Training When the Weather Turns Cold

Here in Ohio it is definitely fall, and the weather is starting to turn colder, which it will continue to do until everything thaws out next spring.  So, I thought I would dedicate this post to giving some ideas for how to train when the weather is less than perfect.

The best way to train, is just like you would if the weather was perfect.  Cold, windy, overcast day?   Great, put on a coat, and go to the range!  Not only is it more likely you will be the only person there, so you can optimize your training time, but I am a firm believer in training like you will fight.  I will add a caveat here.  I understand that some people view firearms as purely for recreation or sport, and don't really think about them as defensive tools.  If you fall in that category, then maybe you are content with just shooting when it is nice outside, or indoors.

But, if you carry a firearm for defense, do you just carry it outside when it is 75 degrees and sunny?  Then why would that be the only time that you go to the range?  The changing seasons bring new challenges to carry a defensive sidearm, and your training should reflect that.

Odds are that you are wearing more, heavier layers of clothing.  Have you practiced drawing with those extra layers on?  There is a big difference between just sweeping a t-shirt out of the way, as opposed to a winter coat.  The winter coat allows you to conceal a full-sized handgun easier, but also complicates the draw.  So, go to the range wearing your seasonally appropriate outerwear, and practice drawing, and firing in it. Are the sleeves positioned in such a way that you can move adequately to draw and fire?  Or do they restrict your movement?

Equally important, do you wear gloves when your hands get cold?  When is the last time that you tried drawing and shooting your handgun, or even just shooting your handgun, with those gloves on?  Is the trigger guard on your pistol big enough that you can get your gloved finger into position?  Do you know how to index your finger on the trigger to pull slow, steady, and straight to the rear while wearing your gloves?  What about operating the rest of the controls on your pistol with gloves on?  Or performing malfunction drills?  Or reloads?   If you are going to be wearing gloves, these are things you need to consider.

As the days get colder, they also get shorter.  It is not uncommon for people to leave in the morning for work when it is dark, and then get back home after the sun has already set in the evening.  If this sounds like your winter, when is the last time that you tried to do any low-light shooting?  Does your pistol have night sights or a laser to help you properly index your shots before firing them?  Have you taken the time to check the zero if it does?  Are you carrying some sort of hand held flashlight to illuminate any potential targets?

These are all things that people who don't live in tropical paradises need to consider as the seasons change, because they should affect your gear, tactics and training.  You don't necessarily need to go out to the range in a monsoon, but if you do, more power to your.  You will almost certainly be the only person there.  But, when we as humans experience discomfort, like being cold, we tend to start to internalize everything, and just focus on our own misery.  If you go to the range when you are in such a state of mind, it will force you to stop internalizing, and focus on other things, like firearms safety, and how well you are shooting.  So, it adds a little bit of adversity to your range trip, which will help you get outside you comfort zone, and push yourself, to increase your skills.

You can always hop in the car and crank the heater on the way home, so there really is no excuse for not training in less than perfect weather.  It will teach you a lot about your gear, and more importantly, about yourself.

After Action Report: "The Bulletproof Mind" with LtCol. Dave Grossman

I had the opportunity yesterday to attend a Bulletproof Mind seminar, put on by Buckeye Firearms Association.  In my opinion, training doesn't do any good if you don't take the time to analyze and reflect on the experience in some way, hence why I am writing an "after action report."

I will be upfront and say that I was biased in a positive way towards LtCol. Grossman even before attending this seminar.  I have had a copy of his book "On Killing" for several years, and it actually traveled with me to both Iraq and Afghanistan.  I read it a few times while in the service, once before my first deployment, and then again while I was in Afghanistan.  And several others in my platoon read my copy as well, especially in Afghanistan, where we had a fair bit of kinetic contact with the Taliban.  And it seemed to do a lot of good for a lot of us, and helped my friends understand what was going on in their heads.  So, I already had high hopes for the seminar yesterday.

I am a firm believer that you have to train the "software" just as much as the "hardware" when it comes to self defense.  If you are serious about self defense, you use your defensive mindset every single day.  You may be carrying your gun every day, but you certainly don't need to shoot it in defense everyday.  Your mind is actually your single best defensive weapon, and you can probably avoid or deter the vast majority of threats, just by being alert and observing your surroundings, and recognizing a threat when you see one.  So, if all your self defense training consists of is going to the range and punching holes in paper, to me, it is deficient, and you should expand your horizons.

I am not going to try to paraphrase or give away any of what LtCol. Grossman covers in his seminar.  But, some of the topics covered include:

• Current threats in society, and some of the causes for violence in society.
• Possible future threats that society will face
• Some of the Psychological aspects of self defense
• Physiological reactions to threats
• The psychological aftermath of a defensive shooting

I really enjoyed the seminar, and got a lot out of it.  I think that it was a good reminder of why I go through the daily hassle of strapping on a pistol before I head out the door.  If you have been getting lax in your carry habits, it might be a good thing to attend the seminar.  I would also very highly encourage any recently returned veterans who have been deployed to combat overseas to attend, as someone who fits that category, I found it extremely worthwhile.  I personally also think that it could be quite beneficial to someone who is on the fence about carrying for self defense, or even  anti-gun people, if they would attend.  I think it could help pull the wool from over their eyes, and see what is going on in society.  LtCol. Grossman conveys the information in an intelligent manner without any false bravado, and does an excellent job of keeping the crowd involved and interested.

So, if you have a chance to attend one of these seminars, or anything else presented by LtCol Grossman, I would highly recommend you take the chance.  It is just as valuable as a day at the range, and will help round out your defensive training, adding more tools to your tool box.  I actually thought the day went extremely fast, and at no point was looking at my watch wondering when it was going to end.  I also like that the BFA does this as a fundraiser, it is well worth the money, and I have no problems with giving them money with all the work they have done for us in Ohio, especially the month before an election.  You can also pick up his books, or some books he was written forwards or had other input on, up at the seminar without needing to pay for shipping (I bought a copy of "On Combat," and added several more to my wishlist.)  And, if you have an old dog-eared copy of one of his books that traveled the world with you you can probably get it signed, and have a minute with him to talk about where the book has been.

Pushing Yourself at the Range

Many of us, myself included, do not get to the shooting range nearly as often as we want to.  Of course, if I had my choice, I'd be at the range every day.  So, that means that we need to make the most of our time on the range.  A caveat here, if you do not have a solid foundation of skills, go back and read my last post, about building up basic shooting skills, before you attempt to push your comfort level.  But, if you can consistently hit where you want during slow fire at a static range, then start challenging yourself.  Remember that safety is always paramount while you are handling firearms, and all the rules of firearms safety should be obeyed at all times.  Also, be sure to obey the rules of whatever range you are shooting at.  I am fortunate enough to belong to a private shooting club that is more lenient on what they allow than many indoor or public ranges that don't allow things like drawing from a holster on the range.

So, what are some things you can do to challenge yourself at the range?  The easiest that can be done at almost any range is increasing the distance, and/or decreasing target size.  Decreasing the target size can fairly closely simulate extending the range you are shooting at.  It isn't exact or perfect, as somethings like wind calls, and learning the trajectory of the bullets flight can really only be learned by shooting at longer ranges.  But, it still will present more of a challenge.  If you have the ability to shoot at longer ranges, then take advantage of that, and work your way out to longer and longer distances.  On my last shooting trip, here was one of my shooting positions:

I was shooting a pistol, the Ruger Mark III .22/45, at 50 yards, supported on the hood of my vehicle.  Yes, those white things in the distance, specifically the rectangle in the center of the 5 targets, was my target, at this range, with that pistol.   I worked my way out to 50 yards during my range time.  Everything under 25 yards was done offhand, standing with no support.  But, I made sure I had good groups at 7, 10, 15, and 25 yards.  For me, I considered good groups to be all rounds within 2-3 inches, while keeping up a tempo of a shot every couple seconds.  After I was getting the results I wanted at 25 yards, I decided to move back to 50.  I have shot a pistol at 50 yards before, but I was really more of making noise than seriously attempting to make longer than normal pistol shots.  I did also allow myself the use of a support device (the hood of my vehicle), while utilizing proper cover for these shots.  The odds of ever needing to defend myself with a pistol at a distance of 50 yards, while I have a vehicle handy are probably approximately 0%, but, it seemed like a good experiment.  And at any distance, if I can move to cover and support my shooting position, I will.  So, how did I shoot?

I fired several magazines from this position, but this was the first one, so it seemed the most fair to put a picture of it up there.  All 10 rounds were on the piece of paper, and if you take out the flier at the bottom, it is about a 4 1/2" group, which I am pretty happy with at that distance.  I wasn't using premium ammo or anything either, just normal Federal bulk pack high-velocity .22:

Some other ideas if you want to push yourself at the range:  Shoot while moving, or after pivoting.  Move towards/away from the target, side to side, and at the diagonals (see my note on safe behavior above).  Practice drawing and shooting.  Practice drills like a double-tap, Mozambique or failure to stop drill.  Practice multiple target engagement, where you have more than one target, and need to put rounds on each, in proper sequence, as fast as possible.  Shoot with your non-dominant hand.  Shoot from different positions than usual, shoot while using cover.  Induce stress and fatigue, do calisthenics for 60 seconds before engaging your target.  

Really the possibilities are endless, and limited only by your own imagination.  But, if all you do is stand static at the range, square to the target, you are never going to challenge your abilities and allow them to grow so that you can use more advanced techniques.  So, next time you find yourself at 7 yards, shooting slow fire, consistently putting all your rounds where you want them, find some way that your range allows to spice your range time up, and make the most of it.  If you have solid fundamentals, you may surprise yourself.

Walk Before You Run

Shooting is actually a fairly complex activity, there are a lot of small things you need to be aware of and control in order to shoot well.  Things like sight alignment and picture, your breathing, your position, trigger control, and follow through.  If you don't take the time to build a solid foundation for your shooting skills, you will not be able to advance them to more advanced methods.

Everyone wants to go to the gun store, buy a gun, and then go straight to the range, and shoot precisely while hanging upside down on spy-rigging under a helicopter.  That actually may be a bit of a stretch, but I think that is the attitude of some shooters.  They don't want to take the time and build that solid foundation.  But the truth is, if you can't shoot accurately during slow fire, you can't do it during rapid fire.  And the same goes for movement, if you can't shoot where you want while you are standing still, you aren't going to be able to do it while you are moving.  So, while you may want to go straight to more advanced techniques and skills for self defense, make sure you have the building blocks to do so.

If you don't know how to build those blocks, or you don't know why your bullets aren't going where you want, find someone who knows how to teach others to shoot that is willing to help you.  Rifle and pistol shooting share most of the same fundamentals, becoming better at one will help you become better at the other.  Shotguns have a few more differences, but becoming a better shooter in any discipline will help you across the board, provided you remember the differences.  But some sort of basic instruction will help inexperienced shooters build a solid foundation so that they can move on to more advanced skills.

I can often look at a student's target, and identify what the problem is just by seeing where their hits are at the range.   Most of the common issues people have when shooting have tell-tale patterns that manifest themselves on the target, and experienced shooters can diagnose them.  If you have problems with more than one of the fundamentals, focus on fixing one of them at a time.  Aiming and trigger control are the two that should be focused on first, because they have the largest effect on downrange results, then you can work on breathing, hold control, and follow through,  And as you become more proficient in one fundamental, you have to keep practicing that fundamental as you move on to the next one.

Only after you have the basics down, should you worry about things like drawing a pistol from a holster and shooting, or shooting on the move.  It is going to take some time, and some rounds downrange in order to get to that point though.  But I will cover more about pushing yourself and your comfort zone at the range in my next post.