Written by: Greg Ellifritz
Back when I started working as a cop in the mid-1990s, the only source of reliable officer safety information was Police Marksman Magazine. I very quickly joined the organization and devoured all of their publications.
Unfortunately, the magazine and organization went under about 10 years ago. Its failing produced a void in the field of tactical information for both police officers and armed citizens.
The publication came back in an online form in 2013. Unfortunately, the organization went under again rather quickly.
During the short digital existence of the magazine, they published an article titles “Real World Course of Fire.” It was a 50 round drill that could be conducted quickly and covers a lot of skill sets in a short period of time. Unfortunately, the original link to the drill is now defunct. I copied it because I liked the drill.
Here’s it is:
– Each officer will initially load six rounds in each of three duty magazines.
– At 7 yards, each officer will be instructed on command to draw and fire his/her duty sidearm from their secured holster, six rounds, then to eject the empty magazine to the ground, to reload a second loaded magazine from his/her duty belt into his/her pistol, and to then fire an additional six rounds (12 rounds total in 25 seconds). The third loaded magazine will then be loaded into the duty pistol, which will then be safely returned to its holster and secured.
– Each officer will then load up six rounds in each of his her two spare magazines, which will again be secured on the officer’s duty belt.
– At 15 yards, each officer will be instructed on command to draw and fire his/her duty sidearm from the secured holster, six rounds, then to eject the empty magazine to the ground, to reload a second loaded magazine from his/her duty belt into his/her pistol, and to then fire an additional six rounds (12 rounds total in 25 seconds). The third loaded magazine will then be loaded into the duty pistol and it will then be safely returned to its holster and secured.
– At 25 yards, each officer will be instructed to begin in a standing, officer safety stance. Upon command, the officer will go down to a kneeling position, draw his/her duty pistol, and fire six rounds. The officer will then stand, reload, and fire six rounds from a strong-hand barricade position. The officer will then reload and fire six rounds from a weak-hand barricade position (18 rounds in 90 seconds).
– Each officer will then load up two magazines with six rounds in one and two rounds in the second.
– From a standing position, each officer will be instructed on command to draw and fire his/her duty sidearm from the secured holster, six rounds, then to eject the empty magazine to the ground, to reload the second two-round magazine from his/her duty belt into his/her pistol, and to then fire the additional two rounds (eight rounds in 15 seconds).
I shot the drill last week. It covers a lot of skill sets (drawing, reloading, distance shooting, alternate positions, recoil control, and one handed shooting) in an efficient time frame. It would be ideal for a short on-shift police practice session or a quick skill building session for the armed citizen.
I found it to be very similar to some of the older PPC courses that I haven’t shot in quite awhile. The time limits were generous, but 25 yard weak hand-only barricade shooting sucks!
I shot it cold, without any warmup and without having fired a shot in three weeks. I ran through the drill with my Glock 19 from concealment on my first run. 42 A-Zone hits. Five C-Zone Hits. Three D-Zone hits. No misses.
I then immediately shot the drill again with my Glock 21 out of my police duty gear. I scored much better. 46 A-Zone hits. Three C-Zone hits. One D-Zone hit. No misses.
The 50 round course with the Glock 19 served as a good warmup to knock the dust from my dormant shooting abilities. Every hit outside the “A-Zone” in both drills was from the one-handed barricade stages. I guess I know what I need to work on!
1st Run on right target with Glock 19. Second run on left target with Glock 21
I’ll try this one again in a few weeks and see if I can get rid of all those D-Zone hits!
