5 Things Every Concealed Carrier Should Practice

5 Things Every Concealed Carrier Should Practice
5 Things Every Concealed Carrier Should Practice
National Carry Academy
National Carry Academy

USA -(AmmoLand.com)- Concealed Carry Dry Fire

Dry fire is where you can practice the absolute fundamentals of firing a handgun. Dry fire allows a shooter to practice everything in the fundamentals, including breath control and finding your natural respiratory pause. You can practice your sight picture, and getting correct sight alignment. Most importantly you can practice grip and trigger control. Dry fire is something anyone can do, and is free.

While it’s cool and fun to practice moving and shooting, defensive drills, and drawing your firearm, dry fire can be somewhat boring. Even though it can be boring it’s still one of the best (and cheapest) things you can do to learn the proper fundamentals of shooting. The best time to do dry fire practice is after a range trip, like immediately after. Your body and mind are still hot from live fire and can accurately diagnose mistakes. [be sure and use Snap Caps to avoid damage to your firearm.]

Concealed Carry Drawing / Reholstering

Fights, especially ones where guns are drawn often end very, very fast are when you end up in a defensive situation where you need your firearm. One should practice drawing your firearm, and learning and knowing your weapon and holster. Always start slow and take your time. A fast draw is good, but you also need a sure draw, a draw you can do when your heart is pumping, and you begin to lose fine motor skills. When you begin to practice drawing you should do it with a dry weapon, meaning unloaded. Once you gain a solid understanding of how to safely draw a weapon, then you move onto doing it live.

Reholstering is something you want to practice doing in a safe and slow manner. When you put your weapon away there is no need to rush it. If you are holstering your weapon then the fight is over.

Concealed Carry Malfunction drills

Modern firearms are quite unlikely to malfunction, as long as it’s from a reputable manufacturer. Because of this we rarely ever get a chance to deal with an actual malfunction. A malfunction is probably the worst thing to happen in a gunfight, but you can recover from it if you train for it.

Train with snap caps, which are dummy ammunition that simulates the weight, length and width of a cartridge. Load your magazines randomly with a snap cap amongst live ammo. This will induce a malfunction never predicted. Clearing malfunctions should be a well-versed part of anyone’s training.

Concealed Carry Multiple Positions

We want to take all of the above training techniques, dry firing, drawing, and malfunction drills and change it up a bit. We want to practice dry firing from the knee, and then practice drawing and dry firing from a knee behind cover, and then practice drawing, dry firing from a knee behind cover and then clearing a malfunction. Being able to draw, dry fire and clear a malfunction from any body position is a critical skill to have. This means doing it from your back, from behind cover, from a low standing, or any other assortment of positions.

Concealed Carry Situational Awareness

This is something we should practice at any given time, a skill we should develop at all times minus when you’re sleeping. Situational awareness is something that some instinctively have, and others have to work at.

You should scan your environment, making eye contact with people, and genuinely be aware of what’s around you. Know where entrances and exits are. Know where your body’s position is in relation to entrances and exits. Take note of suspicious people and try to stay away from them.

Stay in touch with us to get your concealed carry information and gun safety classes!

National Carry Academy:

National Carry Academy is the nation’s premier training resource for those that decide to carry a gun as a part of their lifestyle.

For more information, visit: www.nationalcarryacademy.com.

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Al

I’ve noticed that sometimes people at shooting ranges get “target fixation” and never look around. I realize that they are concentrating on what they’re doing, maybe enjoying a bit of recreation, but it’s a bad habit from a self defense standpoint to get or associate with when you have a gun in your hand. I’m not saying to stare at people or challenge them, just be subtly aware of everything and everyone around you at the range (keep your gun pointed downrange, of course). Good people don’t want to appear aggressive or scary, and I think that is why they… Read more »

Rbakarusa

Good point, I see this a lot. Take for instance, in a shopping mall, you can almost pick out the people who are carrying. They have an uneasy look about them instead of total awareness.

Clark Kent

Those folks sound like Dumbocrats to me.

Jim Macklin

An excellent article that covers most of the necessary skills to develop and maintain. I was particularly pleased to see situational awareness included. That my be more important than the physical skills. Learn to “read” people and what they are doing. We’ve all seen a cat stalking a bird but do we see a person stalking a person, stalking us? Do you see a two or three young men together, who separate but continue to move in loose association in your direction? That should raise your alert level. You do carry a good flashlight with FRESH batteries. A working flashlight… Read more »

Janek

If you act and carry yourself like a victim, criminals will target you. Next time you’re out in public look around. You’ll see those ‘victim types’ walking around. You know the type, you’ve seen them before.

Witold Pilecki

“Concealed Carry Situational Awareness”

This should be the FIRST and most important thing to practice, whether you are carrying or not. I contend that I have probably been passed over by bad guys many times over the decades while they were trolling for victims, because I walk with my head up, shoulders back, and totally aware of my surroundings.

GET YOUR FACE OUT OF YOUR PHONE!

Matt in Oklahoma

+100 keep preaching maybe one will listen

t

Face in phone = head in azz

carlcasino

Face in Phone+ Head in Azz= Body in Coffin. and if you are driving multiply the coffins by 10