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Every time I pick up / put down gun

3K views 52 replies 22 participants last post by  Fazer386 
#1 ·
Every morning when holstering my carry gun, I draw, sweep the safety off, point at a target (light switch, painting, etc) with eyes on the front sight & finger off the trigger.

Then I re-engage the safety & re-holster the gun.

Same routine at night when I go to bed.

So that's over 700 practice presentations per year, without even counting my regular practice sessions.

A low-impact way to get some training in.
 
#4 ·
I dry fire 50-100x more than live fire. In my shop, I have 7 different targets taped up in different locations. I practice on those targets with an empty 1911 daily. 4-5x throughout the day. It's cheap practice & takes my mind off of the task at hand if I'm stuck or tired.
Outside I carry a 1911 co2 bb pistol. It's fun to chase lil critters with. More cheap practice lol. The kids use it too.
 
#7 ·
Presumably this is with a round chambered?

For the nay-sayers, IME, performing the above-described sidearm presentation & holstering, including the safety-on & safety off, with finger reliably off trigger, is as "safe" as any other type of practice move with a loaded firearm as long as it's done mindfully and the gun is properly and reliably functional, and the POA is at a secure and non-living backstop/object.

Of course, if you can't consistently and reliably separate live fire, dry fire and loaded-weapon-no-touching-trigger presentations in your own mind, or you lack the discipline to do so, then you may not be the sort of person who should own firearms, or at least you ought not to engage in any form of practice beyond range and dry fire, but for some folks, the practice described above can be a way of adding some helpful repetitions.
 
#8 ·
Yes, This is with a round chambered. If I was concerned that the gun would fire on it's own just by sweeping the safety I would not even OWN it-------- Much less carry it!

I'd just carry my J Frame.

Btw, If it did fire --mysteriously, without my finger on the trigger-- the lightswitch / painting would get killed. Nothing else.

I never liked that painting anyhow :)
 
#9 ·
I generally try to keep a juice can with rocks in it.

On one of the fence posts along my road. The rocks keep the wind from blowing it off. When I come back from town and have remembered to put my ear plugs in. I will stop my truck at varying distances from the fence post, get out, draw, and fire on the can. If I hit with the first round, that is the end of it. If not then I keep firing until I hit it or am empty.

If I do not hit before I am empty. Then I know that it is time for more practice.
 
#25 ·
On one of the fence posts along my road. The rocks keep the wind from blowing it off. When I come back from town and have remembered to put my ear plugs in. I will stop my truck at varying distances from the fence post, get out, draw, and fire on the can. If I hit with the first round, that is the end of it. If not then I keep firing until I hit it or am empty.

If I do not hit before I am empty. Then I know that it is time for more practice.
Just make sure it is your juice can and not a post turtle.
 
#10 ·
I do a similar thing. I like the comment about " mindfulness". Keeps you sharp. Currently I've been practicing daily with my tactical shotgun in the house ( dry fire- dummy rounds).
It's amazing how rusty I got by just not picking it up for a year. I hate shooting my 12 gauge at an indoor range so found an outside place to practice. That has helped greatly.

Decided - like with my pistols - I've no reason to own a weapon I don't keep skilled with. Over the years I've cut way back on # of weapons while upping the quality of the ones I use. But that's just me , not a collector , so I look at my guns differently.

I dry fire / practice ( draw, presentation, safety, reloads , 50x for every live shot & I shoot 1,000 rds out of each hangun , at least / year.

Made it a sport. Not work - fun. With the added bonus that if I ever need one of those bad boys to save life it will serve me well.
 
#12 ·
I hear you.



I am a former city dweller. My nearest neighbor is a half a mile away as is the nearest public road. I live in a 400 square mile county with 14,000 residents and one stop light. Of course that does not include the bears. My wife and I are pretty happy here.
 

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#13 ·
Awesome. I'm diggin' the urban/suburban vibe of San Diego right now, but the bears & trees life has it's appeal. For shooting reasons too. When I had a cabin in Oregon we would chuck sticks upstream into the river then shoot at them as they passed our deck.

That's a whole 'nuther type of daily practice. Not for CCW, but in case one needs skills in operating coastal artillery.

I'm still watching those Japanese very carefully. They could raise the Musashi & set sail any day now.
 
#14 ·
USMM guy

Be careful extolling the virtues of rural living. Next thing you know you'll have neighbors. When folks ask what it's like living in WV (we've lived here in the mountains for over 45 years) our response has always been "have you ever seen 'Deliverence'? Cuts down on the city folks moving in considerably.
 
#15 ·
That is a very good point Mark!



I will have to keep that in mind. :dope:
 
#16 ·
I practice my grip everytime I handle my nightstand gun. no aiming at anything, no looking through the sights and definitely no gun noises. I just take it out of it's hiding spot carry it across the room with the proper grip and set it on the table.
 
#18 ·
Practicing the draw.....

I never practice the draw with a loaded gun, since I prefer to draw an unloaded gun, then as soon as my arms are extended on the target, I squeeze the trigger to make sure when the hammer falls there is no change in the sight picture......

It is very easy for me to drop a mag and clear the round in the chamber to practice a few draws at home or in my office. When I shoot an action shooting match, if allowed, I will make a few draws and press the trigger squeeze at the safe table......

IMHO, practicing the draw is good, but practicing the draw and squeezing the trigger is more beneficial to make sure you have maintained the proper sight picture......it doesn't take long to clear the gun and get in a few draws and check your trigger control......:rock:
 
#19 ·
I also wouldn't be sweeping a safety off loaded and pointing at my wall. One brainfart and there's a AD. I would reconsider your dry fire tactics.
 
#23 ·
Heck, when I practice.

I even use live ammo.
 
#26 ·
With a loaded gun, no, this is absolutely NOT safe. Those who are saying it is are forgetting the cardinal rules of gun safety. All it takes is one instance when you're a little too tired, a little too careless, and your brain isn't working at 100% and you forget you're not at the range, muscle memory and habit takeover, and then BLAM!
 
#28 ·
Not sure where you are coming from bro.



But for some of us Live ammo practice works pretty well.
 
#30 ·
... and this is the attitude that people have exactly one nanosecond before a horrific negligent discharge occurs. Pride cometh before a fall. Don't you think all those people who have either killed themselves, a loved one, or a bystander with a negligent discharge "knew what they were doing?" or maybe "been doing this for years or decades!"

It's when people start playing with the rules of safety, thinking the usual guidelines are too restrictive or don't apply to them... doing things like drawing a loaded weapon with a round in the chamber and snicking the safety off to "practice" in a home -- that complacent thinking one nanosecond before a negligent discharge.
 
#32 ·
MG1912-------A "horrific negligent discharge" would terminate in a cord of oak in the shed backed up to the wall outside. That's IF it made it through the wall.

Dude, I agree with gun safety. I harp on safe storage / kid safety/ and condemn leaving guns in cars more than, possibly, anyone on this board.

But those safety items have something in common. They are 3rd Party protections.

My carry gun is in MY direct control or in a safe. No exceptions. This is for the safety of others.

Because I can handle myself no problem whatsoever. That's not complacency. It's confidence.

I wake instantly without grogginess & I've never had a drink in my life. And trust my equipment. Yes, there's pride in that.

And when my capabilities begin to slip, that will be my "fall". I'll hang it up at that time.

As I have done in Free Diving. As I've aged I've cut my depth limit in half.

Will quit that altogether when the time comes.

But for now I can point a gun at a wall just fine.
 
#33 ·
Well... if you describe it that way, and you are pointing the gun at a wall that faces a woodpile (with no houses or people behind it), then I guess that's safe enough. Still, I wouldn't advise anyone do this. What if someone gets up before you that morning and goes out there to do something? I just don't understand why you can't do draw or sight picture or dry fire practice with the mag out and the chamber empty. Takes 2 seconds.
 
#34 ·
I won't lecture you on safety or brain farting.
I'll just ask WHY?

Do you not actually shoot enough to practice your drawing and shooting on a range?
I shoot once a month at least, sometimes twice. And during that I usually perform about a hundred 'draw and fire' drills along with a few others to keep proficient. My gun stays in its holster and I put the holster on every day. Gun never leaves it unless I shoot, then clean and reholster it.
 
#36 ·
"at a target (light switch, painting, etc)" makes me assume "a cord of oak in the shed backed up to the wall outside." isn't behind each target item you are willing to destroy.

You wife is OK with you shooting light switches?

You are in violation with the second rule; "Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy." So no, dude, you don't "agree with gun safety."
 
#37 ·
There seem to be plenty of questions on some pretty mundane stuff, but I'll try to address them all.

Nobody's "getting up before me & going out there". Beyond the wall, woodpile, & shed walls is my truck. On a locked, gated parking pad.

I'm up before sunrise. An hour before anyone.

And NO, I'm not worried that someone is going to ninja over my fence in the dark, squeeze between my shed & truck, then get shot by a .380 performing some ballistic miracle that a .30-30 could not.

Yes, I also range & dryfire practice about twice a month. As noted in my original post, this drill is IN ADDITION to my regular practice.

Also, The wall in question is the safest backstop in the house. It's in a Sitting Room adjacent to my MBR, where I dress in the morning.

I can do this drill without waking my wife. But dropping the mag & clearing the gun & re-chambering, no dice. Too noisy.

Am I a person that "cannot be helped" ? Yep. I cannot be helped into believing there is grave danger here to anyone, or anything other than an ugly painting. Because there just isn't.

I could light up that wall with a Thompson and harm no one. Other than my wife getting woken too early.
 
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