Live-Fire Drill: THE HEADS

Head boxes are a fact of life in USPSA, and I think it makes good sense to practice for them. The procedure for this drill is to draw, and engage each head box with two rounds.

Now, if you have spent any amount of time shooting USPSA you have certainly encountered head shots. This drill should prepare you.

Due to the unique shape of head boxes, I score this drill differently based on the range. I will note at each distance what the scoring standard is. At close ranges, we are looking for all As. At longer ranges, it becomes increasingly acceptable to get Bs. At 25 yards, getting 2 hits anywhere in the head is acceptable.

The primary challenge is the extremely small A box in the head of the targets. It is so challenging to hit at long distance that it just doesn’t make sense in the USPSA scoring system to accept only As. However, as hard as the A zone is to hit at longer range, at close range it is extremely doable. Shooters tend to slop hits on the head box at close range because it seems like too much work to go for As. This drill should help you learn to correct these problems.

5 yards

At five yards you should be able to hit all As. This requires bringing the gun to a complete stop for every shot and getting a clear sight picture, but all As is certainly appropriate.

I find that it is very helpful to know exactly where bullets strike the target in relation to my sights. Does the bullet hit on top of the front sight blade? On top of the fiber dot? Depending on how you gun is set up you may need to aim at the top edge or the bottom edge of the A zone in order to hit it. If you are shooting an open gun with a red dot you may be aiming at the top edge of the head in order to get A hits. You need to remember the appropriate aiming point and be comfortable executing it. There is no reason to be giving away points on head shots if can just pick the right spot in the first place.

15 yards

At 15 yards I strongly feel you can still hit As with some regularity. I don’t beat myself up for dropping Bs though. You may have a tendency to loosen up your grip due to the shots being a bit tougher, I urge you not to do that. Usually that leads to not returning the gun back down to the target after a shot is fired and then your follow up shot will go high.

25 yards

At 25 yards I think hitting the head anywhere is extremely challenging, let along hitting the A box. I have a generous goal time of 6 seconds set to allow ample time for a good sight picture on every shot. Be sure to use that time.

This Drill is from “Skills and Drills”