Bill Wilson’s Basic Self-Defense Proficiency Drill
By Duane Thomas Famous shooter and “factory custom” 1911 entrepre- neur Bill Wilson has often been asked, “Do you have a shooting drill that tests the skills I’d need to have if I’m carrying a gun for self-defense?” So, he sat down and de- signed one. It’s called the Basic Self-Defense Proficiency Drill. (Hereafter referred to as the BSDP for brevity.) Let’s discuss exactly what this drill entails, and how to do well on it. Drill Description The BSDP is shot on two IDPA targets, one set up at five yards, one at seven yards, with one yard between targets
circle (either in the body or the head) is, obviously, still down-0; but a hit in the down-1 zone (either body or head) adds two seconds; a hit in the down-3 zone adds six seconds; a complete miss of the target adds 10 seconds (of course, we’ll have none of THOSE). Shooting the BDSP I’ll be honest with you, sports fans, there was a learn- ing curve to shooting this drill. Since it seemed morally correct to shoot Bill Wilson’s drill with a Wilson Combat 1911 ( wilsoncombat.com ), I reposed to the range with my Wilson Classic ESP, a full-sized, steel-framed, 5” barreled, 9mm 1911. Which was no great hardship since that was what I was already carrying already.
edge-to-edge. Other than that, required equipment is a 9mm or larger caliber au- topistol or a .38 Special or larger caliber revolver, a holster, at least one maga- zine/speedloader pouch, at least one magazine/speedloader, and a concealing garment. As that last item suggests, the BSDP is shot from concealment. Start po- sition is with hands hanging naturally at sides. The number of rounds fired is 24. There are three strings of fire to the BSDP. They are: String 1: Draw from concealment, fire three shots on the 5-yard target, transi- tion, three shots on the 7-yard target. String 2: Draw from concealment, three shots on the 5-yard target, tran- sition, three shots on the 7-yard target, master hand only. String 3: Start with six rounds in the gun. Draw from concealment, three shots on the 5-yard target, transition, three shots on the 7-yard target, slidelock reload, three shots on the 5-yard target, transition, three shots on the 7-yard target. When you’re done, you’ll have 12 shots on each target. Add up your times
Ammo was my handload running the X-treme 165-grain RN ( xtremebullets. com ) ahead of Vihtavuori 3N37 powder ( vihtavuori.com ) at around a 140 power factor. Carry gear was a straight-drop Blade-Tech Standard Belt holster (this holster is, sadly – and I am sad about it – no longer made, so I really appreci- ated it when my buddy Ken Hackathorn found this one in his stash and gifted it to me) and matching double mag pouch also from Blade-Tech. Magazines were Wilson’s 10-round Elite Tactical Magazines (ETMs). Cover garment was the 5.11 Tactical Vest I wear every day. Actually, other than the fact the gun was stuffed with handloads instead of Black Hills 124-gr. JHPs ( black-hills. com ), everything here was what I carry every day. Figuring it Out It was raining when I got to the out- door range on which I do most of my shooting these days – I know, rain in Washington state, gasp, shock. First rep, I shot everything, I’m not going to say, “as fast as I possibly could,” but I wasn’t
Author Thomas found the key to passing the Basic Self-Defense Proficiency Drill at the Expert level is shooting it clean; here he has posted 12 down-0s on the 5-yard target.
holding back that much either, just to see what would hap- pen. My raw time was 17.19 which doesn’t suck; unfortu- nately, I dropped four shots/eight points which brought my final score up to 25.19. “Proficient.” Pfffft! Obviously, that wasn’t working. Okay, let’s see what happens if we slow down a bit and focus on accuracy. Answer: raw score 18.51 but I still dropped one shot/two points which made my final score 20.51. “Advanced.” By this time, it wasn’t just raining, it was getting dark, so it was time to pack up my gear and come back another day.
for all three strings, plus seconds added for points down. Based on the resultant score, you will be classed as: • Expert : 20.00 seconds or less (25.00 seconds with a revolver). • Advanced : 25.00 seconds or less (30.00 seconds with a revolver). • Proficient : 30.00 seconds or less (35.00 seconds with a revolver). What really makes the BSDP work is the scoring sys- tem. Rather than standard IDPA scoring, Bill Wilson has DOUBLED the points down. Thus a hit in the 8” down-0
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