Wednesday, March 22, 2017

Active Pistol Shooting Drills – February 2017

I got to hitch along a shooting session instructed by the Special Unit of one of our local Law Enforcement Agencies, and one thing I liked about this session was how they used “Active” types of Pistol Shooting Drills. By “active” I mean drills that are stimulating or used movement also rather than just standing at a spot and then shooting at a static target.

In a way some of these drills are similar to the ones used by the International Defensive Pistol Association (IDPA). IDPA by the way is the governing body of a shooting sport that simulates self-defense scenarios and real life encounters. They put more emphasis on shooting on the move or behind cover, etc. anything that simulates shooting that might happen in real life.

They also don't allow “Competition only” equipment and permit only stock equipment with as minor modifications as possible. It was founded in 1996 now has an estimated 20,000 members in 50 countries around the world.1

Hence I thought of noting down these drills here to share with others and also for me to use as reference in case I want to go thru them again on my own. Note again that these are NOT necessarily IDPA drills really, but are IDPA “type”, or similar to some of the ones they are using.

STANDING DRILL
Number of Shooters: 1
Number of Targets: 3
Distance to Nearest Target: 10 meters
Total Number of Rounds Needed: 6
Number of Magazines Needed: 2
Number of Rounds per Magazine: 3
Number of Magazine Changes Needed: 1



Target Placement:
Three targets are placed side by side of each other, with at least a meter of distance between them.

Drill Description:
This drill was used as a warmup before proceeding to the ones that require movement. The shooter stands in front of the center target from around 10 m away. He draws his gun, then starts shooting the targets from Left to Right (or vice versa), putting one round on each target.

After hitting the third target, he changes magazines, then starts shooting again at the third target before moving to the other two targets, hitting each with one round. Drill ends when the last round is fired on the last target.

WALKING DRILL
Number of Shooters: 1
Number of Targets: 3
Distance to Nearest Target: 3 meters
Total Number of Rounds Needed: 6
Number of Magazines Needed: 2
Number of Rounds per Magazine: 3
Number of Magazine Changes Needed: 1



Target Placement:
Three targets are placed side by side of each other, with at least a meter of distance between them.

Drill Description:
Shooter stands in front of the center target from around 10 m away. He draws his gun, then starts WALKING FORWARD and at the same time shooting the targets from Left to Right (or vice versa), putting one round on each target.

When the shooter is around 3 m away from the target and has fired his third round, he stops, changes magazines, and then starts shooting again the last target he hit WHILE WALKING BACKWARDS. He shoots each target with one round again until he goes back to his starting position. The drill ends when the last round is fired on the last target.

WALKING AND BARRICADE DRILL
Number of Shooters: 1
Number of Targets: 9
Distance to Nearest Target: 3 meters
Total Number of Rounds Needed: 18
Number of Magazines Needed: 3
Number of Rounds per Magazine: 6
Number of Magazine Changes Needed: 2



Target and Barricade Placement:
Three targets are placed side by side of each other at the center, with at least a meter of distance between them. Another three targets are placed on one side, each a meter apart horizontally and a meter apart in front of the other. And the third set of targets are similarly placed on the other side. A door type barricade is required to shoot behind from for the targets on the sides.

Drill Description:
The shooter can start with either the left or right barricade, shooting the three targets left to right (or vice versa) with one round each, then shooting again at the three targets starting from the last target he hit.

Shooter then changes magazines and starts walking horizontally towards the second barricade. While doing so, he needs to engage the three center targets, one shot each from left to right (or vice versa) and then back again until all six rounds are fired.

When the shooter reaches the next barricade, he changes magazines and then engages the last three targets, left to right (or vice versa) and back until all six rounds are fired.

STEEL PLATE COMPETITION DRILL
Number of Shooters: 2
Number of Targets: 11
Distance to Nearest Target: 10 meters
Total Number of Rounds Needed: No limit
Number of Magazines Needed: No limit
Number of Rounds per Magazine: No limit
Number of Magazine Changes Needed: No limit



Target Placement:
Five targets assigned per shooter, they are placed side by side of each other with around half a meter of distance between them. An eleventh target is placed slightly further out in between the two sets of five targets.

Drill Description:
This is not really a dynamic shooting drill, but equally as stimulating, if not more so. It pits two shooters against each other in a contest. A shooter needs to drop all of the five targets assigned to him before he can try to hit the eleventh target. Whoever drops the eleventh target first then “wins” the contest.

There is no limit to the number of rounds or magazines that can be used in this drill, but of course the idea is that if you need less rounds to hit all of your targets, then you are likely to win.

'No Double Taps'
An important note to remember about most of the drills above is that NO DOUBLE TAPS ARE ALLOWED. You need to hit the targets once, and then go back thru them again. The idea behind this is that if you are against multiple opponents, then it is best to hit them once, and then go back and hit them again if you have the chance.

Which makes sense, because you don't want to spend too much time on one target before moving on to the next one. Neutralize or incapacitate all first before going back thru them again for more incapacitation or for the kill.

’Disadvantages’
The only disadvantage of these drills is that they need a lot of logistical requirements, you would need at minimum:
- A fairly large shooting range to accommodate all targets;
- Nine target platforms;
- Eleven steel targets.

There aren’t many indoor shooting ranges that has these requirements, so you would probably need to look for an outdoor shooting range, preferably one that has sheltered areas around it where you can take shelter from the sun. It also takes a bit of time to set the targets up.

’Parting Shot’
I only shot around 80 rounds to finish all drills above, but those sessions I felt were more useful and enjoyable than any of the static shooting session I have ever had. I remember a couple of years ago wherein I would go to a range, shoot one to two hundred rounds in about an hour or so and it wasn’t as interesting or purposeful, almost like just a way to pass the time.

But these active type of drills I felt I learned more, mainly on how to steady my shots while moving, and they are a lot more enjoyable. They do require a fairly large logistical requirement, but if you can pull it off then you will end up with a better and more fun shooting session.

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