Tear it Apart and Help Me Make it Good

[runawaygun762]

I'm working on making a drill for my use and would like some feedback on ways to make it effective. My initial plan was to use paper, but scoring between strings to see where I'm sucking with paper or falling steel would mean a shitload of walking. It is really closer to being a training session than a single drill, but the basic fundamentals worked on remain constant throughout, so I kept it all together. Thoughts?

Range: 10, 15, 20, 25 yds
Target: Static Steel or Poppers set to not fall. Targets numbered left to right, near to far T1-T4
Start position: Holstered
Rounds fired: 40 or 80
Drill can be performed with singles or doubles per engagement, hence the 80 or 160 rounds fired. Drill is broken down into ten strings.
Record time after each string, add total time.
String 1: Draw and engage T1-T4, recording time and holstering between each target
String 2: Same as String 1, but reverse target order
String 3: Draw and engage T1-T4, reloading between engagements. Record total time
String 4: Same as String 3, but reverse target order
String 5: Draw and engage T1-T4. Record total time
String 6: Same as String 5, but reverse target order
String 7: Draw and engage T1, T4, T2, and T3. Record total time
String 8: Draw and engage T4, T1, T3, and T2. Record total time
String 9: Draw and engage T1, T4, T2, and T3, reloading between engagements. Record total time
String 10: Draw and engage T4, T1, T3, and T2, reloading between engagements. Record total time

 

[drmitchgibson]

You won't be able to score it. Sounds like pass/fail.

 

[runawaygun762]

Correct. My initial idea was to use hit factor to find a good blend of speed and accuracy with paper, but that's just too much detail I think.

 

[drmitchgibson]

I think paper is the way to go. I know it's less convenient, but paper never lies. You are held accountable by the hole placement.

Is this like a standard? Like a way to measure your development? I feel like it must be, because the small drills build skill.

 

[Josh Smash]

What if you arrange the steel small to large depending on your skill or goals? For example: T1=1/2 A Zone, T2= A Zone, T3 and T4 C Zone. That way you get feedback from your hits and keep recording your progress simple. But, you can't review where your misses are.

 

[mike cyrwus]

Use someone else's drills.. Everything that you need has already been done, proofed, and vetted..
That way you can start working on skills instead of working on how you're going to be working on skills.

 

[runawaygun762]

Use someone else's drills.. Everything that you need has already been done, proofed, and vetted..
That way you can start working on skills instead of working on how you're going to be working on skills.

There is only so much brass I can sort and targets I can cut out during a 24-hour staff duty before my eyes cross. As moronic as it sounds, the army frowns on dry firing on duty.

 

[runawaygun762]

I think paper is the way to go. I know it's less convenient, but paper never lies. You are held accountable by the hole placement.

Is this like a standard? Like a way to measure your development? I feel like it must be, because the small drills build skill.

I think that's a great way to go. It encompasses a large number of individual skills and would be better as an evaluation, letting me see which areas are weak and thus which skill building drills to focus on. I like it. The problem with paper is by the time it's over, I will have walked 500 yards checking and taping targets. No big deal, but it would take up a lot of extra time. But then again, if I'm going to use it as a weekly or monthly evaluation, alternating with Dot Torture or similar, I could devote one session to just this.

 

[drmitchgibson]

Shooting doesn't take much time. 40-80 rounds and keeping focused, once set up you could knock that out in 30min easy all while recording results. Maybe more like 45min if you used paper and 80-160 rounds. I find that I shoot an almost alarming volume in practice in a very short time when I am focused and prepared to just shoot, record, reset, and load mags.

How would you handle mikes if you used steel for this? Make-up shots are allowed? With all these strings I think it would need to be a stricter test, and even with make-up shots you should record mikes. I leave a "notes" area in my notebook to record things like sloppy reloads, bad grip/draw, dead primer, etc. so when I look back I can see why a run might be longer.

When I look at this drill again, it looks like an expanded version of The Accelerator. It's an interesting drill, and my favorite.

 

[runawaygun762]

I bounced back and forth between shooting until you get your hits and only shooting the prescribed number of rounds. I think disallowing makeups is a better idea, especially since it's going to be an evaluation and, knowing myself, I will be a bit less deliberate and faster on the trigger if I know I can fire more rounds if I miss.

There could be a positive effect of being able to have make up shots, but since this is for me and not trying to push it out to others, I'll stick with Virginia
count.