Week 225: The Test

[Mr_White]

Week 225: The Test

Results may be posted until August 14th, 2017.

Designed by: Ken Hackathorn
Range: 10 yards
Target: B8 repair center, download here: https://pistol-forum.com/attachment....1&d=1322428748
Start Position: Ready, or see variations below
Rounds Fired: 10

Let's shoot this classic from Ken Hackathorn!

The most essential version of The Test is to start with the gun in a ready position, with a B8 bullseye at 10 yards, and the par time set to 10 seconds. At the start signal, shoot 10 rounds to the B8 under the time limit. Scoring is handled different ways depending on the context, but for our DotW, let's make the goal to get all rounds in the black of the B8 (which is the 9-ring or better.) Let's use a .3 second grace period with the par time so that the shooter can react and stop shooting if time runs out (set the par to 10 seconds, but only shots over 10.3 seconds are overtime shots that count as misses.)

You pass if you get all ten rounds in the black of the B8 under the time limit.

There are harder variations too - feel free to shoot any/all of them/work your way up/etc. - just note which way you shot it when you report your results.

If you can keep them all in the black under the time limit starting from ready, try drawing from the holster.

If you can keep them all in the black under the time limit drawing from the holster, try drawing from the concealed holster.

If you can keep them all in the black under the time limit drawing from the concealed holster, try going back to starting from ready, but shooting it strong hand only, or keeping all rounds in the 10-ring or better, etc.

Those are just some suggestions - there are lots of possibilities to make something harder while still firing 10 rounds at 10 yards under 10 seconds - just note what you did when your report your results.

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

Equipment used: gun, holster (if applicable), concealment (if applicable)
Variations (holstered, concealed, SHO, etc.)
Pass or Fail
Number of points
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.

[Wayne Dobbs]

This should be fun!

[Dagga Boy]

Never did one of these Drill of the Week things before, but being this is a favorite. Here is my second day with the PX4CC. Wayne and I usually shoot a cold test the first drill on the range to evaluate what we need to work on. This was done cold, at the Girl and a Gun Conference just prior to teaching a class. To say I was thrilled was an understatement.

[Mr_White]

DB - I heard you really like the PX4 Compact. It's great to see you posting in one of these Drills of the Week!

[GAP]

On my range as we speak.. shot cold using a 3x5 index card and a Glock 19 in a JM AIWB.

Pass - 10/10 - 9.75 (draw from concealment)

[okie john]

Equipment used: Gen4 G19, no mods except for a Trijicon HD rear sight with Ameriglo night sight front post. No holster, no concealment.
Variations: None
Pass
Score: 97/2x



Anything you noticed: I’ve been shooting this drill for years. It’s easy to get spooked by the time limit. 10 seconds is plenty and it's not that hard to shoot it in 7-8 seconds. Look at the numbers: most of us would agree that a 2-second first shot and 0.80 splits is pretty slow for the conditions of the standard drill. But if you can do that, then you’ll fire all 10 shots in 9.2 seconds.

If you can’t shoot it clean in par time, then the trick is not to go faster but to slow down. Find out how long it takes to hold the black, and stick to that. If you need 12 seconds, then take 12 seconds, but hold the black. Then use your timer and focus on keeping your split times as consistent as possible--ideally within a few hundredths of each other. If you shoot a bunch of .2's and break that up with a .5 (or a bunch of .5's and a couple of .2's), then focus on smoothing things up. As the splits get more consistent, they’ll get smaller. When I was shooting this one every couple of days, I could hold the ten ring for all ten shots in par time or a little less, and a couple of times I did that with 8-9 in the X-ring. I never quite hit 100/10x, though...

A side note: per a story that Ken Hackathorn tells in class, this drill came out of a conversation between him and Larry Vickers when LAV was running a portion of the training for new troops in a counter-terrorist unit. These guys had been through selection, but were not yet fully trained, and LAV needed a quick overall test of pistol skill as a sort of mid-term exam. Ken proposed The Test. Candidates were told that they could warm up all they wanted, but that they had to declare one run for score. If they failed, then they were sent back to their original units.

I bet that sucked.


Okie John

[MVS]

G17MOS w/DPPro
Ready position
Pass
98 3X 6.84 seconds


From the holster
Pass
7.28 seconds


These were my first runs. I then ran some 5R5 and SHO/WHO runs. It took me a number of runs to shoot the SHO/WHO clean and in time, when I finally did, I stopped.

[ST911]

One of my favorite exercises!

warmed up, 60 rounds fired already
gen2 G22 w/ KKM 9mm conversion barrel
from ready
run1: 5.68, 95-4X
run2: 5.80, 93-2X

Fail both targets. Didn't want to be cheesy and score the grease ring on #2.

[Dagga Boy]

ST911, that may be a "fail" in this version, but it is good shooting by all other standards. The usual criteria is 90%. Dumping a couple out of the black is fairly normal. We use this drill a ton as a simple evaluation. We often get the "I don't need a basic class", "I ve been shooting all my life", "I m a cop", "I was in the military and am an expert", "I work in the gun industry", etc......we have a simple response to all of those......"Well, Let's shoot a Test" (often uttered in the same tone as the Church Lady from when Saturday Night Live was funny). For many here, this is not horribly difficult. For a majority of what we deal with from recreational or new shooters just starting to get serious, cops, military, etc., we call this "getting thrown into the deep end of the pool". This is one of those things that sort of needs to get mastered before we start working on the things many obsess about.
The ten yard TEST is really a simple test of the balance of speed and accuracy. It is execution of near perfect fundementals in a realistic time frame. The half test (10 rounds, five yards, five seconds, from the holster) is really a test of recoil control and speed management. We look at these as good evaluation drills to see where errors are being mad and a guide as to what to work on. Our Super Test and Advanced Super Test (and the revolver and snub versions) were all developed out of homage to Ken Hackathorn to have a battery of tests to help people get a solid skills evaluation. Many obsess over some tests or drills trying to attain some score or ranking. That is fine if it's your thing, but the true beauty of these things are really to be able to self evaluate performance and where you are.

Like I posted earlier, Wayne and I will shoot a cold Test out of the gate the second we step on the range. If I screw that test up.....fundementals failures will get fixed first before moving on to anything else. In my mind, if I can't shoot a 90 or better test cold...then I need to fix that before I start worrying about multiple target speed engagements, or working on other more difficult drills.

[Duelist]

My first attempt at this drill ever. Shot cold, first rounds of the day.

G26, all factory except the SCD. From JCMK IWB#3, under an untucked button down.

92-0x, 2 in the 8 ring.
11.91
Fail- over time, 2 out of the black.