In case you haven’t noticed, ammo prices are inching up, not down. While we’re not in the crazy days of the COVID buying panic anymore, it’s not going to get cheaper to shoot your guns. At least not any time soon.
Getting the most bang for your buck (literally), is important, and so is managing your time. Very few of us can take a day off and head to the range for an extended practice session, so finding a way to optimize your range time and ammo supply makes a lot of sense.
My marksmanship skills are above average, but I wouldn’t consider myself a crack shot. I’m a B-Class USPSA or IDPA Expert Shooter and can shoot and pass the FBI Pistol Qualification at an instructor level pretty much on-demand.
These are perishable skills, however, and need regular practice sessions on the range to maintain that level. In order to accomplish this goal, I’ve worked up a 50-round practice session that takes less than an hour to shoot yet covers a wide variety of essential shooting techniques.
The Cold Open
I’m a big believer in measuring on-demand, no warmup shooting ability. You’re not going to get a chance to work on grip, stance, sights and trigger if you have to defend a life with your firearm, it’s what you already have in the tank that’s going to get you home when that happens.
I use the Bakersfield Police Department Pistol Qualification as my benchmark of on-demand performance because shooting this well requires a mixture of speed and accuracy.
Bakersfield Police Department Pistol Qualification (10 rounds)
Target: USPSA or IDPA silhouette target
String One: 2 rounds at 10 feet. Par time: 1.5 seconds.
String Two: 2 rounds at 20 feet. Par time: 2 seconds.
String Three: 2 rounds, emergency reload, 2 rounds at 30 feet. Par time: 6 seconds (8 for revolvers)
String Four: 2 rounds at 60 feet. Par time: 3.5 seconds.
If those par times look a little spicy, that’s because they are. However, the scoring adjusts for that, which is:
Score every hit in the A Zone/Down Zero as 10 points, with every hit in the C Zone/Down One as 9 points. Every hit in the D Zone/Down 3 is 6 points, and misses do not count for points. Every .25 second over the par time is -1 point. Passing is 80 points or more.
So if, for example, you score 86 points, but make every par time, you pass. On the other hand, if you take your time and get 92 points, but go a cumulative 2 seconds over the par times, you still pass (92-(2 x .25)=84). This scoring system allows you to see what your balance of speed versus accuracy looks like at any given moment.
25 Round Dot Torture
Thanks to Tim Reedy for this reduced-round count version of my least-favorite favorite drill. It seems easy: 25 rounds into a bunch of two-inch dots? How hard could it be?
Then you see the strong-hand only and support-hand only dots and realize that passing means all the shots on target. Anything less is a fail.
This drill works great for people who are still working on building the basics of pistol shooting into automatic performance. Those who have the skills on demand need to practice other things such as visual speed and target transitions. The classic El Presidente drill is excellent for working on these skills, and I’ve added a twist to help with one-hand only shooting.
Twisted El Prez
Targets: Three silhouette targets, IDPA, USPSA or similar set three yards apart.
Distance: 10 yards
Start Position: gun holstered, facing away from targets
String One
Load your pistol with six rounds and have a magazine with six rounds available. On the start signal, turn and engage each target with two rounds each, then perform an emergency reload. Engage each target with two rounds each using only your strong hand.
String Two
Load your pistol with six rounds and have a magazine with six rounds available. On the start signal, turn and engage each target with two rounds each, then perform an emergency reload. Transfer your gun to your support hand and engage each target with two rounds each.
If you did the warmpup and one of these two drills, that will bring you up to about 35 rounds. With fifteen or sixteen rounds remaining in a box, I like to finish those off with two runs through Todd Louis Green’s F.A.S.T. test and then a Failure To Stop Drill.
As I said before, these drills are a maintenance session meant to keep my skills at an existing level and show areas where I’m lacking. I can then address those areas when I have the chance. Either way, I’m keeping what I have at a level that will be there when I need it most.