[Minimum Standards] Shooting Ed Head’s CHL practice drill

At KR Training, one of our ongoing efforts is to identify acceptable minimum standards for defensive handgun skills.  Gunsite instructor Ed Head posted a drill he recommends as a good standard for any person carrying concealed, so John and I went to the range and shot the drill to give it a try.

The drill is simple:

  • 3 yards, draw from concealment.  Two rounds center mass, 2 seconds, strong hand only.
  • 3 yards, draw from concealment.  Two rounds center mass, 2 seconds, strong hand only.
  • 3 yards, draw from concealment.  Two rounds center mass, one round to the head, 3 seconds, two handed.
  • 3 yards, draw from concealment.  Two rounds center mass, one round to the head, 3 seconds, two handed.
  • 5 yards, draw from concealment.  Two rounds center mass on two separate targets.  4 seconds, two handed.
  • 10 yards, low ready position.  Two rounds center mass, one target.  4 seconds, two handed.
  • 10 yards, low ready position, Two rounds center mass on two separate targets, 5 seconds, two handed.

Ed suggests using USPSA or IDPA targets, or one with an 8″ circle representing upper chest, and 3″x5″ card for the head scoring area, which matches the dimensions of the F.A.S.T. target we used for our demo.

Drill Breakdown

At 3 yards, a 1.5 second concealment draw is a good standard to train to.  That leaves 0.5 second to make the follow up center mass shot, and another full second for the head shot on the 3-shot drills at this distance.

Moving back to 5 yards, the drill gives shooters a little more time:

  • Draw to first shot = 1.75 seconds
  • Follow up shot, target 1 = 0.75 seconds (2.50 elapsed)
  • Transition to next target and fire first shot = 0.75 seconds (3.25 elapsed)
  • Follow up shot, target 2 = 0.75 seconds (4.00 elapsed)

The 10 yard, low ready, 2 shots on one target string timing looks like this:

  • Low ready to first shot = 2.50 seconds
  • Follow up shot = 1.50 seconds (4.00 total)

If shooters are running 0.75 splits at 5 yards, doubling the distance allows doubling of the split time.

To me the allowed time on this string, compared to all the others, seems overly generous.

The final string – two shots on two targets at 10 yards,  has to be shot faster than the previous 10 yard string, if the par time is to be met:

  • Low ready to first shot = 2.00 seconds
  • Follow up shot = 1.00 second (3.00 total)
  • Transition to next target = 1.00 (4.00 total)
  • Follow up shot = 1.00 second (5.00 total)

Using this breakdown, the par time for the first string at 10 yards (low ready, 2 shots on one target) should be 3.00 seconds, not 4.  I suggest using a 3 second par time for that first string at 10 yards, or changing the start position for the one target at 10 yards drill to “drawing from concealment” to add a bit more work to the tasks to be accomplished in the 4 second par time.

Summary

This is a good 20 round drill that can be used in many ways:

  • Shoot it cold at the start of each practice session as pass/fail.  All 20 shots must hit inside the 8″ circle or 3″x5″ card, within par times, to pass.  Any string you fail, work on that string in practice until you can do it.
  • Daily dry fire.  Use a 1/3 scale dry fire target and use a “dead” trigger to fire follow up shots.
  • Add scanning and movement, or distance (change 3-5-10 yards to 5-7-15 yards or even 10-15-25 yards).
  • Run the drill with Comstock scoring instead of par times.  The total par time for all strings is 23 seconds.   If you use a USPSA target with B/C/D zones, and score using “minor” scoring (5 points for A, 3 for B/C hits, and 1 for D hits), dividing points by time, you can calculate a hit factor.  The original passing standard is 100 points divided 23 seconds, or a hit factor of 4.35.  Set a new goal of shooting the drill with a hit factor of 5, 6, 7, or higher!  A USPSA Grand Master level shooter should be able to run this drill with a hit factor over 8.