Combat Focus Shooting App

One of the drills we often do at the range is to put up targets with colored or numbered sections and have one person call out a random target and everyone will draw and shoot that target. It's a great way to practice, but hard to do by yourself. That's where the Combat Focus Shooting iPhone app comes in. I tried this app recently and found it gives me another option for range practice.

The app is designed to be used with Rob Pincus' "Balance of Speed and Precision" series targets but it can be used with any targets. Essentially the app gives you a random set of voice commands telling what target or target area to engage. Setting up a drill is a matter of selecting the range of commands to be given; choosing from directions, numbers, colors, and shapes. There is also one basic command "Up" that can be set to come up with varying frequency. The "Up" command is meant to represent a large or center area of the target, which one would shoot with multiple hits. The other command options would represent small targets requiring more precision, and hit with a single shot, hence the "Balance of Speed and Precision" moniker. You can set the drills up in any manner of your choosing to fit your targets and training goals. Setup also include the number of iterations and interval between each command.

The iPhone sound volume is limited so this app is best used with headphones, and by one person. While wearing ear protection, a group of people wouldn't be able to reliably hear the commands from the iPhone speaker. I plugged my iPhone into the input jack on my electronic ear protection. If you use passive ear muffs, just use the regular iPhone ear bud and place your ear protection over them. (Do not rely on the ear buds for sound protection.)

The Combat Focus Shooting app is one more tool in my box of options for adding variety and fun to my range trips. It gives me a way to practice getting the pistol sights on target quickly and accurately. And with just a bit of geek factor thrown in too.