I cut my teeth on indoor ranges. After I bought my first pistol, I spent almost all my free time, and money, at the local indoor range. I learned a lot about marksmanship and had fun learning the trigger of my firearms. When I say learning your trigger, I mean getting a feel for the pull and the reset. Indoor ranges are a solid place to start for beginners, those looking to brush up on some skills, and a great way to have fun while exercising your second amendment rights.
As I became more interested in defensive use and concealed carry, I started to look for training. This is where I learned that indoor ranges suck. Now I say that with a little tongue in cheek but if I am being honest there are a ton of limitations at an indoor range. Most ranges in my area, and I know this will be different depending on where you go, have a lot of restrictions. Not permitting shooters to draw from the holster is at the top of the list, seconded by the dreaded no double taps or rapid shooting. Now I get it, we need to keep safety at the forefront and there are A LOT of new shooters out there right now. But these skills need to be practiced, especially by those that plan to carry.
After taking my first defensive pistol class, which was outdoors, I realized that things just work differently. It is a complete shift of environment so let me touch on a few big benefits of shooting outdoors.
Weather: We don’t get to pick the weather conditions when we are attacked so I suggest that you train in the shittiest weather you can stand. Shoot in the rain, snow, cold, and heat. Figure out where your downfalls are. Manipulating your firearm in these conditions is not the same as a temperature controlled range.
Drawing: Drawing from the holster is THE baseline in defensive firearm shooting. If you can’t manage to get your firearm out of the holster, you are out of the fight. This is something that can be done during your dry fire practice at home. But you need to be getting some live fire draw and shoot practice.
Moving: I don’t know about you, but my local indoor ranges don’t allow for much movement. You are going to want to move when learning to shoot to save your life or the lives of those around you.
Shooting: A defensive shooting will happen fast, and you will need to learn how to shoot as fast as accurately possible. Learning your limits of speed and accuracy as well as distance is huge.
Now these are just a handful of reasons to get outside and shoot. Lucky for you, all these things are possible by taking a reliable defensive pistol training course.
As always, please reach out to me if you have questions or would like to get some training. Be comfortable and confident!
