Dickens Drill

[Mac66]

Details from the recent active shooter incident in an Indiana mall indicate that the armed citizen who intervened, Eli Dickens, shot 10 rounds at the bad guy from 40 yards, hitting him 8 times within 15 seconds. The particular circumstances birthed a new standard or shooting drill, called the “Dickens Drill.”

8 hits out of 10 is pretty good shooting at 40 yards considering the bad guy was likely moving after getting hit. We also don't know if Dickens advanced on the bad guy, shot from cover. There is some indication that Dickens shot from support i.e he rested his pistol on something. That makes sense to find cover and use it to support your shot particularly at that distance.

Dickens reportably used a Glock 19 but you should use whatever gun you regularly carry. I'm headed north today or tomorrow and intend to try this drill with both my LC9s and my G3c which has pretty much become my EDC.

Since there is no set way to do the drill I will try it several ways and report back.

Edited to add: I listened to an interview with Eli. Apparently after he hit the bad guy and he went down, Eli advanced on BG shooting and hitting him to make sure he was neutralized. So not all rounds were fired at 40 yards.

That probably changes the drill somewhat but still...being able to hit all your shots at 40 yards is a good thing.

[David]

This does demonstrate that a SD situation can happen at extended distances. Although the commonly held distance is less than 10 feet it needs to be understood that it is an average. And an average has outliers in both directions that get factored into the average. While not as likely, as we see in this unfortunate scenario, a longer range shot or shots may be needed to neutralize a threat or threats.

Although the meme is probably meant with some humor, it actually does have validity. One of the reasons I enjoyed the Outlaw matches because it had differing distances and components i.e. walking, crouching, barricades, shooting through 'windows' or 'doors' etc. All valuable training.

This incident also demonstrates that a higher round count may be necessary. Once again, the commonly held 2ish rounds fired in a gun fight is an average. As we can see in this incident the minimum required rounds to stop the threat was 10. Something to consider if your carry weapon has a lower capacity. Perhaps consider a spare mag or speed loader if it's not already carried.

Definitely food for thought.

[Mac66]

The other question is do you even engage? And if so when? I think the smart thing to do is run and/or hide/take cover/shelter in an active shooting situation. You aren't obligated to engage a shooter. On the other hand when out in the open (in a mall court for example) there may not be anywhere to hide or take cover. Kudos to Eli for stepping up and taking down the shooter. The kid has some balls.

[Ronin.45]

Good drill to test your abilities.
Can't post here, but I did a video a week ago.
We ran it cold and started facing up range because he was most likely not facing the shooter initially.
Sig 365 from kydex pocket holster.
10/10 in 10.69sec
4 in the zero ring, but pulled the other six a little low in the belly.
Sig 365 from kydex pocket holster

[David]

Good drill to test your abilities.
Can't post here, but I did a video a week ago.
We ran it cold and started facing up range because he was most likely not facing the shooter initially.
Sig 365 from kydex pocket holster.
10/10 in 10.69sec
4 in the zero ring, but pulled the other six a little low in the belly.
Sig 365 from kydex pocket holster

Very nice!

I'm very glad that I ran my P365 at an Outlaw match to see what it was capable of, and what I was capable of with it. Very pleased as some of the distances were 40ish yards. It was actually one of my better scoring matches.

[Ronin.45]

Good drill to test your abilities.
Can't post here, but I did a video a week ago.
We ran it cold and started facing up range because he was most likely not facing the shooter initially.
Sig 365 from kydex pocket holster.
10/10 in 10.69sec
4 in the zero ring, but pulled the other six a little low in the belly.
Sig 365 from kydex pocket holster

Very nice!

I'm very glad that I ran my P365 at an Outlaw match to see what it was capable of, and what I was capable of with it. Very pleased as some of the distances were 40ish yards. It was actually one of my better scoring matches.

I don't shoot my 365 nearly as much as I should, but it goes to show that practice transfers between guns.

[Mac66]

I tried it today. First time I got 5 out of 10 on target. I was shooting low.

Second and third time 8 out of 10.

My excuses...

-my eyes are old. Can't see the front sight anymore

-I started wearing glasses a couple months ago but i never wear them.. can still kinda sorta see ok without them. Wasn't wearing them.

-40 yards is a long way on a reduced ipsc torso

-sun got in my eyes. just kidding

BTW, I shot freestanding. Just draw and fire. I used my G3C which is pretty much my EDC now. May try it again tomorrow with my LC9s.

Got target pics if I can figure out how to post them from my phone.

[Mac66]

Just got back from trying it with my LC9s. 9 rnd mag one in the chamber for 10.

I think I was shooting over the target... think 6 o'clock hold. Changed my hold and Hit in the head on shot 6 then a pretty good center target group in the next 4.

5 out of 10 was the best I could do in 3 trys. All 3 were 5 for 10.

Tried the G3c again. Yup, 8 for 10. Better grip, easier to hold onto. Better sights.

Notes...
- wore my glasses this time. Didn't make any difference.

-still having trouble seeing the front sight. May fiber optic sights would help.

- didn't time myself. Probably 2-3 seconds to acquire target. Then about 1 second interval firing. Probably less than 15 seconds total each time.

- i actually feel pretty good about my shooting since I've never shot either of those guns past about 15 yards before. Its also been along time since i shot a pistol that far.. i don't have time this weekend but I'm going to have to bench test them to see where they actually shoot at that distance.

[Mac66]

My best target, btw, I wasn't trying for head shots, thats just where they hit. Couldn't tell at the time. That's 4 in the head and 4 in the body.



Another good 8/10 one.



Best I could do with my LC9s was 5 out of 10.

I took out my Keltec P17 today and shot the challenge with 22s. I averaged 8 hits out of 10 but did shoot a couple 10s. I ran through it 4-5 times with the 22.

The far left shot is a double 10/10 with the 22



Some thoughts....

-It's difficult coldly firing a handgun at 40 yards particularly if you've never shot that particular handgun out past 10 or 15 yards. Not really knowing where you're shooting/hitting is disconcerting. I used to shoot PPC back in day (40+ years ago). That included slow fire revolver stage at 50 yards. The most recent long range pistol shooting I've done was my Ruger Redhawk 44 mag I sighted in at 50 yards and shot it out to 75 (off a bench rest) when I took it to Alaska in 2017.

-Going to have to bench rest my carry guns at 40-50 yards to actually see where they hit at those distances.

-The fiber optic sights on the P17 made a difference in seeing, contrasting the sights on the target. My G3c sights are painted orange but are pretty wide at 40 yards. My LC9 sights are small white dots, very hard to see. Going to have to look into FOs for both.

-I do actually feel pretty good about hitting the target as much as I did at 40 yards. Hits count!

- Going to have to practice at different distances from now on... just because....you never know.

[Mac66]

Here's a picture of my range. Those reduced size silhouettes on the left look pretty small from 40 yards. Everything on the right of the bowling pins is for 22 only.

Actually there is another plate rack to the left of the paper targets as well. Don't seem to have a picture since I put that up.