Written by: Greg Ellifritz
I was at the range shooting today and I realized I was using two really useful products to improve my practice session. I thought you all might benefit from knowing about them.
I’ve written before about the books I use to create the best handgun practice routine. I use those books regularly to structure my sessions. I develop a goal or identify a weakness I want to improve. I pick a few drills to improve that area from the listed books. After I’ve completed my self-assigned remedial work, I like to add a few drills to mix things up a bit and work on alternate skill sets.
I’ve been using Jeff Gonzales’ card deck of TACOST pistol drills to achieve that goal. The card deck has four different skill sets with 13 drills to reinforce each skill set. You can follow the drills in a structured progression or you can just randomly select a card from the deck and work on that drill. The second option is what I prefer. I finish my planned drills and then I draw a few random cards from Jeff’s deck and finish up my practice session with those drills to add a little variety.
The cards are a great idea and a quick way to develop a practice session that is both productive and fun.
The other resource I’ve been using is Claude Werner’s Indoor Range Practice Sessions.
Claude’s ebook covers both gun safety practices and proper gripping of the pistol before describing 12 different practice routines and 12 different courses of fire. All of the routines and qualification courses are optimized for indoor ranges where rules might prohibit drawing from the holster or rapid firing cadences.
The book would be absolutely ideal for the new shooter looking to improve his or her handgun skills. Claude’s practice sessions are short, sensible, and geared towards the beginning shooter. If I was a person whose only handgun training experience is a CCW class, I would start with Claude’s book before I purchased any of the other books I recommend in the handgun practice routines article.
I’m a little bit more advanced than this level, so why am I using Claude’s drills?
In every practice session, I shoot both my primary carry guns (Glock 9mm pistols) as well as the guns I carry as backup/hideout weapons. My backup weapons are usually snub revolvers or small pocket autos. It’s challenging to do some of the advanced drills listed above with a Browning Baby .25! Claude’s drills are perfect for my little pistols. The relatively close range and low round count give me a practical training regimen for my backup guns.
I follow Claude’s drills and practice sessions in order and print one out for each range session. When I’m finished shooting my primary gun, I switch over to one of my backup guns and run one of Claude’s drills. When I complete all 24, I start over again. I’ve been doing this for every practice session for the last year or so and I’m seeing noticeable improvements in my shooting abilities with my smaller weapons using Claude’s program.
Check these resources out. Either (or both) would be great holiday gifts for the shooter in your life.
*FTC Disclosure- I purchased Claude’s e-book with my own money. Jeff Gonzales sent me a free deck of his TACOST cards for evaluation. I am receiving no compensation from either person for this review. In fact, neither author even knew I was planning on reviewing their respective products. My opinion is mine alone and cannot be bought.
