USA Carry » Training

Proper Grip: Guidelines & Techniques for Recoil Control

Col (Dr) Benjamin Findley — Wed, 22 May 2013 15:08:02 +0000

Of the fundamentals of shooting, the Stance and Grip are the most important for reducing felt recoil. Once you have decided on your solid stance, your grip is the next important key to master for controlling recoil. Individuals usually hold a firearm the way they pick it up, without much thought to how much their [...]

Read the original story: Proper Grip: Guidelines & Techniques for Recoil Control

Breath Control While Shooting: 4 Options

Col (Dr) Benjamin Findley — Fri, 17 May 2013 17:33:33 +0000

To breathe or not to breathe that is the question. Or maybe the question is what is the proper breathing technique when shooting or how long do you hold your breath if at all? William Shakespeare’s similar “To Be or Not To Be” question from his play in which Prince Hamlet gives his Soliloquy about [...]

Read the original story: Breath Control While Shooting: 4 Options

Shooting with Eyes Open or Closed?

Jason Hanson — Tue, 14 May 2013 16:25:18 +0000

Depending on which firearms instructor you talk with, you’ll either hear insistence that you’re supposed to shoot with both eyes open or that it’s alright to shoot with one eye open while the other eye is closed. So who is right? Well, it all depends on you. Just like every one of us has different [...]

Read the original story: Shooting with Eyes Open or Closed?

An Almost Deadly Mistake

Jason Hanson — Thu, 02 May 2013 15:37:24 +0000

I want to share with you an email from a gentleman named Roger. I got Roger’s permission to share this and I think it’s important for every gun owner to read. Here’s what Roger sent me… Jason, After 56 years, I thought I understood the 4 rules about safe use of a firearm: 1) Always [...]

Read the original story: An Almost Deadly Mistake

Concealed Carry Drills Test

Jason Hanson — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 16:18:58 +0000

If you read a lot of gun magazines like I do, then you know there are a million and one drills that a person can practice. And each of these drills depends on what your purpose is for using the gun. For instance, are you using the gun for self-defense or are you solely a [...]

Read the original story: Concealed Carry Drills Test

The 1-2-3-4 Shooting Process and Trigger Control

Col (Dr) Benjamin Findley — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 22:59:30 +0000

One of the most challenging things for experienced and inexperienced shooters alike is to remember and bring together all the fundamentals of shooting for accurate hits and do this quickly in a self-defense situation, range shoot, competition, combat encounter, or even casual plinking. Usually we have a very limited amount of time to recall, focus [...]

Read the original story: The 1-2-3-4 Shooting Process and Trigger Control

If You Ain’t Imagining, You Ain’t Practicing

Johnathan Celso — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 14:03:53 +0000

Last month this column discussed the best mode of carry for personal protection. It was argued that for all possible scenarios one could come upon, only concealment puts the carrier in the best position. That article received a lot of negative feedback as a result from open carriers who took offense after incorrectly believing the [...]

Read the original story: If You Ain’t Imagining, You Ain’t Practicing

Basic “5 and 50″ Practice Drill To Conserve Ammo and Lower Costs

Col (Dr) Benjamin Findley — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 19:30:31 +0000

Given the high cost and low availability of ammo and the increased shipping costs recently, here is a focused practice drill I use to conserve ammo and lower my shooting costs by using only 50 rounds, while improving my shooting skills. Rather than just throw lead down range, I use a specific drill to practice [...]

Read the original story: Basic “5 and 50″ Practice Drill To Conserve Ammo and Lower Costs

Why You Need to Start Training with a 3×5 Index Card

Jason Hanson — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 17:25:34 +0000

I’m a competitive person and hate losing. Just ask my wife who kicked my butt every time we played scrabble when we were dating. (I refuse to play anymore.) However, when it comes to being a more accurate shooter it’s important we “lose” often. What I mean is, I’ll often be at the shooting range [...]

Read the original story: Why You Need to Start Training with a 3×5 Index Card

Close Your Eyes to Improve Your Draw

Jason Hanson — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 14:30:45 +0000

As I’ve mentioned in the past, I spend about 10-15 minutes every day dry firing. Some days I solely work on trigger control and other days I only work on my draw without even pulling the trigger. Today, I’d like to share with you a way to improve your draw so that when your gun [...]

Read the original story: Close Your Eyes to Improve Your Draw

Use Dummies to Improve Performance

Timothy L. Tyrrell Sr. — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 15:00:31 +0000

The two loudest sounds in the world are; A bang when you expect a click and a click when you expect a bang. Strict adherence to the rules of firearms safety can prevent the first and practice can aid in speedy recovery from the latter. Through the years I have seen amateurs and professionals hesitate [...]

Read the original story: Use Dummies to Improve Performance

What Gun To Purchase: Consider the 9mm Pistol for Self-Defense?

Col (Dr) Benjamin Findley — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 15:37:24 +0000

Most of you have probably already made your decision about what gun and caliber to carry or to use for self defense, but for those of you who have not and for those of you wavering due to the high cost of ammo and other considerations, I want to offer my personal ideas about my [...]

Read the original story: What Gun To Purchase: Consider the 9mm Pistol for Self-Defense?

7 Common Mistakes of Concealed Carry Licensees & New Shooters

Col (Dr) Benjamin Findley — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 15:21:27 +0000

So that you will regularly, properly, and legally carry a concealed firearm, you must select your optimal firearm, gear, and accessories that match your lifestyle, dress, work, recreational and daily activities, personal preferences and philosophies and understand certain guidelines. It is a terrible thing when anyone takes the life of another and you should accept [...]

Read the original story: 7 Common Mistakes of Concealed Carry Licensees & New Shooters

Flash Sight Picture Technique for Close-Up Defensive Shooting

Col (Dr) Benjamin Findley — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 14:58:30 +0000

This article is meant to spur your introspection, investigation, research, practice and safe-environment experimentation about Flash Sight Picture shooting to see if it is a technique that will be an improved self-defense survival method for your use later in an actual real-life defensive shooting situation. Conclusions and applications are left open to the reader to [...]

Read the original story: Flash Sight Picture Technique for Close-Up Defensive Shooting

A Checklist for Overcoming the Top Eleven Bad Habits of Shooters

Col (Dr) Benjamin Findley — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 16:05:22 +0000

What follows are bad shooting habits and errors of target, competitive, and concealed carry shooters, as well as casual plinkers. I know about these first-hand because sadly I have experienced most of them, along with my students. Some of these also apply to tactical combat or very close point shooting, but many do not because [...]

Read the original story: A Checklist for Overcoming the Top Eleven Bad Habits of Shooters

The “5-Shot Touch-Group” Shooting Drill

Col (Dr) Benjamin Findley — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 14:46:52 +0000

Many students have asked for a simple practice drill to help their shooting fundamentals. Here is one of several I use and suggest, the “5-Shot Touch-Group” Drill. It is a very basic and helpful drill for practicing and mastering shooting fundamentals and accuracy with both the strong and support hand. This drill is basic, easy to [...]

Read the original story: The “5-Shot Touch-Group” Shooting Drill

CCW and Practice in an Indoor Range

E.L. Castle — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 16:46:16 +0000

The last article I wrote, Practice with a Purpose, resulted in some very nice comments, but one comment drew my interest and caused me to give it a great deal of thought. The comment was this: Can you recommend any ccw drills for indoor range users? This comment didn’t really relate to the article, per-se, [...]

Read the original story: CCW and Practice in an Indoor Range

Where to Put Your Finger on the Trigger?

Jason Hanson — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 20:17:41 +0000

Trigger control is without a doubt the toughest part of becoming an accurate shooter. Most people can easily align the sights and acquire a proper grip, but when it comes to pulling the trigger, that’s when things start to break down. The thing is, many people don’t even start out correctly learning how to master [...]

Read the original story: Where to Put Your Finger on the Trigger?

Practice with a Purpose

E.L. Castle — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 14:00:05 +0000

Think about the last couple of times you went to the range and ask yourself two questions; What did I accomplish? and Am I a better shooter? I’m going to suggest something that you already know, but few of us actually apply to our shooting: a goal. We all love to shoot. Its fun, and [...]

Read the original story: Practice with a Purpose

Why You Need to Learn to Move With a Loaded Firearm

Ron Danielowski — Fri, 17 Aug 2012 13:00:36 +0000

Years ago when I was working for a certain federal agency, I was instructing on the firing line with my friend Evan Marshall (the shooter and author, not the mandolinist). During a lull in shooting, the agents were asked to unload and show clear, which brought a chuckle from Evan. Knowing that Evan often has [...]

Read the original story: Why You Need to Learn to Move With a Loaded Firearm

Do You Shoot Human-like Targets?

Jason Hanson — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 14:23:05 +0000

Right now I’m still on the West Coast and I’ve been traveling around Utah and Nevada looking at new shooting ranges to use for future training classes. And the other day while I was inspecting one of the ranges the gentleman who was showing me around said, “You don’t use targets that show real people [...]

Read the original story: Do You Shoot Human-like Targets?

Concealed Carry Drill Part Three

Matt Schlueter — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 12:00:24 +0000

In this article we are going to visit “failure to stop drills”. After the recent shootings in Aurora, CO., I feel this drill must be discussed and practiced. What we saw in Aurora was a determined criminal bent on inflicting as many casualties as possible. When I say “determined,” it is not the average criminal [...]

Read the original story: Concealed Carry Drill Part Three

Concealed Carry Drill Part Two

Matt Schlueter — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 21:38:25 +0000

The purpose of this drill is to concentrate on development and improvement of your Combat Shooting Skills and begin using movement in your shooting drills. In this article we will be expanding on the last article Point Shooting & Concealed Carry Drills, by adding the kneeling shooting position and moving to cover. What is cover? [...]

Read the original story: Concealed Carry Drill Part Two

USA Carry’s Guide to Dry Practice

Ron Danielowski — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 18:40:51 +0000

Introduction Due to the various requests I have received in regards to my article Sighted Fire vs. Reflexive Fire, I am providing this DIY guide to dry practice (a.k.a. “dry-firing”) in order to answer some of the questions that are still lingering in regards to dry practice. In this article I will attempt to give [...]

Read the original story: USA Carry’s Guide to Dry Practice

2 Drills for the Advanced Gun Fighter

Jason Hanson — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 16:59:07 +0000

This past Saturday I taught one of my Advanced Defensive Pistol courses. I had a really great group of students – one of those special classes – special in a good way, not in a bad way, if you know what I mean. I can truthfully say there isn’t a person who attended the class [...]

Read the original story: 2 Drills for the Advanced Gun Fighter

Point Shooting & Concealed Carry Drills

Matt Schlueter — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 17:54:55 +0000

The purpose of this drill is the development of point shooting skills. Point shooting is best described as the shooter bringing their pistol up to eye level, with both eyes open point their pistol at the desired target and shoot. Point shooting is generally used from 0 to 7 yards, while for some shooters it [...]

Read the original story: Point Shooting & Concealed Carry Drills

Beware of Cheap Imitations!

Daryl Dempsey — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 15:59:19 +0000

At some time in our life, we have heard the old saying, “Beware of Cheap Imitations!” This old saying not only applies to tangibles, those things readily identified as real, but also to intangibles. For example, the perception that training could really take place. I was once told that everything can be used for something; [...]

Read the original story: Beware of Cheap Imitations!

Speed Is Fine But Accuracy Is Final

Matt Schlueter — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 20:20:33 +0000

Shooting drills for practice do not need to be complicated or resemble a professional shooter like Tori Nonaka member of Team Glock, shooting a competition stage on the Outdoor channel. We are going to look at a drill, which will aid you increasing your draw speed along with point shooting skills. The best description of [...]

Read the original story: Speed Is Fine But Accuracy Is Final

Training “High Speed – Low Drag Operators”

Shepard Humphries — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 14:48:44 +0000

When I taught my first combat pistol class as a civilian, I asked a respected warrior to audit the class and critique my outline, performance and the class in general. Tony Copper, a seasoned High Speed – Low Drag operator (HSLDO) attended and even assisted with instruction in a humble and respectful way. I was [...]

Read the original story: Training “High Speed – Low Drag Operators”

A “Murderous” Shooting Drill

Jason Hanson — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 14:56:54 +0000

A while back I was training with well-known instructor Louis Awerbuck. If you’re not familiar with Louis, he used to be the Chief Rangemaster at Gunsite and Colonel Jeff Cooper was his mentor. Well, on the day I was training with Louis I was shooting pretty well and after one of the drills I went [...]

Read the original story: A “Murderous” Shooting Drill