This entry in the Rogers Shooting School test series deals with one of the fastest — and most deceptively tricky — stages, number four.
Stage 4: two-handed, from the holster loaded with exactly six rounds, 7.0 seconds
Maximum points: 9
Two to the body and knock over the head of T1, two to the body and knock over the head of T2, reload from slidelock, knock down T3-T5 at the wall
This is the first forced reload of the test. You start with six rounds in the gun for a 9-point course of fire. After you engage the first two targets (each with two to the body and knock down the heads) you’ll be at slidelock. You are required to get behind cover, reload, and have the gun in battery ready to go before coming out from cover to engage the second array of targets that appear: T3 through T5 at the wall.
Tip #1: Be very fast but not stupid with the body shots. Rogers gives you a quarter second for each one, and most people can probably hit them faster than that. But if you just blindly point shoot at them, you run the risk of missing some of the easiest points in the whole test. So as with other tests that involve the body plates, don’t waste time trying to “shoot the spot” but make sure your shots land.
Tip #2: Reload with a purpose. Rogers gives you about 2.5 seconds to perform the reload and that assumes you needed every moment allotted for the first six shots. For most folks, you’ll get those first six shots off faster and have close to three full seconds for the reload. Since you’re likely to be coming out from cover after the reload before the three plates at the wall rise, you need to have a plan: did you get all your hits with the first six shots, or not?
If you missed anything from the first string of six, reload and immediately make them up. For example, if you missed the T2 “hostage taker” head shot, knock that down before going to the wall. Odds are you’ll have enough time to take a shot at it before the wall targets even rise.
If you went six for six during the first part of the stage, drive straight to your first target on the wall after the reload (the plates will already be up long before you can finish your reload, so you cannot ambush a plate). Most people find T5, the one at the top of the wall, the trickiest. The bottom third or so of the plate is protected by the wall, and especially by the end of the week the area under the plate has been shot so much the red paint has been blasted off the wall leaving silvery-white metal behind. The result is that the plate and the protective wall in front of it look very similar when your focus is on the front sight. Hitting the top (middle) T5 plate first means slightly wider transitions, but if T5 is your nemesis then being poised to ambush it will give you a much better chance of scoring a perfect nine on the test.
I apparently didn’t get any video of myself shooting this test at Rogers, but here is one of Claude Werner (aka HeadHunter) from YouTube. Claude was the head instructor at Rogers for a number of years:
Train hard & stay safe! ToddG
Note the followthrough on the last target in the video. I hit it on the way in. If I had failed to followthrough on the target, I would have had a miss. Followthrough is a key component of the learning experience at Rogers.