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INDEX

DISCLAIMER .......................................................................................................................................................................... 3

SAFETY .................................................................................................................................................................................. 3

CONSIDIRATIONS ................................................................................................................................................................. 3

A. PISTOL FUNDAMENTALS TRAINING........................................................................................................................... 4

A.1 WARM UP............................................................................................................................................................... 5

A.2 NATURAL POINT OF AIM ...................................................................................................................................... 6

A.3 GRIP........................................................................................................................................................................ 7

A.4 SIGHT PICTURE / SIGHT ALIGNEMENT.............................................................................................................. 8

A.5 TRIGGER CONTROL ............................................................................................................................................. 9

A.6 BREATHING .........................................................................................................................................................10

A.7 FOLLOW THROUGH (SINGLE ROUND).............................................................................................................11

A.8 PAIRS & GRIP ......................................................................................................................................................12

A.9 PAIRS & SIGHT PICTURE/ALIGNMENT .............................................................................................................13

A.10 PAIRS & RESET ...................................................................................................................................................14

A.11 CONTROLLED AND HAMMERED PAIRS ...........................................................................................................15

A.12 FOLLOW THROUGH (PAIRS)..............................................................................................................................16

B. PISTOL FUNDAMENTALS DRILLS .............................................................................................................................17

B.1 CALL THE BALL ...................................................................................................................................................18

B.2 PRECISION AT DIFFERENT DISTANCES..........................................................................................................19

B.3 RELOAD DRILL ....................................................................................................................................................20

B.4 FUNDAMENTAL DRILLS......................................................................................................................................21

B.5 HOLSTERWORK DRILLS ....................................................................................................................................22

B.6 3M DRILL ..............................................................................................................................................................23

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PISTOL FUNDAMENTALS TARGET

DISCLAIMER

The use of firearms can be dangerous. By reading and using this material as a training
guide, you agree that you assume any and all risks involved and release Contact Front
from any liability whatsoever.

SAFETY

1. Always assume that every gun is loaded

2. Always keep the gun pointed in a safe direction. Never point a gun at another
person or at anything you would not want to shoot.
3. Always keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to shoot.
4. Be aware of your target and its surroundings.
5. Be aware of and follow the specific range safety rules.

CONSIDIRATIONS

Thank you for downloading this document and using our Pistol Fundamentals Target in
order to become more proficient with your firearm.

Our intention is to maintain a dynamic document and improve it with regular updates
like new drills amongst other things.

If you have any questions, remarks, suggestions, … please send us an email at

“[email protected]” and we will get back to you ASAP.

If you are using the pistol fundamentals target with your own drills, feel free to share
them with us so we can update this document and help improve the shooting community.

Vince

CONTACT FRONT
WWW.CONTACTFRONT.BE

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PISTOL FUNDAMENTALS TARGET

A.PISTOL FUNDAMENTALS TRAINING

Whether it’s for your job, competition, or plain fun, shooting well takes more than
just knowledge of guns. It takes a solid understanding of the fundamentals of
marksmanship. The following fundamentals are proven, simple to understand, and
successful for students. Each fundamental listed is important but it all starts with
gripping the pistol.

Besides the fundamentals listed above, an important aspect is applying “FOLLOW

THROUGH”. Follow through is the subconscious attempt to keep everything just as
it was at the time the shot broke. In other words, you are continuing to fire the shot
even after it is gone. This means that you need to maintain the fundamentals for 1
to 1,5 second(s) after your last round.

The following training session A will provide you with a full workout of your
fundamentals starting with single rounds up to firing pairs.

In order to fully train all of the fundamentals, each sub session will isolate just one
of them, so you are able to really focus on that specific fundamental.

If your already proficient with these fundamentals, start training with your
weak/reactive hand. There is always something to train!

If you are not acquainted with certain terminology, manipulations, procedures, …

get the proper knowledge and skills from a professional trainer before continuing
your training.

Be safe, train, learn and have fun.

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PISTOL A.1 WARM UP

CONDUCT THIS TRAINING SESSION WITHOUT AMMO!

X0
DRY FIRE TRIGGER PRE SS

From a low ready (both hands), bring pistol up, take aim at the target, take up slack and press
0
the trigger without moving the pistol. Rearm the pistol.

5 reps.
/

DRY FIRE TRIGGER RES ET

3m To perform this training, you need to have a buddy who is positioned on the weak side of the shooter.

From a low ready (both hands), bring pistol up, take aim at the target, press the trigger without
moving the pistol and keep trigger finger to the rear. Your buddy
stands on your weak side and rearms the pistol with one hand on trigger guard and one hand
pulling the slide to rearm. The shooter releases trigger till reset and
you reengage

5 reps.

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PISTOL A.2 NATURAL POINT OF AIM

CHECK YOUR NATURAL P OINT OF AIM

X1
The focus of this training is checking your natural point of aim which is directly linked with
your stance.

Min 5
Position yourself at 3m and get into a comfortable, natural stance, two feet in the direction
of the target and upper body facing the target.

/
FIRST RUN WILL BE DRY FIRE

Take aim at one of the vertical line, left or right from the main target, and close your eyes.
3m
Count to five and reopen your eyes. Check if you are still aiming on the line. Up and down
movement is normal due to breathing. If you are deviating to the right try to reposition your
right leg to the front or left leg to the rear. If you are deviating to the left, vice versa.

If you are happy with the result proceed with the live firing run.

Take aim at the vertical line, close your eyes and fire 5 rounds in succession at a frequency
of counting 21, 22, 23, 24, 25. Open your eyes and check your results.

If you have a good natural stance, all the impacts should be in or just in the vicinity,
along the vertical line. If you are deviating to the right try to reposition your right leg to the front
or left leg to the rear. If you are deviating to the left, vice
versa.

Repeat if necessary.

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PISTOL A.3 GRIP

TRAIN YOUR GRIP

X1
In this training you will be focusing on the grip of the pistol.

5 Your target will be the top row of the 2,5cm circles.

From a compressed ready with one hand, bring both hands together making sure
/
you have a firm grip with equal pressure on both sides, extend your arms, aim,
squeeze the trigger and fire one round on the 2.5cm circle. Repeat each shot from
compressed ready starting with one hand.

3m
Try to keep the hits within the circles.

5 reps from compressed ready with one hand.

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PISTOL A.4 SIGHT PICTURE / SIGHT ALIGNEMENT

ONE EYE (DOMINANT)

X1
During the first training you will fire using only your dominant eye and focus on the
front sight when taking a sight picture.
10
Your targets will be the second row of the 2.5cm circles.

/ From the compressed ready with both hands you will extend your arms, align your
sights with one eye on the 2,5cm circle, get a perfect sight picture and alignment,
focus on the front sight, squeeze the trigger and fire one round.
3m
Repeat each shot from compressed ready.

5 reps from the compressed ready

TWO EYES OPEN

During the second sequence you will train shooting with two eyes open. Make
sure that your dominant eye is used to get a correct sight picture.

Your targets will be the third row of the 2.5cm circles

From the compressed ready with both hands you will extend your arms, align your
sights on the 2.5cm circle with both eyes open, get a perfect sight picture and
alignment, focus on the front sight, squeeze the trigger and fire one round.

Repeat each shot from compressed ready.

5 reps from the compressed ready.

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PISTOL A.5 TRIGGER CONTROL

TRIGGER SQUEEZE & RESET

X1
The focus on this training is controlling your trigger

5 Your targets will be will be the fourth row of the 2.5cm circles.

From a low ready (both hands), bring pistol up, take aim on the 2,5cm circle, take up trigger

/
slack to find the wall, squeeze and fire one round. Your finger stays on the trigger at the
back of your trigger guard. Slowly release the trigger to find the audible reset and keep your
finger in position. Don’t let go of the trigger.

3m
Take aim at the next circle, find the wall and execute the same drill.

5 reps.

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PISTOL A.6 BREATHING

CONTROL YOUR BREATHI OF

X1
During this training, you will be focusing on your breathing.

5 Your targets will be will be the 8cm “A” circle.

From a low ready, bring pistol up, take aim on the 8cm circle, and start focusing
/ on your breathing whilst maintaining sight picture and alignment. Exhale and make
sure you take up the trigger slack when you come at a respiratory pause.
Squeeze the trigger and fire one round.
5m
Release to reset and lower the pistol.

5 reps from the low ready.

TAKE UP

SLACK

IN OUT IN OUT IN OUT IN OUT

TRIGGER

SQUEEZE

RESPIRATORY

PAUSE HOLD SHOOT

BREATH

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PISTOL A.7 FOLLOW THROUGH (SINGLE ROUND)

MAINTAINING THE FUNDAMENTALS

X1
The focus in this session will be maintaining your fundamentals for 1 to 1,5
seconds after the shot broke and before lowering the pistol.
5
Your targets will be will be the A zone.

/ From a compressed ready with one hand, bring both hands together and fire 1
round whilst applying all fundamentals: grip, stance, sight picture / alignment,
breathing and trigger control. When the shot breaks, release the trigger
10m
immediately to reset and keep applying the fundamentals for at least 1 second
before lowering your pistol.

5 reps from compressed ready with one hand.

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PISTOL A.8 PAIRS & GRIP

KEEPING THE GUN FLAT

X1
The focus during this training is shooting pairs with a firm grip and maintaining the
recoil as flat as possible.
6
Your targets will be the first row of the 5cm circles.

/ From a compressed ready with one hand, bring both hands together, establish a
firm grip, extend your arms, lock wrists, aim, take up trigger and fire a controlled
pair whilst keeping the gun as flat as possible.
3m
Repeat from compressed ready starting with one hand.

Try to keep the pairs within the circles.

3 reps from compressed ready with one hand.

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PISTOL A.9 PAIRS & SIGHT PICTURE/ALIGNMENT

AIMING WITH TWO EYES OPEN

X1
The focus on this training is shooting pairs whilst focusing on your sight picture /
alignment.
6
Your targets will be the second row of the 5cm circles.

/ From the compressed ready with both hands, you will extend your arms, align
your sights with one eye on the 2,5cm circle, get a perfect sight picture and
alignment, focus on the front sight with both eyes open, squeeze the trigger and
fire the first round. As soon as your front sight is back on target, fire the second
3m
round.

Try to keep the pairs within the circles.

3 reps from compressed ready with both hands.

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PISTOL A.10 PAIRS & RESET

CONTROLLING YOUR TRIGGER

x3
Here we you will be focusing on your trigger control whilst shooting pairs.

36 Your targets will be the third row of the 5cm circles.

From a low ready, bring up the gun, aim, take up trigger slack, feel the wall, squeeze

/ the trigger and fire a controlled pair whilst controlling your trigger. After the first shot,
retract your finger until you feel the reset and start squeezing again for you second round.
After your second shot release the trigger until reset and start aiming at the next circle and
commence the same procedure.
3m

Try to keep the pairs within the circles.

3 reps.

TRIGGER RESET CADENC E

The aim of this training is to build up your reset speed.

Your target will be the 8cm circle.

The goal is to count out loud at a certain cadence and speed up per session.

From a low ready, bring pistol up, take aim at the circle, first count out loud 2001, 2002,
2003, 2004, 2005 and repeat 3 time so you get acquainted with the cadence. The fourth
time you start shooting 5 rounds at the same cadence focusing on your trigger reset.

The second cadence session will be “21, 22, 23, 24, 25”.
The third “1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and 5”.
The fourth “1, 2, 3, 4, 5”
The fifth as fast as you can.

Try to keep all hits within the circle. If not, take a step backwards and look at the other
fundamentals that could be causing a problem.

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PISTOL A.11 CONTROLLED AND HAMMERED PAIRS

CONTROLING YOUR PAIRS

X2
In this session you will be focusing on controlled and hammered pairs whilst
keeping your accuracy within boundaries.
Min 24
Your targets will be IPSC A zone. We suggest to use a shot timer as a stimuli and
track your performance
1,5–3sec
The main principle concerning pairs is when in close to your target you will fire
hammered pairs and as of a certain distance you will switch to controlled pairs.
3-10m This is called the mental clock “time vs distance”. The exact distance of the switch
between hammered and controlled pairs, depends on the shooter and the
application of the fundamentals. This is for you to find out. Take everything we
learned until now and put it into practice.

Start out at 3m from the low ready. On the beep, shoot a hammered pair within
1,5sec and check results. Keep all hits within the A zone. Don’t be afraid to take a
step back or switch to controlled pairs.

@ 5m within 2sec
@ 7m within 2,5sec
@ 10m within 3sec

Try to keep the pairs within the A zone

3 reps at each distance from low ready.

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PISTOL A.12 FOLLOW THROUGH (PAIRS)

MAINTAINING THE FUNDAMENTALS

X1
The focus in this session will be maintaining your fundamentals for 1 to 1,5
seconds after the shot broke and before lowering the pistol.
10
Your targets will be will be the A zone.

/ From a compressed ready with one hand, bring both hands together and fire 2
rounds whilst applying all fundamentals: grip, stance, sight picture / alignment,
breathing and trigger control. When the second shot breaks, release the trigger
10m immediately to reset and keep applying the fundamentals for at least 1 second
before lowering your pistol.

5 reps from compressed ready with one hand.

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B. PISTOL FUNDAMENTALS DRILLS

After the fundamentals (proper grip, stance, breathing, sight alignment / picture
and trigger control) are trained and mastered, have a go at the following pistol
fundamental drills.

Take note that these drill can be altered in terms of difficulty. If you are not
acquainted with certain manipulations like drawing fast from the holster, get the
proper knowledge and skills from a professional trainer before proceeding with the
more advanced drills.

Push yourself in search of your boundaries in order to train the fundamentals or

manipulation that go wrong. Don’t be afraid to fail or take a step back.

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PISTOL B.1 CALL THE BALL

GOAL
X1
Application of the 5 fundamentals, with the focus on fast sight picture / alignment

In order to run this drill, you will need a buddy.

Min 16
CALL THE BALL LEVEL 1

/ From the low ready, have a buddy call out a color from the first top row of circles
and engage it as fast as possible.

3m Your buddy continues to call out a color from the next rows in succession. When
the fourth circle is engaged he restart from the top row and pick another color.

CALL THE BALL LEVEL 2

From the low ready, have a buddy call out a color and you have to engage all the
circle with the same color in all four rows as fast as possible.

You can repeat this drill for the other colors.

CALL THE BALL LEVEL 3

Same as level 1 but starting position is from the holster.

CALL THE BALL LEVEL 4

Same as level 2 but starting position is from the holster.

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B.2 PRECISION AT DIFFERENT DISTANCES

PISTOL

GOAL
X1
Training and application of the 5 fundamentals with the focus on precision at
different distances.
15
Your target will be the 20cm circle.

/ Fire 3 rounds from the 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25m distance whilst applying the
fundamentals. Take your time.

5-25m All hits must be within the circle. If not, try to take a step back and determine what
you are doing wrong and train on that specific problem.

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PISTOL B.3 RELOAD DRILL

GOAL
X3
Training of magazine reloads with slide lock whilst applying the fundamentals.

Min 6 Prepare 3 mags, one with 1 round, one with 2 rounds and one with 3 rounds. Start
with the 1 round mag.

15s Your targets will be A, B and C circles. We suggest to use a shot timer as a stimuli
and track your progress.

A good reference timing is shooting the drill within 15s. Within 12s is very good,
3m
below 10s is super.

RELOAD DRILL LEVEL 1

From the low ready, on the beep, engage A with 1 round, slide lock reload and
engage B with 2 rounds, slide lock reload and engage C with 3 rounds.

All hits must be within the circles

RELOAD DRILL LEVEL 2

Same as Level 1 but start position is holster.

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B.4 FUNDAMENTAL DRILLS

PISTOL

GOAL
X1
Training of fundamentals both strong and weak hand at different distances

12 Your targets will be the A circle.

Start at 3m.
/
Draw from holster and shoot one round on the target with both hands, switch to
strong hand and fire one round, switch to weak hand and fire one round, holster.
3-10m
Do the same drill at 5, 7 and 10m.

All hits should be within the circle. If not, try to take a step back and determine what
you are doing wrong and train on that specific problem.

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B.5 HOLSTERWORK DRILLS

PISTOL

GOAL
X2
Training of your draw and application of the fundamentals.

18 Your targets will be the 20cm circle. We suggest to use a shot timer as a stimuli and
track your progress.

/ Start at 5m.

You will fire each session 3 times. Best time counts. During each different session your

5m hand position will be altered.

On the signal, draw as fast as you can and fire 1 round at the target. If you miss the
target, that turn is over.

Hand position Time 1 Time 2 Time 3

Hands on side

Hands up

Arms crossed

Hands on head

Hand on back

Strong hand only

Back to target
hands on side

All hits should be within the circle. If not, try to take a step back and determine what
you are doing wrong and train on that specific problem.

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PISTOL B.6 3M DRILL

GOAL
X2
The 3m drill stand for Movement, Manipulation and Malfunction. This drill trains about everything and
puts into practice all the fundamentals.

while 9+1
Your targets will be the IPSC A zone. We suggest to use a shot timer as a stimuli and track your progress.

<15s
Shooter starts at 5m with handgun loaded with six live rounds (one in chamber, five in magazine) and
one dummy round in the magazine. Dummy is not the top round nor the bottom round in the magazine.

5m
Someone else should load the magazine so the shooter does not know where in the magazine the dummy
round lies.

Shooter has one spare magazine with 3 rounds.

Shooter starts holstered, hands on side. On signal, side step, draw, and fire until a malfunction occurs. On
the malfunction, side step, fix it, and continue to fire.
When the gun runs empty, side step, perform an emergency reload, and fire 3
additional shots.

The shooter must move on the draw, move on the malfunction, and move on the
reload.

Pass/Fail Scoring:

The shooter fails if he/she:

**
Does not move on the draw, the malfunction, and the reload
**
Does not tap the magazine before running the slide on the malfunction
**
Places a single hit outside the A zone on the target.

Time limit is 15 seconds.

Under 12s is very good

Under 10s is super.

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