I had the opportunity to exchange a private lesson for a haircut today. The stylist is an experienced shooter who has taken a number of classes and can run a pistol quite competently. This made the choice of modules for the lesson a little different than might usually be done for a private lesson. Since we were at her home, no live fire was indicated. I used three different learning modules for her lesson.

Image Based Decisional Drills

The first module was using the Image Based Decisional Drills from The Complete Combatant. http://www.thecompletecombatant.com/image-based-decisional-drills.html Only one category of Negative Outcomes relates to marksmanship, the other ten relate to Bad Decisions of one sort of another. IBDD provides a useful method to practice interactive decision-making. Although it was originally developed for live fire purposes, it can easily be done without live fire by using an inert training pistol.

We set up a small training area with a face target.

It took only a few minutes to run through all 25 cards in the deck.

Using IBDD to put context into the manipulation process showed that some supplemental instruction was in order. The supplemental items we covered were:

• Correct grip for pepper spray.
• Trigger manipulation under stress.
• Sequencing of movement, verbal communication, and firing.
• Non-verbal communication techniques for dealing with low life individuals.
• Changing direction quickly (close order drill).

This is an overview of the Image Based Decisional Drill concept, process, and kit.

Using a SIRT pistol is an excellent tool for non-firing sessions with IBDD but even an inexpensive toy gun from WalMart would be an adequate training aid.

NRA Pistol Marksmanship Simulator Training Course

Even with experienced shooters, I am finding value in the NRA Pistol Marksmanship Simulator Training Course. https://www.nrainstructors.org/CatalogInfo.aspx?cid=47

By adjusting the laser dot above the sights of a SIRT pistol, the simulator allows the operator to see the effect of their trigger manipulation and follow-through. The sights on my SIRT have been replaced with real metal sights.

Any NRA Certified Pistol Instructor can conduct the NRA Pistol Marksmanship Simulator Training Course. The Course of Fire is not specified so I use the previous and current versions of the NRA Basics of Pistol Shooting qualification test.

Introduction to Snub Revolver

Finally, we did a quick dry practice introduction to the snub revolver. Since she is an experienced shooter, the introduction focused mostly on the differences between the revolver and an autoloader. The overview consisted of:

• Proper grip for a revolver.
• Trigger finger positioning and manipulation.
• Accessing a downed partner’s weapon from both face up and face down positions.

A great deal can be accomplished in a couple of hours when live fire isn’t required and contextual Learning Objectives are established.

To avoid confusion, I won’t list my books in this post because they’re not free. If you would be interested in purchasing any of my shooting workbooks for handgun or rifle, they are available from the menu at the top of the page. As the American Insurgency escalates, you may find having a functional knowledge of the weapons you own to be useful.