The Tueller Drill in Action: Get offthe X

I know a lot of you know the Tueller Drill very well. For our friends who are new to the carry lifestyle:

The Tueller Drill demonstrated that an assailant armed with a knife could begin running toward an individual armed with a handgun at 21 feet and that only highly practiced individuals could draw and engage before the knife-armed threat closed and inflicted serious injury. You can see more here: https://www.usconcealedcarry.com/blog/cutting-distance-knife-attacks-tueller-drill/

Kevin and Mike show you the Tueller Drill in action here:
https://www.usconcealedcarry.com/blog/get-off-the-x/

How do you train to get off the X?

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Practice shooting while moving. Shooting angry, wounded raccoons that just came out a tree is good practice.

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Do you shoot as you move or do you move and then shoot, @45IPAC?

I know we teach to move then shoot for better accuracy. My moving then shooting accuracy needs some work, but I am pretty defensively accurate. It definitely won’t win any competitive target shooting awards.

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I practice both @Dawn. I’m quicker in my moving, and more accurate when it’s move, then shoot. But, I do practice forward, and side to side while shooting. It’s something my ccw instructor had us do. It’s really nice to have a range buddy call out the target while you move, and the number of shots. Example=1 chest, 1 head 2 chest, 1 head.
We start at one end of either 3 or five targets, engaging until the pistol is empty, do a reload, and reverse direction. Make sure you use a lot of thinking, eye movements, and coordination. It’s fun too. Another drill, I do alone, is walk backwards engaging a single target until I need to reload, then advance on the target while emptying the firearm. I know, that me bing involved in a shooting is not likely. One of the things that concerns me, is while out for a walk, if my son gets ahead of me and my wife, either a child abduction(becoming less likely, as he’s as big as a small adult now) or being in the woods and a 4 legged predator attacking. I want to be able to quickly close the distance and start putting lead downrange, accurately, as fast as I can.

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That funny… I’ve read Tueller’s history this morning and now USCCA has come with this… it’s a sign I have to start this drill :slight_smile:
If anyone wants to read original, please go here:
http://www.theppsc.org/Staff_Views/Tueller/How.Close.htm

I’ve also found that in 1990’s they were doing tests with this drill and results were astonishing.

  • average person can close 21 feet distance with knife or bludgeon and hit you within 1.5 second
  • person in great physical shape (athlete) can do this in less that 1 second !
  • person with broken leg in walking cast can close this distance in 2 seconds !
    There was even a guy who broke his leg during “fake” attack and he closed 21 feet in 1.8 second. (that showed it’s not a good idea to shoot the leg)

So please practice shooting while moving, draw the pistol and step to the site… make this your habit to safe your life.

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A good bit of both here particularly when we get into a bunch of hogs.

As for the TD, I do a modified version where alone I’ll drop a raquetball from shoulder level while trying to get my first hit from the draw before it hits the ground.

For students I stand back and we’ll have students back to back, one facing me, one facing the target.

On “go” the student faces me and the shooter draws and tries to get his first center mass hit before the runner crosses the line.

We rotate with each successive shot to induce at least a little physical stress.

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