Dinner & a movie? No way! Turn date night into fun and practice all in one!
Date night can be tedious and do the ole dinner and a movie, or you can be creative. What about a date at the range? You probably still need to plan for dinner and maybe a romantic walk. However, why not punctuate your date with a little gunfire? Don’t forget the flowers….and a few boxes of 9mm in your range backpack. Here are a few of my favorite drills you can take to the range and enjoy with your honey.
10-10-10 Drill
The 10-10-10 Drill is an easy one that’s challenging and an excellent yardstick of pistol slinging skills. The 10-10-10 Drill requires 10 rounds, a timer with a par time of 10 seconds, and 10 yards worth of range. You’ll need an NRA B8 target, and the goal is to keep every round in the black on the target.
The 10-10-10 Drill sounds easy but can be surprisingly tricky. The drill trains you to shoot fast, shoot straight and the pressure of a timer creates a new dynamic in your training. The 10-10-10 Drill is perfect for beginners and doesn’t require any dynamic movements or draws to accomplish. It’s also perfect for a little date night competition. Loser buys dinner?
Dot Torture
Dot Torture is anything but! The torture, that is, most certainly involves Dots. It’s a fun series of drills isolated to a free target you can print here. The Drill is made up of ten different 2-inch dots, and between the ten dots, you’ll practice seven different drills. Each Drill tests a different and critical component to firearms training. You’ll need 50 rounds of ammo total per run.
Dot Torture another great drill for beginners and can be fired with or without time constraints and at any range you want. I’d start 3 yards and work your way back. Range trips, even date nights, should be about skill-building and Dot Torture works a lot of skills with very little ammo.
Failure-to-Stop Drill
A video showing a police officer shooting a man twelve times as he continued to advance and strike at the officer with a cane reminded me of the ole Failure-to-Stop Drill. Failure to stop is a classic fighting drill that’s exceptionally handy to know when armed with a handgun. Handguns aren’t great at fighting, at least when compared to a long gun.
A Failure-to-Stop Drill has the shooter firing two rounds into the chest of the target rapidly. You want to apply a double tap or a controlled pair. Then you transition for a well-placed headshot. The idea is the two chest shots slow the target, and the headshot stops them. There is no range or time requirement, but feel free to add one to spice things up. Scoring under 1.5 seconds is quite tricky to achieve but fun to attempt. Because each run only requires three rounds, it’s a great drill to take turns on during your range date.
iHack
The iHack is a version of the Hackathorn headshot standards designed for indoor ranges. It requires a free printable target. You use three 2 inch circles with the target placed at five yards, and you’ll need nine rounds per run. In the first run, you shoot the circles with one round from left to right. The second run has the shooter going from right to left. The final run starts in the center, and the user then engages left and right circles at their discretion. Each run must be completed in under 3 seconds.
A winning score is 7 out of 9 shots. Anything outside of the circles or time limit is a miss—the iHack challenges your precision speed and ability to track those sights. If you like being competitive, then this is the perfect date night drill for you and yours.
Range Date
Oh, the weather outside is frightful! Wait, wrong season. However, right now it’s just kinda cold and miserable. But don’t let that stop you from getting in some quality time with both your loved one and your favorite firearms. A little range day date might be the best cure for those boring winter days or nights.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Travis Pike is a former Marine Machine gunner who served with 2nd Bn 2nd Marines for 5 years. He deployed in 2009 to Afghanistan and again in 2011 with the 22nd MEU(SOC) during a record-setting 11 months at sea. Travis has trained with the Romanian Army, the Spanish Marines, the Emirate Marines, and the Afghan National Army.
He serves as an NRA certified pistol instructor and pursues a variety of firearms-based hobbies.
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