*Assume that rounds placed center mass would not penetrate the plate carrier. Head-shots are recommended on all three target characters because they are depicted wearing a plate carrier. Beware of rounds that impact the gun depicted in the hands of threat, which commonly occurs when the shooter's eyes remain fixated upon the inanimate weapon, not the person that will actually kill them. This is a training issue that is often seen during force-on-force training, but rarely mimicked or trained on the flat range.
Disclaimer - training with firearms is inherently dangerous. Seek formal training regarding how to properly perform a transition drill prior to performing this shooting drill. On another note, doing all these drills properly is a exhaustive. Pay attention to yourself, if you are getting mentally or physically tired, take a break or continue another day. Stay hydrated. Check the Frog Blog for an example safety brief. As always when training, safety is paramount.
Gear
1) Plate carrier to carry spare mags on your chest, or pouches for rifle and pistol mags on your belt.
2) You will need a holster for your pistol.
3) Rifle sling.
4) Eye pro / ear pro
5) 150 rounds of rifle ammunition. 100 rounds of pistol ammunition.
6) dummy rounds for pistol and rifle (optional)
7) Shot timer (optional)
Learning Objectives:
1) Transitions from rifle to pistol
2) Rifle shot placement at close range. Mechanical offset (red dot optics sighted in at 50 yards or more).
3) Pistol accuracy
4) Attention to the threat, not the weapon.
5) Holster draw
6) Position work - Low Ready, or other chosen starting position.
7) When to transition to pistol - It is faster to transition to pistol than it is to clear most rifle malfunctions. If you can seek cover to get your rifle up, do that. If the threat is within 25 yards or when you cannot seek cover to get your rifle up and running, such as in a CQC situation, transition to pistol.
Drill#1 - Transition From Rifle to Pistol
- Load 3 rifle magazines with two rounds each and 3 pistol magazines to capacity. When carrying rifle and pistol mags on the belt line you may not be able to carry as much.
- Distance 5-10 yds (shooters preference)
- Lock & load with two rounds in the rifle, one in the chamber and 1 in the magazine. Lock & load the pistol with a fully loaded magazine.
Begin: Choose a starting position, such as the Low Ready. Go back to the starting position each time you reset. Check stance.
1) FIRE 2 rounds into the (top) prone target. Rifle goes dry.
Transition to pistol and fire 1 round in circle 1 and 1 round in circle two. [Reset]
2) FIRE 2 rounds into the (center) kneeling target. Rifle goes dry.
Transition to pistol, fire one round in circle 1 and one round in circle 2. [Reset]
3) FIRE 2 rounds into the (bottom) standing target. Rifle goes dry.
Transition to pistol, fire one in circle 1 and one in circle 2. [Reset]
In order to get in a decent number of repetitions I recommend you reload all three rifle magazines as prescribed 10 times. That means you will have expended 60 rifle rounds at the completion of Drill #1.
*(Author) When running an AR15 I do not attempt to place the weapon on safe before transitioning to pistol. If there is a jam of any sort the gun will not go on safe; this is how this gun is designed and there is nothing wrong with it. If the gun is completely out of ammo, as it will be when conducting this drill, the gun is empty. Place it back on safe as soon as you pick it up to reset or if working in pairs, when you call for "cover".
When training it is important to make an effort to create the conditions the shooter will experience when the problem occurs. If you follow the advice given in this post you are doing that. However, taking a shortcut by loading rifle mags to capacity is LAZINESS. Better to do fewer repetitions properly. Remember, quality not quantity. These details are the difference between an Instagram warrior and the professional who WINS the gunfight. With repetition you will instantly recognize when the rifle goes dry. This in itself is an important learning objective.
Those who do prescribe to placing the gun on safe before transitioning to pistol are most likely loading all rifle mags to capacity, so when they transition the gun is not jammed or out of ammo and is still hot. It is not safe to transition to pistol with a loaded rifle (not on safe) and hanging from the sling.
Drill #1, Version II - Transition From Rifle to Pistol
- Load dummy rounds (optional). The dummy round will simulate a cartridge with a bad primer. An expended piece of brass might work, it might also cause a more serious malfunction, but not something that can't be fixed.
- Distance 5-10 yards (shooters choice)
Learning Objectives:
1) Transitions from rifle to pistol
2) Clear malfunction, bad primer/ bad cartridge that fails to fire.
3) Pistol magazine changes.
4) Pistol accuracy out of the holster
5) Rifle CQC engagement of multiple targets.
6) Distinguish between a malfunction and the gun running dry (out of ammo).
Load pistol mags to capacity. Perform pistol mag changes when the pistol goes dry. Load 3 rifle magazines as described below.
Note: On the AR15, simply racking the charging handle will extract the cartridge with the bad primer and load the next round. Clear the malfunction created by the dummy round by aggressively racking the charging handle, pulling it all the way back and releasing it. This is faster than transitioning to pistol. *I'm not a proponent of tap-rack-bank on the ARI15 rifle. See post on Load Sequencing.
Rifle Mag #1 - load 3 live rounds, plus 1 dummy round, then 3 more live rounds.
Rifle Mag #2 - load 2 live rounds, plus 1 dummy round, then 4 more live rounds.
Rifle Mag #3 - load 4 live rounds, plus 1 dummy round, then 2 live rounds.
*All 3 targets will get shot twice, for a total of 6 rounds. Work through the malfunction the dummy round causes and transition when the gun goes dry. When transitioning to pistol you will engage all four additional aiming points on the target, A, B, 1 & 2.
Begin: Choose a starting position, such as the Low Ready. Go back to the starting position each time you reset. Check stance.
Running magazine #1
1) FIRE 2 rounds into the (top) prone target.
Engage the Kneeling target - you will fire 1 round and experience a malfunction. Clear the malfunction by racking the charging handle and engage the Kneeling target with 1 more round.
Engage the Standing target with 2 rounds. Gun goes dry - transition.
Transition from rifle to pistol and engage all 4 additional aiming points with one round. Re-holster and reset.
Running magazine #2
1) FIRE 2 rounds into the (top) Prone target.
Attempt to engage the Kneeling target - you will experience a malfunction, clear the malfunction and pump 2 rounds into the Kneeling target.
Engage the (bottom) standing target with 2 rounds - the gun goes dry. Transition from rifle to pistol and engage all 4 additional aiming points with 1 round.
Running magazine #3
1) FIRE 2 rounds into the (top) Prone target.
Move to the Kneeling target and fire 2 rounds.
Move to the (bottom) Standing target and attempt to fire 2 rounds, clear the malfunction and give the target 2 rounds. Gun goes dry. Transition to pistol and engage all 4 additional aiming points. *This is a good one to put on the shot-timer.
Drill #3 - The Ladder Drill
The ladder drill runs a bit differently than the other two previous drills in that we work from bottom to top, engaging the Standing target on the bottom, first. Then, we move to the Kneeling and then the Prone target, up top. The reason is that its easier to engage the Prone target when it's placed high, verses low. This was a design consideration.
Distance- 20 - 25 yds
Learning Objectives:
1) Changing magazines
2) Taking aimed shots while coping with increased heart rate and breathing.
3) Engage accurately from the standing position at 25 yards. Learn rapidly move from the standing position to the kneeling and from kneeling to prone.
4) Taking aimed shots on multiple targets while managing breathing and heart rate.
5) Changing magazines efficiently while engaging targets.
Version I
*Engage with 2 rounds from all three positions, standing, kneeling and prone AND engage the corresponding target. Do this continuously and as quickly as possible. After firing from the prone get back up to your feet in a tactical manner and repeat the sequence until you have expended 30 rounds. This drill may get your heart rate up.
Score it. 30 total points possible. Subtract 1 point for every round outside the head on all three targets.
Version II - Distance 25 yds / Load 3 magazines with 20 rds each.
- From the standing position engage the standing terrorist with 1 round and aiming points A & B with 1 round (3 rds total). Move to kneeling.
- From the Kneeling position, engage the kneeling terrorist and circles 1 & 2 with 1 round. Move to prone.
- From the prone position, engage the prone terrorist and aiming points A & B with 1 round. Back to your feet. Change mags as needed.
Run all 3 positions continuously and as quickly as possible. Change magazines as required and continue until all 3 magazines with 20 rounds (60 total) are expended. This drill can get tough. Don't give up, keep fighting through and making the best possible aimed shots. This is a valuable skill you only get better at by doing it.
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