Training Series; Baer Standard Drill
By Paul Rackley, GunBroker Editor
Warming up at the range before moving to training is pretty standard. The problem with this is that no one gets a warmup in a defensive situation. So, the best way to determine if a person is truly ready is by jumping right into something, like the Baer Standard drill.
Created by Drew Estell, founder of Baer Solutions, this drill is quite simple and can be used with both handguns and rifles. It is also quite efficient at determining where shooters need to improve shooting fundamentals.
Conducting the Baer Standard Drill
Shooters should perform the Baer cold, when they first arrive at the range. Its whole point is to help figure out on what shooters might need to work.
Start at 3 yards with a pistol in a holster loaded with 10 rounds. At the signal, draw and fire five rounds into the box on either side of the target. Then, transition to the other box and fire five more rounds. Perform a speed reload with a magazine holding three rounds and fire those rounds into the center circle. This ends the drill. However, Baer recommends performing another slide lock reload to conduct a threat assessment of the area.
Shooters should run the drill clean as quickly as possible. According to Baer Solutions, missing a single shot means a failure. Shooters must also do this in nine seconds or less to pass. Once successful, move back to 5 meters and start again. If running with a rifle, start in low ready at 5 meters. Everything else is the same.
Benefits of the Baer
Shooters can perform the Baer Standard drill both with and without a shot timer. However, time is a factor, so it’s best conducted with a timer. As the very least, have a partner run the time with a stopwatch.
Basically, this is a speed drill with two transitions. The first transition is fast while the second requires a slowdown. It also contains a reload that can cause a failure if not executed correctly. The reload is almost a pause between the strings. The first 10 shots at the squares are fired rapidly. The circle requires shooters to take careful aim, as the target is smaller.
The Baer forces shooters to think about drawing, transitions and reloads. It also shows shooters where they need to improve. Most will probably need to work on drawing and reloads, with some needing to improve the more pinpoint shooting on the circle.
In any case, the Baer Standard drill makes an excellent starting and finishing exercise, determining where one’s skills is at and where those skills need to get. And the targets can be found for free online at Baer Solutions.
Results of My Baer
Since the Baer Standard drill is supposed to be run cold, I ran it completely cold. In fact, I used a recently obtained Ruger Max-9 with Federal Champion Training 115-grain rounds. I had never fired the pistol.
For three consecutive days I ran the drill. The first day, I came in under the time limit, putting five rounds in each of the squares. However, after performing the reload, I missed the circle with the last shot. This was a failure.
The second day, I put all shots in the target zones, but came in over 10 seconds. I had to slow down to hit the circle. Once again, I failed. In fact, I failed twice by taking too long both times. On the third day, I was successful, putting the rounds on target in 8.54 seconds. The experience made me realize I need to work on transitioning to smaller targets. And that is the whole point of the Baer Standard Drill.
Related Article: Pistol Reloads; Tactical vs Speed
