When real potential security threats are present, unless you’ve practice handgun skills extensively and shot in individual or group training scenarios, all of that prior training, though useful to a degree, was done in the abstract. When facing a known potential threat, for the average CCW holder with basic training, additional training must begin immediately. Here are some basic steps to begin.

Pray individually and as a family. Start reading the works of David and about David together. Discuss his reliance on the Lord and his war/defense tactics and strategies. The Lord of Hosts is not a pacifist, so read the Holy Bible in a new light.

And everyone 16 and up read The Gift of Fear by Gavin De Becker.

Due to that abstraction, I recommend starting back at the beginning with a basic handgun course for husband and wife and any grown children or other adults in the home. Do the training together. This builds a sense of group purpose and team cohesion, helping to know who is capable and to what extent in order to support each other.

Next, at least take intermediate-level handgun training together. The family can take a training progression to the level they feel necessary, all the way to tactical kill-house, vehicle handgun use, scenario training, etc., if desired.

Fourth, while you’re training, you must develop a home security plan. Do regular walkthroughs of your home at night with the lights off to get used to the layout with limited or no light because you must practice your plan with lights on and with lights off. Without practice, you are back in the world of abstraction again. Plus, what’s in one adult’s mind may not be what the other is thinking and planning, which can get you or your children killed. If you have young children, you must involve them; sorry, no exceptions; this must be done. If children are too young to remember and follow instructions to participate, then the plan must include covering them. To lessen the shock to children, you can start with a fire plan, which every household, eh-hem, should already have. Refine these plans as you learn and practice.

There are home-security consultation firms. I have no experience with any, but we’re supposing that quality ranges widely and some prices may be outrageous.

Additional reading for serious-minded adults can include On Killing by Grossman and Left of Bang by Van Horne. These books are not for everybody and are by no means Christian literature.

There’s a Tactical Sniper challenge article at Ammoland. It looks particularly demanding. But before we get to that, it got us thinking, where to begin? Well, that place is Project Appleseed.

Traditional 25m Appleseed Rifle Marksmanship Event

Our events are typically two-day programs that teach the rifle marksmanship skills that were once commonly practiced in America. Our Instructors put in nearly 200 hours of training so they can teach the skills that will one day allow a Rifleman to be accurate out to 500 yards. This distance is known as the traditional “Rifleman’s Quarter Mile” and has been part of America’s marksmanship repertoire since our country’s earliest days.

During breaks, we’ll tell you the true story of the earliest days of our nation, including the detailed events of April 19, 1775. You may be surprised by what you hear.

Whether you’ve never fired a rifle before or you’re already a competitive shooter, no one who comes to a Project Appleseed event ever leaves the same. The new skills, history, and friendships are inspiring and life-changing.

Rimfire Known-Distance

A RKD (Rimfire Known Distance) is just like a Centerfire Known Distance. Except you’re using a 22LR. Most of the RKDs are done at a 100 yard range. The stages are at 25, 50, 75, and 100 yards. Just how much drop will a bullet have at 100 yards if it’s zeroed for 25? And how much will the wind affect a 22LR at 100 yards? So all the principals involved in a 400 yard KD apply here. And it’s just plain fun and a bit of a challenge.

They also have pistol clinics, handgun caliber rifle training, and women-only classes. Sadly, they don’t like AR pistols even though more than one million are in the hands of responsible men and women.

Women’s only classes can be critical self-defense training for ladies. Women have security and self-defense needs that men can’t understand. Project Appleseed isn’t the only one offering courses just for women. There are women-only basic handling and shooting to intermediate self-defense handgun courses in your area.

LadySeeds™

For many women, a rifle range is an unfamiliar and potentially intimidating territory, which is why we created Ladyseeds. A Ladyseed is an Appleseed designed specifically for women. It offers the opportunity for women to shoot, share and get to know each other in a comfortable learning environment. Of course, the women who attend a Ladyseed event will learn much more than how to fire a rifle, they’ll also learn American heritage and how women actively aided in the fight for America’s freedom. When you attend a Ladyseed, it’s our hope that you’ll leave with new friends, a renewed sense of country, and an enhanced sense of civic responsibility.

Known-Distance Appleseeds

A Known Distance class is a fun and challenging centerfire-only rifle class. During this intermediate-level class, students focus on the skills required effectively make hits on target out to 400 yards and beyond. Topics covered include the Three Challenges of a Rifleman: Target Detection, Range Estimation, Making the Shot (trajectory, battlesight Zero, and environmental factors.) Students will also learn how get the most of out their own sight systems (MOA or mils) and much more.

Prerequisite: Students must have attended at least one 25m Project Appleseed clinic, as the fundamentals such as position, NPOA, and firing the shot are not detailed at a KD event. Some locales may require a student to have earned a Rifleman patch. Check the information page for that class for details.

Photo: Project Appleseed

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Next, according to Pew Pew Tactical, these are the 11 best tactical carbine courses, beginner to advanced.

Let’s be real; it doesn’t do you much good to buy an AR-15 or other rifle if you have zero idea of how to use it.

You know who you are!

If you’re going to possess a weapon, you have to know how to use it in a realistic scenario! And with gun sales soaring last year and an influx of new gun owners into the community, gun classes and in-person training opportunities have exploded. Finding good instructors or gun schools can feel a bit intimidating, though. With a lot of options on the table, it can be tough to narrow it down.

But luckily, you have us here at Pew Pew Tactical to help in your search! We’ve gathered together a list of the 11 best tactical carbine courses across the U.S. at various skill levels.

The article doesn’t state the criteria for choosing the rankings. There are three categories for the 11 courses, beginner, intermediate, and advanced. Further descriptions of each course are given on the Pew Pew page.

Every effort should be made to maximize the training given. Always check with the trainer about equipment requirements and other prerequisites. You don’t want to waste your money or fail to participate fully. Prices may have changed, and there are out-of-pocket costs, such as ammo. Look at the reviews online for helpful hints.

Most of these courses provide zero creature comforts; pushing your 21st-century comfy lifestyle out of the way for a few days is also an excellent benefit of these classes. You might find that shooting isn’t your problem; perhaps, you’re just too soft.

The beginner’s category is described thus:

These classes are best for newcomers – those who’ve just bought their carbine and aren’t sure how to use it defensively. Within these courses, you’ll learn the fundamentals as well as some battle tactics.

Number one in that category is:

1. Max Velocity Tactical HEAT 1 Combat Tactics Class ($850/4 days)

Deep in the hills of Romney, West Virginia lay Max Velocity Tactical, run by former British SAS soldier Max. Aside from authoring a number of excellent books, Max is also known for one of the best tactical training businesses out there.

4 days for under $1000 seems like a ridiculously good training opportunity especially given this trainer’s reputation.

The Intermediate category is described thus:

Let’s say you’ve nailed the fundamentals but now want to learn how to apply battlefield tactics to more “technical” situations.

Number one in that category is:

4. JWM Tactical Tactical Carbine Course ($550/6 hours)

A shorter course based in Texas, the JWM Tactical Carbine Course teaches techniques such as fighting in buildings, unconventional shooting positions, transitioning to sidearms, malfunction drills, and shooting from behind cover.

Note: JWM Tactical’s Carbine Fundamentals is a prerequisite for this course.

The Advanced category is described:

Let’s say that you want to delve into the deep stuff. Well, the following advanced options will find you facing off against opponents as you apply battlefield tactics and carbine skills to succeed in your mission. If you have a confident understanding of both, these are the classes for you.

The first one mentioned under advanced is:

9. Tactical Rifleman’s Advanced Combat Pistol/Carbine Course ($750/2 days)

Yet another Tactical Rifleman course that made our list. Let’s say that you already have a good baseline level of experience in using your rifle in a combat setting. Now you’re looking for advanced techniques on how to operate.

Bonus Material:

Notable is that Max Volicity’s HEAT Squad Tactics class, under advanced, seems like a great opportunity to set aside a few days each year for some fun with guns in the woods. Are we the baddies? Oh, most certainly, we are!

While the cost is $800 [ for Squad Tactics ], the opportunity exists to attend the course as an OPFOR agent and not pay tuition. So, you get the chance to train against a live force as you hone your skills for free. That’s a pretty cool possibility.

Photo: Ghost Firearms Training

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And lastly, as promised, at AmmoLand, what appears to be a serious challenge. This is not training but competition.

To be accurate, there are NO off-seasons for Tactical Games, just missed sea-to-shining-sea opportunities if you are not on the ground running and gunning your way through stages somewhere. Tactical Games events provide year-round opportunities for athletes to compete – great for me because I had the opportunity to spectate at another yet altogether different competition recently, a Tactical Games Sniper Challenge.

The Sniper Challenge is a two-day competition comprised of individual and two-person shooting teams and consists of nine or more stages distributed throughout a continuous long-movement course. Each stage can easily cover several miles, depending on the venue. The first day of the Sniper Challenge consists of long foot movements, like operations. During stages, competitors stop and complete tasks, including target identification, and engage long-range targets under time constraints and/or physical duress.

The second day consists of multiple shooting stages requiring the completion of physical tasks and up-close to long-range target engagements clear out to 1,200 yards. Far enough and physically taxing enough to test a competitor’s stamina, strength, mental grit, and surgical accuracy.

There are more details at the Ammoland link. Tactical Games is not training, although they offer separate training opportunities. They have intermediate men’s and women’s circuits, 40-plus and 50-plus men’s trials, along with a team, mixed, and individual events. These matches are not for everybody.

Source:

Generally, the defensive handgun crowd does not spend much time on training for real accuracy with the pistol. Due to the nature of most defensive gun uses, shorter-range engagement is the focus of defensive pistol training. And even action shooting sports such as USPSA and IDPA primarily involve engaging larger targets quickly at closer ranges. There is simply no emphasis placed on exceptional pistol accuracy in action shooting sports or defensive pistol craft.

This author readily submits that having a reasonably quick draw to a first-round hit to a target the size of a vital template in the chest area of a person within short distances is a more relevant and important skill than punching tight groups in bullseye targets at twenty-five or fifty yards. However, I also submit that the complete abandonment of such accuracy by most defensive pistol practitioners is to the detriment of the overall skillset.

The discipline of accurate bullseye shooting appears completely different than the craft of defensive pistol shooting. And there are, indeed, significant differences between these two crafts. However, the principles of marksmanship remain essential to defensive pistol craft even though the accuracy problem is usually not very demanding. Bullseye shooting at longer distances puts every aspect of marksmanship under the microscope. Unless every part of your fundamental shooting skills are dialed in, you cannot hit such demanding targets. Therefore, I suggest that spending some time on long-distance accuracy shooting with your carry gun is exceedingly beneficial. Even if you have no aspirations of being a bullseye shooter, spending some time doing that sort of marksmanship will greatly enhance your skills at close-range shooting as well.

Real-World Applicability of Fine Accuracy at Distance

Before analyzing the skills development involved in distance accuracy, which are beneficial in their own right, consider the real-world defensive application of such. With every year that passes, we see more examples of longer-range defensive gun use that contradict the long-held tradition that states civilian defensive gunfights only happen at close range. The most recent at the time of this writing was the incident at a mall in Indiana where an armed citizen shot and killed an active shooter from forty-three yards away with his pistol. This is certainly an example of a far longer distance than those usually observed in self-defense gun use.

Although such events are still very rare, the likelihood of finding oneself in such an event grows by the day. In the past two decades, even as violent crime drastically reduced (though it has sharply risen again in the past two years), active killer events have increased to some extent.

While prioritizing our preparation for such events over other, more common, forms of violence may be misguided, at least considering it is sound. Practicing accuracy at distance provides two important skills. First, the shooter develops the ability to make accurate shots at extended distances. Second, the shooter develops a good understanding of their abilities at different distances, which is exceedingly important.

There’s more at the link.

From Wikimedia Commons:

Standing sideways, saucer and cup style.  What on earth are they teaching Navy recruits?