When it comes to shooting drills, an elite few spread far and wide. They typically have a few things in common. They tend to be low round-count drills using standardized, easy-to-find targets. They are also adaptable and tend to test universal gun-handling skills. The 10-10-10 Drill occupies a slot in the book of classic firearms training drills.
10-10-10 stands for 10 rounds fired in 10 seconds at 10 yards. Legendary firearms instructor Ken Hackathorn designed the popular drill. It works well for all levels of shooters, from beginners to experienced shooters. It’s a solid test of shooting skill and allows shooters to test their accuracy, recoil control, and sight tracking. I think any serious shooter should attempt to master it.
The Benefits Of the 10-10-10 Drill
You get to work on some of the most essential skills necessary to be a good shooter. That’s reason enough to complete the drill. A lot of drills are typically completed in less than five rounds. The 10-10-10 requires 10 rounds per run, which is more than most, allowing you to stretch your skills over a longer period.
Like all legendary drills, the 10-10-10 Drill benefits from being logistically easy to complete. It only requires 10 rounds per run. The target is the classic B8 design, which can be bought in bulk for nearly nothing or even printed at home. If you look up the B8 dimensions, it’s not that hard to draw one.
We only need 10 yards worth of range. This drill does not require a draw, so you can practice it at most public gun ranges. The drill can be adapted in numerous ways to make it harder or even easier.
What You Need For the 10-10-10 Drill
We’ve already discussed the few things we need for the drill. We need a handgun, a single magazine, 10 rounds per run, a B8 target, and 10 yards. We’ll also need a shot timer. The shot timer could be a phone app since par times work well on phone shot timer apps, but don’t expect accurate split times or total times. That’s all you need to run the most basic version of the drill.
If you want to add some challenge or other skills to build, you can mix in a reload, a draw, or a malfunction. These would require a spare magazine, a holster, and some form of dummy round. These are all optional but are a great way to spice things up.
Shooting the 10-10-10 Drill
This has to be the simplest drill to write about. It’s easy. Setup your B8, walk back to the 10-yard line, hit the shot timer button, assume a low-ready position, and at the beep, shoot 10 rounds. Your goal is optimistically to hit the X of the B8 with all 10 rounds. That’s an expert degree of skill, to be sure.
I always try to hit all black. The B8’s scoring rings make it easy to track your score, which makes it easy to track your progress. It’s pretty easy to see progress when your number goes up. The other metric for skill is the timer.
You have 10 seconds, but can you shoot the drill faster without compromising accuracy? Can you hit all black in eight seconds? If so, maybe try to do the same in 7.5 seconds. The 10-10-10 Drill provides both clear accuracy and speed metrics to judge your skill.
Make It Harder (Or Easier)
Depending on your gun, you might find the drill a bit easy. Shooting the drill with a Glock 17 with a red dot is easy. Shooting the drill with a S&W Bodyguard 2.0 is a little tougher. If you find the drill to be too easy then you can make it harder.
Load two magazines with five rounds. Put one in the gun and one in your belt. Start the drill with a reload in the middle and see if you can still make it in 10 seconds with good accuracy.
Add a draw to the drill. Start holstered and see how much time a draw adds. Start with a Level 3 Retention Holster and see how fast and capable you are.
Add a dummy round somewhere randomly in your magazine and work your malfunction drills midway through the drill.
You can do a ton of things to increase the difficulty of the drill. You can add movement, cover, and combine a reload and a draw. It’s almost infinitely adaptable and adjustable.
What if the drill is too hard? The easiest thing you can do to make it easier is to reduce the distance. Start at five yards rather than 10 yards. Practice at five, then move to seven yards, and maybe you can make it to 10 yards sooner.
You can also start the drill by aiming at the target rather than the low-ready. I’d stick to 10 rounds per run. I think that’s a critical component of the drill, and you’ll get the most training from firing such a long string of fire.
All Tens
The 10-10-10 drill is an excellent drill to add to your repertoire. It’s easy to do but still challenging. The drill builds valuable skills like accuracy, recoil control, trigger manipulations, and more. The lightweight logistics load makes it an appealing and efficient way to spend your time at the range. It’s a 10 across the board!
