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What is the Paper and Steel Drill?
Mixed target arrays are a common trip up for competition shooters. I’ve seen many competition shooters engage some close wide open targets with blazing speed and then have several misses in a row when transitioning to small steel targets.
This happens because cardboard targets have scoring zones that allow for points to be earned even if the center scoring zone isn’t hit. There’s a level of forgiveness with cardboard. Small steel targets have no forgiveness – it is a hit or a miss.
Each target needs to be treated like an individual target and don’t allow the shooting cadence from the previous target to be carried onto the next target. The Paper and Steel target forces shooters to switch from close targets that can be engaged with speed and forgiveness to small targets that have zero forgiveness.
Drill Setup
- 2 Targets at 5 yards, with 3 yards between them. Two small steel plates between those two targets, at 10 yards.
- Start position: Gun loaded and holstered, wrists below belt.
- 12 shots required
Drill Steps
- At the beep, draw and engage a paper target with two shots
- Transition to and engage the two steel targets with one hit each
- Transition to the paper target with two shots
- Reload
- Engage the same paper target with two shots
- Transition to the two steel targets with one hit
- Transition to the first paper target and engage with two shots
Drill Modifications
- To make the transitions harder, move the paper targets farther out to the right and left.
- Make the paper targets no-shoot partials. They can still be engaged really quickly, but these types of partials often cause people to slow up too much.
Drill Tips
Your sights will always have an amount of wobble. Our arms are held up by muscles – not a mechanical vise. It is common for shooters to wait until their sights are perfectly on target and then “now!” – rush yank a shot – and a yanked shot is a missed shot, especially on far steel targets. Accept that there will be wobble – center the wobble on the target and smoothly pull the trigger. If the sight wobble stays in the area of acceptable accuracy – the shot will hit. This is practical pistol shooting after all – not bullseye shooting. We just need a hit anywhere in the area of acceptable accuracy.
Drill Diagnostics
Pay extra close attention to under travel and over travel on the steel targets. Any amount of under travel or over travel will be extremely obvious on these targets. Steel targets like this are extremely useful for diagnosing how precise your transitions are.
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More Drill Modifications
Modifications to focus on: Conceal Carry
- Add walls to lean around - More info »
- Move through a door - More info »
- Start drills with something in your hand - More info »
- Start from a seated position - More info »
- Turn the lights out and use a flashlight - More info »
- Use a variety of your daily wear clothing - More info »
