What are some good multi gun practice drills?

[ambluemax]

Ok, maybe I can post in here and not tick anybody off (threw my hat into the ring on piston guns...bad idea). I'm just getting started in the world of AR and a big part of why I finally took the plunge was to shoot 3-gun/ IDPA DMG. My pistol and shotgun skills are pretty solid, the rifle is definatly my weakness. But fear not, I have access to some areas where I can set up pretty much anything COF wise and an M&P15-22 so I can practice like its going out of style.

However....I need some ideas of drills to work on. I have all the space I need, but of course my prop resourses are limited.

What are some of the drills you guys do when you are practicing your action rifle skills?

Oh, I'm a 3 division sharpshooter in IDPA and have shot some USPSA too (but unclassified)...so I'm not a stranger to action shooting, just running the courses with long guns.....

[Chris Rhines]

Excellent, I've been waiting for months for someone to ask this question! Here are some of the rifle and multigun drills I use.

Improved Rifle Ten - originally by Jeff Cooper.

This is a good simulation of a long-range rifle stage. Put two 10" steel plates out at 300 yards, as far apart as you can get on your range. Mark a shooting position (I use orange traffic cones) at 0, 25, 50, 75, and 100 yards. Start with your rifle at ready, safety on, standing clear of the 0-yard shooting position. On the start signal, engage each target with one round only from each shooting position. From the 0, 25, and 50-yard markers you can use any shooting position you like. At the 75-yard marker, you can use any position except for prone. From the 100-yard marker, you must shoot offhand. Score is 5 points per hit, divided by your time in minutes. 40 is two minutes is very good.

The Switch

Something I never see anyone practicing is switching weapons during a stage. In most 3-gun matches, you'll be staging one or more guns somewhere in the stage, and you can lose quite a bit of time fumbling around between them. For this drill, you need a pistol container and a long gun container. I use a 55-gallon trash can for the rifle container, and a Tupperware shoe box for the pistol.

Set up an IPSC target at 10 yards. Put both your gun boxes at the 0-yard line, with shooting boxes 5 yards to the left and right. Start in either box, with your pistol holstered, and your rifle staged in the box in Condition 3. On the signal, draw and fire two rounds on the target, then ditch your pistol safely in the pistol box, retrieve your rifle, and engage the target with two rounds to the head. Score is your time, +0.2s for each B/C hit, +0.5s for each D, +1s for each miss. 12 seconds is a good starting goal. You can mix this drill up in a lot of different ways - start with the rifle and switch to the pistol, use your shotgun with slugs in place of the rifle, more targets or different distances, etc.

Viking Tactics 9-Hole Drill

http://www.vikingtactics.com/pop-instr_video17.html I love this drill. I do it with the rifle, birdshot, and shotgun slugs, and let me tell you, 12ga. slugs from urban prone is a whole new experience. Shooting the rifle on a 10" plate at 100 yards, I'd consider anything under 40 seconds to be fairly sporty. With birdshot, I usually use an MGM mini-popper at 15-25 yards. This is a good drill to run with your .22LR.

I've got plenty more, but those three are probably my favorites.

-C

[ambluemax]

Thanks Chris....keep em coming!!

[IndianaBoy]

You seemed to be focused solely on rifle, so forgive me if I mention something you have already practiced extensively.

Have you practiced loading your shotgun? I set up an array of steel or clay targets.

Start with your shell caddies full, and two rounds in the shotgun.

With the shot timer in delay mode, wait for the beep:

Shoot one target, load 8 rounds, shoot another target.

This should give you a shot to shot measurement of the time it takes you to load and get back on target.


8 seconds is good. 6 is really good.

[ambluemax]

Yep, that drill is already on my list. Thanks