Draw and Mag Change Challenge

[AB]

I take the entire month of December largely off from shooting and working out. The working out actually stops the week of Thanksgiving if I'm being honest. I'm a little more off my game than usual come this Jan 1 because the munchkin being around is actually very distracting!

I started working out and dry firing again yesterday, which brought me around to doing one of my "get off the couch, turn off Diablo 3 (or any of the Elder Scrolls games, or some of the X Com series!), and start functioning again" drills.

Sounds easy, but I promise it's not as easy as it sounds.

Do 100 draws to the dry fire "click" and do 100 mag changes without taking a break or stopping more than necessary to reset the drill. You can break them up any way you like. 10 and 10, 20 and 20, ect. as long as you do 100 of each without appreciable stopping. When I'm just starting out again, I find that around #50 on each, my shoulders are starting to get tired and, if I'm not being lazy about my grip, my forearms are on fire. Around #75 (so I've done 150 reps between mag changes and draws), it takes effort to focus and slow down to not be sloppy or start training bad habits. The mix of maintaining mental focus on the rep while forcing myself through fatigue is...something.

Like I said, sounds easy. I realize I could slouch on it and not actually grip the gun like I do when it's about to go off (which I squeeze it like it's a rattlesnake trying to bite me) and make it easier, but I would literally be wasting my time dry firing at that point. The point is to make it as close to live fire as you can.

Try it out, even if just once.

There is a slightly more frustrating version of the mag change drill. Do 10 perfect mag changes in a row. If you bobble one even a little bit, start the count over. The stress of getting to 8 and knowing there's only two to go has actually sometimes bitten me! I've done this drill until I couldn't hold the gun up any more because I wasn't disciplined enough to just slow the heck down and knock out 10 perfect mag changes. Good times.

[seadog]

I'll have to try that. I've been slacking lately also,but for other reasons.
Thanks for that motivational post.

[Evil_McNasty]

By far, the best shooting I have done has been after months of sore hands and forearms from so much practice. You make some excellent points there. Sounds like some good drills.

[NJC]

Agree 100%
Been following ABs advice and dry firing on my days off. That an a tweak in my grip has fixed my pistol shooting remarkably.

[Jafar]

Screw plain ole dry firing. Get a Laserlyte trainer and dry fire while getting immediate feedback of where your round hits. Plus it's a rimless laser, so you can rack the slide as much as you like and it stays right in there.

[AB]

I have a better than average ability to track my sights and call my shots. I can pretty much always tell when the striker falls where the sights are/were. There's a few drills on how to learn how to call your shots, but they are all a bit esoteric and I really think it boils down to a bunch of rounds downrange while trying to develop that particular skill.

[mattb]

100 draw strokes is hardcore. At my best, I did 50 "good" draws per day. Kudos to you for the intensity.

[Triad]

This is assuming keeping eyes on the target while reloading, as this officer did while demonstrating combat reload for my camera?

[AB]

I keep my gun higher than that during a normal reload. I can see both the gun and the target at the same time.

[AB]

100 draw strokes is hardcore. At my best, I did 50 "good" draws per day. Kudos to you for the intensity.

Thanks!