You must shoot a full magazine on every string in this drill and you must not stop and restart in the middle of a magazine. Unless there is a safety issue, shoot the entire magazine at the required splits. You must have a relaxed positive stance and grip on the gun for this to work.
The major areas this drill assists are the return of the gun under recoil, calling your shots, grip control, and solidifying the stance. If you are not using a solid forward shooting stance, you will see the gun start going out of control and the sights moving differently after about 3-5 rounds. Please refer to my previous articles for more stance information or check my website at www.mattburkett.com <http://www.mattburkett.com>
You will need three targets, tape, and about 250 rounds of ammo.
The drill:
Start out with three targets 15 yards away. Load all of your magazines. First three strings are two seconds per shot. Like a metronome, have the splits be as close to two seconds as possible. Check your split times on a timer or have another shooter help you with the drill. Two seconds per shot gives you plenty of time to shoot an extremely small group.
First string, use as light of a grip as possible on first target.
Second string, medium grip on second target.
Third string, use a heavy grip on the third target.

Now unload and review your shooting.
You shouldn’t have more than about a 2? group on each target. Compare where they are impacting on the target. Is there more vertical stringing or horizontal on the different groups? Which one did you feel more comfortable with? How did the gun feel with each grip? What exactly did the sights do? Did they rise straight up under recoil? Could you even see the sights under recoil? This will show you if you have a flinch. If you can’t see the sights going up and down, there is a good chance you’re blinking.
Figure out what grip worked best for you and use that for the rest of the drill.
Tape the targets.
String four, two seconds per shot on target 1 with your new favorite grip.
String five, one second per shot on target 2.
String six, .5 seconds per shot on target 3.

Now unload and review your shooting.
Once again we go back and look to see where our problems are showing up. What is the group dispersion on the targets? Is there a significant difference between the groups at two seconds and at .5 seconds? How much vertical error is there with the groups? What did the sights do at the different speeds? Diagnose what is happening. If you’re getting a significantly upper right lift to the sights, grip a little more with your left hand and slightly less with your right hand (assuming you’re right handed).
Tape the targets.
String seven, one second per shot on target one.
String eight, .5 per shot on target two.
String nine, .25 per shot on target three.

Unload and review.
How did your shooting go at this speed? Are the sights coming back naturally to the aiming point?
Critical things to remember:
The timing of the gun that you have learned is specific to that firearm and load. If you change any part or your load, rerun the timing drills because the gun itself has changed.

Most of the targets I will track then trap. Break one shot while it is on the down swing and one shot while it is stopped. Sometimes they are track/traps. It all depends on your skill level and comfort level with the
targets along with the speed of the swinger. Use a stopwatch to figure out the entire available exposure time and how long it takes to get started. If possible time it repeatedly. Activation time is fairly critical as it will tell you when you can fire the first shot and that will decide if it will be a trap or track.

If possible get to a range that has a swinger and shoot the heck out of it.
It will help you get over the negative mental associations that swingers generally have and help you build up the confidence you need to shoot well.

Pre-travel is the amount of “play” the trigger has before engaging the sear.
I like a lot a pre-travel. This gives my finger the opportunity to engage the trigger and get a feel for it. It is almost nec. to slap triggers that have no pre-travel since you can’t interface with it. I like about 14 ounces of pre-travel on my 1911 type triggers. On a 1911 you can check this by having the gun fully assembles but without the beavertail in place. Lift the left side of the three leaf spring (the sear leaf) and then use a trigger pull gauge to check the pre-travel. On a Glock this is almost impossible to measure because you are partially cocking the firing pin during the trigger pull.

The break is the actually disengagement of the sear and hammer. I prefer my triggers have about a 21-26 ounce pull on a 1911. The Glock triggers I use are set-up by customglock.com and they break right about two pounds.

The over-travel is the distance the trigger moves from the break to the contact with the frame. On a 1911 this is set by the screw at the bottom of the trigger face. I prefer a bit of over-travel. This helps keep my finger from running into the frame especially weak or strong hand.

The reset is the distance from the contact of the frame to the reengagement of the sear and hammer.

A well set up trigger should feel clean with no dragging anywhere. It should bounce back to the reset.
I have Don Golembieski of Kodiak Precision set up the triggers with a slight rolling break on the sear. The way he does them is pretty amazing. Most people can’t feel the roll on his triggers and think that they are a crisp break. Too crisp of a break for me and I can see movement in the sights.

What a great squad! Fought back and forth with Jerry the whole match. I received four foot faults on the first stage and figured out the versa max doesn’t like slugs. Jerry got four foot faults on the third stage and we were basically tied back up. Back and forth we went on stages and I ended up just edging Jerry out at the end. Jojo surprised both of us as we didn’t even know he was shooting open. Nice consistent match Jojo!
Elana Zakoff gave her slot to Jeremiah Shafer. Who shot his first three gun. Good job Jeremiah.
More later.

1) Why are the upper and lower receiver so important?
Because that’s where everything comes together. That’s where all the moving parts are. The rear sight/scope sits on it, the magazine hangs out of it, the trigger group, bolt and chamber live in it. Everything connects at the receiver. You cannot build a great rifle with a poor upper and lower receiver.

2) So why the matched set?
To make sure that everything lines up perfectly. Sure, most milspec upper and lowers will fit together, usually with some extra work by the guy building your rifle, and it’ll be a good fit, depending on how close the two parts happen to be. To get the best fit, you need a matched set. An upper and lower that are made at the same time, to work together. Specifically with each other.

3)Why Predator Tactical’s matched set, and not Brand X?
Because each one of our upper receivers is built to fit presicely with the lower receiver of the matched set. Predator Tactical’s uncompromising dedication to perfection ensures every set is built to last, and built to be the of highest quality, to the most exacting specifications. The same attention to detail and unwavering commitment to excellence we show in every other product have been carried over to the new Predator-15 matched set upper and lower. You get the same lifetime warranty and customer support you’d get buying a firearm from us.

4) It seems kind of expensive, can’t I just get another brand’s matched set?
First, our Predator-15 really isn’t that much more expensive than some cheaper brands out there. Secondly, yes, you could buy a cheaper brand. You could also put fancy tires on a 1984 Buick Skylark and expect to win the Daytona 500. It doesn’t matter how nice the barrel is, what kind of ACOG/Dot sight you buy, what kind of trigger group you install. If you use a crappy receiver set, you will have a crappy gun.

4) Why do I have to have the parts sent to an FFL if it’s just parts?
The lower receiver is the part that the BATFE considers a “gun,” so it has to be treated like a gun when it’s shipped.  Speaking of BATFE and other law enforcement organizations, make sure this is a legal purchase in your area before buying it.

5) Do I have to have the gun built in .223 Remington/5.56?
Not hardly! There are a slew of calibers you can build your gun in(again, making sure it’s legal in your area is your job). 6.5 Grendel, .223 Remington, 5.56 NATO, .223 Wylde, and 6.8 SPC are just a few of your options.

6) Why don’t I have one yet?
Because you haven’t clicked here and purchased one! Buy a Predator-15 Billet Receiver set now!   Hurry, before your wife can tell you not to!