Bianchi Cup Drill

From the Ancient City Shooting Range, Rob Pincus is with Brian Canova of E.A.G. Tactical. Brian uses timer drills in his firearms training courses and his personal shooting practice. He believes timer drills bring a lot of value to training, and over the long term help track performance and show whether a shooter is progressing or regressing in skill.

TESTING THE BIANCHI CUP DRILL

One of the standard shooting drills utilizing a timer in competition shooting and marksmanship is the Bianchi Cup. This one drill measures different skills, including draw time from the holster, accuracy, and transition time between multiple targets.

All shots are taken on a small target and the drill includes a time constraint. The Bianchi Cup is a plate rack drill (though it can be modified for those who don’t have access to a plate rack). The shooter has six seconds to clear five plates at ten yards. Then the shooter moves back to 15 yards, then 20 and 25, and adds a second of time for every additional five yards. 48 is a perfect score.

The times are doable — everyone can shoot the five targets at 15 yards in seven seconds. But shooters’ standards usually fall off in accuracy as they move farther back, because they panic and may rush. They finish within the time limit but with misses. (If the shooter doesn’t make the time limit, the stage is a no-go, which is why shooters feel the time pressure.)

ANALYZING THE RESULTS

As Brian uses it in his handgun training courses, he takes the results of this drill and creates a path for students to get better.

Rob shoots the Bianchi Cup Drill twice at 10 yards. His second run took less time and he shot better, not surprisingly. The timer records the time between shots. Split times should be consistent — all five shots should have an even cadence of fire.