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Some of my favorite practice drills

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#1 · (Edited)
I thought some of you might like to see my practice drills.
I usually practice them once a week. I am a firm believer in practicing standard exercises as the only way to eally get proficient with a hand gun. Any way here are some of my favorite drills.


1 shot draws

Draw and fire one shot taking care to follow through. Go no faster than you can get "A" hits

10 yards one target



2 shot draws

Draw and fire two shots taking care to follow through. The placement of the shots should be very close together. Go no faster than you can get "A" hits

12 yards one target



Failure drill

Old standard 2 to the body one to the head. The head shot should be fired on the muzzle rise & should like one continuous string. Bang Bang Bang not Bang Bang Bang

7 yards one target



Bill drill

six shots in 2 sec. It sounds easy but it takes a sub 1 sec. draw and .20 splits. Pretty darn hard to do consistently. I'll generally try 5-6 times and if I make it once I quit.

7 yards one target



Target acquisition drill A

3 targets 3 yards apart. 2 shots on the center 1 on each outside target and 2 more in the center. This drill makes you focus on sight alignment and should sound like one string. That is time between shots on one target should be the same as shots between targets.

10 yards 3 target



Target acquisition drill B

Same as A but 1 shot on the center 2 shots on each outside target and 1 more in the center. I find this drill harder to do correctly as I really want to fire 2 shots on the center target to start.

10 yards 3 target



"M" drill

Variation on above but the center target is at 5 yes. Start on the center target Fire 1 at the center 2 shots on each outside target and 1 more on the center. This is fired 3 times once facing downrange once facing right and once facing left.

5-10 yards 3 target



Low barricade drill

stand behind low barricade drop to kneeling and fire 2 shots at a different target from each position (right cover center cover and left cover)

12 yards 3 targets



Square drill

Hackathorn's famous drill. Make a square about 5 yards on a side. Start at any corner and fire two shots on each target while moving to the next corner. Keep going until you are back to the starting point. This is the best shooting while moving drill that there is. Keep your knees bent, and try not to forget where you are.

7-12 yards 3 target



Barrel Drill

Set up 3 barrels at 10 15 & 20 yards in a zigzag pattern. Fire 2 shots at each target from each barrel while kneeling. Using good cover. Wear Hatch knee pads if you are old like me.

10-20 yards 2 targets



Head Shots

fire 6 head shots on one target. If you are jerking the trigger this will "kill" you. "My gun shoots low left I'm not jerking the trigger" yea right!!

20 yards one target



Mike
 
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#53 ·
tomrowelljr said:
Yeah, all these drills sound great and i would love to start practicing some of them, but all that i have been able to locate are traditional "lane only" style shooting ranges. if anyone knows a place to go in the Dallas TX area please let me know.
Did you find a place? There's Dallas Pistol Club(DPC) in Carrollton, Dallas Action Pistol Shooters (DAPS) @ Elmfork, I forgot Len Baxley's range name in Ferris and there's a new club in Greenville called NTP....If you're IPSC prone go to http://www.uspsatexassecnorth.org/ If IDPA prone I'm sure they have a N TX website too...
 
#54 ·
El Barricado

3 targets at 10 yards
At the beep, draw and engage T1-T3 from left hand side of barricade, reload, engage T1-T3 from right hand side of the barricade.

I mix it up with styles of reloads.

I also do the same drill using 3 targets at 3 different distances.
 
#55 ·
why are we still teaching sketchy practices?

I like a lot of this threads info but I am concerned about the recommended failure drill.

2 to the body and one to the head is not a realistic drill.

YES MANY MANY SCHOOLS ARE STILL DOING IT.

But that doesn't make it right or even useful/ effective.

Given the 2 shots to the torso, the receiving body will immediately start to move away from you. Fast and in an erratic way.

Trying to line up your 3rd shot on a small, moving object (ie. the head) is problematic.

A more likely/ realisticly achievable follow up shot after the 2 to the torso will be one to the abdomen/ hips.

Its a bigger area, thereby easier to hit in an "OH SH$T," situation and solves the problem of them getting up and coming after you if the first 2 shots were not lethal.

Practical, easily repeated under duress skills should be the goals.

Head shots are cool. In a gun fight I don't care about cool. I need effective and easy.
 
#56 ·
I guess that depends on how fast your failure drill is.
At 7 yards mine are under 2 seconds from the holster.
Bill drills at 7 yards (6 shots to the A zone) are right at 2 seconds with my .40 and a little faster with the 9mm.
The synergistic effect of 6 rounds to your chest will problably turn you off for a moment! (even with body armor).
 
#57 · (Edited)
My favorite drill is to reload without looking at either the firearm or magazine. Why look at the gun if there is a threat out and about.



Mike Benedict, The boys and I headed out to the range this past Saturday and tried out the "Target Acquisition A and B" drills. Needless to say, we were horrible at first and noticed that the middle and right target were getting great hits but the left was not so great. After a couple of rounds of shooting we were getting much better. All together we had 9 guys in the private room in the back of the range and we went through a couple thousand rounds of ammo. Each guy was shooting his own personal firearm. We had some Sigs, HK's, Kimbers, Colts, Beretta's and a Glock or two. All of the guys there had only done simple "Bullseye" type shooting and I think those two drills really sparked some interest in "Action" type shooting. We made a deal that half of our ammo(If not all of it!) for every range trip would be used in the private room doing these drills.

The good thing is that one of the guys in our group is the owner of the range and gun shop and one of the other guys is the owners son, so we get "Special" range time as in "We get to stay after the range closes on weeknights if the owners son is with us".

I will be printing a bunch of different drills from yours and others posts to use in our weekly practice session.
 
#58 ·
Start at 25 yards STANDING, with 5 rounds in the weapon, and 5 rounds each in two spare mags.

Use a Bullseye target (7 through 10 rings). When the target faces you have 20 seconds to:

1. Draw and fire 5 rounds from the prone position (you'll have to drop prone).
2. Move to the 15 yard line and fire 5 rounds from the kneeling position.
3. Move to the 7 yard line and fire 5 rounds from the standing position..

Maximum possible is 150 points, passing is 120 points.

This is a good move/reload/shoot drill that shakes out your equipment...holster, mag pouches, etc. First time I put some task force guys through this, one pulled his spare mag, but along came the pouch AND his handcuffs as he was using a clip-on combination mag pouch/handcuff case. He threw that piece of gear in the trash on his way off the range.

If there are multiple shooters, make sure you have enough space between lanes and enforce muzzle discipline.
 
#59 ·
One drill I had LEO's do is A Busy Drill, stand at the line with ticketbook and pen in hand then dropping the book and draw and fire at the signal.
 
#62 ·
I thought some of you might like to see my practice drills.
I usually practice them once a week. I am a firm believer in practicing standard exercises as the only way to eally get proficient with a hand gun. Any way here are some of my favorite drills.
I like to start my range day with the F.A.S.T from pistol-training.com. It's a simple but effective test of basic fundamentals. I recently did a vid on it and a few misc drills I like to run:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7qRsO3SRzI

Pretty amazing how even a few months away from that type of shooting (been stuck at static line of indoor range) effects skills.I couldn't break 6 seconds this trip as I did end of the season last year. Blah. :bawling:

Seeing yourself on vid really helps diagnose. I can see my reload should be higher, closer, and closer to center line, and other things that added up to slow one down. Need to work on smoothing out the draw, getting a better initial grip, and others.

If anyone sees additional areas that needs fixing/tweaking, i'm happy to take constructive advice on how to be a better shooter.

Always something to work on!
 
#66 ·
Yeah reading through all these drills got my attention, I thought it might be a good idea to do some 'dry runs', practice drawing, get my hands where I want, put the sights on a target, I SUCK! Spent part of the afternoon while doing stuff around the house to stop every so often, draw, grip, take aim....at least I won't look TOO horrible when I get to the range. Actually started to get a bit tired after doing it for about a half hour straight, but I am getting better!
 
#68 ·
I also appreciate the printing of all of these drills. I insist that all my students practice (after initial training) all drills in street clothes with their typical concealed carry load. Remembering to teach how to sweep a coat, with a light weight in the pocket, is very important to me. As KG59 said, train like your going to fight.
 
#69 ·
wow... thanks for this! i am diffinatly going to try some of these out... and yeah... i like how i shoot 25 yards and will get 6 shots in the head and 2 in the heart... and then ill give my friend my gun... he cant hit crap... i say... well... your jerking.... or... you just suck... lolz... then i show him how to do it and bam.... headshot... miss miss miss miss
lol
 
#71 · (Edited)
In too close drill/CQB for concealed carry

Set-up:

Standard carry for your needs. Dress as you would normally dress and ensure that your firearm is concealed and loaded for concealed carry, meaning using the very same rounds that you will carry everyday.

Standard cardboard backer with torso target of your choice, outdoor range or private property probably mandatory unless you actually own the indoor range. PACT timer beneficial but not necessary.

Shot count for exercise: No more than 3.

Stand in front of your target, 1/2 arms length away or closer depending upon comfort level. On the sound of your PACT timer or perhaps having a partner yell "THREAT", you engage the target with your support/weak hand striking the face while sweeping/lifting/clearing for your draw. Your support hand immediately returns to your chest, and grabs your shirt/jacket tight (you must practice and do this to prevent perforation of your own hand).

Upon drawing, fire 1 round from close one handed retention while moving laterally and continue to engage target with at least 1-2 more follow up rounds on the move transitioning to modified two-handed close retention.

This can be a very dangerous drill for CQB for some. If you have not attempted firing from retention (close to your own body) before, don't run this drill until you have been trained by a certified trainer to do so. Firing from retention should involve canting the weapon outboard slightly with your first shot. Second and third follow up shots that are conducted while moving laterally should be conducted from a modified two handed retention technique.

For my purposes, I never extend my arms or take a traditional stance or attempt to gain a full sight picture with the weapon. Basically, this is my method for establishing instinctive shooting for myself from close range. I practice this drill often for a CQB open hand engagement that escalates to an edged weapon/firearm use of force outcome.

I also use this set up for use with an edged weapon only. Striking the target with my support/weak hand, employing an edged weapon with my strong hand, moving laterally and then transitioning to my firearm.

YMMV, be careful ..... dynamic firearms training carries with it, certain inherent risks. Modify this as you deem fit.

Fin
 
#72 ·
while i can understand the desire for pistol marksmanship, i question the advisability, reality, practicality and legal defensibility of any shooting greater than the "21 feet" scenario. if stats correctly indicate that most gun battles take place at <7 feet, what is the point of combat shooting at 60 - 75 feet? i focus on transition from unarmed to armed, physical contact, speed rock, house clearing, attack in a public space (restaurant etc.), and being surrounded by multiple targets @ less than 20 feet. my cousin was a ranger and these are the drills he taught me.
 
#73 ·
My Pappy,

What happens if you are the statistic that skews the average? By being in an gunfight, you have already gotten away from the norm. I have no issue with concentrating time & effort on the highest probability circumstances but to use your +60 foot exclusionary zone, that is only a few car lengths or perhaps a hallway. It's up to you but I'm a fan of covering more bases than you seem to have settled on.
 
#75 · (Edited)
And now for something completely different...

Having benefited from owning a bit of land in the NW Georgia mountains for a couple of decades, I got to practice some more exotic, even wackier, stuff on a regular basis, e.g., shooting from supine, overhead "stance" and longer range sniping from a slouched, seated, back-rested, knee-clamped stance. Since part of that property allowed me to drill with my personal chunk of mountain as a backstop, I got to practice (at least) one close-range drill that I haven't seen mentioned here and might be tricky to arrange in full outside the sort of setting in which I did it, but I really like it. You could practice everything except the loud noise and target check just about anywhere, so I'll share it.

Situation: You're in a very close-combat situation - "arm's reach," i.e., 1-3 meters tops against an armed opponent.
Goals: Provide maximum defense of vital areas, keep pistol out of reach of opponent, draw, and fire.
Technique: (I practice from strong-side, kidney carry, but other options could apply)
- fall backwards towards strong side while drawing pistol;
- on striking ground, raise legs to provide shielding of body;
- aim over legs and fire standard double-tap to chest, finishing shot to head.

The fall immediately increases the distance from the opponent's hands by about 2 meters (depending on your height), and it's fast (gravity is your friend sometimes). I studied Judo (among other things) as a lad and fall safely without thinking - if you don't, you might want to study this (breakfalls) a bit before trying the full drill (YouTube is a marvelous resource). This is a very controlled fall, almost an exaggerated "lying down" action, except that it's without benefit of hands and oriented so that you take the force of the fall by rolling along the outside edge of your strong side butt-cheek and torso.

Drawing while falling takes practice (you need the draw hand and arm completely clear before your torso starts to contact the ground), but, if you already drill for (near) sub-second draws, you've prob'ly got this wired. My semi-supine (rolled partially onto my strong side) cover stance has my strong-side leg lower than the other with only the lower part of that leg off the ground and bent at the knee foot turned inward mostly to cover my crotch. The weak-side leg is higher in the air, also bent at the knee shielding my torso. Aiming is along the inside of and braced by my weakside knee over the lower portion of that same leg, using my standard two-handed grip (I'm hiding as much as possible behind the weak-side leg, preferring to be shot in the legs and butt than anywhere that I carry my internal organs and brains).

With plenty o' drill, you can get to point that your pistol is on-target by the time you hit the ground.
 
#76 ·
GeekWithAGun,

I'm somewhat confused by your description. Is the intent to A) simulate being knocked to the ground by an assailant or B) intentionally going to the ground? If A, practicing a specific positioning makes little sense as you will have minimal, if any, control over how you will be knocked down and it certainly won't be a controlled fall while that "sub-1 second" draw isn't likely from an unbalanced/unprepared starting point. If B, giving up mobility is generally not a good thing. Minimizing exposure to vital areas is fine but quickly relocating your whole body is probably a better plan.
 
#77 · (Edited)
to: DB

It's a fully intentional "fall" initiated by the shooter in light of the tactical circumstance of (usually) a single assailant WAY inside the safety zone, i.e., as stated "arms reach" (or less).

The most immediate intent is to evade an already displayed weapon or the perception of that imminent threat and the possibility of a close-range snatch or deflection on draw of your responding weapon (especially by larger opponents). The fallen position provides "cover" to (vitals) by less lethally attacked (admittedly sacrificial) body parts. The drill is intended predominantly for instant, temporary withdrawal from and defense against a VERY close-range, single opponent already inside the "grab" zone.

"Legs up" offers additional value for deflection of the responding attacks of an opponent who attempts to "follow you down" or kick you. By electing to fall back, you get to pick your orientation, and with Mr. Gravity's help, accomplish it more quickly than your assailant can respond effectively.

Finally, "giving up mobility" ain't an issue for me from the "fallen" position (when I tactically elect it). I can fight from any ground position (with or without firearm) and have been trained even to prefer it in some (few) circumstances. I did say, "And now for something completely different..." Not for everybody, but I still think it's a fun drill in my 50's (and still hit the ground with weapon on target in about a second).
 
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