Yesterday I was at a “square range.” A square range is almost a derogatory term for a shooting range that doesn’t allow anything besides standing in your shooting bay and shooting at your one paper target in front of you. Once I started taking defensive firearms courses and shooting fast competition these types or ranges became boring. I went with a couple friends (including Bob Mayne at The Handgun World Podcast) and was only there because our IDPA (International Defense Pistol Association) match got rained out.
If you really want to be a good shooter a square range is where you need to start, and continue to work from time to time. When I first started shooting a Placentia, CA Police Officer who was an extremely good shot, took me under his wing and taught me how to start being a really good handgun shooter. I’m going to pass his beginner knowledge on to you along with another advanced drill that will set you on a path to becoming a great pistol shooter.
That old police officer took me to the range and started me shooting at 3 yards. The closest most ranges will allow (the target is close enough to spit on). What target you use doesn’t matter, just pick one with lots of dots or points to shoot at. I’ll shoot at anything that I can see on the paper (even numbers or letters). Start with 5 round groups, slow fire. Time doesn’t matter. You want to make every shot count like it’s your only shot. Keep working at it until you make every shot touch. Then go to 3 shot groups. Once you make all 3 touch, move the target back to about 5 yards and start again. Fun fact to all you skeptics, your weapon is capable of this drill out to at least 15 yards, some out past 25. It will take you forever to get to 10 yards, and by then you will be an excellent shot.
Another drill I really like at a square range is the dot torture drill. Here’s a link to all the rules and a PDF of the target. I originally heard of the drill from Caleb over at Gun Nuts Media, the target says it came from Personal Defense Training LLC. This is a 50 round drill, one target, and 10 tiny little dots. Each dot has it’s own how-to instructions. Every round is scored as a hit or a miss. Just get the bullet into the little dot. You start at 3 yards. Once you get a perfect score, move the target back and try again.
I have passed the dot torture at 3 yards and will be moving it back next time. I go back to the touching drill all the time. I did it yesterday. It took about 50 rounds but I did get 5 rounds to touch at 10 yards with my Glock 19. My new trigger and sites helped. I’ll talk about that tomorrow.
Stay Safe,
Ben