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Shooting at a range is normally restricted to shooting a paper target at various distances. I'd like to know what you do to mix things up a bit and make range time more productive (i.e. more closely simulating real-life scenarios) as well as more fun. For those who are fortunate enough to have some acreage where you can shoot with less restrictions, I would also like to know what types of drills you do for the same reason, but without spending hundreds of dollars on expensive targets.

Here's my contribution:

Range: I have someone else load my magazines and include one or more snap caps. That way I don't know how many there are, or where they are. It's great practice on handling an unexpected malfunction. I usually don't fill the mags all the way - maybe only five rounds each - which also provides a lot of practice on reloading without using up huge amounts of ammo.

Acreage: I created some simple target stands using PVC, and purchased some "discretionary" paper targets (see pic) which have several different targets labeled with shapes, numbers, letters and colors. I also purchased a rubber cube "reactive" target, and labeled each side with a number and letter corresponding to the discretionary target (see pic). My plan is to toss the rubber target on the ground, see what number/letter is facing me, then quickly shoot that same number/letter on the paper. I then shoot the rubber target and see what number/letter shows next, etc. I made sure that the number/letter pairs on the same side of the cube correspond to two different targets on the paper, so each side of the cube represents two different targets on the paper.
I haven't actually done this yet, but am looking forward to giving it a try. Combining this with adding snap caps to magazines should make for some interesting practice.

Well, I ain't never been attacked by a numbered cube...

But it does sound like a good way to practice rapid target acquisition on a random target. Cool stuff!

The closest I've come to being attacked by a cube was a cuban. That sounds like a great idea and should definitely be fun. Also a good training aid for sure.
You will come up with different ideas using the same targets I'm sure. One would be draw and shoot the cube. Then run a few steps to find cover and shoot the paper target from a kneeling position. Shoot the cube again and then run back to original location, do a somersault on the ground and come up shooting the target. Just kidding on the last one.

The Wall wrote:The closest I've come to being attacked by a cube was a cuban. That sounds like a great idea and should definitely be fun. Also a good training aid for sure.
You will come up with different ideas using the same targets I'm sure. One would be draw and shoot the cube. Then run a few steps to find cover and shoot the paper target from a kneeling position. Shoot the cube again and then run back to original location, do a somersault on the ground and come up shooting the target. Just kidding on the last one.

I've I tried the somersault, someone would have to call 911, and it wouldn't be because of a gun shot. I like the other ideas, however.

Interesting. The same random target acquisition could be accomplished with a regular die. Change the numbers on the target every so often to increase the randomness.