Drill: The 5 in 10

Spending time on the revolver this year, I quickly realized that many standardized drills are not “revolver neutral”. Shooting 10 rounds on the clock is a definite disadvantage for the wheelgun operator (as maybe it should be), making it difficult to draw comparisons of actual shooting ability, regardless of firearm capacity.

In an effort to have a drill that could be used to compare my ability to shoot any handgun that I am aware of, I decided to come up with a 5 round drill to use as a performance tracker. I wanted the drill to be quick, logistically easy to pull off, and sort of accuracy intensive. I think in general, there is not always enough emphasis placed on accuracy, so I wanted to make sure the accuracy standard is a little higher than what people might be used to dealing with under time pressure.

The final iteration of the drill ended up being firing 5 rounds for score on a NRA B-8 at 25 yards in 10 seconds. A passing score is 40 points (80%) within the PAR. Essentially, it requires the shooter to pull of a draw from concealment and 5 hits inside the 8 ring on a B-8 target, which is 8″ in diameter. Not a horribly difficult standard with a duty size handgun, but a challenge with something like a S&W J-frame or Ruger LCP.

The drill is on the edge of what I can pull off, which is exactly where I wanted it to be. I am about 50/50 on the drill. What usually gets me is going too slow and having way too much accuracy. I struggle to find that confidence to shoot just a hair faster.