

Big_Red said:
Actually it is good practice. If you attend training by any reputable instructor it will likely be run as a hot range. Meaning your guns stay topped up at all times.
Click to expand...

I actually agree here, I feel completely safe walking around hot, but I am often over ruled in this particular regard. If there isn't a unanimous decision surrounding safety practice then people aren't going to be comfortable. Perhaps someday I can convince my shooting partners to carry hot all day.

Big_Red said:
Your imagination. You know how the targets are orange steel instead of brown terrorists but you shoot them anyways? Use the same part of the brain.
Click to expand...

I still fail to see how I am supposed to follow a target to the ground, when often, the entire point of the drill is the speed of ones transition to the next target? If not based on speed of transition, then the target is too far away to follow to the ground. I can see doing this if I were engaging a single target at close range, but when multiple target's/hostile's are concerned, taking the time to follow one to the ground would be giving away valuable seconds, don't you think? Another reason for double taps.

Perhaps what your suggesting would be like a 2x2x2 or an el prez drill, where upon completing the shooting part of the drill, the shooter immediately re-loads, and approaches the down target's at the ready, to ensure they are in fact down??? Is this what you mean???? If so, I like the sounds of that, but explain it that way if that's what you mean
 
Last edited:
Steve Janes, if I were you (and I'm glad I'm not at this point), you might want to look into Big Red's background before you argue with him some more.

Given his knowledge of the subject, his original post was actually a huge compliment to you. He wa actually trying to help you out, not criticize. You screwed that up.
 
Clobbersauras said:
Steve Janes, if I were you (and I'm glad I'm not at this point), you might want to look into Big Red's background before you argue with him some more.

Given his knowledge of the subject, his original post was actually a huge compliment to you. You screwed that up.
Click to expand...

I admit I have no idea who he is, so perhaps you are right, and if so, I will soon be removing my foot from my mouth and applying the:redface::redface::redface:
 
Big_Red,

I must apologize,

I still don't know who you are or what or credentials look like, and regardless of who you are, I do realize you were trying to give me a compliment and some advice and I pretty much spat in your face. I'm sorry, there is just so many armchair gun people who try to give advice or pointers from the couch that I get defensive sometimes. It's still wrong to do, and I can only continue trying to get better in that regard. I am interested in your advice, and feel pretty sheepish, as usual, for my rudeness.

Now in all seriousness:

Should I be following a target to the ground, when often, the entire point of the drill is the speed of ones transition to the next target?

I can see doing this if I were engaging a single target at close range, but when multiple target's/hostile's are concerned, taking the time to follow one of them to the ground would be giving away valuable seconds, don't you think?

Perhaps what your suggesting would be like a 2x2x2 or an el prez drill, where upon completing the shooting part of the drill, the shooter immediately re-loads, and approaches the down target's at the ready, to ensure they are in fact down??? Is this what you mean????
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom