Most of us could be so much better than we are - Dave is an inspiration.
You know what really sucks about Dave… He’s genuinely one of the nicest guys you’ll ever run across AND he’s a Steeler fan. ![]()
It’s always a pleasure to watch him shoot and the fact that he never picked up a handgun until his late 20s blows my mind.
Don’t be so sure. Check out the triple retention holster Todd uses later in this video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqaiJV1gIBw&feature=related
Mule
What’s funny is that the person whose shooting inspired me to actually concentrate on pistol work was none other then the person who is equally inspired by Dave’s shooting – posting it here for us. ![]()
I was shooting an IDPA “lite” fun match at Shooter’s Paradise, and this guy from Sig was shooting a 357Sig, using defensive ammo and was shooting damn well. I was embarassed by how poorly I handled my pistol by comparison, and decided to inspire myself to take learning some pistolcraft.
Funny how shooting well can infect others with the desire to want to shoot well.
We’ve had consistant problems with Serpa durability and retention. During retention exersizes, they are easy to rip completely off the belt, and easy for a person not familiar with the retention operation to figure out how to get the pistol out of the holster in under 10 seconds with their level 2 and level 3 models. A strong suspect can rip the pistol out of the holster too. They may be fast, but they are worthless as a serious duty holster. I’d rather use a strong single retention holster than my old Serpa that popped off my belt when I got out of my patrol vehicle to chase a suspect.
We have never been able to rip off a Safariland holster from the duty belt even with two strong trainers working together, and it takes most people who are not familiar with the retention operation of their level 3 models a minute plus to figure out the operation and get the pistol out of the holster. Unfortunately, it takes slightly longer to get it out of the holster, but with LEOs who do not always have the luxury of perfect retention skills when dealing with mulitple suspects or going hands on…the tools of the trade need to be stronger and more secure.
However, l don’t want to lead this thread astray. Once again, your skill is very impressive, Dave.
Oh well, I was just trying to help. Thanks for making me feel like crap.![]()
Mule
So…what kind of time does the average Joe record on this drill with 6 clean hits?
LOL…don’t. I appreciate the videos. ![]()
Without trying to sound snarky, it really does depend upon what you mean by “average Joe.” Given the prerequisites for my classes, we’re seeing shooters who are above average compared to the typical regular practitioner who is already head and shoulders above the average range goober.
Looking at recent classes, the average “best” run (of 4) for the students was 8.23 after factoring in misses. About 80% of those “best” runs were clean. Looking at only the clean runs, the average “best” is 7.64 seconds. I only have the “best” runs in my database – I keep notes and scores for all students – so I’d had to pull out the handwritten scoresheets used during classes to get more complete data. If I had to guess, factoring in misses I’d say the average score at the beginning of class is around 9 seconds. There are a lot of 3x5 misses the first time through. ![]()
I’ve put quite a few well known competitors & instructors through the drill and so far there are still only three coins out (00, 01, and 02). I keep the next coin in my range bag just in case someone wants to give it a try and makes it. If I’m going to an event with a lot of serious shooters, I’ll actually bring along two or three just in case we get a chance to run the drill during a break.

I’ll be happy if I can get under 8 seconds, especially with no way to practice it in my area :rolleyes:
Practicing the drill is not the best way to get good at it. That’s the goal of the drill … it tests a bunch of fundamentals (draw, accuracy on a small target, reload, speed on a large target). So if you just work on your fundamentals, even dry fire, you should do just fine.
I better start dry firing again ![]()
I’m headed for the range tomorrow and I’m going to give it a try. Just downloaded the instruction sheet with target cut outs. I’ll report my results.
If you are running retention on the holster and mag pouches, are you still doing this from concealment?
Neato! Just printed some targets out. Will just dry fire at it for now. Dunno if the pistol range staff will let me draw from a holster…
Not snarky at all…
I’ll have to give this a try sometime and let you know how the average range goober does…
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A friend of mine just put some of his local LEOs through it in preparation for a class I’m teaching in MT. They scored in the 10-second range. It will be interesting to see how much they improve between now & May.
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I’ve never had someone show up to class using a SmartCarry, and I would have to talk with the individual student about it before I was comfortable allowing it. The primary issue is that it is slower to reholster, and since we do hundreds and hundreds of draws during a 2-day class, that slows down the whole class.