Stir Crazy? Indoor Gun Training.

This time of year in a snowy state can literally suck the life out of you. If you are like me and don't really have any winter outdoor hobbies, then waiting on a warm day to do some firearm training can be annoying. So why not move it indoors?

Rule number 1 - always make sure your firearm is absolutely, completely, and unmistakably Unloaded!
Rule number 2 - revisit rule number one.
Now that the safety clause is out of the way let's discuss what types of things you can do to further your training with guns while indoors. By the way, I like to use the SIRT laser pistol for indoor training sessions.  *Worth every penny.  Blue guns can also be used.





1.  Proper use of cover
This short article is not meant to be a "how to" piece, so I'm not going to teach you all the details of properly using cover in a household.  Believe me there's a lot to it.  I'm going to give you a few tips to get you started with the hope that you will seek out competent training on the subject.
First, you need to understand that most pistol bullets will travel through multiple sheets of drywall.  Therefore your bedroom wall is not sufficient cover under most circumstances. So what does constitute useable cover?  Think about things that bullets likely will not pass all the way through. Things like your refrigerator, a bookcase full of books, a large chest of drawers, a section of wall with multiple studs (usually corners), etc. Nothing is 100% guaranteed to stop these rounds, but these items stand a better chance than drywall, hollow core doors, mirrors, and the like.

Second, learn to back away from your cover.  Humans love to feel secure and safe.  When bullets start flying it seems like the best course of action to get as close to your cover as possible. Actually the reverse can often be helpful.  Think about the angles and try this at home.  Have a family member (aka - bad guy) stand in the center of a bedroom.  Now while standing right up against your cover, slowly peek out around the corner of the doorway and take notice of how much of your body is exposed to the bad guy before you can get your gun on them.  Now that you've finished that, step back from your cover as far as your open space will allow and slowly move/peek around the corner.  Again taking note of how much of your body is visible to the bad guy before you can cover them with your gun.  If done properly, this latter option should expose a lot less of your body to the bad guy while still being able to get a bead on them.

Yup, random but effective

2.  Slicing the pie
The "slow peeking" around cover I was talking about has an official name, it's called slicing the pie. Visualize with me how humans cut pies or pizzas typically.  One of the easiest ways to evenly divide a round object of food is to cut it into pieces using multiple intersecting perpendicular lines. See the picture below if you're having trouble.


The way we go about "peeking" around our cover looks a lot like the angles associated with this pizza image.  We move around the corner slowly controlling small chunks of real estate until we finally get an eye on our target. It's important to move slowly and deliberately.  It's also important to pay attention to your hips, knees, and feet as they tend to protrude further around our cover than our head does. Don't give the bad guy a target if at all possible.

3.  Stairs
Ask anyone who has ever had to clear stairs with a gun where a dangerous threat might be present, stairs suck! If you have a small team of people they can be cleared in an efficient manner, but as a single individual, there really isn't a completely safe way to do this. Take stairs much the same way as slicing the pie.  Slow and deliberate is best. If your stairs turn and have multiple flights, you will find yourself almost going backwards as you ascend.  (see pic) This technique typically gives you the best sight lines above you, and also allows you to quickly snap shoot any bad guy sneaking up from below you.



4.  Room clearing
One thing is absolutely true, speed and violence of action are the keys to success here.  Once you have sliced the pie, you will still have several corners in the room that you were unable to see into.  You never hang out in the middle of the doorway.  This is called the fatal funnel for a reason; anyone waiting inside to ambush you only has to aim for the center of the doorway and slap the trigger when your silhouette fills the gap.  You have to move quickly into the room and keep moving laterally while preparing for the bad guy to be hidden around the corner.  Fast continuous movement is what you want.

<< This video from Ruger is one of the better ones I've seen that illustrates what a single individual should do to clear their home.

Again, this short article is not meant to teach you every aspect of the tactics required for close quarters combat, but instead to give you just enough information to begin incorporating some indoor techniques to your firearms training regimen. Now go scotch tape some paper targets to the wall and get to work!





-ME

* - I'm not getting paid by Next Level Training/SIRT or Ruger Firearms.