Tactical exercises

[Packrat]

At the latest Central Florida shoot, a couple of the guys suggested some tactical
exercises. We ended up with a silhouette tacked to a target stand so that only the head and one shoulder showed (a man
leaning out to shoot). Then a silhouette with a half-sized silhouette in front of it (shooter behind hostage). Then there were 2 standard silhouettes. (All these were at 50 yds.)
At 100 yds there were 2 standard silhouettes. At 200 yds there was a Pepper Popper and a head-sized steel target. The procedure was to shoot at the first four standing, kneel and shoot the second 2, then go prone and shoot at the last 2. You got one shot per target, hit or miss. You were timed from a "GO"
signal until you indicated that you had completed the last shot by moving out of prone. We were getting times of about 30 seconds with 5 or 6 hits generally. Titan Tom decided to run it with a Polish M44 Moisin Nagant carbine. He did it twice, getting 6 hits in 44 seconds the second time. Since
there were 8 shots, he had to reload loose rounds during the exercise. So much for the advantage of an autoloader.

This could have been made more sophisticated, but we really didn't expect to have the range to ourselves (which only lasted 30 minutes or so) and we didn't spend much time setting up scenarios. There was no "scoring" other than hits and time, and no correlation between the two. It could have been done better. However, it was an interesting alternative to just banging away, it cut down on the amount of ammo we shot, and it did give some insights: there were no significant differences between AKs and ARs in time or hits, nearly everyone got the 50 yd targets, a surprising of 100 yd targets were missed, and most of the 200 yd targets were missed. However, the 200 yd targets were also the smallest of the group, the equivalent of head shots as opposed to body shots on the closer ones.

If you luck into a deserted range, or if you have a place you can shoot with few rules, set up some simple scenarios with a few silhouette targets and try some things. It is an interesting alternative to standard targets.

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Packrat

[WETSU]

Packrat, I have had the good fortune to shoot a lot on private land and we almost always set up tactical training shoots with multiple targets, shoot and no shoot targets, hostages, and usually with mutiple shooters going at it as a team. (we do as much taem training as possible)Some times we practice malfunctions, or weakhand, or weakeye, or even man down drills during the shoot. The more confusing and stressful the better. Punching paper starts to look pretty boring. Keep the ideas coming!

[Belthar]

You should train to hit a man in the head at 300 yards. With good eyes and practice it can be done on a consistant basis. When armed with a rifle with a 300 yd effective range why let the enemy get as close as 50 or 100 yds? Practice your marksmanship.

Belthar.

[ValmetM76]

You guys are on the right track.
Get a real timer like the USPSA shooters use and use it to LIMIT the amount of time you have.
With practice you should be able to fire those 8 rounds, HIT every target and do it all in less than 15-20 seconds. Of course you will have to "really" go prone and not just lay down.

A pro could do it in 10 seconds or less.

Regards,
Mike

[LAgunman2K-3]

i thought about doing something more tactical on a shooting outing

more of a 3-gun match --set up some steel targets and clay pigeons and any other targets of various sizes and distances away

start with the rifle, and the pistol on your hip and the shotgun at a station waiting for you --- while running to stations use the rifle at long range, (drop or carry the rifle) run to shotgun station and then move on to a closer station where you resort to the pistol -- add mags changes etc
time it and try to beat your best time



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and on the 8th day GOD made the AK-47 and saw that this was good

talk is cheap, but bullets are even Cheaper!!!

[eodinert]

Also think about downloading your magazines to four or five rounds, so you have to reload several times. Have somebody else load them for you so you don't know how many rounds you have...gotta practice them' reloads. Also occasionally load some snap caps to practice misfires.

I've made several steel targets (as in gongs). Shooting paper was fun, but no hit-miss feedback without going downrange to check targets. With the steel targets you can engage a target until you know you have hit it.

I also like to setup a "course", with movement between firing points. The drill might go as follows:

run...engage first target..get behind cover..engage second target..run to next cover/engage next target/oops reload..yada yada yada..

Throw in a "transition to handgun" for additional complication.

With the downloaded mags and all the movement, it's a bit cheaper to shoot, as well. You spend lots of time moving and hacking your spleen up (if you are running for time), not just "making bullets go away".

Some thoughts, walk before you run, shoot in a safe area, know where your bullets are going, don't comprimise accuracy for speed, never run with scissors, etc.

[Packrat]

The important points in tactical training (and I may be missing some) are shooting at multiple targets at different ranges, prefetably in somewhat different directions, moving to engage different targets, changing magazines (something we didn't do), and going for quick, accurate shooting. I'm working on targets that can be controlled remotely so a coach can give you a target for only a limited time. (The US Army, back in the days of Trainfire, used 4 seconds. I don't know where they got that number, or how valid it is, but Trainfire targets were available for only 4 seconds whether you hit them or not.) Another good point would be shoot / no shoot targets, but unless you have colored, almost photo-quality "silhouettes" you can't do that. Even then, you're building on stereotypes -- what if you're shooter is wearing a shirt and tie and has short, well-groomed hair, or if your ally is wearing a wife-beater, dirty khakis, and boots?

If anyone has any additions to this, let me know -- we're trying to get a "Defensive Carbine" (how's that for politically correct?) club started to do some tactical training.

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Packrat