The Shortest Day of the Year
Dry-Fire · At Home
Tonight is the longest night of the year. Verified clear, dummy rounds, lights off. Run every manipulation you know by feel: five reloads, five tap and racks, five chamber checks, and five careful loading and unloading cycles. Keep the muzzle in a safe direction and go at half speed.
Live-Fire · At the Range
Twenty rounds at 7 yards in two-round strings on the cards, with reloads and dummy rounds mixed in, in a dim bay if your range has one.
Service Pistol
Half of your shifts this month are in the dark. Your hands need to know the gun without your eyes.
Concealed Carry
Check the chamber by feel. In the dark that is the only way to check it.
Carbine
Carbine version: the same four manipulations in the dark, by feel.
AUX (when ready): all twenty reps correct in the dark with no fumbles.
From here the days get longer. The skill of working in the dark stays useful all year.
Your Daily Callout — By Archetype
Go at half speed. In the dark, fast means fumbled.
Without your eyes you find out what your hands actually know.
The middle of the night is when your household is most likely to need you.
Run the same four manipulations in the same order so the dark changes nothing.
Layer: wear gloves for the last five reps.
- 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.