F.A.S.T. Drill

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Chris Rhines

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I'm sure that most of us are familiar with the www.pistol-training.com F.A.S.T. Drill.

Short version - put two targets out at 7 yards, one 3x5 index card, one 8" circle. Start with your pistol holstered, concealed, and loaded with two rounds only. On the beep, you draw and fire two rounds into the 3x5 card, reload from slide lock, and fire four more rounds into the 8" circle.

It's a useful drill for evaluating the overall level of skill of a pistol shooter, sort of like the El Presidente in that respect. Anyone who manages a clean sub-5-second run at a Pistol-Training.com class or event is rewarded with a commemorative challenge coin. Only seven such coins have been given out, in over three years.

I've been working on the F.A.S.T. drill for about six weeks. Here's some video of my latest practice attempt: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_profilepage&v=L9ZQ62No3Q4

I hope that everyone will give this drill a try.

-C
 
I really need to get out and run this drill. My match attendance and practice has been spotty the last few months, and I need to get a baseline idea of where my skills are.
 
The maddening thing is to try and live up to the "cold shot" theory. I.e. that this is what you can do on the first run out of the holster.

And it's especially frustrating when you're on your 27th run and still get that one flyer just outside the index card...! :banghead:

:)
 
This really is an excellent drill just to see where you are and I agree with Chris that it is a pretty good replacement for the El Presidente. As it only requires, 1 full target lane and yet still test
1. presentation
2. discreet first shot sight alignment on the pushout
3. reset and sight acquisition
4. reload
5. ability to judge acceptable sight picture (how course)

Running it cold really is the test of skill level. I was with a friend running it the other day...he was shooting a H&K P2000 (DAO) and the index card shots were actually easier for him than the plate shots...to shoot at appropriate speed...but then he is a deliberate shooter.

I shot it cold with my Sig 226 and was disgusted with myself. Both index card shots were almost touching, but just off the card

lesson: I'm consistently accepting less than optimal sight alignment or it was the angle of the sun...yeah, that's it...it was the sun's fault :D
 
Nice shooting! I guess you've done this before.

I do something similar with paper plates with a circle drawn on them. I'm a little new to this type of shooting but my biggest problem is the time I take on my first shot. Best so far is 1.29 but most are about 1.50 to 1.75. After that my time between shots is pretty quick. Practice, practice, practice.

Dave
 
Thanks for the kind words, guys.

I've been working on getting a PTC challenge coin since the first of the year. I run the F.A S.T. drill as my 'cold drill' - that is, I get to the range, put on my gun and vest, and shoot the F.A.S.T. three times. No warm-up. Then I practice the parts of the drill that I'm weakest on.

I would caution anyone who wants to try the F.A.S.T. drill, to avoid the temptation to shoot it over and over. For one thing, you only get the coin if you pass the drill in your first three attempts. For another, you won't improve as much by just repeating the drill, as you will by practicing the individual skills that make up the drill...

-C
 
1. presentation
2. discreet first shot sight alignment on the pushout
3. reset and sight acquisition
4. reload
5. ability to judge acceptable sight picture (how course)
Click to expand...
Then I practice the parts of the drill that I'm weakest on.
Click to expand...

So which part(s) do you find the most challenging? And what do you do to work on them? (Sorry for all the questions, I just can't afford a class at this time, so I want to pick everybody's brain on THR :p )
 
My thoughts are that this drill is primarily about the draw and the reload (and the two associated initial indexes). The three followup shots on the body at 7yd shouldn't be too hard for anyone who shoots competition reguarly.

As a lefty a slidelock reload for me is a terrible situation, but this drill is on my list of things to do; I will run it with three rounds in the first mag for a better comparison. The draw is something I need to work on, so this will be a good drill.
 
I does take a bit longer to hit the smaller 3"x5" card on the pushout...Dave Sevigny's first shot, on his record run in 2009, was at 1.36 sec...but I usually take a moment to confirm my sight picture on the smaller target...I need to have more faith in the technique

I do something similar with paper plates with a circle drawn on them. I'm a little new to this type of shooting but my biggest problem is the time I take on my first shot. Best so far is 1.29 but most are about 1.50 to 1.75.
Click to expand...

If you were to shoot the larger plate first, there really isn't a reason not to break the first shot just as your arms reach full extension
 
I thought the drill procedure required shooting the index card first?

Side note for the lefties, personally I don't use the "overhand" technique either, I use the thumb and forefinger on the back of the slide; this puts your hand in a much more favorable position following the slide drop.
 
ny32182 said:
My thoughts are that this drill is primarily about the draw and the reload (and the two associated initial indexes).
Click to expand...
That hasn't been my experience. I think the reaction to the buzzer is a larger factor for alot of folks depending on tense your muscles are and the reload is pretty straightforward.

dovedescending said:
So which part(s) do you find the most challenging? And what do you do to work on them?
Click to expand...
I didn't know if this was directed to me or Chris, but here's my answer:

I find the initial pushout and first shot the most challenging, because I usually practice pushing out and making a shot on a larger target (COM). So you have to balance the need for speed getting the sights there and how course a sight picture you are willing to accept at the end of the pushout.

I work on the mag change in with an empty gun at home and verify if I'm any faster with between shots at the range...as sensitive as shot timers are now, you can check speed from last to first in dryfire. I break it down to the different parts:
1. hand moving
2. mags moving
3. mag/mag well alignment and insertion
4. hands moving again

I practice the presentation in two parts too
1. draw to high ready
2. press out to first shot

Then I'll dryfire practice letting the appearance of the aligned sights, on the target, cue my trigger press
 
ny32182 said:
I thought the drill procedure required shooting the index card first?
Click to expand...

It does.

I was addressing the other member's post about shooting his first shot into a circle...I quoted it before my response

I use the thumb and forefinger on the back of the slide; this puts your hand in a much more favorable position following the slide drop.
Click to expand...

...but it's slower, due to the vectors your wrist assume during their motion
 
That hasn't been my experience. I think the reaction to the buzzer is a larger factor for alot of folks depending on tense your muscles are and the reload is pretty straightforward.
Click to expand...

Reaction time... probably difficult (impossible?) to measure without high speed video, but the difference between Sevigny and the "average good shooter" here is probably pretty small. Call it .1 tops?

Looking at the splits, say you add .03 to each to bring him down to "mere mortal" good shooter level, that is a total time adder of .12 (four total splits)

So I would put the reaction time + splits somewhere around .22 seconds he's gaining on the field.

That leaves the draw and the reload, and I think Sevigny's 1.36 draw on the index card, and 1.5x (I think) reload present the biggest gaps vs. the field.

Just my opinion of course.
 
Well, I'm not going to sign up for a class just so I can try to win one of the coins, but Sam and I can try the drill this week.

Sam, interested in running it?
 
I have done something kind of the same as this.
Two targets.
One to the head and two to the body.
Reload,
Next target, do the same.
Mozambique drill it is called.
Jeff Cooper made it one of his to do drills.
Some call it the El presidente
 
Mozambique drill it is called.
Click to expand...
Specifically, "two to the body, one to the head," on one target.

Some call it the El presidente
Click to expand...
No. El Prez is a different drill:
Three targets. Start facing uprange (away from targets), usually with hands up in the "surrender" position.
At the signal, turn, draw, and fire two shots at each target, perform a reload, and fire two more shots at each target.
 
Shot a fun speed drill at an IDPA match last summer. Three targets standing next to each other at 3yds, you start facing the targets, hands up. On the buzzer you draw and put two shots center mass in each target. I managed 2.78secs with my duty gun and holster, S&W 9mm 1911 and Safariland 6377 ALS.
 
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