Proceeds from the sale of R.E.D. Shirts in the month of April will be donated to Operation Hat Trick. These shirts are available at our online store, Denver store and Austin store. If you haven’t yet picked up one of these shirts, this is a great month to do it! We support many great military based charities. This one specifically is very near and dear to us.

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We will have the PWS MK114, MK214, and Daniel Defense MK18 with lights and suppressors on the range for you to test fire during this time! There will be no range fee if you are there just to test fire these rifles; but you will need to purchase ammo from the range to run through the rifles.

BluCore is conducting our Low Light Pistol class the same evening, April 9, from 6-8pm.  The Low Light class is a great class for anyone who uses, or plans to use, a pistol for defensive purposes – inside or outside the home.  Most shootings occur in low or no-light conditions.  Don’t put yourself in the position where the first time you have to fire your pistol in the dark is to defend yourself or your family – practice it first in our class!  During the class you will spend time in the classroom learning the pros and cons of a handheld vs. weapon-mounted light as well as learning the different holding options for a handheld light.  Then we will go down to the range and do some shooting with the lights out using either a light of your own or one of our loaners.  Learn the different ways that lights can help you be better prepared for a variety of situations.

People often overlook how great of a tool a flashlight can be.  Come talk to the Surefire rep and the BluCore staff to learn about hand held lights and how they can help you be more prepared for day-to-day situations and also how a light can help you get out of a potentially deadly situation!  Come by April 9th and shoot some suppressed rifles and take the Low Light Pistol class for just $75!

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We want to keep our drills of the week applicable to all types of shooters; therefore, we will continue to vary the type of drills we feature. This may mean that some drills may not apply directly to your type of shooting. Shooters may be a part of one or many categories, such as; recreational shooting, competitive shooting, defensive shooting, target shooting, and others.  The ‘one shot, reload, one shot’ drill is great for all shooters that want to speed up their combat reloads, but is particularly helpful and advisable to defensive focused individuals.

For this drill, the shooter will load at least two magazines with one round each. Keep one magazine out to load into your pistol and place the extra magazine(s) in your magazine pouches or belt – bullet tips faced forward. Load your pistol, you should have one round chambered and an empty magazine in the firearm.

From the high ready or holstered position – fire one shot, conduct a combat reload, and fire one more shot.

The steps for a combat reload are; finger off trigger, quick glance to see that your slide is locked back and mag is empty, and strip the magazine.

Index a new magazine and insert into magazine well.

Tap, tug, turn weapon over putting slide into support hand with thumb up, pull slide to rear to chamber a round.

Fire your next shot.

Click here to see this drill performed.  For further description of a combat reload, you can view our Training Tips video here.

This drill can be done repeatedly in a row with however many magazines you have on your hip. You can also mix it up by putting between 1-3 cartridges in each mag so you can’t ‘game’ the moment at which your pistol goes empty. Remember, we want to train to do things that will work for us nearly all the time, regardless of which pistol we are using or how dirty it is. We strip the mag out and don’t assume it will just fall out. A lot of us have had muddy/dirty mags before that don’t fall cleanly out. Don’t assume you are empty after firing one shot if the slide is still forward. Treat this as a misfire and tap/rack, at which point the slide should now lock back to the rear and you can commence the reloading procedure.

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Pistol Classes:

NRA Basic Pistol Course – April 5 (Saturday), 9:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

NRA Basic Pistol Course – April 19 (Saturday), 9:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

BluCore Pistol I – Pistol Fundamentals – April 3 (Thursday), 6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

BluCore Pistol I – Pistol Fundamentals – April 16 (Wednesday), 6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

BluCore Pistol I – Women’s Pistol Fundamentals – April 30 (Wednesday), 5:30 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

Low Light Pistol – April 9 (Wednesday), 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

Concealed Carry Pistol – Level I – April 30 & May 1 (Wed & Thurs), 6:00 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.

Rifle Classes:

Rifle I – Rifle Fundamentals – April 2 (Wednesday), 6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

Rifle II – Intro to Tactical Rifle – April 23 & 24 (Wed & Thurs), 6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

Lecture Classes:

Combat Mindset – April 15 (Tuesday), 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. (Held at BluCore this month.)

Legal Aspects of Concealed Carry – April 30 (Wednesday), 6:00 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.

Free Classes

Complimentary Firearms Safety Class – April 8 (Tuesday), 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.

Complimentary Intro to Pistol Ownership – April 12 (Saturday), 10:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.

Complimentary Intro to the Shooting Range – April 12 (Saturday), 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

The post April Training Schedule appeared first on BluCore Shooting Center Denver’s only 100-yard rifle range.

Similar to the ‘One shot on one dot’ drill, this drill is a great drill to help us get warmed up, and adds in one more element – transferring to another target.  This drill doesn’t require a lot of ammunition, and there is no time standard.  You should take as much time as necessary for you to shoot very accurate during this drill.  If you are hitting in tight groups, start to speed it up and spread your targets farther apart.  Your targets can be placed in various positions; above and below each other, side by side, or diagonal.  Keep practicing good follow-thru by making sure you get a next sight picture after each shot.  Don’t always go the same direction, ex. left to right – mix it up.  Also, vary the shots, ex. don’t always go one shot, transfer to target – two shots… sometimes start with one shot on first target, sometimes two shots on first target.  Remember, take your finger off the trigger BEFORE your sights come off the target!  Take it slow, this drill is great to learn and reinforce all the fundamentals.

From the high or low ready position, smoothly present the gun to the target, obtain proper sight picture, fire one or two shots, transfer to the next target and fire one or two shots, reacquire sight picture, remove finger from trigger, return to ready position.

Click here to watch video of the drill.

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Many people overlook the importance of getting familiar and proficient with shooting one-handed.  When would you shoot one-handed?  The short answer is, only when you have to.  The examples here are focused on personal defense.  The first reason people usually give for reasons they’d be shooting with only one hand is because of an injury to your shoulder/arm/hand.  In addition to this, there are plenty of other reasons, some perhaps more likely, that we would need to do this; you may have a child that you are having to hold on to while moving to cover, or you may be dragging a wounded person to safety when another threat pops up.

Shooting with one hand is harder than with two.  It’s harder to hold the sights steady, and harder to manage the recoil and get a quick next sight picture.  All of the same shooting fundamentals still apply with one handed shooting.  The trigger squeeze may be slightly harder since you are having to support the gun in just one hand and also pull the trigger with a finger from that hand.

Start in the high ready position, present out and take one shot using your standard two-handed grip.  Then remove your support hand and take one shot using your strong hand only.  Carefully transfer the pistol into your support hand – stay out of the trigger well during the transfer!  Take one shot using your support hand only.  Return the gun to your strong hand and go back to gripping with both hands in the ready position.  Repeat.  It’s generally best to start this drill at three yards.  Work your way out to five yards as you keep your groups tight.  

Click here to view the drill.

Tip – when shooting with one hand, try canting the gun just slightly to the inside.  This will help the gun recoil in a more natural alignment with your arm/body.

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Video and article found here:  Man Carjacks Multiple Vehicles, Leads Police on Wild Chase in Denver

18-1-704 Use Of Physical Force In Defense Of A Person

1.  Except as provided in subsections (2) and (3) of this section, a person is justified

in using physical force upon another person in order to defend himself or a third person in order to defend  himself or a third person from what he reasonably believes to be the use or imminent use of unlawful physical force by that other person, and he may use a degree of force which he reasonably believes to be necessary for that purpose.

2.  Deadly physical force may be used only if a person reasonably believes a lesser degree of force is

inadequate and:

(a.)  The actor has reasonable ground to believe, and does believe, that he

or another person is in imminent danger of being killed or of receiving great bodily injury; or

(b.)  The other person is using or reasonably appears about to use physical force against an

occupant of a dwelling or business establishment while committing or attempting to commit

burglary as defined in sections 18-4-202 to 18-4-204; or

(c.) The other person is committing or reasonably appears about to commit kidnapping as defined in section 18-3-301 or 18-3-302, robbery as defined in section 18-4-301 or 18-4-302, sexual assault as set forth in section 18-3-402 or 18-3-403 as it existed prior to July 1, 2000, or assault as defined in sections 18-3-202 or 18-3-203.

 3.   Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (1) of this section, a person is not justified in using physical force if:

(a.) With intent to cause bodily injury or death to another person, he provokes the use of unlawful

physical force by that other person; or

(b.) He is the initial aggressor, except that his use of physical force upon another person under the

circumstances is justifiable if he withdraws from the encounter and effectively communicates to

the other person his intent to do so, but the latter nevertheless continues or threatens the use ofunlawful physical force; or

(c.)   The physical force involved is the product of a combat by agreement not specifically authorized by law.

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This drill isn’t ‘fancy’ or necessarily ‘fun’… but this week we are featuring this classic drill because too many people often overlook its importance.  What is the drill exactly?  It’s just like it sounds, fire one shot on one dot.

From the high or low ready position, smoothly present the gun to the target, obtain proper sight picture, smoothly pull trigger, reacquire sight picture, remove finger from trigger, return to ready position.

Click here to view the drill.

 If you have taken some of our classes, you’ll notice that we often start off with this drill.  We do this because it’s a great drill to reinforce all the fundamentals in a slow and controlled manner.  This drill also gives us many repetitions on the most important shot – the first shot.  You will find this particularly helpful if you have a double action only, or double action/single action pistol.  If your gun has a double action, you should be decocking after each shot.  Unless you are testing yourself ‘cold’, this is a great drill for everyone to warm up with.  The ‘One Shot on One Dot’ drill will help you learn, or reinforce, the fundamentals – one shot at a time.  It’s also a great drill for conserving ammunition while getting in good practice on something useful!

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The new annual rate for an individual membership starting on April 1st will be $399 (currently $349).  If you break that down into a per month amount, it works out to be $33.25/mo. instead of $29.08/mo.  If you shoot at our range two times per month or more, a membership is still the way to go.  It will save you money in the long run.

Unlike some gun ranges, there is no initiation fee at BluCore when you purchase a membership. You pay for the membership in full, and won’t have to pay range fees for an entire calendar year. There are additional perks for membership, including a 5% discount on all regularly priced retail items (including firearms and ammunition), as well as discounts on training and private instruction and lane reservation privileges.

We also have Family, Corporate, and Patriot memberships available.  While other ranges may offer patriot or military membership rates, they are usually only offered to active duty or reserve military.  BluCore offers our Patriot membership to ALL veterans whether they are active duty, reserve, disabled, retired, or veteran status.  This rate is also extended to active duty or retired first responders and law enforcement officers.  (Proof of service required.)

If your membership is due to expire in April or May, you can renew your membership before the end of March at the current rate, and the 12 months will be added to the end of your existing membership.  (If you wait until April 1st or later to renew your membership, you will pay the new rate at that time.)

Membership Pricing effective April 1, 2014:

•  Individual- $399

•  Patriot- $289

$250 for each additional family member

• Family- $679 (2 people = 339.50 per person)

$250 for each additional family member

•  Corporate- $1,429

Please see our Membership Page or inquire with our retail staff for more information on memberships.

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Draw or paste five inch targets on paper or cardboard. Place the target five yards away. From either the low or high ready position, shoot five shots in the circle. All shots must be inside the circle, or break the line of the circle. This drill is best performed with a shot timer, but can be done with a stopwatch – the time standard is 5.0 seconds or less. You are proficient at this drill if you can repeat this five times in a row without a miss.

Click here to watch the drill being performed.

This drill is a good drill for a number of reasons. For someone to be able to complete this drill consistently, they will likely have to be proficient in all of the fundamentals of pistol shooting (take our Pistol I class if you don’t know these). The Fives Drill will also help you determine if you have a gun that you can comfortably and competently handle. If you are unable to complete this drill successfully, increase the size of the circle to six inches, and the time standard to six seconds. Once you can complete the Fives Drill successfully on a regular basis, attempt to do the drill from a holster (if you are qualified and allowed to do so).

Tip – get a good follow-thru after each shot, and don’t break the trigger until you know that you have a good sight picture each time.

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