Fun at the Range

Training can be dull and boring, even if you are motivated.

Remember the film 'Pumping Iron' with Arnold Schwartzenegger and Lou Ferrigno?  Two highly motivated individuals, but even they found lifting boring.  There is a scene in which Lou is wearing a black garbage bag as a cape and cowl.  With every lift he says, "I am Batman."  Why?  It breaks up the boredom.

The same is true with shooting.  We get more training when it's hidden in a game.

One of the members at Greenport runs a fun activity he calls "Greenport Tac-Toe."  It's a 21 by 21-inch square of cardboard separated into 9 equal squares.  Each square is marked with an X or O in an alternating pattern.  The center square is a G for, you guessed it, Greenport.

Bill M came up with the idea.  Eventually we had so many repairs we had to re-draw the letters 

An X and O are marked on four cards each, with the ninth having a G.  The CoF is easy.  Fill two magazines with any combination of 9 rounds, forcing a reload on the clock.  Shuffle the deck and on the signal, the safety officer calls out a card value.  The shooter shoots the square with one round.  The SO then calls out the next card.  The shooter continues to shoot a different square until all nine squares have been shot once.

We used the back of playing cards.

Speed is less important than accuracy.  It is easy to shoot two the same square twice, having forgotten which ones have been engaged, especially after the reload.

Since it's a bragging rights only activity, no one is going home hungry, or rich, shooters will bring out the guns they have been meaning to shoot.  Holsters and mag carriers aren't required, reloads can be place on the barrel/table next to you or carried in a pocket.

Advantages?  It's cheap, just a sheet of cardboard and magic marker. It's low round count, you can shoot five times with a box of fifty.  The shooter practices sight alinement, reloading under pressure, trigger control, and other basic skills.

And it brings out the stay at home members because it is an organized social event.

The real bonus, in my opinion, is it prevents pre-planning.  At any match you mind shoot it first.  It is some variation of: two rounds on first target, turn right engage the left popper, one step forward around the barricade, engage the right popper and double tap the remaining cardboard, reload, etc.

Responding to a changing external source forces each shooter to stay mentally flexible.  That’s a good thing.

Too easy?  Since it’s a pick-up match, change the distance and the rules.  Be tricky and let the shooter preload any two magazines with some combination of nine and let the safety officer choose the starting magazine.

There are a lot of variations.  You could have two different boards with only five squares each, the center one with your range name and alternating X and O.  Put them three feet apart and use two magazines with a total of ten rounds.  You would need a second letter card.

I'm suggesting, if you are attempting to increase your training and that of the shooters around you, incorporate skills in a game.  You will be surprised with the results.