Bought my first firearm for self-defense/CCW back in January (S&W M&P Shield in 9mm), and have been working to get more proficient ever since.The thought occurred to me today to make a list of things to work on to continually improve my firearm proficiency. Figured it'd be good to make the list here and get some input. Especially with so many new people in the firearms community with the current state of affairs, it would be good to give a guide that people can use to both track their progress, and make sure that they are covering their bases as far as developing a good skillset for their newly acquired firearms.I have attempted to group these as best as I can based on when to learn these various skills, but please add input. I am hoping this post can undergo a number of improvements as people add input and can serve as a guide to new shooters. I know that there are things that I will miss; constructive input appreciated :)Firearms 101 -Primary goal: Know your weapon and the rules of firearm safety.Choose a platform, and acquire your weaponDo some research on the front end to get an idea for what you are looking for. Find reputable sources on YouTube for guns that are good for beginners.Learn the basic rules of firearm safetyThere are plenty of other places to look for these, so I will not list them here, but the importance of safety cannot be understated when dealing with firearms. Be sure you have these rules down before your first trip to the range.Learn how to takedown and clean your weaponBuy cleaning materials, learn how to takedown, clean, and reassemble the firearm. Good lesson for learning the ins and outs of not only your firearm, but also a little mechanical knowledge on how firearms work.Buy range materialsAt a minimum, this should include some sort of case and/or bag for transporting your firearm, ear protection, eye protection, targets, and of course, ammo.Sight alignment and trigger controlFind a few YouTube videos describing sight alignment and trigger control. My recommendations would be Carry Trainer or Warrior Poet Society. These channels do a great job of explaining the basics to give new shooters an idea of what to do with the sights, and how to appropriately engage the trigger.Range Day - The Basics -Primary Goal: Gain proficiency in basic weapon operation. Establish a baseline level of accuracy.Go to a range near youMay seem obvious, but I think there are good pointers to be had here as well. From personal experience, I would recommend visiting an outdoor range for your first trip. Indoor ranges are great, but when just getting used to firearms, the level of sensory overload can be intense. Guns are loud (duh), but at an indoor range the sound has nowhere to go, making things even louder than normal. Follow the rules, see how ranges work, and have fun.Put shots on target (~7 yards)Use your firearm. Start at ~7 yards and work on being able to hit your chosen target with good consistency. I am intentionally being vague with what exactly should be your goal as people will be starting in different places with their ability to aim correctly. Does consistency mean better than 50%? 80%? 100%? The point is using the weapon and establishing a baseline. Be sure to take note of where the bullets are going; there will likely be a consistent pattern for where the misses group.Dry Fire Training 101 -Primary goal: Practice certain drills to improve shooting fundamentals.Dry fire trainingI decided to put this after the first range trip as that range trip should help spark the drive to dry fire, and make it more interesting. If dry firing is done first, it would be easy to get lazy or lose interest because you just want to go shoot the dang gun!! But if done after the first range trip, the interest to improve will more than likely be there, and the practice will be much more productive. At this step it is helpful, but not required, to buy some snap caps to practice with.Sight alignment and trigger controlPractice, practice, practice. Again, I would encourage the shooter to watch either Warrior Poet or Carry Trainer on how to do dry fire practice and improve trigger discipline and sight alignment. Dry fire training is a great way to improve without spending money on range fees or ammunition.Malfunction clearingLearn how to clear type 1, 2, and 3 malfunctions. At this point, it is almost essential to have some snap caps. Makes training malfunction clearing procedures a whole lot more realistic. Learn the basics of each malfunction, and be able to clear them with proficiency.Range Day - FundamentalsPrimary goal: Continue to develop firearm skillset. Use snap caps for a few drills if your range allows. Look to improve accuracy and shot speed.Shots on target with pace (~7 yards)Similar to the first range trip, look to get consistent accuracy on target at ~7 yards, but this time, look to push the follow up shot a little quicker. Instead of taking a significant pause between each shot, try to follow up with 2 shots in quick succession. Bang........bang........bang, should now be bang...bang...bang. Feels silly typing it out, but you get the idea.Live malfunction clearingIf the range allows it, learn to clear malfunctions by using snap caps along with your normal ammo as "dummy rounds". Load up magazines with a mixture of ammo and snap caps and when a snap cap comes up, you will get a click, not a bang. Tap, rack, and fire off the next shot. Again, this can only be done if the range allows it and some ranges may not allow snap caps and malfunction clearing drills on the range. Be sure to check with a range officer.Trigger disciplineSimilar to with malfunction clearing, load up magazines with an assortment of snap caps and regular ammo. Try to mix up where the snap caps are in the magazine so you are not able to predict exactly which rounds will go *bang*, and which will go *click*. Use the snap caps to identify an trigger discipline issue, or flinch. It will make it very evident if you have a flinch if you do this drill. Trust me :)Shots on target, accuracy focus (~15 yards)Practice getting consistent hits on target at ~15 yards. Do not try to rush shots on this one. Instead, make accuracy your top priority, take time between each shot to get good alignment and a consistent trigger pull.Shots on target, accuracy focus (~25 yards)Practice getting consistent hits on target at ~25 yards. Much like ~15 yards, this is about accuracy more than speed. No need to shoot a large volume of shots at this distance on this trip. The idea is to get a taste of firing longer shots with your weapon, but the bulk of the distance practice in this session should be at ~15 yards.*A note on CCW* - From my minimal knowledge of various states and their CCW requirements, this seems like the level of proficiency that should be met before going to get your CCW. Get the fundamentals to be able to put shots on target at a number of reasonable distances, and then go for it. Trust your practice, get the CCW, and then keep training. One cannot stress the importance of acquiring the CCW and then continuing to improve. You can always be better, and if we're talking about life and death of either ourselves or our loved ones, we ought to always strive to do so.Dry fire training - Holsters and Shot TimingPrimary goal: Find a holster that meets your needs and practice operating from that holster. This is where we really depart from the basics of firearm operation and begin to learn how to actually apply our use of firearms to self-defense scenarios. It is unlikely that should you need to use your weapon, it will be out and ready in advance. Time to learn the basics of operating from concealment.Select your holster(s)There are entire posts on this sub dedicated to finding a good holster, so I won't spend much time on it here. But know that there are tons of great options in the market. Find something that works for you and practice with it. Also, decide if you will be carrying in a variety of ways, or just one. If you are going to use more than one holster setup depending on the scenario, be sure to practice each of those setups.Working from the holster - the drawLearn to the basics of a good draw, and be able to execute smoothly. Again, plenty of information on this elsewhere, so not diving into details. Practice, practice, practice. Be slow here. Pace comes with practice, so the utmost at this early phase is making the proper mechanics second nature. Video yourself to ensure your draw is efficient and gets the firearm out and on target safely.Working from the holster - draw to first shot timingGet a shot timer or shot timer app and begin learning what your draw to first shot is. Work on getting this number as low as is reasonable without losing good draw mechanics. Remember, it is more important, especially early on in operating your firearm, to establish efficient and safe draw mechanics. If the mechanics are there, with practice, the speed will come.Working from the holster - reloadsSimilar to the above, but use a shot timer to incorporate reloads into your practice routine. Learn the mechanics of efficient reloads and be able to execute a shot...reload...shot drill on the timer.Range Day - Intermediate ProficiencyPrimary goal: Be able to operate your firearm in a way that is in line with likely self-defense scenarios. *For this range day, the rules of your range are especially important. Some ranges do not allow rapid fire, drawing from a holster, etc. Be sure to know what your range's rules are and plan accordingly. For any scenario where a draw is not allowed, use a low ready position instead.Shots on target with increased pace (~7 yards)Similar to the earlier range trips, look to get consistent accuracy on target at ~7 yards, but this time, look to push the follow up shots even quicker. If the range allows, this is the time to improve recoil mitigation and how to get fast follow up shots. Choose a number of shots and go quick, focusing on the group size. We're going for consistent accuracy at speed. Instead of bang...bang...bang from the last range session, we're going for bangbangbang.Shots on target with pace (~15 yards)Similar to the second range trip, look to get consistent accuracy on target at ~15 yards, but this time, look to push follow up shots a little quicker. Instead of taking a significant pause between each shot, try to follow up with 2 shots in quick succession. Bang........bang........bang, should now be bang...bang...bang.Shots on target, accuracy focus (~25 yards)Practice getting consistent hits on target at ~25 yards. These shots are about accuracy more than speed. If you can use multiple distances at a time, a great way to do this is use the 15 and 25 yard markers in tandem. Take a couple shots at a fairly quick pace at 15, and then slow up and hit one at 25, or vice versa. Looking to improve proficiency on longer shots, but as most self-defense encounters indicate, most of the time interactions take place at much shorter distances.If you have made it this far, thanks, I hope you found this helpful. I would also like to add, I am relatively new to this community and firearms in general, and this has somewhat been an exercise in "what have I done so far, and if I were to introduce firearms to new people, how would I recommend they go about progressing?" I expect that I left things out, and would love to hear recommendations that I can add to this post. I also stopped as this point, as it is where I am currently in my own proficiency. Any recommendations on the next things to practice would be awesome!! I already plan to continue to try and improve rapid fire time and accuracy, draw to first shot timing, and accuracy across all distances. Want to make sure I'm not leaving any glaring skillset out. Thanks!! via /r/CCW https://ift.tt/3fEuWBq
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