No matter what certain media outlets proclaim, the economy is terrible, period. As such, disposable income is limited for most people. While many of us tout the importance of routinely training with our defensive firearms, such as shooting regularly and taking occasional classes, the reality is that such activity is reliant on disposable income.
This calendar year has proven bad for most who provide firearms training, as the customer base is scarce. This lack of custom base is significantly due to the economy. People will postpone taking a shooting class to pay other necessary bills. Hopefully, the economic conditions of our nation improve in the not-so-distant future, but in the meantime, what are some low—or no-cost alternatives for building and maintaining skills with our defensive firearms?
Dry Fire and Accessories
Whether the economy is tight or booming, dry fire is the key to high skill levels. When range time becomes limited, it becomes even more critical. You can practice the bulk of the defensive shooting skillset in dry fire. The primary elements missing from dry firing are the gun’s recoil and the control you must use to make follow-up shots. Otherwise, you can practice almost everything about shooting a handgun during dry practice.
In addition to doing standard dry fire, various accessories are available to enhance this practice. Some products attach to the gun and provide analysis of your movement efficiency, such as the Mantis Firearms Training Systems. If that is too much technology for you, a very useful tool, in my own experience, is a simple laser cartridge. A Laser cartridge is simply a cartridge-sized laser module that you insert into the chamber of your pistol, and it emits a laser at the point of impact on ever trigger press. You can also utilize phone apps to track the laser strikes as they appear on a target. I have found this to be an excellent practice aid as it allows you to determine exactly where you are hitting and make adjustments to your grip, trigger press, and any other part of your shooting process. These laser alternatives are relatively inexpensive as well.
The single most imperative mechanical skill, as it relates to the defensive use of the pistol, is the draw and presentation of the gun. Practicing the draw to a first, accurate shot is important, but you should also spend time drawing to a low ready, issuing commands, etc. Not all defensive gun uses require immediate shooting. This skill can be practiced and fine-tuned entirely in dry fire without firing a round. If your budget limits range time dedicate significant time to enhancing this essential skillset in dry practice.
Skills Beyond Shooting
Times of reduced live fire practice are ideal for focusing on the many other skills that are important for personal protection. Even many gun centric skills can be extensively practiced without firing ammo. Beyond just dry fire, consider working on other important self-defense techniques. Practice drawing while moving, drawing from compromised positions such as on the ground, or drawing with your support hand only. Consider working on your gun retention skills with a BOB bag or heavy bag. Practice these techniques with a dry gun, or better yet, a blue gun, in a safely cleared dry practice environment.
When a range and ammo budget is thin, consider focusing more attention on the other important defensive skills. How is your hand game? It is likely that a budget for joining or continuing a membership at an MMA or Ju Jitsu gym is also constrained, but a heavy bag at home and some other basic equipment can allow your to do extensive training in hand skills. Likewise, skills with alternate weapons, such as blades and impact tools, can be practiced, as these always prove a possible need, even if you don’t utilize such weapons as part of your daily equipment.
Enhance your Legal Knowledge
Many concealed carriers are ill-informed on the legalities that govern the use of force. Spend some of your usual shooting time expanding your understanding of self-defense law. There are many excellent resources available that cost little. Read the books by Andrew Branca and Massad Ayoob. Take advantage of the videos and writing by these experts that is prolific across many media platforms. While learning law is much more an academic, and potentially boring, affair than is shooting, it is every bit as important and necessary. The armed citizen must be well versed in use of force law.
Medical Skills
Finally, when the range budget is tight, focus some attention on emergency medical skills. To begin with, if you have not taken any medical training, some options cost little, if anything. Stop the Bleed courses are taught at various locations in most cities or towns and cost little to attend. Likewise, organizations often provide CPR and First Aid courses at a nominal fee. If you have not taken such training, do so.
Practice your medical skills. How good are you at placing a tourniquet? Do you know how to pack a wound, apply chest seals, and apply a pressure dressing? While these things do not sound as appealing as practicing without weaponry, they are just as, and perhaps more, important. The need to stop severe bleeding due to accidents and injury expand far beyond the results of violence. Dedicate time to these critical skills.
While a bad economy interferes with the things we would like to do, as you can see, a great deal of beneficial practice in the skills of self-protection can be accomplished with little expenditure of money, but they do demand some time.
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