Well I knew there were potential problems due to the ammunition shortage and found out yesterday that it has affected training at the Police Department I retired from.
I discovered that this year’s department ammunition had been on order for about six months and that only about half of the order had finally arrived this month. This lack of ammunition availability caused a shortage of ammunition to be used for training. This equated to a suspension of training and qualification of patrol rifle and a shortage of pistol ammo to be used on open range days, when officers are to obtain needed extra practice and training, prior to quarterly qualifications and block training.
Put another way, a needed new tool is getting to the street officers at a slower rate and officers that need help may not make use of the range days because they think they would be wasting their time. Since I was the Range master/Training Commander prior to my retirement, I know how hard it is to motivate the officers that need extra range time without giving them an additional reason not to show up at the range. Officers that were really interested in putting in extra range time yesterday were using their own ammunition (myself included) after using up the 50 to 100 rounds allotted to each of them for practice and/or score. The others, that really needed work, just left without asking for additional help or trying for more practice ammunition. Unfortunately this is the way range training can go even in the best of times, but if a non-serious shooter can’t do practice for free in a big hurry they will not put forth the needed effort.
In talking to my son I know that even SWAT teams are experiencing a decrease in training ammo due to the shortages. They still train hard and smart making the best use of the ammo they have available to them for each session.
How does this concern you, you may ask? The answer is quite simple, police firearms training is still being accomplished, but at a reduced rate. It is only of real concern to you if your department has no training ammunition and that they are not training at all. As to your own firearms training, you need to make the best use of the limited supply of pricy ammunition that you can. This is accomplished by practicing the basics while bolstering them with specific drills to help you where you may have a deficiency. Example: if your shot group at 15 yards is wider than 12 inches, try putting a 10 inch paper plate on the target and slow your rate of fire down to a point that will allow your site alignment and trigger control/press to keep all of your shots on the plate. Re-enforcing these basic skills will make it possible to do the same shot placement with increasing speed or in a life threatening situation; the more comfortable you get with the drill.
Chewy and I will be trying to get to at least one open range day a month now that the tourist season is over. This will serve several purposes: I get open air range practice in, I can be available to help officers that need additional training (I know from experience that the Range master can always use an extra hand), and Chewy likes the ride to the range and the extra time we get together during down periods.
