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Well I guess some of you know Tom Estep. I also assume that some of you are familiar with the Moazmbique Drill. (From a position of rest or holstered, come up on target and fire 2 rounds center mass and one head, back to position of rest and repeat.) I was watching Tom demonstrate that drill at the Texas City Municipal Shooting Range recently and have been working on it ever since. I find it interesting and a very useful exercize for honing your defensive skills. Focus begins with smoothness and accuracy and you pick up speed as you go. I began with my target set at the 3 yard mark and practiced until I felt fairy confident. Yesterday I moved target back to the 7yd mark and began dialing that in. I still need to work on speed here but I thing before too much longer I'll be ready to move back to the 15yd line.

This drill has a fairly interesting history and if you Google it you will see what I mean. You will also see some clips of incredible speed. I know I'll never get anywhere near that but practice is the key to being the best you can be.

My subcompact .45 Auto is a real shooter and I have complete confidence in it to 50ft and beyond.

That's pretty good shooting.

- Jim

Remind me not to attack you!

What kind of times were you getting on the 3 yard before you moved on the the 7 yard? From rest to head shot I mean. And how much practice did it take to get there? I've practiced it the last 2 or 3 times out, and I can get it in about 3 seconds, but not with that tight of a grouping. Kudos to you.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozambique_Drill
http://www.thegunzone.com/lore.html

Speeling checkur ees my friend

Very awesome read there!

Oh yah! Darn good shooting there

Yeppers: nice trigger control.

My only comment is, "Don't trust those targets."

Personally, I don't like the B27/29/34 series targets. The reason is the COM X-Ring is positioned below the sternum and between the ribs...in other words, away from the "serious" organs. Spot-on that X-Ring would hit the left lobe of the liver or the fundus of the stomach.

IMHO, the better option is an official NRA law enforcement target (series TQ), or the TTII and TTI targets used by the U.S. Treasury. The NRA TQ19 target looks like this:



This target is very simple: If you're in the black (or, of course, the white background), it's a miss; if you're in the gray, it's a hit, but not necessarily an effective one; if you're inside either of the rectangles, it's an effective hit.

You can see the middle of the COM rectangle is about even with the armpits, not below the sternum, and it's pretty wide compared to the B-series targets' X-Ring. That's the better defensive-shooting area. My only personal gripe with TQ19 and 20 is that I think the head-shot rectangle (is that technically an ovoid polygon?) is positioned a little too high, and is a little too tall: hittin' somebody in the upper forehead with a handgun round at 15 yards is no guarantee of effectiveness; though, worst case, it will get his attention.

Skiprr wrote:Yeppers: nice trigger control.

My only comment is, "Don't trust those targets."

Personally, I don't like the B27/29/34 series targets. The reason is the COM X-Ring is positioned below the sternum and between the ribs...in other words, away from the "serious" organs. Spot-on that X-Ring would hit the left lobe of the liver or the fundus of the stomach.

I am with you on those targets. I really liked the original targets we used for CHL qualifications.

Oh yah! Darn good shooting there

Personally, I don't like the B27/29/34 series targets. The reason is the COM X-Ring is positioned below the sternum and between the ribs...in other words, away from the "serious" organs. Spot-on that X-Ring would hit the left lobe of the liver or the fundus of the stomach.

Skiprr is spot on with this info.

Train the way you want to perform.

Great shootin', Walkin' Jack!

One suggestion:

Vary the number of rounds in each area so you're prepared to shoot until the threat is over.

agbullet2k1 wrote:What kind of times were you getting on the 3 yard before you moved on the the 7 yard? From rest to head shot I mean. And how much practice did it take to get there? I've practiced it the last 2 or 3 times out, and I can get it in about 3 seconds, but not with that tight of a grouping. Kudos to you.

This was not a timed exercisze, just something I was doing on my own. I have had my Glock-36 for nearly 2 years and I shoot it at least once a week, often more, so I am pretty well down with it by now. This is the first time however that I have done any structured training on a regular and frequent schedule with this gun. I think it took me 3 or 4 sessions to get to the point where I felt confident in moving out to 7 yards. I will say that my smoothness, accuracy and speed all improved dramatically during my exercise and 3 yards. I hope to repeat this process at 7 yards and eventually move out to 15 yards.

I find this focused kind of training to be fun and helpful in improving my range work. I highly recommend it. But I also find that they ammo goes pretty quickly as well.

Skiprr, thanks for the tips on the targets. Any idea where I can lay my hands on some? Thanks for any help.

Excalibre, I just read some where about the so called "zipper drill" Put the first round in the belt buckle and then three or four quick shots strait up the center of the torso following the natural rise of the point of aim with each round fired rahter than putting every round as close to the same spot as the first. Sounds like it could be effective and I will be givin' that a whirl. Thanks.

A few more rounds and you could have had a "smiley face" on that target.

Walkin' Jack wrote:... I just read some where about the so called "zipper drill" Put the first round in the belt buckle and then three or four quick shots strait up the center of the torso following the natural rise of the point of aim with each round fired ...

The problem with exercises like this is that a human attacker will not remain stationary when shot, like a paper target.

The best you can do is shoot to point of aim, and choose an effective point of aim.

- Jim

Also, if your range allows it, practicing shots whilst moving in various directions has considerable merit. This is about as good as you can get to realistic training at a standard range. If you're going to forum day, there are clinics on using these training techniques, and I found them to be quite useful. There is also a moving targets clinic, which is considerably more challenging. Multiple target drills are quite useful as well, and will help you in transitioning for a multiple-BG situation. If you have access to a range with a high enough berm (and allows moving and shooting), you can also practice from various positions like kneeling or crouching.

I try to work the Mozambique into my practice sessions, as well as distance prioritizing or staggering shots between targets (for situations where your initial shots may temporarily stop one attacker, but he starts moving towards you again after you've transitioned to the second BG). There's seemingly endless drills to practice with. My shotgun drills tend to be Mozmabique strings. In the unlikely event that an attacker does not succumb after 2 rounds of 3" 00 Buck to the chest, a head shot will almost certainly be needed to stop him.

Hey WJ,

If you are using a B27 target for training your shots should be hitting the area where your pistol is in the pic. A head shot in a gunfight is a iffy proposition since the head is nearly always moving. A cheap paper plate folded in half makes a good approximation of the "Golden Triangle" - - - not the Beaumont, Port Arthur, Orange area but the area of the human body where the really important stuff is. This area is a triangle, baseline is nipple to nipple with the apex being the Adam's apple.

Here's a link.
http://www.letargets.com/estylez_item.aspx?item=TQ-19E


These are good targets also.

Personal Defense Training Target
PDT

Close Quarter Marksmanship Target
RIPOSTE-1

Oakland Police Silhouette
BT5-OCPD

what you might consider practicing is a modification of the original Mozambique drill. This is rapidly gaining favor in the police training arena.

The first two shots are a double tap to the center of mass (chest). If this fails to stop the attacker, the third shot is a shot at the eyes (trying for the medulla box, but not expecting a pistol round to penetrate that far). A fourth shot is then aimed at the hips. Many departments are also doing away with the head shot and going straight for the hips. Two for center of mass, one for the hips.

The theory is that the head is a much harder target to hit, especially with the movement of the target during a real fight. The hips are a larger target that is less able to move out of the way by bobbing or weaving. The hip shot also will normally work to bring the attacker to the ground (not guaranteed, just a tendency that can be expected). When the hip shot does work and drop the suspect, you can do anything you need to do now. If the hip shot does not drop him, you can try there again or adjust for some other area like the head.

I am teaching our trainees to forego the head shot and go for the hips, but I recognize that this can be a personal decision and you do not have the same restrictions or PR problems that the police have. You will probably have problems in those areas, but not the same as the police do.