Forever looking for old ways to improve shooting drills, I was exchanging e-mail with Rich Grassi. Among the topics he was sharing with me was some thoughts on the Bakersfield/Waidelich range drill (as noted on the Tactical Wire site dated September 7, 2021) In the course of reviewing the material I was thinking of the possible value in shooting against a target that offers the narrow profile of a body angled away from the shooter. I though that a two 3-foot, 8-inch diameter mailing tube mounted one atop the other and affixed in a plastic Christmas Tree stand (using nylon bolts) might make for a useful style of target. Now none of this has been tested yet but I want to look into it. In no special order: The top half of a three foot tube could be easily removed when the top tube needing replacement. The typical 3/4-inch tan color range tape squares could work with a mailing tube. The narrow target would force tighter shooting groups. Shooters who could hit a 8-inch tube should be able to deal with a wider attacker when not turned away to minimize their profile. Moving laterally on the range would give the shooter a consistent target profile. Bought in quantity, 3-foot x 8-inch tubes are not notably more expensive that flat cardboard targets, but might (possibly) be quicker to set up, and avoid the need for the bane of paper range targets, the blood thirsty finger-cutting staples. Again, all these items may be wrong, but I will look into it.
