Ranges

[LumberZach]

Hey guys,

I am not new to shooting but I am new to the forum and I was wondering where you guys do holster training? I am starting to practice with handguns more and I was wondering you you guys know ranges that allow this. I have been to burnsville pistol range several time but they don't want you drawing from holster.

Any help is appreciated, Thanks.

[EllisW]

Practice at home with either an empty gun or snap caps. Only when you're confident in your ability to SAFELY draw and fire should you consider live ammo practice. The key is to start very slow. Slower than you think. Get each motion down perfectly before you speed it up, and even then it should only be a minimal increase in speed.

That said, I don't know of any ranges that allow this and I totally I understand why.

[xd ED]

Many local ranges allow holster work if you're a member.

[Countryfried Frank]

I've heard of a couple that allow it within limitations like successfully completing a holster class, no shoulder rigs, etc. My best recommendation would be to look through the training section of this forum and ask the instructor that question if he or she doesn't give you the answer during the class. xd Ed is also correct, membership does have its privileges. Either way you choose;

Practice at home with either an empty gun or snap caps.

great advice right here.

[xd ED]

I've heard of a couple that allow it within limitations like successfully completing a holster class, no shoulder rigs, etc. My best recommendation would be to look through the training section of this forum and ask the instructor that question if he or she doesn't give you the answer during the class. xd Ed is also correct, membership does have its privileges. Either way you choose;

Practice at home with either an empty gun or snap caps.

great advice right here.

Dry fire/drawing can be very beneficial.
But to avoid reinforcing bad habits or improper technique, consider some training first. Many instructors offer a 'holster class'.

[EAJuggalo]

I've done it at BPR during the week when it's slow. But now that I'm a member at Oakdale I head out there where it's not a problem. I'd also recommend dry drawing and the holster class by DonL.

[jimbob85]

Airsoft gun at home, unfortunately I don't have an airsoft gun similar to my carry gun, but if you're a 1911 guy you can get a decent lookalike for $15 from walmart, of course the weight is alot less.

[jshuberg]

I'd highly recommend taking a tactical class from an instructor when starting with holster work. If you try teaching yourself chances are you're going to develop a bad habit that could potentially take you years to rid yourself of. Bill's has advanced and tactical classes that cover holster work, low light, movement, etc but they are wrapped up for the summer. They do offer one-on-one's there, and there are a number of other local instructors that also offer instruction on holster work.

It may seem trivial, but an incorrect draw could potentially add as much as an extra second to getting your first shot off, not to mention potential safety issues. It's like every other aspect of shooting, you can immediately tell which shooters have been properly trained from the ones who have taught themselves. Once you have the basic mechanics down, dry fire practice will develop the muscle memory necessary to do it correctly at speed. Studies have shown it takes ~2300 iterations to fully program the subconscious how to perform an action without conscious thought.

Ultimately, you want everything involved in the operation of the weapon, from the draw to shooting to clearing malfunctions to be performed correctly without thinking. This leaves your conscious mind to focus on the target, not on weapons manipulation. If you train yourself incorrectly though, it's significantly more difficult to 'un-train' and 're-train' yourself than it would have been to get it right in the first place.

If you already have training in proper draw technique, dry fire should still be your primary way to practice. For live fire, if the range you go to won't let you draw from the holster, you can get away with just practicing the draw from position 3, bringing the support hand up to the weapon and punching out to position 4. While not ideal, you'll still be able to practice rapid sight acquisition in the draw stroke and the ability to get the first round on target at or during the transition to position 4.