Quick CCW Tune Up

A quick drill set to keep the conceal carry draw stroke consistent.

FREE Drill Set

We all lead busy lives and everyone has different levels of commitment to training. But gun ownership is a responsibility as much as it is a right. If you decide to carry a gun out in public, you have the responsibility to achieve and maintain proficiency. Failure to be proficient with this self defense tool could result in the serious injury of death of yourself or people around you.

This drill set is intended to work some key skills for any conceal carrier – it’s also super short so there’s no excuse to not work it into a weekly routine.

Drill Set Modifications

Anytime you draw from the holster, don’t perfectly square up on the target with the perfect stance. Rotate your body orientation in relation to the target and start the drills with your hands in different positions.

Defensive shooting involves a wide variety of starting positions related to the target. We don’t get to get our perfect start position perfectly squared up on the target in a DGU! The more variety we have in practice the more prepared we’ll be for any start position.

The Drill Set

Drill Steps:

  1. At the beep, draw the gun
  2. While drawing the gun, begin to prep the trigger. The goal is to have the trigger prepped just before the trigger breaks as the sights settle on target
  3. Pause with the sights on target and the trigger prepped

Drill Length in Minutes:

Drill Details

Drill Setup

  • 1 Target at 7 yards
  • Start position: Gun loaded and holstered. If in dry fire, hammer back
  • 0 rounds required

Drill Modifications

  • To push draw speed, move the target closer. 3 yards is a great distance to really push speed, particularly when training for conceal carry.
  • To improve natural point of aim, make the targets smaller, farther, or more difficult.
  • To improve natural point of aim, don’t square up perfectly on target. Rotate your feet and body so you’re facing in random directions off to either side of the target. This will help ensure a solid natural point of aim for practical accuracy since the target is rarely squared up perfectly in front o you.
  • If you are struggling to prep the trigger without breaking the shot, remove the draw stroke. Bring the gun to the compressed ready, then push the handgun out to trigger prep. Bring the gun to compressed, ready, then push the handgun out to trigger prep. Removing the timer and draw stroke allows for fast repeated reps on learning where the trigger breaks.
  • Closing your eyes is a nice addition to this drill. It helps you “feel” the draw stroke and trigger prep without getting distracted by what you see. Closing your eyes during the draw is also an effective test of how good your natural point of aim is. Upon finishing the draw stroke, open your eyes and see how close your sights are to being lined up and how close the sights are to being on target. If your sights are lined up and on target – you have an excellent natural point of aim.
  • LEO should strongly consider running this drill without putting the finger on the trigger as LEOs are more likely to draw the gun without needing to fire the gun.

Simple Draw

Drill Modification

Take at least one step in any direction while drawing from the holster.

Drill Steps:

  1. At the beep, draw and engage the target with two shots

Drill Length in Minutes:

Drill Details

Drill Setup

  • 1 Target at 7 yards
  • Start position: Gun loaded and holstered, wrists below belt
  • 2 shots required

Drill Modifications

  • Rotate your body orientation to the target
  • Start with your hands in a variety of positions
  • Change the distance to the target
  • In live fire, use a snap cap for the second shot fired. This saves ammo and removes recoil for the second shot so you can see if you’re jerking the trigger.

Drill Steps:

  1. At the beep, pull the trigger as quickly as possible and engage the target with two shots

Drill Length in Minutes:

Drill Details

Drill Setup

  • 1 Target at 7 yards
  • Start position: Sights on target, finger on side of the pistol frame
  • 2 shots required

Drill Modifications

  • Don’t have any target on the wall at all – only watch the sights to see if they move.
  • Start at the low ready.
  • Use a far/difficult target. Headbox targets are great for this.

Drill Steps:

  1. At the beep, draw the gun using one hand. If using a cover garment, don’t use the support hand to clear concealment.
  2. Engage all three targets with two shots each.

When running the drill repeatedly, alternate clearing the target array from right to left and from left to right.

Drill Length in Minutes:

Drill Details

Drill Setup

  • 3 Targets at 7 yards with 1 yard between each target
  • Start position: Gun loaded and holstered, wrists below belt
  • 6 shots required

Drill Modifications

  • Start with different hand positions as if you were going about your day.
  • Don’t always start with your torso perfectly squared up on target.

Drill Steps:

  1. At the beep, urgently move laterally to the target (the priority is to start moving immediately)
  2. While moving, draw the gun and engage the target with six rounds

Drill Length in Minutes:

Drill Details

Drill Setup

  • 1 Target at 4 yards
  • Start position: gun loaded and holstered, wrists below belt
  • 6 shots required

Drill Modifications

  • Vary the start position. Have your hands in different positions, feet at different positions, and torso oriented in different directions. In the real world, we likely won’t be perfectly squared up on the target.
  • Start the drill at a slow walk, as if you were walking down the isle at the grocery store. Use a par timer with a randomized start time with a very wide window of a beep, like 3 to 7 seconds. At the beep, run the drill. This will sharpen reaction time and improve the ability to get the gun out into action during a real world situation.
  • At the beep, backpedal instead of move laterally. There are situations in the real world where moving laterally during a DGU isn’t a viable option.
  • If training with a partner, have multiple targets, each with a unique identifier. Be it target type, target color, or some sort of unique marker. Instead of using a shot timer to activate the first shot, have the partner call out a unique identifier on the target. Run the drill while engaging that target. For added difficulty, the partner has the option to call out an additional target while the first one is being engaged.

Tips on Setting Up & Running a Drill Set

Drill Environment

More Drill Modifications

Modifications to focus on: Conceal Carry

Modifications to focus on: General Modifications

Modifications to focus on: Movement

Modifications to focus on: Push Speed

  • Broaden what is considered “acceptable accuracy” - More info »
  • Decrease the distance laterally between targets - More info »
  • Increase the distance laterally between targets - More info »
  • Move targets closer - More info »
  • Put a black dot on the main point of aim on the target - More info »

Modifications to focus on: Tighten Accuracy

Modifications to focus on: Transitions

  • Decrease the distance laterally between targets - More info »
  • Don’t pull the trigger during transitions - More info »
  • Increase the distance laterally between targets - More info »
  • Transition from outside targets of an array and work inwards - More info »

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