In March I wrote an article for the Snub Noir blog about the Switzerland CCW Proficiency Drill, which was first written about by The Tactical Professor, Claude Werner, on his blog. It is a simple 18 round test for a revolver or semi-auto.
I liked the exercise so much that I have been working it into many range sessions. I sometimes fire it from a pocket holster, other times from a belt holster either inside or outside the waistband. I am consistently under par on each stage and push myself to keep all the hits within the -0 of an IDPA target at a pace that guarantees I can evaluate each shot to determine if another is necessary and maintain full accountability.
But, as I continue to work with the exercise, it is just a little too generous with its scoring. The entire -1 zone of an IDPA target, with the -0 zone at its center, counts as a hit. 14 hits out of 18 shots fired is a pass. Given what we know about handguns being poor fight stoppers and being at their most effective when we hit mission critical body structures, it made me re-evaluate the Switzerland exercise to make it a bit more dynamic and more applicable as a real world skill check.
Rethinking it
I have found that scoring 18 good hits, and even getting them all within the -0, is very doable within the par times for a shooter of intermediate or better skill. I have added a sidestep as part of the draw and still find my times to fall consistently in the range of 2 to 2.5 seconds for each stage and distance, regardless of where I am drawing from or what type of gun I use. The -1 of an IDPA target gives a lot of room for error and still having those errors count as hits, when in the real world they might have negligible effect on an opponent, seems like it rewards “being just good enough”.
As teachers we want our students to excel. But when it comes to using firearms for defensive contexts it is vital that they excel. Being just good enough is a solution that can easily result in unfavorable outcomes. In a situation that calls for a justified use of lethal force, it is imperative that the force be applied quickly and to places on the body that will have the best chance of stopping the attack immediately.
Enter the Index Card
Over the past few years of my learning journey, I have immersed myself in the work of Dave Spaulding. One of the genuinely great teachers of our era, but now retired, Spaulding’s approach to delivering precise fire under pressure is a model that is worth exploring. A number of his drills involve a 3 inch by 5 inch rectangle oriented vertically, the size of a standard index card. The size and orientation are relevant because they represent the area within which much of the heart and the aortic arch are contained inside the human body.
Most modern qualification and training silhouettes feature an 8 inch circle on the chest area which represents the “preferred area” where we want our shots to go, and that 3 by 5 space exists within that circle. The IDPA target which Claude Werner deemed an acceptable substitute for the target specified by the Swiss government has such an 8 inch circle at its center as the -0 zone.
As a proof of concept, I fired the original Swiss exercise using a Ruger LCR 22 loaded with Federal Punch ammunition. I shoot this gun well ordinarily, and the Punch ammo evaluates as a potentially good performer for defensive purposes. I performed the draws from concealment using a Bladetech Klipit holster. For the target I used a variation of Spaulding’s “Great F***ing Target” which shows the image of the cardiac zone and spine inside a 3 x 5 vertical area surrounded by a 5.5 x 5.5 inch square. I landed all 18 shots on target with three outside the rectangle and one outside the square. All 18 would have been well within the 8 inch -0 of an IDPA target, a clean run under the original paradigm, so I concluded I was on to something.
Making it better
I am not fond of simply counting hits on a target as it tacitly signals that it is okay to miss a few and still pass the exercise. In the real world defender’s bullets missing vital zone is bad, while missing the attacker entirely is unacceptable. Bullets that do not hit the attacker are a liability that the defender is fully responsible, and accountable, for.
I prefer to apply a numerical score and set a performance standard that is achievable but not easy. As reimagined, the exercise puts emphasis on consistent presentation, hard front sight focus and good trigger control. I have slightly reduced the par times from the original exercises and added a fourth stage of two shots dominant hand only, set at five feet from the target beginning from a compressed ready or retention position. That brings the round count to 20 and 100 points possible using a value of five points per hit on the index card. On the IDPA target score four points for hits off the card but still inside the 8 inch circle, hits anywhere else inside the outline of the silhouette are two points. Deduct five points for any shot over par.
Pulling it together
There are commercially available targets that place a 3×5 rectangle over the desired area, but the simplest solution is to glue or staple an index card at the center of the 8 inch preferred area of a silhouette. Adhesive mailing labels sized 3×5 will also work perfectly. For this article, and in keeping with the spirit of the original exercise, I affixed an index card to an IDPA target. This gives us the desired area of focus within the larger preferred area. For ranges where firing on humanoid appearing targets is forbidden, centering the card in an NRA B-8 target works equally well. When the drill is finished, the goal is to have the card be full of holes like a slice of Swiss cheese and hence my name for the exercise.
A note for those shooters whose ranges forbid working from a holster, fire the exercise entirely from a hard low ready. Reducing the par times by a half second on each of the first three stages makes up the difference.
Firing the exercise
Benchmarking the exercise using a variety of guns took place over several weeks. We used, variously, an IDPA target, a Pistol Training PT-Q, and the B-8 portion of the HIPS target from our friend and fellow instructor Michael Burgess. I wrote about the HIPS target in these pages recently.
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In nearly a dozen attempts “on the clock” I did not once exceed a par time on any stage, although thanks to a less than ideal draw stroke or master grip I cut a couple close. The best accuracy, no surprise, was with a full sized Smith & Wesson M&P semi-auto that I compete with in IDPA. The revolvers used included a three inch barreled Ruger SP-101, a Taurus 856 Defender Ultra Lite and a Ruger LCR 22. I plan to shoot with duty sized revolvers and compact single stack autos in the days ahead, but the exercise seems equally suited to both wheel guns and bottom feeders.
For snubs the critical paths are establishing a consistent, repeatable, grip, hard front sight focus and rolling the trigger smoothly. There is sufficient time for the intermediate and better shooter to complete each stage, so the emphasis becomes to groove the grip and draw stroke and then get your hits. I had rounds on both the SP-101 and 856 fly into the upper part of the target a couple of times because of sloppy trigger work while trying to really push speed.
Conclusion
The Swiss Cheese drill is a test of core competency with the concealed pistol or revolver, and very appropriate for the compact guns that our group revolves around. It surfaces shortcomings in draw, master grip, front sight focus and trigger control, giving the shooter nine iterations of drawing and firing a controlled pair, and one pair from a compressed ready at close quarters, under tight but fair time constraints and at different distances. At only 20 rounds it is easy on the ammo consumption as well.
Try it at your next range session and let me know what you think.
Course of Fire
- At 8 yards
- On go draw and fire two shots freestyle to center mass, repeat two more times, record time for each string
- Par is 3.5 seconds for each iteration
- At 6 yards
- On go draw and fire two shots freestyle to center mass, repeat two more times, record time for each string
- Par is 3 seconds for each iteration
- At 3 yards
- On go draw and fire two shots freestyle to center mass, repeat two more times, record time for each string
- Par is 2.5 seconds for each iteration
- At 5 feet begin at compressed ready or retention
- On go take one step back, extend arm and fire two shots dominant hand only to center mass, record time
- Par is 2 seconds
Frank Groth is a former peace officer, retired business analyst, and lifelong student at arms. A contributing writer to Snub Noir and other publications, he holds multiple instructor certifications including from Rangemaster. He can be reached at SRF Training and Consulting LLC.
