This is an overview of a rifle practice session I did at the Crucible training facility in Fredericksburg, VA. I wrote it up to give some fellow shooters ideas of what to practice in preparation for IPSC Rifle shooting. The elements included:
Fundamental Skills (Recoil control, trigger manipulation, aiming)
Rapid Presentation
Support Side Shooting
Position Entry/Exit
Rapid Kneeling/Prone Position Entry
Rapid Elevation Correction (100-260m)
Equipment:
18” IPSC Rifle
NX8 1-8x24 FC-Mil
Winchester/IMI M193
Equipment Notes(these are for me to address anything I find "off" with equipment during practice) : M193 and UB556 tuning w/No Set Screws gives too much downforce. Tuned perfect for N130 55gr load. Gas setting for this load is WAY open, which means M193 drives the bolt way fast.
50m Bill Drill
This is a standard drill used to assess presentation/first shots and recoil control. As distance increases, attention must be paid to trigger control and acceptance of recoil in order to maintain good points. 50m is a good distance for Rifle bill drills to best balance speed with accuracy.
Drill Description:
IPSC Target
3x magnification
Start at Standard Ready
Present, Fire 6 shots
String Times:
3.11
3.79
4.18
3.42
3.27
3.49
-- Check Target -- 3x D, some C no M --
50m Weak Side
IPSC will not typically require the rifle to be shot weak-side, but will create stages or props that require the shooter to transition the gun to the other shoulder in order to engage targets (tight fault line around a wall, for example). Just to get familiar with weak side shooting, I did a few 5rd strings completely weak-side.
Drill Description:
IPSC Target
3x magnification
Start at Standard Ready/Left Handed
Present, fire 5 shots using the support hand with the rifle stock on support side shoulder
String Times:
4.72
4.40
4.51
4.72
-- Check Target -- 1D 5C 14A
3m Lateral Movement
This was a simple movement drill created with two cones placed three meters apart laterally, a full-size and half-size IPSC target 25m downrange. It required attention be paid to following-through the shot process on both targets (but especially the 1/2-size) in order to avoid D-Zone hits or misses, as well as precise placement of the dot in order to get A-zone hits ASAP upon reaching the next position.
Drill Description:
1x IPSC, 1x IPSC Mini target, 25m
1x Magnification start at standard ready
Present, 2rds/target, move to next position, 2rds/target
5.67 (L-R)
5.53 (R-L)
Adjusted tempo for better hits
6.21 (L-R)
6.82 (R-L)
-- Check Target -- Fullsize, 1M (high) 2D, ½ size all A/C, Re Attempt
6.35
7.21
6.05
6.22
-- Check Target -- All A/C, 70% A
100m Standing-Prone
This was a simple positional shooting drill that required two shots on a hard standing target, rapid transition into a bipod-supported prone onto a medium-difficulty target. I did this three times, until my training partner was ready to move to a longer range. Drills like this with scored paper at 100m are REALLY good for exposing fundamental errors.
Drill Description:
1x IPSC, 1x IPSC Mini Target
8x Magnification, start at standard ready (bipod deployed)
5rds IPSC target standing, 5rds Mini target Prone
11.51
10.69
9.31
-- Check Targets-- IPSC 14A 6C, Mini 16A 4C
Moved to 260m berm
3-Position Drill
This drill was excellent for maintaining accountability for hits at long distance as well as transitioning quickly between unsupported standing, barricade supported kneeling and bipod-supported prone. I used steel targets to increase rep count (and not break the flow of my training partner, who was working on something completely different), but the last two reps were fired with a scored IPSC paper at the longest distance (260m).
Drill Description
BCC (12x24" silhouette target) at 100m, BCC at 200m, 8” plate at 260m
8x magnification, start at standard ready, bipod deployed
2 shots standing to 100m BCC
2 shots off kneeling-height barricade, 200m BCC
2 shots prone, 260m 8” Plate
13.22
13.77
14.64
13.88
15.69 - 1M 200m
15.01
3-Position Drill - (Same but last two shots on IPSC target, 260M)
13.53
12.47
Score: 2A, 2C