Worlds Collide: Shooting Drills Without a Timer
Rob LeathamDescription
Rob Pincus and Rob Leatham are on the range debating what a valid measurement is when conducting shooting drills. What do measurements prove?
Timerless Shooting Drill
Rob Leatham has set up a drill with two rows of steel targets. The second row is invisible until the first row has been knocked down. In an unusual move for Rob, this is an untimed drill. The measurement will be how many hits are on the front target before it goes down and exposes the back target.
Both Robs shoot the drill and count how many hits it took to put down both targets. Rob Leatham actually missed one shot in this instance, but made no excuses for it. They discuss making excuses for mistakes, which was covered in detail in another Worlds Collide video.
However, both were accurate enough to knock down the targets, accuracy being the first measurement, and the second measurement, time, was not counted with a timer. But the need for speed was created by how long the target was available to the shooter.
Do-Over
Rob Leatham gets a do-over because of his missed shot the first time. And he misses one again this time, so the standard becomes Rob Pincus’ four hits to knock both targets down. They discuss the worth of setting standards for shooting drills.
Rob Pincus finds this drill engaging and more practical than chasing the timer as a means to improve. The standard has been set, but can he improve? That’s the impetus to keep practicing. But what they have established is that there are ways to measure shooting skills that do not require a timer and are practical.
Safety Warning
When shooting steel targets, take extra precautions as rounds may deflect or skip off in an unexpected direction: Maintain a minimum safe shooting distance, do not use steel targets that are pitted or cracked, and check the height of the berm behind the targets.
So one of our problems is always measuring, testing. What's a valid measurement? Yes, that's the question, right? What is valid, what matters, what does it prove? Right. We've talked about some of this. Right. But you've got an interesting idea here, I'm intrigued. You said set them up so that they're in a row. Right. So what we've got- I can't even see the back ones. Right. That's exactly the point. All right. I would surmise, if we shoot the same ammo, and do it over and over and over again, the guy that gets more hits on the front target, is faster. Before he can shoot the last- As it goes down. Yes, exactly. So you're actually trying to shoot it as it goes down. Okay. I imagine that you're skilled, we're gonna get three or four hits on that target before we're shooting at the back target. Okay. You have to shoot the back target. Okay. Because it's a change up, Got it. from easy target to hard shot. All right. So you're literally just gonna shoot it down, and I don't care what the time is, in this case, this is weird for me. Okay. I don't care what the time is. Don't care what the time is. I care how many hits you get on the front target, I like it. before you can hit the back target. All right. I also like the idea that we are shooting, now, we're at a safe, just remember when those targets go down, at your range, if you try to emulate this, those skipping rounds could go over the berm. So make sure that- We should be good- You either have a, yeah with a really tall berm, and we've got a designated impact area out there, this range is closed, nobody's back there. So how many you think you can get? Oh, am I goin' first? Well, I don't care. I think I can get, I think I can get three, for sure, I might get four. I know you can get three. Yeah, I might be able to get four. Let's see how many you can get. All right. You're gonna shoot that one. So you go whenever you want, you're aimed in, ready to go, locked in, you've made it as perfect as you can be. Okay. And now I'm going for it. Right. And so, time stops, theoretically. Well there's no time, it's just how many hits you can get on it. But you do want me to shoot the back one? Yep. Okay. You got four hits on it before it was out of the way, right? I fired four shots, I think- But they were all hits, they were all four hits. The last one skipped, they sound different as they go down. I'm shootin' the exact same ammo you are, see what happens. So I had no more than you did. Correct. And I actually missed one, right? I think it was one in the middle that slipped off. Right. So who's better? Well, and we've talked about this before, right? Accuracy is the primary thing we measure. Right. We get the hits. Second thing we measure is how fast did we get the hit. Correct. I love the fact that we're not picking up a timer, We don't have a timer. but we are looking at speed. We are creating- All right. So. We are creating a need for speed by how long the target's even available to you. Right, now, you know what we talked about, we also talked about making excuses earlier, right? Notice that Mr. Leatham made no excuses for that. I already had three ready for you. No, I missed. You beat me. Oh, missed, that's it. We move on. Okay, now, you get a do-over. I get a do-over 'cause we got one more set-up. So, ready? So I missed one, I shot five at it. Got five shots. But I only got four hits. Right. So right now, the standard to beat, if you like standards, which I don't know that I like standards, is four hits. Four hits. 'Cause you got four hits your first try. Four hits, and then one more. Right. This is a fun drill, and it's engaging, and to me, it's got a practical application too. And that's why I like it more than chasing a timer. Right. One of the things, one of my pet peeves is set a standard. Well, four is done, now I can go home, but maybe I could get five. Right. And I think we should set it up and do it again. But right now, what we're establishing, is there's ways to measure things that don't require the timer, Right. and might even be practical.
If you hit the front target low enough it will not fall over. And if it does, it will take more hits to do so.