Shooting From Cover
Dry-Fire · At Home
Verified clear. Use a door frame as cover. Fifteen reps of working the edge: as little of you exposed as possible, gun and eyes appearing at the same time, then back behind the frame. Both sides.
Live-Fire · At the Range
Twenty rounds at 10 yards from a barricade if your range has one, two rounds per exposure, alternating sides. If you cannot use cover, run it from a hard lean and keep the rest dry at home.
Service Pistol
Practice from your support side too. Cover does not care which hand you prefer.
Concealed Carry
Concealment and cover are different things, and knowing which one you are behind is the whole decision.
Carbine
Rolling the carbine to the support shoulder keeps your body behind the wall. Practice the transition dry first.
AUX (when ready): two hits from each side of the barricade in under six seconds total.
Most people stand closer to cover than they should. Back off it and you see more while exposing less.
Your Daily Callout — By Archetype
You are going to lean out further than you need to. Take less.
Look before you commit, and remember that the edge you can see around also sees you.
Cover is what lets you stay in the fight long enough to get someone out.
Learn the geometry once: distance from cover buys angle and safety at the same time.
Layer: change sides of the barricade between strings.
- Treat every firearm as if it is loaded — always, no matter what you think you know.
- Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy.
- Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on target and you have decided to fire.
- Be sure of your target — and everything beyond it.
Dry-fire: no ammunition in the room. Verify the firearm is clear — twice. Use a safe backstop. When you finish, say it out loud: “Dry fire is over.”
The Four Universal Safety Rules
Non-negotiable. Every drill, every rep, every time. This applies to live fire and dry fire.
- Treat every firearm as if it is loaded — always, no matter what you think you know.
- Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy.
- Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on target and you have decided to fire.
- Be sure of your target — and everything beyond it.