The U.S. Air Marshal Pistol Qual
BY PGF
1 year, 9 months ago
What You Need
First and foremost, you will not only need a gun and holster, but you will be shooting from concealment! You’ll need a concealment holster. The Air Marshals carry a Gen 5 Glock 19, and it seems like the famed P229s are still in service as well. Generally, any gun that’s in that compact realm is a good way to go.
You need 30 rounds of ammo, so it’s not absurdly demanding in the ammo department. You’ll need at least two magazines and a concealable magazine carrier to make things happen. You’ll also need all the appropriate safety gear, including ears and eyes, as well as a shot timer to keep track of par times. Finally, you’ll be using the FBI QIT target, and you’ll need three of them.
There are many versions of the FBI QIT target, but most appear to be similar to this.
Scoring
Scoring is simple. You get five points for hits inside the bottle of the Q target and two points for hits that touch the edge of the inner and out bottle and shots inside the outer bottle but on the target. The maximum possible score is 150 points, and the minimum qualifying score is 135 points.
There is also an interesting way they score the times. You’ll shoot most of the drills twice, and your times for each drill are combined, and they cannot exceed a specific time. For example, the first drill is shot twice, and your two times have to equal less than 3.3 seconds total. If you shoot one string in 1.3 seconds and the second in 2.0 seconds, you pass.
Shooting Like an Air Marshal
All right, let’s stop talking and start shooting. This is shot cold without a warm-up, with concealment being used twice. Prepare and ensure you can safely draw your firearm from concealment. I won’t make fun of you for going OWB for safety’s sake or to follow range rules. This qual is shot entirely at seven yards, which makes plenty of sense for an Air Marshal. Planes can be big, but even in a big plane, the lines of sight are fairly short.
I have not shot this qual. Looks interesting. There are eight stages and clear. Check it out at the link.
On March 16, 2023 at 9:28 pm, George said:
I was a firearms instructor for the FAMs from ’01 to ’06. This drill is doable, but you can’t dawdle.
On March 17, 2023 at 12:54 pm, Ozark Redneck said:
Thanks for posting it, will give it a try.
On March 17, 2023 at 6:53 pm, Jack Crabb said:
I thought FAMS carried Sigs.
On March 17, 2023 at 9:36 pm, George said:
They did carry P229 in .357 Sig. I don’t know about these days.