Making Distance
Dry-Fire · At Home
Verified clear. Fifteen reps of moving away from the target at an angle while you draw, both directions. Step back and to the side rather than straight back, because straight back is how people trip. Look where you are going before you go.
Live-Fire · At the Range
If your range allows movement, run eight strings at 5 yards: two angled steps away, draw, and two rounds in the box. If movement is not allowed, shoot the strings from a fixed position and do the footwork dry at home.
Service Pistol
Distance favors the trained shooter. Practice making it without tangling your feet in the gear on your belt.
Concealed Carry
Distance gives you time, and time gives you options that do not involve shooting.
Carbine
With a carbine, practice the same angled steps from low ready with the muzzle kept in a safe direction.
AUX (when ready): two angled steps and a first hit in the box in under two and a half seconds.
Backing straight up is the instinct. Moving off at an angle is the skill.
Your Daily Callout — By Archetype
Your instinct is to close the distance. Today is the opposite habit.
Check the ground behind you before you ever need to step onto it.
Making distance only helps if the people with you are moving too.
Pick a default direction for each room you spend time in and you will not have to choose under pressure.
Layer: finish each rep behind a piece of cover.
- 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.