What should I practice for HD?

[HealthyGunz]

What skills should I practice/drills should I do for home defense? Right now, what I do is basically try to shoot as accurate as possible as quick as possible either from the gun sitting on a table or in my holster. I do this over and over and I've been really honing my skill. I am now able to draw and shoot accurately far better than when I first started shooting. I've been improving my ability to acquire sights faster. I've also been practicing re-loading and clearing jams as well as trying to simulate an actual situation by unloading a full mag fast. In fact, today I practiced with a friend and I was kinda excited and had pretty shakey hands but thanks to muscle memory and my dryfiring, I still shot very well. I was impressed.

Is there anything else I should work on? Another thing that I occasionally do is fire WITHOUT acquiring the sights in case I'd ever have to actually do that. I've mainly been practicing at the 7-10 yard range as this or closer is most likely for a home defense/self defense scenario (especially in my house). Basically, if I want to take the time to line up the sights slowly, I can hit a bullseye from 25 yards away but I'm trying to train for actual combat situations since this is where the tool would really help save a life.

[Full Clip]

Shot placement. Shot placement. Shot placement.
My opinion is that most home D shooting ranges will be 3-5 yards.
Unless you have a really big house.

[locosway]

What skills should I practice/drills should I do for home defense? Right now, what I do is basically try to shoot as accurate as possible as quick as possible either from the gun sitting on a table or in my holster. I do this over and over and I've been really honing my skill. I am now able to draw and shoot accurately far better than when I first started shooting. I've been improving my ability to acquire sights faster. I've also been practicing re-loading and clearing jams as well as trying to simulate an actual situation by unloading a full mag fast. In fact, today I practiced with a friend and I was kinda excited and had pretty shakey hands but thanks to muscle memory and my dryfiring, I still shot very well. I was impressed.

Is there anything else I should work on? Another thing that I occasionally do is fire WITHOUT acquiring the sights in case I'd ever have to actually do that. I've mainly been practicing at the 7-10 yard range as this or closer is most likely for a home defense/self defense scenario (especially in my house). Basically, if I want to take the time to line up the sights slowly, I can hit a bullseye from 25 yards away but I'm trying to train for actual combat situations since this is where the tool would really help save a life.

Sounds like you're doing a lot of the right stuff already. However, low light / no light situations are a reality. You should spend 30%-50% of your time training in these situations.

[eccvets]

head shots

[C.W.M.V.]

The things I found most useful in mout were shooting on the move and instinctive shooting. If you can hit the target repeatedly without acquiring a sight picture your doing good. Do that while moving and you'll be **** hot.
Remember that most combat takes place at very close ranges especially in an urban environment, which is where the fight is these days.

[Fishslayer]

Sounds like you're doing a lot of the right stuff already. However, low light / no light situations are a reality. You should spend 30%-50% of your time training in these situations.

Come on down to the range I go to. Low light shooting all day long...

[B Strong]

What skills should I practice/drills should I do for home defense? Right now, what I do is basically try to shoot as accurate as possible as quick as possible either from the gun sitting on a table or in my holster. I do this over and over and I've been really honing my skill. I am now able to draw and shoot accurately far better than when I first started shooting. I've been improving my ability to acquire sights faster. I've also been practicing re-loading and clearing jams as well as trying to simulate an actual situation by unloading a full mag fast. In fact, today I practiced with a friend and I was kinda excited and had pretty shakey hands but thanks to muscle memory and my dryfiring, I still shot very well. I was impressed.

Is there anything else I should work on? Another thing that I occasionally do is fire WITHOUT acquiring the sights in case I'd ever have to actually do that. I've mainly been practicing at the 7-10 yard range as this or closer is most likely for a home defense/self defense scenario (especially in my house). Basically, if I want to take the time to line up the sights slowly, I can hit a bullseye from 25 yards away but I'm trying to train for actual combat situations since this is where the tool would really help save a life.

Have you received professional instruction?

That's the cornerstone of any shooting discipline.

You should also train for using a tactical light on your pistol or in your hand - night time events are common, and a light is an excellent tool for HD.

[evidens83]

Double taps oh and shot placement!

[C.W.M.V.]

Controlled pairs oh and shot placement!

Fixed

[kanikas]

Reloading and malfunction clearance.

[dascoyne]

Fixed

Yep.
The difference is that "double tap" is two trigger presses with one sight picture.
In contrast most defensive pistol courses teach "controlled pairs" where both shots are sighted. This means you have to get back on your sights rapidly.

[Tack]

It sounds like you are taking care of the weapons side of home defense. If you have the time and money, I'd go take the Front Sight four day course. A local range near me has a night IDPA match. You might look for something like that so you get some low light/night practice.

There is more to home defense than a quick draw. Please consider the legal side, the retreat if you can safely do so aspect of HD. Do you have an insurance rider for your guns and for HD?

Good luck.

[Javi]

Maybe do a practice run of you clearing rooms in your home? Think of what spots make for good cover, etc. You'll know your home perfectly in the dark and that'll be a huge advantage over the person in your home I'm definitely going to take a home defense course.

[Mickey D]

For anyone that has a CCW or wants add'l information about self defense with a firearm, I suggest subscibing to Concealed Carry Magazine.

There are always excellent articals on practice drills and techniques, gun and holster reviews, and articals how to handle yourself and legal issues in regards to before and after you have decided to use leathal force.

http://www.usconcealedcarry.com/concealed-carry-magazine.asp

[someR1]

professional instruction will definetely help ....