BassCliff
Hellcat
Hey gang,
I went to the range today for the specific purpose of practicing the "Fletcher Drill", the local timed drill for which patches and coins are awarded. I had a couple of pretty good runs but may not have been able to improve on the "intermediate" patch I already have. I secured my favorite lane #7 at the newer facility. I removed the shelf to run my drills, drawing from AIWB.
There are TV trays available for gear, which are handy. The normal drill utilizes two targets about a yard apart but I simulated the drill with just one target at 7 yards.
It's a drill based on the FTS drill. Load two magazines with 5 shots. First target gets three to the chest, two to the head. Reload, second target gets three to the chest, two to the head. If I remember correctly, 13 seconds is for the "standard" patch, 11 seconds is "intermediate", 9 seconds is "advanced", and 7 seconds for the coin. There are time penalties for hits outside the scoring zones, the "5" line you see on the target. I'll share just a few targets and times.
My first "cold" run wasn't terrible. First shot, 2.16 seconds.
Last shot, 11.19 seconds.
Even with the two hits high on the head, this would've qualified for the "standard" patch. I'm working toward the "advanced" patch, so I pushed myself today and my accuracy suffered. My second target had a terrible time even though (with line breaks) it was a clean run. I fumbled up the mag change, shirt got in the way. First shot, 2.16 seconds. Last shot, 15.83 seconds.
The next run wasn't too terrible, but still would not have improved my current status. I had one low hit on the center. First shot, 2.07. Last shot, 10.59.
Next, I really started pushing. First shot, 1.94. Last shot, 9.59. But two hits out.
This was my fastest run. There is a one second penalty for hits off the target, half second penalty for hits out of the score zone. First shot, 1.75 seconds.
Last shot, 8.69 seconds. With the time penalty for the two high head shots, this would equate to the "intermediate" patch I already have.
However, getting that first hit center mass in 1.75 seconds is pretty good for me. Here's one more halfway decent run. Remember, line breaks! First shot, 1.89.
Last shot, 9.84. This one might've gotten the "advanced" patch if I'd done it during a sanctioned class.
I ran the drill a few more times but, as you can tell from the tape, some of them were pretty ugly. Next I was hoping to show a little better marksmanship but I was forgetting some fundamentals. I dumped 17 rounds on this one, three in the chest, then two to the head, until the magazine was empty.
Then I taped on a couple of B-8 centers and just alternated back and forth for the whole magazine.
Seems I did a little better on the upper target, not sure why. I'm down to one more magazine and a couple of extra cartridges. I sent my favorite target out to 15 yards to try my best.
It came back like this.
There it is, the good, the bad, and the ugly. Hey, did I tell you guys why my TX22 was so bad on the last target at the last session? When I got home to clean it up I found a BUNCH of lead fouling in the barrel, actually hanging out of the muzzle. I'm gonna blame the lousy accuracy on that, OK? I really had to soak it and scrub it. At first I couldn't even get my bore snake through it. I'm hoping it will shoot better next time. I don't think I'll use that Winchester Wildcat in the TX22 any more. Remember this from last time?
We'll see if I can shoot it better next time, now that it's all cleaned up. Anywhoo, thanks for stopping by. I hope you all can learn from my mistakes.
Thank you for your indulgence,
BassCliff
I went to the range today for the specific purpose of practicing the "Fletcher Drill", the local timed drill for which patches and coins are awarded. I had a couple of pretty good runs but may not have been able to improve on the "intermediate" patch I already have. I secured my favorite lane #7 at the newer facility. I removed the shelf to run my drills, drawing from AIWB.
There are TV trays available for gear, which are handy. The normal drill utilizes two targets about a yard apart but I simulated the drill with just one target at 7 yards.
It's a drill based on the FTS drill. Load two magazines with 5 shots. First target gets three to the chest, two to the head. Reload, second target gets three to the chest, two to the head. If I remember correctly, 13 seconds is for the "standard" patch, 11 seconds is "intermediate", 9 seconds is "advanced", and 7 seconds for the coin. There are time penalties for hits outside the scoring zones, the "5" line you see on the target. I'll share just a few targets and times.
My first "cold" run wasn't terrible. First shot, 2.16 seconds.
Last shot, 11.19 seconds.
Even with the two hits high on the head, this would've qualified for the "standard" patch. I'm working toward the "advanced" patch, so I pushed myself today and my accuracy suffered. My second target had a terrible time even though (with line breaks) it was a clean run. I fumbled up the mag change, shirt got in the way. First shot, 2.16 seconds. Last shot, 15.83 seconds.
The next run wasn't too terrible, but still would not have improved my current status. I had one low hit on the center. First shot, 2.07. Last shot, 10.59.
Next, I really started pushing. First shot, 1.94. Last shot, 9.59. But two hits out.
This was my fastest run. There is a one second penalty for hits off the target, half second penalty for hits out of the score zone. First shot, 1.75 seconds.
Last shot, 8.69 seconds. With the time penalty for the two high head shots, this would equate to the "intermediate" patch I already have.
However, getting that first hit center mass in 1.75 seconds is pretty good for me. Here's one more halfway decent run. Remember, line breaks! First shot, 1.89.
Last shot, 9.84. This one might've gotten the "advanced" patch if I'd done it during a sanctioned class.

I ran the drill a few more times but, as you can tell from the tape, some of them were pretty ugly. Next I was hoping to show a little better marksmanship but I was forgetting some fundamentals. I dumped 17 rounds on this one, three in the chest, then two to the head, until the magazine was empty.
Then I taped on a couple of B-8 centers and just alternated back and forth for the whole magazine.
Seems I did a little better on the upper target, not sure why. I'm down to one more magazine and a couple of extra cartridges. I sent my favorite target out to 15 yards to try my best.
It came back like this.
There it is, the good, the bad, and the ugly. Hey, did I tell you guys why my TX22 was so bad on the last target at the last session? When I got home to clean it up I found a BUNCH of lead fouling in the barrel, actually hanging out of the muzzle. I'm gonna blame the lousy accuracy on that, OK? I really had to soak it and scrub it. At first I couldn't even get my bore snake through it. I'm hoping it will shoot better next time. I don't think I'll use that Winchester Wildcat in the TX22 any more. Remember this from last time?
We'll see if I can shoot it better next time, now that it's all cleaned up. Anywhoo, thanks for stopping by. I hope you all can learn from my mistakes.

Thank you for your indulgence,
BassCliff