Not long after posting the Larry Vickers modified Humbler as a resource, I came across a related one by Patrick McNamara. It should be no surprise that both Larry Vickers and Pat Mac teach variations of this drill since they both spent significant time in Delta, a unit renowned for pistol shooting. The Pat Mac version utilizes the same NRA B-8 target, but varies the distances and timings. It also requires 50 rounds, so it’s a convenient way to start a session with a single box of ammunition.
The 500 Aggregate is for shooters already familiar with pistol basics and mechanics, such as drawing from a holster. This drill is all about accuracy. It’s similar to a typical precision pistol course of fire, but with practical elements like two handed shooting and holster work. You still have time constraints to contend with, but they are not terribly stringent. This drill uses straight point values from the target, so 10, 9, 8, 7, etc.
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The 500 Aggregate
This drill involves five stages, each with 10 rounds total, for a total of 50 shots fired. The goal should be a minimum of 400 points across all 50 shots, and ideally beating 450 points- the Martial Marksman standard.
Start with the target at 25 yards. Firing with both hands, you have unlimited time to fire 10 shots with maximum accuracy. From there, you’ll move the target closer as you introduce more complicated shooting mechanics such as single hand shooting, drawing, and time limits.
For the last two stages, you need a par timer.
| Stage | Distance | Task | Shots | Start / Execution | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 25 Yards | Slow Fire | 10 | Freestyle (Two Hands). Pure marksmanship. | No Limit |
| 2 | 15 Yards | Slow Fire | 10 | Strong Hand Only (No support). | No Limit |
| 3 | 15 Yards | Slow Fire | 10 | Weak Hand Only (No support). | No Limit |
| 4 | 10 Yards | Timed Fire | 10 | From Holster; 2 strings of 5 shots. | 20s per 5 |
| 5 | 7 Yards | Rapid Fire | 10 | From Holster; 2 strings of 5 shots. | 10s per 5 |
Pass: 400 | Martial Marksman: 450+
Penalty: -10 points for any shot off the paper.
Raising the Floor
Ideally, you could run this drill three times back to back as an evaluation and aggregate all runs through it. That’s a better measure of your overall performance with that particular weapon. Remember, it’s not about you managing to eke out a top level performance one time and then claiming that you’re always at the level. The overarching goal is raising your performance baseline so that your average, or even a bad day, is above a certain threshold.
Using it as an Assessment
After a few runs through the complete drill, you will have a strong idea of your weak links. For most people, it will be the weak hand only shooting. Whatever the weak link is, use the result as your cue to spend more time practicing that particular element.
Target Training Tips
Training repeatedly with B8 repair centers can get expensive real quick if you’re using a lot of them. This is an instance where something like the DOT-4 target comes in handy. If you assume that keeping all of your hits within the 5.5″ black of the B8 is what you need to pass, then do the math on the angular measurement of 5.5″ at each of the stage distances.
Then apply that angular measurement to the 3″ circle of the DOT-4 to determine what distance you need to shoot the dots at to simulate the B8’s black zone. Hint: it works out to about 54% of the distance (3″ is 0.545 of 5.5″). Luckily, I did the math for you in the table below. This method means you now have 24 “bull simulators” on a single target to work with rather than burning through 24 separate B8 targets.
| Standard Distance (5.5″ B8) | Angular Measurement | Equivalent Training Dist (3″ Circle) |
|---|---|---|
| 25 Yards | ~21.0 MOA | 13 Yards |
| 15 Yards | ~35.0 MOA | 8 Yards |
| 10 Yards | ~52.5 MOA | 5 Yards |
| 7 Yards | ~75.0 MOA | 4 Yards |
Closing Out
The 500 Aggregate is a nice variation related to the Modified Humbler. Whereas the Larry Vickers version takes place all at 15 yards and uses different mechanics, the 500 Aggregate is a little simpler and mixes up the distances. Both are valuable tools for your training regime. My suggestion is not to chase both rabbits at once. Get proficient with one of them first, and then switch to the other.
In a video where Pat Mac discusses pistol shooting, he mentions that a lot of modern trainers eschew bullseye training and scoring methods as “not realistic or relevant.” Pat disagrees, pointing out that such trainers usually can’t shoot accurately all that well, so they lean into close range go-fast shooting. Pat states, and I agree, that speed must be built on a foundation of accuracy.
