Shoot This Drill – The 5-5-5-5 Exercise
Setup & Shooting Instructions
This drill is executed with a carbine at 50 yards. The standard drill uses four steel targets which, when I run the drill on my steel, is smaller than a IPSC C-zone. However, it’s probably easier to do it on C-zone since that is what you’ll find on most gun ranges.
Place two steel about 40 yards apart on the ends of the range and angle them toward the shooter. Place the other two in the center about 7 yards apart.
The Loadout
Two (2) 5-round mags
One (1) 10-round mag
Aiming at the far left target, fire five rounds to bolt lock, reload and engage the far right target with five rounds to bolt lock. Reload and finish with both center targets with five and five, respectively.
There are a few reasons for using this number of rounds and the pacing of the reloads.
- Some people aren’t the best shooters but are very efficient on tech like reloading.
- Some people aren’t the best on efficiency but they are good shooters.
- The round count for each target is five because that cadence requires control, and most blow either the fourth or fifth round with a miss.
- The reloads are there to screw with the shooter; if you reload and don’t get a good grip on the gun you will likely end up pulling a shot or otherwise costing yourself time.
This drill must also be shot clean to obtain your overall fastest time. So when I run this in a class, students know the next guy could turn on the gas and win if they themselves go too slow. The students are their own worst enemies. So this puts even more pressure on the participants.
On my small steel, I am generally humping 14 seconds for completion. On C-zone targets it should be somewhat easier, so 15 seconds is definitely a good number. Text by Chris CostaText by Chris Costa
About the Author
Prior to founding Costa Ludus in 2011, Chris Costa spent four years as president of Magpul Dynamics. Before founding Magpul Dynamics, Costa spent seven years in the private sector at Applied Marine Technologies Inc. (AMTI) on assignment with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Risk Management Division (RMD). At AMTI, Costa specialized in teaching Police Tactical Assault Operations for both Maritime and Critical Infrastructure take-back. Costa also provided Red Team Vulnerability Assessments on critical infrastructure for the U.S. government. Prior to this, he spent 12 years with the United States Coast Guard conducting counter-drug operations and special missions in Europe, the Middle East, and South America with such units as the International Training Division (ITD), Maritime Law Enforcement Academy, Plank-Owner of Port Security Unit 302, and the TACLET Law Enforcement Team North.
