This looks like interesting handgun training with only 50 rounds expended. But that’s no fun, you better have more and run it multiple times.
The only thing I know about Kansas is from the band Kansas, and it’s the songs “Dust in the Wind and “Carry on Wayward Son.” If I had to guess, I bet people from Kansas are fine, upstanding Americans who likely live in peace in a rather nice state. Seriously, look at some of the natural beauty in that state and tell me it’s not gorgeous. Well, today, we are talking about Kansas, and learning something beyond a few 1970s rock songs. Today we’re learning the handgun standards the Kansas police employ with the Kansas CPOST annual firearms qualification.
What We’ll Need
The Kansas CPOST Handgun qual is fairly simple and won’t cause you to go broke on ammo. All you’ll need is 50 rounds, which isn’t bad. In terms of magazines, that’s up to you. You could stop the qual to reload your mags or just bring four average 9mm magazines. I suggest at least two mags, but the qual doesn’t require a particular number.
Train like you fight or how you’ll most likely be carrying should a self-defense situation arise. Included is information about the rig he used, but for the average personal defense minded CCW, train just the way you EDC.
Obviously, we’ll need our handgun. It’s a police qual, so I went with a duty-sized handgun with the P320C that’s optically equipped with a ROMEO2. You’ll also need a holster. I used an L2C fit to a battle belt. While it’s not a police belt, it’s a close replication. The CPOST also requires a single target, and the target is either a standard FBI Q or an IALEFIQ. We aren’t Kansas police, so we can make it up as we go. I used a simple Sage Dynamics target, which is admittedly smaller and more challenging to hit.
The FBI “Q” target, or bottle target, is actually just the lighter-shaded “bowling pin” shape, but the above image better represents the purpose of using this target. If employing it, the object is to hit the Q at center mass:
The article continues…
We will also need a barricade of some form to train behind. You can improvise your own or employ something like the PTSB Lite. I’ve been using an old blue barrel, and it seems to work pretty well for what I need.
Scoring
Scoring is very simple. Shots have to hit the bowling pin of the Q target. There is no call for headshots or specific body portion shots. To pass, shooters have to score a 70% or higher, which means 35 shots have to hit a fairly big target. Any shots fired outside the time limits are misses.
Hitting the Range With the Kansas CPOST Qual
What you should know about this course is that there are no required or timed reloads. Ammo management and reloads are entirely on the shooter. If you are shooting a string and run empty, you have to reload and keep shooting. This can make things interesting and force you to either reload quickly or plan ahead.
Stage One: 1.5 Yards
Yep, we start up close and personal with your target. This likely simulates an interview position and situation that goes bad. At the beep, you have to step to the rear and then laterally. At the same time, you have to draw and fire three rounds into the target. You have a total of three seconds to get it done.
There are six stages, some of which are multi-phase; the longest is 25 yards. You can always tighten the training down with smaller targets and timed runs. If I were to do these drills, a different target would be in order; the plain white bottle isn’t great. See the rest at the link.