Week 225: The Test

[Francis]

Equipment used: G26 gen4, G17 mag
Variations: From ready
Pass or Fail: Fail
Number of points: ?,?, 97 , 92
Anything you noticed: I was using 2 types of ammo today so ran this twice with each type. The first run I only got 6 shots off before the buzzer. The 2nd run I never heard the buzzer so the time was 13.46. I didn't bother scoring those 2.

The next 2 runs were much better and, while a failure by the rules, a moral victory. Third attempt was a 97 @ 10.57, fourth was 92 @ 10.68. The main difference that I noticed was on the last two attempts my attitude changed. Rather than trying to get the perfect shot I decided to shoot when my sights were anywhere on the black. I didn't wait for everything to completely settle back down. So not a pass but progress.

[backtrail540]

Chopped and stippled glock 17, minus connector, Heinie's, gadget

All runs from the holster concealed under a polo in a Mastermind Tactics AIWB

Run 1 - 92 in 7.18 - fail (dropped 1 out of the black)



Run 2 - 93 in 7.2 fail (pulled one high right)



Run 3 - 98 in 9.00 - pass




The first run i smiley faced around the 10 ring so i tried driving the dot on run two. I know i can run top edge with this gun and combo, i just needed slightly better sight pictures than i was getting and not to be sloppy with the trigger presses. Not being happy failing both previous runs, i pulled my head out of my ass and got solid sight pictures and coupled them up with a nice press for a passing run. For the first two runs i was running .5-.6 splits, the good run i was .6-.8. It's amazing how much difference a .1 can make. I didn't feel i was pushing particularly hard, i knew the time limit was generous, even from the holster concealed, i just needed to put it all together. The first two runs weren't terrible and felt good, but i still didn't meet the goal, so i figured I'd give it a 3rd try but really buckle down to meet the all black standard and succeeded.

**all the pictures are sideways fyi***

[BJXDS]

Equipment used: Glock 19 Gen 4, JMCK IWB 4 o'clock, concealed Tshirt, started from holster
Fail
Number of points: Did not count points of each run but the total was 186/3X
Anything you noticed: I ran this cold, 31 days no live fire, limited dry fire during that time. I missed 2 shots on the first run, and one with the red line on the second run. I think sight tracking for me takes the biggest hit during periods of no live fire, and maybe a little bit of grip.

[Doc_Glock]

Equipment used: G17k, AIWB Concealed, Holstered
Pass or Fail: Fail, dropped one out of the black and took 11.41 to complete.
Number of points: 96



Anything you noticed: I shoot The Test, or the HITS 15/10/5 yard version a lot. I consider it one of the staples of my training. This day I shot it three weeks cold using a G17 with reduced grip to G19 size. Overall I am happy with the run, but my timing was not there to get under 10s.

[ST911]

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...

Coming back to OJ's post above...

I shoot this test a lot and use it with others. I continually find that there's an intersection...sweet spot...of speed, accuracy, and rhythm that is unique to each shooter. It's more than smooth even splits, and not a matter of slowing down for hits. It's a way the gun rolls, the eye sees, and intangibles. I've tried to take the test apart a rebuild it, but it's a classic case of knowing what I'm seeing/experiencing and not being able to define it.

One method I use is to run multiple repetitions at progressively increasing or decreasing paces and see if numbers start to emerge. For example, I had some extra time on the range today waiting for students and ran five runs for score. I hit my time marks for the most part, starting quick and decreasing to 10 seconds. EDC gen4 G17, from the ready.

run1: 6.47, 96-2X
run2: 7.37, 96-2X
run3: 8.92, 93-0X
run4: 9.11, 96-3X
run5: 10.64, 95-3X

Run 1 is a good clip, not the fastest I'm capable of but a pretty good likelihood of a pass. Run 2 is where my sweet spot feels, where my rhythm is best, score is high, pace is quick but manageable, with high confidence of pass even cold. I think my target reflects it. Run 3 just felt wrong, not for any obvious reason but it wasn't where I knew to shoot. Runs 4 and 5 were solid, felt better than 3, and were what I'd slow to if a cold pass is required.

It's probably easy to overthink all this, but I also believe there's more to this test/drill/exercise than meets the eye. Anyone else?

[jetfire]

Kimber Team Match II in 9mm, using Hornady 147gr XTP from the low ready position. Pass with a 99-6x. This was shot cold before a short practice session. I shot it four times after that from the holster instead of low ready and consistently dumped a shot, shooting in the high 8s on the time and always dropping one, but never more than one. Here are the other four targets with times and scores:



Fail, time 8.45 94-2x



Fail, time 7.58 97-6x



Fail, time 8.36 95-2x



Fail, over par time, 99-5x.

Failing four straight times shooting it out of the holster was annoying to say the least. I have no idea why all the images are sideways either, because they look correct on my phone and my iPad.

[CCT125US]

HK USP9c
Trijicon 3 dots
JRC CDAII from under a t-shirt
97-6x = pass, under time
Not fond of the flyers to the 4 o'clock position. I believe i torqued my left hand into the gun to make up time. I also found this drill harder when fired from low ready, as I tend to over extend and lose lateral strength. I find it much easier to shoot from concealment, as I have multitudes of reps. I almost never shoot from low ready. Hark - I found something to work on

[Doc_Glock]

Shot it three more times today. None passed one was fast but I dropped a shot off the paper, the other two were >90, but not all black.

G17k.

[WobblyPossum]

I shot this drill five times yesterday with my G26. Each time I drew from concealment. I failed miserably all 5 times. My low and left Glock shooting had really manifested itself and I had numerous rounds out of the black each time. It's time to get back to dry practice.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[MSparks909]

Shot this and the HITS version of the Test today near the end of my practice session. I was sufficiently warmed up to say the least

PX4 Compact Carry shot from the ready position. Shot a 98-2X in 8.86.



Was feeling ballsy so I decided to shot it SHO. Prettt happy with my score on that attempt but I failed by going over time (11.12) and dropping 2 out of the black. Scored a 94-2X SHO.



Ended by shooting the HITS version of The Test at 15, 10 and 5 yards with 15, 10 and 5 second par times. Shot from the ready and scored a 289-13X. Dropped one out of the black so it's technically a fail but I'm very happy with this run score wise.



Sorry for the sideways pics! They were oriented correctly on my phone.