Patrol rifle readiness test

[armortac]

https://youtu.be/FO7K_eprB7I

We came up with a short 40 round drill that will test your readiness with a patrol rifle.

It begins at the 20 yard line with 2 mags of 20, one loaded and the other in a mag pouch. On the buzzer the shooter fires 5 rounds from the 20, moves to the 15 and fires 5 rounds, moves to the 10 and fires 5 rounds, moves to the 7 and fires the final 5 rounds in the first mag. Shooter does a mag change then begins at the 7 with 5 rounds, moves to the 10 with 5 rounds, moves to the 15 with 5 rounds and then completes the drill at the 20 with the final 5 rounds.

All shots should be within the "C" zone on a standard USPSA or IDPA style target.

Any thought? Give it a shot!




Para Bellum - if you want peace, prepare for war—if a country is ready for war, its enemies are less likely to attack

[Vendetta]

What basis/experience do you all have that you're basing this "patrol rifle readiness test" off?

[bfayer]

What is the purpose of putting yourself so close to the target with an empty magazine? In a real situation that is the last place you want to be with an unloaded weapon.

Just a thought.

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[opngrnd]

You don't always get to choose where you run out of ammo. I like that there has to be a mag change that incorporates an empty weapon.

[bfayer]

I agree with both points, but I also believe that stuational awareness is just as important as mag changes.

The drill could be modified to conduct a tactical magazine change at 7 yards while covering the threat with a round still in the chamber. That way you are not training to put youself in close proximity to an aggressor with an empty weapon.

Like I said, just things to think about.

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[26 Inf]

I really don't have a problem with the mag reload at 7 yards, I assume the objective was a reload under stress.

You folks talking about situational awareness and mentioning the reload without cover, kind of missed the forest for the trees, if this is a tactical drill, at 20 yards why would you move closer with a patrol rifle? Kind of in the sweet spot rifle v. pistol, why move closer to give the person a better chance. And moving out, why would you turn your back to a threat, move several yards, then turn and reengage? You don't think the guy would be moving/chasing you/pounding you in the back with rounds?

The OP didn't really give much context in terms of what the evaluation or objectives of this particular test was - myself, running this cold, I'd take the opportunity to move alongside the shooter from cone to cone ensuring the shooter engaged the safety as they moved, moving back I'd have them facing the threat and firing the rounds as they moved out. Easy upgrade, place an item of cover at each yard line for the shooter to get behind and use properly. Set par times for each group of five shots and the reload - as an example shots 1 through 5 need to be fired in x, ignore split between 5 and 6 unless you want to time movement and getting set up behind cover, then 6 through 10 in x, and so on; for the reload, split time between shot 20 and shot 21 needs to be under X seconds.

OP - look at the shooter as he stops to shoot moving in, your shooter is off balance and shooting with their right heel up, at one point he essentially shoots standing on his left leg only. Should be focused on stopping in a stance - guarantee the groups would have been tighter. Don't get me wrong, you need to drill with heels up, as in turns, or climbing, stepping up, etc; but on this drill he should be hitting a better stance. Emphasize technique, don't allow sloppiness.

Fast is fine, accuracy is final.

JM .02

[T2C]

Inside 20 yards, I believe training to shoot on the move would be useful.

[Kyohte]

What basis/experience do you all have that you're basing this "patrol rifle readiness test" off?

Also, what is this drill supposed to measure?

What does it measure better than other standards?

[Arctic1]

I agree with what some of the others have said. What "readiness" does it test? Which metrics are you testing?

You have only mentioned accuracy - a C-zone is not an acceptable degree of accuracy in my opinion, based on the different distances you engage from and the lack of a par time.

A readiness test should consist of several different blocks, testing various skills using accuracy and time standards.

[armortac]

So, I guess I wasn’t completely clear on my intent for this post…
Let me be a little clearer. This is not an end all-be all drill. It was meant to be 1 of many drill completed on any given training day. If you look too deep into any drill you will ultimately find that it is not a drill to end all other drills. Drills are designed to produce measurable results that the shooter can take and, hopefully, improve on. This drill was meant to test a few basic fundamentals of patrol rifle skills: Shooting at different distances, moving efficiently between those distances, trigger control and trigger speed, accuracy, bolt lock reloads and as an ancillary benefit… it’s FUN!
My raw time was somewhere in the 27 second range. I had 1 shot outside of the A zone, but still an acceptable/combat effective hit, which cost me an additional second. Therefore my overall time was approximately 28 seconds. Yes, I ran this drill hard. That’s why I was not always in a perfect stance. I was having fun with the drill and trying to put up a good time. That being said, if any of you have ever shot back at someone actively engaging you, you will agree with me that you very rarely get the opportunity to establish fundamentally correct stance. I will also add that, while completely off balance and totally rushing the drill in an attempt to beat my teammates, I was still able to put effective and acceptable hits with a pretty good time.
Soo… that brings me to some of the comments/questions people had. Here we go…

Vendetta – “What basis/experience do you all have that you're basing this "patrol rifle readiness test" off?”
It was a simple drill that we came up with to test individual officers, on a “cold” basis. Not the only drill by any means. As for my experience, I am an 18 year law enforcement veteran. I have worked in 2 different states as a cop and am currently a firearms instructor for my department. I have successfully completed several schools, to include; SWAT, dignitary protection, building search/clearing and high risk warrant service to name just a few. My resume expands beyond this and if you would like a complete version hit me up on a private message and I’ll send it to you.
My point is, I’m obviously not a special forces “operator”. I just came up with a quick drill (one of many) to test our guys.
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Bfayer –“ What is the purpose of putting yourself so close to the target with an empty magazine? In a real situation that is the last place you want to be with an unloaded weapon.”
I’m going to refer you to the below comment. This is possibly the most ridiculous question I’ve ever heard.
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Taekwondopreacher –“ You don't always get to choose where you run out of ammo. I like that there has to be a mag change that incorporates an empty weapon.”
Thank you… finally a sane response.
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Bfayer –“ I agree with both points, but I also believe that stuational awareness is just as important as mag changes. The drill could be modified to conduct a tactical magazine change at 7 yards while covering the threat with a round still in the chamber. That way you are not training to put youself in close proximity to an aggressor with an empty weapon.”
Please refer to the above statement.
We absolutely conduct tac mag exchanges in other drills.
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26 Inf – “I really don't have a problem with the mag reload at 7 yards, I assume the objective was a reload under stress.
You folks talking about situational awareness and mentioning the reload without cover, kind of missed the forest for the trees, if this is a tactical drill, at 20 yards why would you move closer with a patrol rifle? Kind of in the sweet spot rifle v. pistol, why move closer to give the person a better chance. And moving out, why would you turn your back to a threat, move several yards, then turn and reengage? You don't think the guy would be moving/chasing you/pounding you in the back with rounds?
The OP didn't really give much context in terms of what the evaluation or objectives of this particular test was - myself, running this cold, I'd take the opportunity to move alongside the shooter from cone to cone ensuring the shooter engaged the safety as they moved, moving back I'd have them facing the threat and firing the rounds as they moved out. Easy upgrade, place an item of cover at each yard line for the shooter to get behind and use properly. Set par times for each group of five shots and the reload - as an example shots 1 through 5 need to be fired in x, ignore split between 5 and 6 unless you want to time movement and getting set up behind cover, then 6 through 10 in x, and so on; for the reload, split time between shot 20 and shot 21 needs to be under X seconds.
OP - look at the shooter as he stops to shoot moving in, your shooter is off balance and shooting with their right heel up, at one point he essentially shoots standing on his left leg only. Should be focused on stopping in a stance - guarantee the groups would have been tighter. Don't get me wrong, you need to drill with heels up, as in turns, or climbing, stepping up, etc; but on this drill he should be hitting a better stance. Emphasize technique, don't allow sloppiness.”

I’ll touch on a couple of points because your response was almost as long winded as mine!
Be ensured that my safety was engaged prior to movement every time.
There was no cover available to incorporate into this drill. Not a bad idea… but also not the emphasis on the drill.
As for my stance… please refer to my opening statement on having the opportunity to obtain a fundamentally sound stance while shooting someone.



T2C –“ Inside 20 yards, I believe training to shoot on the move would be useful.
I absolutely agree… That’s why we have a shooting on the move drill.”
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Kyohte –“ Also, what is this drill supposed to measure?
What does it measure better than other standards?”
It’s supposed to measure your results of this particular drill. Time and accuracy.

Arctic1 – “I agree with what some of the others have said. What "readiness" does it test? Which metrics are you testing?
You have only mentioned accuracy - a C-zone is not an acceptable degree of accuracy in my opinion, based on the different distances you engage from and the lack of a par time.
A readiness test should consist of several different blocks, testing various skills using accuracy and time standards.”
Ok… My error for not including a par time. As I mentioned above, my time was approximately 28 seconds. So, as this is a new drill, I guess the par time would be 28 seconds! 
As for the “C” zone hits. It was a way to measure values of hits. That being said, let’s talk about acceptable accuracy. We will always strive for, and train for, the best accuracy we can obtain…conversely, if a “C” zone hit is the only shot you have and or it effectively drops a subject shouldn’t it be considered acceptable? If you want to wait around for the subject to present himself as an “A” zone target before engaging him, I think your teammates might have something to say about that.

In closing… I have heard many comments and criticisms, which I wholeheartedly appreciate. Maybe try the drill and see what you think! That’s the point of this… not to obtain some armchair critiques on the drill. Get out and shoot! Try this drill…try every drill you can!