At KR Training, one of our ongoing efforts is to identify acceptable minimum standards and drills for defensive handgun skills.  In the February 2018 issue of SWAT magazine, Justin Dyal wrote about a drill he designed, called the Five Yard Roundup.

FIVE-YARD ROUNDUP: Timed Close-Up Shooting Drill

THE DRILL

The 4 strings of the drill require 10 rounds. It’s shot on an NRA B-8 target at 5 yards.  I’ve broken the drill down with shot by shot par times.

2.5 sec par time

String 1 – one shot draw from concealment

String 2 – 4 shots from ready – 1.25 sec presentation, 0.4 sec splits (1.25, 1.65, 2.05, 2.45)

String 3 – 3 shots from ready, SHO – 1.50 presentation, 0.5 sec splits (1.50, 2.00, 2.50)

String 4 – 2 shots from ready, WHO – 1.75 presentation, 0.75 sec split (1.75, 2.50)

Any late shot (after 2.8) is -5 points (max possible for that shot is 5 points, not 10)

 

HOW HARD IS THIS DRILL?

I had USPSA multi-time national champion Ben Stoeger shoot the drill to benchmark the drill’s difficulty level.

He shot 100 points (perfect score), with 6 in the X ring.

His string times were

String 1 – 1.25 sec (from concealment)

String 2 – 1.63 sec, avg .23 split time between shots, first shot from ready 0.72 sec.

String 3 – 2.07, avg .47 split time, first shot from ready, 0.86 sec.

String 4 – 1.71, .82 split time, first shot from ready, 0.89 sec.

Most of the speed difference between his time and the shot breakdown for the 2.5 sec par time comes in the time from the buzzer to the first shot.  For most shooters at the intermediate/advanced level, the performance gap is in the points (accuracy).

In discussions with Ben and other top shooters, I’ve learned that the general consensus is that the level required to win a national match is between 110-115% of the USPSA 100% standard used in classifier stages.

Using Ben’s times as the 110% standard: 1.25 + 1.63 + 2.07 + 1.71 = 6.66 seconds

Calculating “110%” hit factor = 100 / 6.66 = 15.0 hit factor, so the 100% hit factor is 15/1.1 = 13.636

Shooting 100 points using the 2.5 second par time =100/10 = 10.000

10/13.636 = 73.3%

So the overall “difficulty level” of shooting a perfect score on this drill, with a full size pistol, from concealment, is 73.3%. That means that shooting a perfect score on the drill requires skill at the upper end of IDPA Master, USPSA B class or law enforcement SWAT level.

Those seeking a bigger challenge from this drill should try running it with a 2.25 second, 2.0 second, or faster par time.

RANGEMASTER TACTICAL CONFERENCE 2018 MATCH

At the 2018 Rangemaster Tactical Conference, 38 of the 186 attendees that shot the match shot a perfect 200/200 score on the par time standards.  The Five Yard Roundup drill was used as the tiebreaker, to select the top 16 that would advance to the shootoff.

(photo h/t Tamara Keel)

All those in the top 16 were IDPA Master or higher level shooters. Under the stress of competition, only one shooter (Massad Ayoob) fired a perfect 100, and many shot less than 90 points.  Scoring 90 points or better on this drill, with the small 10 ring on the NRA B-8, can be challenging even for the very skilled shooter.

MINIMUM STANDARDS

How can developing pistol shooters at any level use this drill?

A reasonable goal, on this drill, as a minimum practical standard for a carry permit holder, would be 80 points, using a 3 second par time for each string.

80 / 12 seconds = 6.66 hit factor

6.66/13.636 = 49%. That’s roughly equivalent to the standards for most 2 day “tactical pistol” courses, about twice the difficulty of the Texas License to Carry shooting test

Setting a goal of 90 points is better:

90/12 = 7.5 hit factor

7.5/13.636  = 55%.

POINTS ONLY VERSION

Many ranges do not allowing drawing, and many shooters don’t have shooting timers.  One way to use this drill is to run with it starting each string from the ready, with no par time, and score it purely on points.  That approach will teach proper trigger control and sight alignment. Once someone can score 100 points, start increasing the speed that you run each string.

SUMMARY

This is a well designed short drill that tests a bunch of essential skills using very few rounds.  Because of its design, it does a good job of guiding the shooter to understand the relative cadence of shot to shot speed with 2 handed, dominant hand only and support hand only shooting.