This week’s DotW comes from an active duty U.S. military officer who is directly involved in training for a special operations unit. For obvious reasons, he has asked to remain anonymous, but we very much appreciate that he shared this drill with us. It’s a good idea to use the same warm-up drill every time you go to the range, because it lets you track your progress over time and also lets you know how well you can shoot “cold” …
Warm-Up Drill
Target: Any silhouette type target
Set up: Drill is designed to be shot cold, just as you arrive on the range if you are able to shoot duty/carry ammo. Use the first loaded magazine of training ammo otherwise. It was designed around a 15 shot DA/SA pistol for a specific military unit but could be modified to work with any platform
Stage 1: Set up on a target anywhere from the five to seven yard line. If you have a shot timer, use it to cue. Upon the signal, push for the maximum speed that allows certain impacts and present from the holster, firing two rounds to the body and one to the head of the target. Follow through, scan, decock as necessary, holster. Review shot impacts and time, record in shooting journal- this is how good you actually are.
Stage 2: Move to the three yard line. Pick one of the chest impacts, using that bullet hole as aiming point, come to a ready position and with no time limit and maximum precision, fire four (4) Double Action shots. All shots should be touching.
Stage 3: Pick the remaining chest impact and use for an aiming point. Fire (4) single action shots with no time limit and maximum precision, focusing on following through, holding the trigger back and letting it forward to reset the sear with each shot. All shots should form one ragged hole.
Stage 4: Identify the impact to the head. Decock the pistol and blade into a one handed stance. Fire (1) shot double action and (3) shots single action using the strong hand only with no time limit and maximum precision. Reload upon slide lock, follow through, scan, decock, holster. Shots should be nearly touching. Paste shot holes/ reface target and continue with training session objectives.
Training with firearms is an inherently dangerous activity. Be sure to follow all safety protocols when using firearms or practicing these drills. These drills are provided for information purposes only. Use at your own risk.
Sounds like a good drill. Readers, just remember that your stance should not change when you have only one hand to shoot with. Other than that, it is a good test and warm up drill.
I tend not to warm up much at practice. I use my cold runs for the really hard stuff. I want to see what I can accomplish on harder drills when I’m cold. That being said though, this would make a great warm up just to get the flow going.
I tend to agree with Great Bison – Shooting stance doesnt change when shooting strong hand or support hand only…. Blading up is old school bullseye stuff and not the modern thinking so much.
I guess I don’t see it as a warm-up so much as an option for your cold drill. I like to do the same drill every time I go to the range as my “cold drill” because I can then track my progress from week to week and year to year.
As for blading vs. squared for 1-handed shooting, I find this varies a lot from shooter to shooter. And once we move off the square range, circumstance (and movement) tends to throw all of these little details out the window because stance and position get dictated, not chosen.
Very true. Although I teach staying squared to the target, especially being static, and not changing that stance when one hand is removed, it realy does not matter if you line up the sights and work the trigger correctly. The round will go where is was intended. However the stance MAY help in the efficency and speed of the shot or shots taken. But like you said. Once someones shooting at you, MOVE MOVE MOVE. Stance??? Ahhh, not so much. Downed and disabled on the ground you can still shoot accuratly. Line them sights up and work the trigger smooth.
I like this one a lot. Thanks for a new one to add to my training.