BattleRoadUSA, Fighting Shotgun Course September 16, 2012

BattleRoadUSA ran our initial "Fighting Shotgun" course on Saturday, September 16th, and despite cold rain pouring down on us for a good portion of the class, the course was a success. I think everyone who attended learned a great deal about their shotgun and how to run it.

Most folks, well, most folks in the gun culture, keep some sort of shotgun in their home for defensive purposes, but that shotgun generally sits there all year long, never getting any use other than an occasional wiping down and oiling, or perhaps a few rounds at a tin can or maybe a round at a paper target.

A bit of rain never stops a good training day

And the individuals who might have to use that shotgun to save their own or their loved ones lives, usually take no time to learn how to use the shotgun for that purpose. They believe in their minds that when the time comes, they will be able to summon up any and all the skills it might take to use that shotgun, in the way it will be needed to be used, to stave off danger or save their lives.

Unfortunately that is not the best time to learn those skills, or to learn that a short brass shot shell might seize up in the barrel, or that the pump gun's stroke is too long, or the gun's furniture is too slick in the rain to allow them to fire as rapidly as needed. If they have never learned how to make a combat load under pressure, so that they can get a shell into the chamber in the critical, few seconds it takes to go from running the gun empty, to having another shot ready, they will not be able to magically conjure the skill that day. All they will have with them is what they have learned and practiced previous to the encounter.

Making a combat reload, from the pocket, at the end of  five rounds rapid fire 

We had everyone making their reloads from their pockets. It is the practice of Battle Road to try and make things as real as possible and usually you will not be wearing a cartridge belt for the extra rounds you might need. usually you will just grab a handful of shells and shove them in your front pocket and head out the door. Learning to make a quick reload from a pants pocket, in the rain with wet jeans, helps you to understand the problems you could possibly experience, some day, in the rain......

The guys also practiced doing shell load changes in a loaded shotgun. Most defensive shotguns end up being loaded with buckshot. It is the most practical round to have ready in your shotgun. But, you might end up in a situation where a round of buckshot is not going to cut it. Maybe the target is too far away, or the target is mixed in with friendlies and the shot will require a slug.

A lot of folks have a shotgun magazine loading preference that they initially have loaded in their shotgun's magazine, or have slugs and buckshot placed in carry racks on their shotgun so that they can select slug or buck on reload, but, you need to be able to open the breach and take out the buckshot and replace it with a slug at any time you need it. The students practiced this drill and then made slug shots on steel targets at distance.    

The best way to find out how you and your gear does in the rain, is to fire 200 rounds in the rain

Certainly the fact that it was raining all day made a difference in the training. But, I never curse inclement weather on training days. Very seldom does anyone pick an inclement weather day for their own personal range day training, which means they usually never train in inclement weather on their own. The problem with this is that there are days that it will be raining or cold or hot or any number of weather variations that a shooter might have to deal with, and they all will have an effect on the shooter. On how the shooter deals with the situation, and the effects of weather on the shooters gear.

They might find out that the shotgun fore-grip is slick in rain and hard to cycle quickly, that getting additional rounds from a front pants pocket is more difficult when the pants are wet or that with rain gear on, it slows down a handgun draw from concealed etc. Hard to figure a lot of this out without experiencing the difficulty in it first hand. So never lament inclement weather on training days, it helps you become prepared for it and finding out what you will face during inclement weather during training might make the difference in a real world situation where your life hangs in the balance.