designed by Dave Sevigny
Range: 15yd
Target: MGM Auto-Popper or 8″ plate
Start position: varies (see below)
Rounds fired: varies (see below)
Dave Sevigny developed this drill to test draw speed and trigger control. It’s quite challenging. All you need is a steel target and a shot timer.
- Draw and fire (freestyle) until you get a hit on the target. Record your time. Repeat for a total of five draws.
- Draw and fire strong hand only until you get a hit on the target. Record your time. Repeat for a total of five draws.
- Draw, transfer gun to weak hand and fire weak hand only until you get a hit on the target. Record your time. Repeat for a total of five draws.
Remember, you fire however many shots you need to get a hit. At the end of the drill you should have a total of fifteen times recorded. Add them all together to get your score. All fifteen runs — 5 freestyle, then 5 SHO, then 5 WHO — have to be shot consecutively with no “free passes” or excuses.
The target needs to be put up against the berm to prevent rounds skipping out of the range on a bad draw. The target needs to be steel because you continue engaging it until you score a hit. If you used a paper target and realized after the fact that you missed a shot, you have no way to score your time for that run.
Dave considers anything under 23 seconds to be a Grand Master level score. His personal best is 20.71! If you are drawing from concealment, the “GM standard” is 26 seconds.
(For a more “tactical” drill, you can do a standard weak hand only draw but keep in mind that this will be significantly slower for most people than the strong-to-weak transfer. Unless you have specific professional training in the safe execution of a weak hand only drawstroke, do not attempt it with a live gun.)
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.