Whenever a pro-level shooter speaks, I shut up and listen, especially when they are freely providing information. It’s often worth soaking up. A little while back pro shooter, USPSA Grandmaster Tim Herron shared something he called the Bang Click drill. It’s a take on the classic ball and dummy drill.
The old Bang Click drill is less of a traditional skill-building drill and more of a diagnostic exercise.
In action sports shooting we have something called doubles. As the name implies, it’s a double tap. You aim and pull the trigger twice as fast as possible. Your goal is to put those two rounds into an A-zone.
Putting two shots into a target as quickly as possible with your handgun translates to more than action sport shooting. It’s valuable for self-defense use. The core skills required to shoot two rounds quickly and accurately are fundamental to any type of handgun shooting.
The Bang Click Drill aims to make you faster and more accurate with your doubles. It helps you diagnose any pre-ignition pushing or pulling movement and any changes in grip as you shoot. Typically, you want to avoid movement prior to the gun firing, and you want a consistent grip the entire time you’re shooting.
Who Is Tim Herron?
If I had all the space in the world, I’d list all of his accomplishments, but we don’t. Tim Herron is a USPSA Grand Master, meaning he’s one of the highest-level shooters in the world. His accomplishments include what appears to be dozens of championship titles in the shooting world.
He’s also an instructor and has been teaching since 2015. Mr. Herron most certainly knows his craft. I want to thank Mr. Herron for posting the Bang Click Drill.
What We’ll Need For the Bang Click Drill
This is one of the easiest drills in terms of logistics. You’ll need a gun, duh, and at least one mag. Two mags will make your life much easier. You’ll need two targets. An IPSC target with an A-zone works, a B8 works, and basically anything that has a somewhat small internal target area works well.
In terms of ammo, it’s completely up to you how much shooting you want to do. You’ll need an even number of rounds, and you can get a good workout with 20 rounds. You could always shoot more or less. This can be an exercise you do at the end of a range trip or the focus of an entire range trip. It’s very adaptable to your needs and is a great training exercise.
I fired my doubles from the draw just to work draws and get some additional practice. I used the Safariland 6304RDS with my Glock 17 and Defender-ST for the drill.
Shooting The Bang Click Drill
The Bang Click Drill has two phases. You have two targets, and each phase uses a fresh target. I used 20 rounds total, with the ammo divided between two magazines. There is no specific range requirement. I shot my doubles at seven yards. Doubles are typically fired at closer ranges, so I wouldn’t get too far from the target.
Phase 1: Doubles
Phase 1 is very simple. At the command to fire, be it mental, verbal, or a shot timer, you fire a double tap. That’s one sight picture with two trigger presses as fast as you can accurately hit the target. Your goal should be a swift pair of trigger presses.
You’ll repeat this for the entirety of the magazine. For me, that meant I fired five doubles for a total of 10 rounds. After that, I checked my target. My goal is to have one ragged hole. That’s optimum, but that’s tough to accomplish. Hopefully, this drill will help you get to that single ragged hole.
When observing my target, I’m looking to see how my shots are grouped. You might observe that half the rounds are very close, and the other half seem all over the place. The rounds that are tight and close are likely your first shot for each doubles pair, with the second being thrown awry.
This could signal pre-ignition movement or grip changes between shots. With that in mind, we move on to Phase 2.
Phase 2: Bang Click
For Phase 2, we want a mindset that encourages a consistent grip on the weapon and elimination of movement prior to pulling the trigger.
For this phase, put your other loaded magazine in the gun, chamber a round, and then remove the magazine and stow it. Assume a good firing position and fire your double tap. You’re firing one round and then one dry fire trigger pull. The first phase should have set you up to make firing a pair of doubles feel routine.
Your body and muscle memory will likely still anticipate that shot. Since you aren’t firing a shot on the second trigger press, you will be able to observe movement prior to the trigger pull and whether you are changing your grip. It can be tricky to post immediately. Luckily, we will repeat this drill until the magazine is empty.
With 10 rounds loaded, you get 20 presses. Mindfulness is your best friend, so be mindful of your grip and movement. Look for it. I would suggest setting a camera up on a tripod and filming this portion of the drill. You can review and see yourself from a new angle, which might reveal some of your shooting flaws.
On Target
The goal of the Bang Click Drill is to help you self-diagnose. If you can identify your shooting errors, you can start fixing them. I have a big problem with changing grip pressure. I tend to hold on tighter after my first shot, and ultimately, I want my grip pressure to be separate from my trigger pull. That’s what the Bang Click Drill showed me and what I plan to work on.
My doubles aren’t quite one ragged hole. However, the group keeps getting tighter. Improvements are typically small and hard to observe, but the Bang Click Drill has quickly brought remarkable performance improvements. It’s convinced me that I really need to take a class with Tim Herron.
