El Duque – A Challenging Drill for the Handgun You really Carry
Objective: This drill is designed to give the shooter useful feedback on their marksmanship potential with the handgun utilized for everyday carry.
Ammunition Requirement: 9 rounds per run
Distance: 5 yards
Targets: Three paper or cardboard targets with a realistic size high value area (IPSC, IDPA, etc.). T1,T2 & T3 will be spaced 1 yard apart. Stickers or 3X3 inch post-it notes can be used to create a high value area in the head.
Begin Exercise: This drill may be fired with a pistol or a revolver. The handgun should be concealed from view. At the 5 yard line, the shooter will load with 5 rounds only and holster. A spare magazine or speedloader will be available for a reload. On signal, draw and fire 2 body shots to T1, 1 head shot to T2 and 2 body shots to T3. RELOAD and fire 1 head shot to T3, 2 body shots to T2 and 1 head shot to T1. End of exercise.
Scoring: Hits in the high value area have a value of 10 points while hits on target but outside the high value area have a value of 3 points. Shots off the target=DQ. Maximum value is 90 points. The shooters total score is divided by time. For example, 90 points divided by 10 seconds= 9. A total of 84 points divided by 14 seconds= 6. Bigger numbers are better. You are only competing with yourself! After your first run, tape up your hits and run it again. Hopefully, your performance is better the second time around.
*These drills are excerpted from Mike Boyle’s book: “101 Drills for Handguns and Rifles and Shotguns.”
Mike Boyle is a retired law enforcement officer and has been active in use of force instruction for over 40 years. He has been a police academy assistant director, instructor, Rangemaster and is the author of 2 books, 3 training videos and hundreds of magazine articles on firearms, training and tactics. Mike served 21 years on the Board of Directors of the International Association of Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors. Mr. Boyle can provide instruction on various firearms disciplines including handgun, shotgun and low light threat management. He can be reached at mboyle308@gmail.com.
