What are you doing to practice/perfect your carry

[JerryK]

Self defense can raise it ugly head in the blink of an eye. In researching SD scenarios I have found they happen in 2-5 seconds and we must be ready for anything to happen. We must make split second decisions and make the right decision. We have all heard the situational awareness stories and they are all true, but what have you done to perfect the muscle memory that needs to take place to have a successful outcome?

Do you practice drawing a live weapon?
Are you prepared to shoot from the hip?
Are you prepared to shoot one handed?
Are you prepared to shoot off handed?
Have you practiced 'slight of hand' distracting your aggressor while you are drawing your weapon?
Can you draw your weapon in under 1 second?
Do you have to rack the slide?
Does you gun have a safety, and will you remember to take it off? (This is mine because I carry different weapons)

This is not picking up a gun off a bench and shooting paper targets!!!

I have been reading this forum for the past 9 months and I have seen a lot of questions about different types of guns and so forth but I have never seen these questions raised. This is want we are all about.

We do not ever want to have to use our firearm but are you ready or are you just fooling yourself?

Here is a typical armed robbery that went in the EDC's favor, are you prepared, and have you practiced? Are you ready?

[TexasTornado]

Honestly probably not nearly as quick as I should be or want to be (especially with my new holster). I would love to find somewhere local where I could draw and fire from my holster, but our local range will not allow it...or head shots or open carry or AC/heat half of the time. Not my favorite range but it's what we've got.

[JerryK]

Why on earth will they not allow head shots? Or is that politically incorrect?

[TexasTornado]

Why on earth will they not allow head shots? Or is that politically incorrect?

Apparently too many people hit the track the targets run on and repairs got too costly. They also charge you if you hit the binder clips used to hold the target...I kidd you not.

[Lynyrd]

I have three carry guns for different situations. I have drawn and fired each of them from their respective holsters hundreds of times. My slowest draw gun is the one I carry the least often. I have also practiced with a laser aiming from the hip more hours than I can count. The laser taught me how to aim without the expense of ammo, but it does not take the place of live fire. You can't be prepared if you don't train.

[JerryK]

That is the type of answer I want to hear. BUT I also want to make people think...

[Flightmare]

Honestly probably not nearly as quick as I should be or want to be (especially with my new holster). I would love to find somewhere local where I could draw and fire from my holster, but our local range will not allow it...or head shots or open carry or AC/heat half of the time. Not my favorite range but it's what we've got.

There's a range in north fort worth that has private suites. These private suites allow rapid fire as well as draw & fire. Went there back in June with my family and loved it.

[Jusme]

I am fortunate in that I have a place on private property to go to practice what I call up close and personal drills. No shots over three yards. Drawing CC and OC weak hand firing/malfunction drills, falling to the ground, etc. I try to do these at least four times a year. I practice my draw almost everyday unloaded, switching to weak hand etc. My range time I work on trying out different ammo, and one hand shooting at longer distances,
I play bass in my church band and I practice drawing while wearing it, with whatever I may be wearing, shirt, shirt with jacket, shirt with vest etc. I have even taken my bass with me to shoot, to see how it affects my draw and aim.
I face the front door while playing so I will more than likely see a threat before most of the congregation
While OC my draw is under 1 second, CC it varies depending on what I'm wearing. I run through scenarios whereby I put my weak hand up to feign compliance, and push away the BG weapon as I draw mine.
I still feel that there are,some areas where I feel I could be better prepared, but time is my worst enemy.

[TexasTornado]

Fort Worth is about 100 miles from me & not a fun drive in the least. What's the name of it tho? Might have to suck it up and make a day of it.

[Flightmare]

Fort Worth is about 100 miles from me & not a fun drive in the least. What's the name of it tho? Might have to suck it up and make a day of it.

It's about an hour drive for me from Plano, but I have family over there.

http://www.shootsmart.com/

[TexasTornado]

Fort Worth is about 100 miles from me & not a fun drive in the least. What's the name of it tho? Might have to suck it up and make a day of it.

It's about an hour drive for me from Plano, but I have family over there.

http://www.shootsmart.com/

Thanks!

[treadlightly]

Have a care. There are reasons a lot of ranges don't allow practice from the holster.

Practice slowly, dry-firing, breaking down the draw into phases. Don't work on speed, work on establishing a safe grip before anything else, not sweeping your offhand fingers or wrist, and not getting your finger on the trigger until the muzzle is well downrange.

Speed is secondary to safety.

I don't like to practice drawing and firing with anyone else around because I don't want to encourage an unpracticed shooter from trying something they aren't ready for just because it looks like fun.

[Jago668]

Fort Worth is about 100 miles from me & not a fun drive in the least. What's the name of it tho? Might have to suck it up and make a day of it.

It's about an hour drive for me from Plano, but I have family over there.

http://www.shootsmart.com/

I go up the road from there to a place called Proactive Defense. They want to work with people for a bit to make sure you can handle yourself. You can draw from concealment, shoot as fast as you want, head shots, shoot from the ground, while on the move, etc. The "fun" part is that it is outdoors. Also run into the same problem as Shoot Smart since it is up past Roanoke.

[TexasTornado]

Fort Worth is about 100 miles from me & not a fun drive in the least. What's the name of it tho? Might have to suck it up and make a day of it.

It's about an hour drive for me from Plano, but I have family over there.

http://www.shootsmart.com/

I go up the road from there to a place called Proactive Defense. They want to work with people for a bit to make sure you can handle yourself. You can draw from concealment, shoot as fast as you want, head shots, shoot from the ground, while on the move, etc. The "fun" part is that it is outdoors. Also run into the same problem as Shoot Smart since it is up past Roanoke.

Yea still 76 miles 1 way lol. May check the rule book at Frisco or see if one of the instructors on here may teach anything close by.

[Middle Age Russ]

The OP poses several really good questions we should ask ourselves (and be honest with ourselves about the answers) when training. I have neither the eyesight nor the reflexes I did when I was younger, but that simply means that my training time should be planned and focused on specific skills. In addition to the questions posed above, here are a few more to consider.

Do you carry at least one extra magazine?
Do you practice returning the gun to operation after a failure of some kind?
Do you practice drawing from concealment?
Do you practice moving and shooting? Shooting moving targets?
Do you practice using cover and/or concealment?
Do you practice decision-making (shoot / don't shoot) in some courses of fire?
Do you practice night / low-light shooting?
Do you practice drawing/engaging/failure drills using ONLY your off-hand?
Do you practice hand-to-hand skills to allow you time/distance to get to your gun if you are suddenly face-to-face with a threat? Do you have other tools / skillsets that can assist (edged tools, kubotan, pen, nail file, flashlight,...)?

There are more questions like these that can be asked, of course. The point of the questions is to start integrating specific training opportunities into a training plan to build skills that may help you prevail in a deadly force encounter.