Live-Fire Drill: The Accelerator

Learn to “change gears” as you work between targets of different distances/difficulty levels. You should be fast and accurate up close, but take the time you need to get mostly A’s on the longer targets.

Setup Notes:

Set up the targets so that they are perhaps a yard apart laterally as you view them from your shooting position.

Procedure:

Start with your hands relaxed at sides. Engage each target with two rounds. Perform a reload and re-engage each target with an additional two rounds.

Focus:

Learn to “change gears” as you work between targets of different distances/difficulty levels. You should be fast and accurate up close, but take the time you need to get mostly A’s on the longer targets.

Goal:

Being able to consistently shoot this drill in about six seconds with good points (a couple Cs) is a great goal.

Commentary:

This has been a popular drill over the last couple years, and a particular favorite of mine. It seems that no matter what your skill level is, you can always learn something from this.

The whole idea here is to be able to seamlessly change gears between targets of different difficultly levels. Maybe you just look through the gun up close, get a hard front sight focus at 25 yards, and do something in the middle at the 15. In any event, you need to go between all those “modes” of shooting without there being a hitch present.

I like to pay careful attention to the timer on this one, especially the split times on each target. If your split times are the same at 7 yards as they are at 25 yards, that should tell you something (and that is a common scenario). If you don’t pick up speed as you go from the back target to the front, something is wrong. You may be shooting everything at hose speed or you may be unable to transition from distance shooting into close range blasting. In any event, don’t trust your ears. Look through the times that the timer records and figure out what is actually happening.

The other big issue with this drill is that it doesn’t specify what order you should engage the targets. Everyone has different preferences, but I think that most of the more experienced shooters prefer to go far to near on this drill. However, I think you should train opposite of what you prefer. You never know what you will end up doing in a match situation and you don’t want to be hindered by personal preference when it comes time to select appropriate stage tactics.

Also, you should experiment with going different directions in the same string. Start far to near, then reload, then go near to far (for example). You may find that you like a “hybrid” method.

Pay particular attention to your draw and reload times. If you have worked through much of the “Standard Practice Setup” you will have a good idea of what you are capable of. Check the timer frequently to make sure you are laying down appropriate draw and reload times.

This Drill is from “Skills and Drills”