# The basic Drill



## michael P. (Apr 13, 2008)

When I train people on how to use a handgun for self defense, my goal is to get them to a point where they can perform what I call, "The basic Drill."

The basic drill includes the basics of what you will do if you need to use the weapon for self defense. I want them to draw and fire the weapon, scan, locate cover, move to cover, scan again and holster. This is as basic as the drill gets.

Variations on the basic drill are endless. The shooter responds to my commands and fires when I yell, "Gun." I may yell this only once, or I might yell it again after he has reached cover, or while he is moving to cover. I might induce a malfunction on his weapon before he starts, and I might use two or three targets. He might start facing the target or away from it, stationary or moving. He might not even shoot, I might yell, "Contact." In which case he would draw, point the weapon at the suspect and move to cover. Even when doing force of force training, the student needs to perform the basic drill almost always.

When you think about it there are a lot of skills being used hear. Drawing, marksmanship, lateral, angled, backward and forward movement, reloads, malfunctions, use of cover, situational awareness are all being used or can be added. If force on force is used then decision making skills, communication and use of force can be added seamlessly. On some use of force training once cover has been reached I might have them, call the cops, retreat further, or any number of things. But the core skill of shoot, find cover, reassess is always drilled. I just don't want to train people to shoot and then just stand their and then scan and holster.

I know you cant have an SOP for gun fights, but this is as close to one as I think you can get. Do you guys practice anything like this every time you shoot? Do you have any suggestions for me to make this better?


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## Baldy (Jun 21, 2006)

Well I sure don't as a whole lot of moving around and I am out of air. To old and my lungs are shot. I figure if I don't stop it all in a couple of shots, my old goose is cooked. I understand fully that distance is your friend but I just can't make a whole lot in a short sprint even.\"doggy:


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## Steve M1911A1 (Feb 6, 2008)

It is good technique, however.
Especially the "locate cover and move to cover" part.


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## michael P. (Apr 13, 2008)

One thing I do a lot of times is have something in my hand that represents cover, such as a large card board box, or even something as small as an empty ammo box. I stand behind the student and yell, "Gun!" While he is firing I toss the box. Some times to the right, left, further behind, or even in front of him. He then has to locate the cover, which is represented by the box. It is never in the same place, so he as to engage his mind to find it.


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## Mike Barham (Mar 30, 2006)

It's a good defensive drill. I do think we need to go more basic than that in the beginning, since one has to master things like actually hitting the target, drawing the pistol, etc. before it all gets rolled up into one big drill that involves running around the range and making phone calls.

Honest question - how many fights involving armed citizens (rather than cops) require a dash to cover? My understanding is that these things normally happen very quickly and are decided, for better or worse, in just a few short seconds. One might only have time for a quick sidestep rather than a hunt for cover.


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## 1911 driver (Apr 12, 2008)

*basic drill*

This all comes under the general heading of what I call "After Action Drills". It can take many forms and I have used a similar foremat as yours. All the instructor is attempting to teach the student is that when shots have been fired...the situation is still dynamic and survival is foremost. The movement, seek cover and/or concealment, assess and reload, if necessary are all part of what might constitute a real gunfight. Having said all that...it is often real difficult to devote much quality time to this when one has a large class. I was always more successful with it when I had only 3-4 students. Safety playing a large part when you have students in motion with a loaded weapon in hand.


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## zhurdan (Mar 21, 2008)

@ Mike Barham

I agree, incidents I've ever heard of last no longer than a minute, most times less than that. That goes to the point that presentation and well placed shots kind of overshadow the need for 'jumpy-roll-duck-dive-dodge' stuff. I'm sure it has it's place, but in an imminent threat situation, putting rounds on target is probably paramount.

Zhur


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## michael P. (Apr 13, 2008)

It is hard if not impossible to do this drill with a large amount of people. The only option would be to place the cover object very close to each shooter, so that you know where they are going and they don't have far to get their. It would most likely have to be right in front of the shooter.

Most gunfight are decided very quickly. However considering the fact that most gunfights take place at a very close range, I still suggest creating distance and seeking cover after the shooting. There is nothing that says down is out.

One of my good friends was on a full time narcotics SWAT team. They made an entry and shot a suspect in the face at close range with a shotgun. The suspects face was blown off literally. They all thought he was dead, no body called an ambulance(this was a few years ago). They were all relaxed, standing around talking whenever the bad guy stood up. He held his face and said, "Holly $$$$." That Suspect lived and was sent to prison.

Plus there are other considerations, such as his friends showing up and finding him dead. That would be a great time to have cover and distance.
If you don't train on it, you may not do it in a real situation. Even being older and less mobile it can still be done, even if it is at a lower speed. Even if you have to holster before you move.


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## BeefyBeefo (Jan 30, 2008)

I am with Mike and Zhurdan on this one. Although these excercises have great intention and may be useful, that only goes for a very small percentage of situations.



michael P. said:


> Plus there are other considerations, such as his friends showing up and finding him dead. That would be a great time to have cover and distance.
> If you don't train on it, you may not do it in a real situation. Even being older and less mobile it can still be done, even if it is at a lower speed. Even if you have to holster before you move.


If I was involved in a shooting as an armed citizen defending myself, I would never re-holster my weapon until the police arrived.

-Jeff-


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## michael P. (Apr 13, 2008)

I doubt I would either. Although at the first sign of a police car I would be holstering very quickly. There may be situations were I would holster. An example would be a situation where I shot somebody inside of a crowded mall. After stopping the treat and moving to cover, I would most likely holster. If I had good cover, didn't see anymore threats and was reasonably confident that the suspect was out of the fight. I might holster so as not to continue to scare everybody around. Another reason might be that I have secured the suspects weapon, poked him in the eye to make sure he was dead, had good cover and was reasonably sure that no other threats were around.


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## gmaske (Jan 7, 2008)

I think both are right. The first order of business is gun on target and fire if needed. But that might not be the end of it such as another BG that is covering the first BG's rear. Situational awareness. It is good to train past the first steps of draw and fire. Under a high stress situation you are more likely to do what you have trained for so thinking and acting past the first steps is a win win thing to do. I would not holster my gun until I was sure there were no additional threats. Muzzle would be pointed skyward or at the floor with finger along side the trigger gard at the ready. One eye would be on the downed BG and the other would be scanning for more problems. If there were multiple BG's the retreat and seek cover thing would be very valid. I don't think I'd have the balls to stand toe to toe and shoot it out with one or more BGs with guns unless I had no choice or I had a preceived tactical advantage.


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