Realistic Training on an Indoor Range

How can you make the most out of realistic shooting training opportunities within the confined space of a traditional indoor range? Rob Pincus explains that using a complex target, thinking about the context of the training you can do inside the limited space of an indoor range, and generally being creative are the ways to achieve it. Rob gives some examples.

The Perceived Problem

Many people watch Rob in action—using a variety of shooting positions, shooting and moving, etc.—in PDN videos and think that they can’t train as realistically on their local indoor range as Rob does in his handgun training demonstrations. They are more limited in how much they can move on a traditional range. Rob believes this is a perception problem, not an actual problem.

Realistic Shooting Training

Using a Balance of Speed and Precision target, you can get a lot of variation in your training in a very narrow space, e.g. the shooting lane at your local range. You can move one body-width within the lane, meaning you can practice lateral movement as you extend the gun.

You can practice higher-level precision shots this way too. Have a training partner call out a number to hit and you can move laterally while taking the shot. Think about other ways to create handgun shooting drills that maximize the small area you have to work in.

Home-Defense Shooting Practice

Get in some home-defense shooting training and practice by staging the handgun on the table in the shooting lane. Visualize it as your staged home defense handgun and, though you may not be able to do presentation from a holster, you can place the handgun in a lock box and, at a signal (using a timer or other random start), you have to open the box, take out the gun, maybe chamber a round, remove the gun from a holster, deal with a trigger guard—use your imagination.

How Many Targets?

Another complaint Rob hears is “but I only have one target.” False—you may have one piece of paper to shoot at, but you can have multiple targets on it, either by using a Balance of Speed and Precision target or making your own.