Combat Skills Test | Tactical ShootingTechniques & Drills | Tactical Rifleman

I found these new paper targets, called “Skeletargets,” that are made by the guys at https://extendedgun.com . Always looking for new drills to practice with, I gave these targets a try, along with their drills, and I love them.

I’m a big believer in stress shooting. When you find yourself in that 2-way gunfight, and your body goes into “fight or flight” mode, you’re going to be stressed out. So, you should practice that way too, right? Inducing these physiological responses, without actually being in a gunfight, can be done several ways. Physically, you can get out and exercise until your heart rate is well into triple digits. Mentally, you can stress yourself through competition. As such, I always encourage shooters to conduct physical stress shoots every block they shoot and also to compete as often as possible.

All good military units have drills that are “testable,” which they use to gage where operators current skills are. Likewise, most good shooting schools also have drills that they use to test their students. All are good; some are better than others. Most shooters and instructors have favorite drills that they like to use, to keep in practice. They know what their personal standard is, and know when they fall short. It doesn’t even have to be a set “test” per say, but they know when they are having a bad day or just haven’t spent enough time behind the sights.

Personally, I too have a few favorite drills that I do every time out at the range. However, I also like to try new tests and drills; things that my subconscious mind isn’t used to. So, I’m always on the lookout for good new drills. I found some great ones, right here, at https://extendedgun.com

First, buy some of their Skeletargets. They’re actually pretty cheap for the high quality. Here’s a quote from their website: “The colored zones on the target aren’t just for scoring during competition or drill shooting. Each zone indicates a different group of body systems and an expected round count in order to incapacitate a threat in a real life situation. The RED zone indicates where one hit would be expected to incapacitate the target. The BLUE zone indicates an area where 2-3 hits are expected to incapacitate the target. The GREEN zone indicates where 4+ hits would be expected to incapacitate a target.” Now, that said, these three colored zones are still scorable like a IPSC target, only better.

Next, you gotta try their drills. They are called “The Combat Ready Challenge.” These drills test speed and accuracy, with both rifle & pistol, and incorporate physical exercise to induce the stress component. There’s 5 rifle drills and 4 pistol drills. Instead of Basic, Intermediate, and Expert; they use “Average Joe, Gunman, and Operator.” All have minimum scores and time limits. Also, you are only as good as your lowest score. So, if you make “Operator” on most of the drills and “Average Joe” on one drill… well, you still suck, Joe, but at least now you know where to focus your training.

In the video I do the “Long-gun Down” drill, which is their spin on the “transition drill,” going from rifle to pistol. My plan was to start with that drill (where I’m weak) and then wrap up the video with one of the rifle drills (where I’m strong). However, the film crew said we were wasting too much time. So, I only got through one drill. That said, I’ll cover their other drills in future videos. Why? Well, because they are fun and good training.

Besides just the drills, these targets are great for teaching new students about doing anatomy shooting. It helps shooters visualize where that Aortic Arch is within the chest or where that Brain Stem and Liver are located. Being smart on anatomy helps when your target is partially concealed and you have to chose between small exposed areas. Pick the one that will do the most damage. On that point, I encourage the guys at Extended Gun to make another target, WITHOUT the different colors, with just a faint outline of the scorable zones, to take these drills to the next level. Actually, a whole series of male/female situational targets could be added to their inventory, with the scorable zones faintly marked. Hell, add a Zombie version, for those poor souls that have local public ranges that restrict realistic human targets. The training uses of these Skeletargets goes on and on.

So, if you are looking for some new drills to add to your training routine, or you just want to run some tests to see where you stand against other operators; please give these Skeletargets a try. Also, if you have some other drills/tests that you like, please send them my way. I’ll give them a shot.

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