None of carry a gun because we’re optimists, that much is a fact. However, it’s taken me years to accept the fact that most people who carry guns aren’t going to invest the time and energy into becoming a proficient shooter. I don’t like that, but there’s nothing I can do about it. Most people would rather dink around with chrome plated Mausers or carry six different guns a week than buy one gun and learn to shoot it really friggin’ well.
So what should those people practice? I’ve longed believed (and still do) that the Bill Drill from concealment is the best choice for the average joe. For the newbs, a Bill Drill is a time 6 shots from the holster at either an 8 inch circle or a USPSA A-zone. The most common distance used is 7 yards, but you can practice them at any distance. I like to shoot 25 yard Bill Drills when I’m training up for Bianchi.
Let’s break this thought process down a bit. Assuming (I know, I know) that the “average” self-defense scenario involves a single assailant surprising their target, a drill that focuses on belting a relatively large number of rounds into their thoracic cavity as fast as possible seems to make sense. 6 rounds of 9mm in the chest is going to change your plans for the rest of your life, and definitely make you rethink whatever it was that made you decide to do crimes. There’s also the shock factor in case bad guy one has friends; which we shouldn’t rely on, but still. If you and Pookie were out doing crimes together and all of a sudden some dude ninja’d a gun into his hands and dumped half a mag into your best friend in 2 seconds, maybe you’d decide you had somewhere else you needed to be, like yesterday.
The real talk though comes down to the fact that Bill Drills focus on one thing: getting a lot of lead on target as fast as possible. There’s no guarantee a badguy is going to stop after the first, second, third, or even fourth shot. That’s the other reason I like the Bill Drill so much, because it trains you out of shooting controlled pairs or double taps or whatever you want to call them all day long. You need to work the trigger to shoot a fast Bill Drill; and to shoot one under 2.00 you need to get everything right, from the draw to your sight tracking and your trigger speed.
What do you think? Is the Bill Drill the best choice for the novice CCWbro to practice?
Hey, if you like what we’re doing here at Gun Nuts and you’re tired of getting bombarded with ads and Amazon product links, why don’t you support us on Patreon? Your donation allows us to continue making sweet content like this video.
Good drill, but….
Suggest a few others
Hackathorns “The Wizard”: 1 head shot at 3(SHO), 5 and 7(“freestyle”) and 2@body@10y in 2.5-3 secs. From true daily concealment
“4567” from Pistol-training.com “Drills”
Gila Hayes 5×5: From ready:5shots,5seconds,5″target@5yards-start w/this one…none really meaningful without concurrent training/practice of awareness, legalities, “mindset”
The Bill Drill with the gun one carries is fine, but like any daily treadmill, gets boring. Drilling should be predominantly with the carry gun, but if you don’t mix it up with other pistols, drills and targets, it becomes a chore.
That said, your argument that it’s the most valuable thing to practice is good.
I agree Caleb, it is a good drill for the CCW holder. It puts most into a mindset that they rarely seem to embrace, the concept of actually shooting quickly. It always blows my mind when I watch the typical practice that people do with a handgun on the range. They set up a bull’s eye and do slow aimed fire at it and leave feeling like they are prepared to defend themselves. I had a conversation about that with Todd Green one day a few months ago. While watching all of the “shooters” through the glass I asked Todd, “how do we motivate the average concealed carrier to do realistic training?” Todd just said “ain’t gonna happen.” Unfortunately I think he is correct. Now that I think of it, I think Todd is the only other guy I have ever witnessed at that range do a Bill Drill aside from myself. So, I am not too optimistic that the average carrier will be throwing down any Bill Drills. By the way, Todd does a mean Bill Drill!
I agree with the Bill drill being the awesome go to drill. One problem I can see is that many ranges do not allow work from holster or rapid fire.
I like El Presidente because it incorporates so many important skills–turning and drawing, multiple shots on multiple targets, and emergency reload. While it’s not drilling specifically for the most likely self-defense scenario, it gets it all in one drill. You can even add moving laterally (“get off the ‘X’) pretty naturally.
How fast were you able to do this drill when you were rocking the P250? I carry a HK USPc LEM, but have a special love for my P250.
I use Bill Drill and also the F.A.S.T. Drill as it also helps with draw from concealment, 2 precise shots, slide lock reload from concealment and quick shots to the thoracic cavity. I mix it up by having hands resting at my sides, and also hands above shoulders.
might’ve been good to describe or at least link to details of the Bill Drill
What, you mean like this sentence that’s already in the post? “For the newbs, a Bill Drill is a time 6 shots from the holster at either an 8 inch circle or a USPSA A-zone. The most common distance used is 7 yards, but you can practice them at any distance.”
Weird.