Varying Target Distances Using an FN 15

Rifle training, and all firearms training and shooting range drills, are not about split times or reaching some objective standard. They’re about maximizing your efficiency, which means figuring out what you can do under a variety of plausible shooting circumstances.

Two Targets, Two Distances

Rob has two targets set up: one at an “inside the house” distance of about 15 feet, and the other at about 35 to 40 feet, “around the house” distance, or “armed patrol” distance if you’re in law enforcement or security, or “CQB” distance if you’re in the military.

Inside your house you won’t see a 40-foot shot, but the target at 15 feet is plausibly an across the bedroom, down the hall, or down the stairwell shot. Outside your home — if you have a rifle in your vehicle, or if you’re an armed professional — you could foresee a shot at the 40-foot distance.

The AR-15 can shoot much farther than 40 feet, but plausible defensive shooting distances are much closer.

Shooting Range Drills

When you conduct shooting drills, make sure you don’t shoot at only one distance but that you shoot at multiple distances. But before you vary the distances in the middle of one of your shooting range drills, establish your ability to hit, especially if shooting an AR with a red dot sight, where there’s offset between where the dot hits and where the bullet hits at different distances.