The Practical Rifle Part 2: Drills & Training

While not planned out in advance, this post should make a nice follow-on to Part 1 of my Practical Rifle series. Earlier this week, I did a good deal of desert shooting with some friends. In contrast to my usual type of shooting, we were within 10-50 yards of our targets and focused on target transitions and combining movement with shooting. I consider this to be reasonable defensive range for encounters in open country, and multiple assailants are a possibility that should not be discounted. This is why I specified the capability for rapid followup shots in Part 1, as well as a maximum low-end scope magnification of 3x.

Beyond slow-fire shooting for accuracy at longer ranges (relevant for pest control and scout/sniper applications), I propose two types of drills for training with the practical rifle.

The first, focusing on multiple target engagements under physiological stress, should require the shooter to sprint a moderate distance, say, fifty yards, and then engage two or three targets at roughly 10-20 yards with two hits each. The sprint portion of this drill is simply to incorporate stress. An adrenaline rush is a typical reaction to any kind of defensive scenario, and simulating the accompanying loss of coordination/gross motor skills has undeniable training value. (Author's Note: The first time I had to use a firearm in a defensive manner, I had an adrenaline rush and briefly froze up. That seemed to have mentally conditioned me, and later instances have been smooth.)

The second drill is the snap shot, simulating a surprise encounter with a threat, human or animal. From the shooter's choice of carry/ready position, engage a man-size target at 25-50 yards. Any time under two seconds is acceptable. For variations, include a follow-up shot and/or increase the range as the shooter becomes comfortable with the drill. I've done snap shot drills with a pie plate hanging from a tree.

Do not hesitate to incorporate home or backyard dry-fire practice into your training regiment. Snap shots in particular can be practiced for free, as the focus is on a first-round hit at a range where wind calls and holdovers are irrelevant. Vary target presentation, sizes, range, and other factors - mastering a single target presentation is a neat party trick but its actual utility in the field is limited. Training merely approximates real-world conditions, rather than precisely simulating them.

To my mind, once the shooter has reached an acceptable level of skill with his practical rifle, the next step is to carry it in the field. Go for a hike on BLM or Forest Service land for at least a couple of hours, and get to learn the rifle's balance and carrying characteristics. Make changes as appropriate. Practice "snapping in" on boulders, shrubs, or other features - this plays into varying target presentation.

Get your rifle out in the field!

Lastly, do not neglect the fundamentals of marksmanship. Shooting off a bench is useful for zeroing, load testing, confirming a computer-generated dope card, and training beginners, but does not even begin to simulate real-world conditions. Your fundamentals should be practiced from a variety of field positions. Likewise, it would behoove you to practice quickly dropping into supported field positions using available features. The other day, a good friend asked me what would qualify as field positions. My answer was something to the tune of "anything you can get into out in the desert with what you carry on your person". That's really all there is to it.

100 yards with Federal Power-Shok 130-grain copper HP

275 yards with Federal Power-Shok 130-grain JSP

Lastly, I decided to include a few groups shot with my 7600 practical rifle a couple of weeks ago, both zero confirmations. I'm using a 200-yard far zero with this rifle for its flatter trajectory over a 100-yard far zero, which theoretically results in 1.4" high at 100 yards, and a few inches low at 275 yards. Within shooter error and rifle accuracy limits, that's pretty much what I got. I would be more than comfortable taking a shot at a game animal to 300 yards. That group at 275 is a bit under MOA - there is no practical difference in accuracy between this pump rifle and most bolt guns. I suppose the platform could be called the poor man's M1A/M14, when equipped with a few reliable 10-round magazines.

The copper hollowpoints were an impulse purchase at Cabela's. I suspect they may be a bit more barrier-blind than Federal's garden-variety JSPs as a result of their monolithic construction, and my 7600 shoots them well with no significant POI shift. The barrier-blind theory merits testing, in my opinion.

Get Organized! Part 2: Developing A Training Plan

 I briefly touched on training in Part 1 of the Get Organized! series. This post will go into more depth on training. In order to draw upon maximal prior experience from myself and my associates, it will continue the focus on a local defense force.

Assessment

Before an effective training plan can be devised, it is necessary to determine the baseline capability of each team member. Take a few minutes to consider what skills you anticipate being necessary for mission success, then design and implement a realistic, safe, and practical means of assessing each. Members of our hypothetical local defense force have three main operational responsibilities: Move, Shoot, and Communicate. On a basic level, these can be assessed as follows:

Movement

1. Practice cross-country movements on foot while carrying a load of 30-45 pounds. An individual who can move five miles with minimal halts is capable of at least some meaningful action.
2. Utilize topographic maps and satellite imagery to navigate to selected points. The individual should be capable of field navigation with a map and compass, and not dependent on a GPS or other electronic device. While useful, GPS or network availability is not assured - dense forest canopy easily degrades GPS signals. Field navigation is essential if acting in a search-and-rescue capacity.
3. Practice short sprints with a rifle while carrying basic individual equipment, as well as engaging man-sized targets at at least one hundred yards between sprints. This assesses both movement and shooting competency in a physically stressful environment.

Shooting

1. Practice engaging man-sized targets out to at least three hundred yards from field positions. Roughly eighty percent of firefights occur within two hundred yards, and ninety percent within three hundred yards. A minimally competent rifleman should be capable of hitting with at least fifty percent percent of his shots at three hundred yards. Shooting from a bench is useless except to assess the mechanical accuracy of a weapon/ammunition combination or develop elementary skills.
2. Practice snap shots. An individual who can hit a man-sized target at fifty yards within two to three seconds from his choice of high or low ready has a satisfactory rifle snap shot. In a local defense capacity, firing more than a handful of rounds is unlikely, and misses do not count! Snap shots are easily practiced via dry fire.
3. Practice reloading the rifle or shotgun from a variety of field positions. Spare magazines or shells must be accessible when prone, sitting, or kneeling. Reloading can be practiced in your backyard or living room using dummy rounds and/or empty magazines.

Communication

1. Practice making SALUTE (Size/Activity/Location/Unit Identification/Time/Equipment) reports. These can be practiced face-to-face or over radio, using any reference photos, videos, illustrations, or other depictions.
2. Demonstrate capability of using all functions of the selected handheld radio(s). Amateur and GMRS nets are an outstanding opportunity to test skill and equipment capability.

In my experience, scheduling a few hours at an informal outdoor range is ideal for beginning assessment of paramilitary skill. Incorporating field positions and physical activity is a natural evolution from recreational shooting. Hiking with a moderate load is another appropriate means of assessment.

Planning

Once individual aptitude has been satisfactorily assessed, an organization training plan should be developed. It should start at a level of intensity/complexity suitable for the median member of the organization. Some individuals may require remedial training on some topics; remedial training can be supplied by peers, independent study, trainers, or any combination thereof. Be polite but honest when discussing an individual's skill and fitness levels; false flattery does not help them improve.

For the sake of the article, we'll make some assumptions about the results of our initial aptitude assessment. Let's say that four men showed up at the initial event: Kirk, Ron, Al, and Joe. That afternoon, each attendee shot about fifty rounds at varying distances out to roughly four hundred yards.  Kirk and Ron have experience hunting and demonstrated unspectacular but solid marksmanship, with hit rates of approximately 70% at three hundred yards. They were also able to complete a five-mile hike with 25-pound packs without issue. Joe is an F-Class competition shooter and aced the shooting portion, but suffered a serious back injury in the Army and is unable to meaningfully move in the field. Finally, Al is younger than the rest and has minimal experience shooting, but is in very good shape.

How should we proceed? Well, the logical thing is to use each man's strength to improve the others. Kirk and Ron should be teaching fieldcraft, Joe should instruct on the rifle range, and Al can assist the others in developing personal physical fitness plans.

In general, training should be planned as a progression of lesson series, each developing a different skill and building upon each other. Periodically, refresher training on past material should be conducted. With this in mind, we arrive at the following notional schedule for the first two months of the organization:

Lesson 1 (Range)

• Rifle Fundamentals
• Introduce Movement & Shooting

Lesson 2 (Range)

• Movement & Shooting
• Introduce Bounding

Lesson 3 (Field)

• Bounding
• Field Movement Techniques

Lesson 4 (Classroom)

• Introduce Map-Reading & Patrol Fundamentals
• Tabletop Patrol Exercise

Lesson 5 (Field)

• Map-Reading & Patrol Fundamentals
• Field Movement Techniques

Lesson 6 (Classroom)

• Radio Communication
• Tabletop Patrol Exercise

Lesson 7 (Field)

• Radio Communication
• Field Movement Techniques

Lesson 8 (24-Hour Field)

• Plan and execute patrol incorporating all previous lessons
• Assess individual and team capabilities

This schedule is a serviceable template for a local defense force, and will produce a small unit with a decent grasp of some fundamentals within two months. The schedule should be generally maintained to avoid "bouncing" between subjects while not truly mastering any of them. While it can be very tempting to introduce lesson plans based on current events, my experience has been that these are quickly forgotten.

Criticism

Once the initial lesson series is complete, sit down with your team and critique it. Discuss which elements worked and which did not. Building on this discussion, determine the training focus for the next series and build out a training plan based on your previous experience and organization goals.