Week 202: Sword and Shield

[Mr_White]

Week 202: Sword and Shield

Results may be posted until March 3rd, 2017.

Range: 10 yards
Target: B8 bull (repair center ok), download repair center here: https://pistol-forum.com/attachment....1&d=1322428748
Start Position: Holstered
Rounds Fired: 8
Additional Equipment Required: Tall cover or suitable substitute, like a Bianchi barricade, two barrels stacked, or even a target stand with one target placed high and one placed low

This drill is intended to focus on a very specific aspect of using a barrier: engaging, then rapidly changing positions, reestablishing line of sight and reengaging, in order to deny the adversary prolonged periods of broken line of sight, which allows them the opportunity to close distance or flank us uncontested. A basic piece of human performance science that informs the time frames we could potentially be dealing with is the classic Tueller Doctrine - an average person can move about 7 yards in about 1.5 seconds. The distance in this drill is 10 yards. That means if we have eyes off the adversary for approximately two seconds, they could potentially flank or overrun our position if they aggress immediately in response to seeing us break line of sight. This drill only speaks to one of the dynamics potentially involved - fluidly and rapidly changing positions, reestablishing line of sight ASAP, and reengaging. There is certainly more involved in the overall situation represented, but this drill focuses on this one particular aspect of working from a piece of cover.

Procedure

Start with the target placed ten yards downrange directly in front of the barrier, handgun loaded and holstered, standing behind the barrier, without line of sight to the target. At the start signal, draw, lean out from cover and engage the target with one round. Immediately switch to the other side of the barricade, reestablish line of sight with the target and engage with one round. Switch back to the other side of the barricade at a different height/altitude, reestablish line of sight and reengage. Switch back to the other side of the barricade and engage with one more round. That's four rounds so far. Continue until you have engaged with a total of eight rounds.

Over the course of the eight rounds, you need to engage from a total of four distinct positions - for simplicity, let's say high right, high left, low right, and low left. You need to switch sides of the barricade on every engagement - no engaging from the same side twice in a row. To engage from four different positions, you'll also need to change height/altitude a few times (simplest way is to change height/altitude every other engagement.) If that sounds confusing, please see the video in my next post and it will be much clearer. When I shot this drill this morning, I made it simple for myself while still varying positions as specified. I engaged high right, high left, low right, low left, high right, high left, low right, and low left. If you want to choose some other sequence that satisfies the requirements of changing sides every engagement, and changing height every other engagement, that is perfectly fine.

Very Important Tactical Elements Not Reflected In Your Score

There are a few things that are very important to do in this drill, but which may not show up in the score.

Get your finger in register while changing positions. Don't forget that cover is supposed to stop bullets, and that means your bullets too. Simulated cover on the range usually isn't physically dangerous to shoot. But if you are behind real cover and ND into it, you could receive penetrating injury from a richochet, bullet fragments, or spalling. Do you wear safety glasses in daily life? You could take yourself out of the fight by shooting your own cover and taking debris in the eyes.

Stand off from cover. Be far enough back from the barrier that it doesn't impede your ability to rapidly change positions. Don't crowd the cover and force yourself to move the gun more than necessary.

Use the cover tightly. Don't let any body parts hang out from the cover, allowing the adversary to engage you while you neither have line of sight established nor are engaging him, and further, potentially telegraphing the location you are about to more substantially appear from.

Lead with your eyes, not the sights/gun. You need to find the target with your eyes before you mount the gun and get on the sights. Our B8 bull isn't going to do anything, but if a real adversary gets into a lowered position during the time we have broken line of sight, and then expecting to find the adversary at a standing height, we get on the sights before leaning out from the next position, creating an artificial horizon line that the adversary is now below, it may ruinously delay our engagement. This is a big potential opportunity for the adversary. Lead, by just a little, with the eyes and locate the target first, then mount the gun and engage.

I'm not going to ask for your split times (times between positions/shots) to be reported, but do take a look at them. Ideally, you'll have approximately two seconds or less between positions/shots. Remember, at this distance, if a real person sees you break line of sight and immediately aggresses, they could be upon you in about two seconds.

Scoring

Your score is your time, divided by the number of hits you got to the B8 bull (anywhere in the black - if the grease ring touches the 9-ring, it counts as a hit.) A lower score is better in this drill. The shorter your time, the lower/better your score will be. The more hits you got to the B8 bull (out of the possible eight) the lower/better your score will be. For example, say you completed the eight shots in 32 seconds, and got a total of four hits to the B8 bull, your score would be 8. (32 seconds/4 hits = Final Score of 8)

Please report the following when you post your results in this thread:

Pistol, holster, concealment (optional)
Time
Number of hits to the B8 Bull
Final Score (time divided by number of hits to the B8 Bull)
Anything you noticed

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.

[Mr_White]

Pistol, holster, concealment (optional): Gen3 G34, loaded with 124gr + P Gold Dot, concealed in a Keeper under a polo shirt

Time: 15.41

Number of hits to the B8 Bull: 8

Final Score (time divided by number of hits to the B8 Bull): 15.41/8 = 1.92625

Anything you noticed: It was fun to convert this tactical exercise into a timed and scored drill. I think fluidly working a barrier like this, and the reasons for doing so, are frequently glossed over in square range tactical training - but I think it's a really important aspect of using a barrier. I'm also always struck at how much harder shooting is when virtually any aggravating element is introduced - single handed shooting, movement, or in this case, using cover tightly and the resulting contortion to the upper body shooting platform. Gotta be strong on those sights and trigger!

[MVS]

Pistol, holster, concealment (optional) G17 MOS w/Vortex Viper, Blade tech holster, jacket concealment.
Time 17.63
Number of hits to the B8 Bull 8
Final Score (time divided by number of hits to the B8 Bull) 2.20375
Anything you noticed

Pistol, holster, concealment (optional) Ruger 1911 CMDR, Blade tech OWB holster, Jacket concealment
Time 19.15
Number of hits to the B8 Bull 7
Final Score (time divided by number of hits to the B8 Bull) 2.7357
Anything you noticed

[JAD]

Pistol, holster, concealment (optional) G17, wing claw, polo
Time 23.27
Number of hits to the B8 Bull 7
Final Score (time divided by number of hits to the B8 Bull) 3.24
Anything you noticed Super fun drill; I have a tendency to lose focus when complex movement was involved and this was good practice for that. I ran it again for a 2.32 (clean) and a 2.69.

[BehindBlueI's]

P226 .40, American Eagle ammo
Bladetech IWB under button down shirt.

The barricade used is in the last photo.

Tilt your head to the left to view photos...I wish we could rotate them, but left is up. First is cold at 26.84 with one miss (and it's a miss by a mile, barely on paper). 20.68 clean was the best I did on my 5th and final run. I was very consistent in at least 7 hits.

Cold score: 3.83
So best score: 2.585

[JAD]

G17, VM2, sport coat
Time: four runs: 22.61/24.17/21.17/20.12
Number of hits to the B8 Bull: 6/4/6/7
Final Score (time divided by number of hits to the B8 Bull) 3.77/6.04/3.52/2.87
Anything you noticed: I spiked my knee in the gravel on the first run and it made me really tentative. Jacked me up.