Larry Vickers 5-10-15 Drill — Handgun Fundamentals

Larry Vickers is back with another great handgun fundamentals drill that he calls the “5-10-15 Drill.” Larry is joined by Daniel Richardson of Richardson Precision and Training. The drill’s not fancy, but as Daniel says, it’s real “meat and potatoes fundamentals.” We all know that you got nothing without proper fundamentals, so take a look at this drill.

Larry Vickers and Daniel Richardson explaining the 5-10-15 handgun fundamentals drill — Larry Vickers runs Daniel Richardson from Richardson Precision and Training through his 5-10-15 Drill.

How it Works

Using a standard pistol target, mark shooting positions at 5, 10, and 15 yards, (hence the name of the drill). You shoot a particular way at each distance:

5 yards: shoot five rounds, slow fire, at the bullseye with your weak hand.
10 yards: shoot five rounds, slow fire, at the bullseye with your strong hand.
15 yards: shoot ten rounds, slow fire, at the bullseye with both hands.

Larry Vickers 5-10-15 Drill, first stage with weak hand at 5 yards — The first stage is five rounds with the weak hand at 5 yards.

Keep in mind that this is not a speed drill. These are slow, aimed shots meant to develop proper fundamentals like stance, grip, trigger pull, and recoil management. Larry’s goal for his students is all rounds in the black. Daniel, as a precision shooter, tries to get all his shots in the 10 ring. Do whichever suits your needs and skill level.

5-10-15 Drill, strong hand at five yards — The second stage is five rounds with the strong hand at 5 yards.

I’ve done this drill, working my way through the steps moving backward, then working my way back toward the market until I was back where I started. It gave me double the work from each point in the drill. It’s not as easy as Daniel makes it look.

5-10-15 handgun fundamentals drill, to rounds at 15 yards with both hands — The third stage is 10 rounds at 15 yards with both hands.

How Did Daniel Do?

Well, let’s just say that Daniel shoots the drill a lot better than I do. He easily meets Larry’s standard of all rounds in the black. He comes very close to meeting his own standard by putting 18 rounds through ring ten and only two through ring nine at the 15-yard stage. Larry’s scoring system, by the way, is as follows:

In the black: minus zero points
In the white: minus one point
On the cardboard: minus three points
A complete miss: minus five points

Larry Vickers 5-10-15 handgun fundamentals drill results on the target — Daniel shot the drill well, with 18 of 20 rounds in the 10 ring.

Daniel loves the drill because of his focus on precision, which is, of course, based on strong fundamentals. He stresses that if shooters don’t have proficiency in their strong and weak hands, “It’s gonna jump up and bite ‘em.” He likes that the drill includes a stage at distance and says that he thinks that is especially valuable if paired with Larry’s “Wobble Drill.”

Larry Vickers and Daniel Richardson — As a precision shooter, Daniel loved the drill’s emphasis on good fundamentals.

When you’re running the 5-10-15 drill, keep in mind that the distances are flexible based on the shooter’s skill level. “If the distances are kicking your butt,” Larry says, “do it at 4, 8, and 12 or 3,6, and 9.” You can get to shooting like Daniel and then back the distance off.

Have you fired this drill? Is it part of your training regimen? Hit us up in the comments and let us know what you think about it.