I ran across the Gunsite Patrol Rifle Qual while reading up on the M1 Carbine. Contained within a Gunsite article from 2020, I decided to give this qual a go. I enjoyed it so much, I even turned around and shot it with a pistol.
Gunsite Patrol Rifle Qualification
The Gunsite Patrol Rifle Qual is a very cool test of rifle ability. Intended for the “close fight,” it is fired from fifty and in, and isn’t too hard on the ammo budget. Anyone serious about using a rifle for defensive purposes should be able to pass this drill pretty easily. I don’t know what got into me, but I decided to give it a go with a pistol and see if I could pass that way. Let’s take a look.
The Gunsite Patrol Rifle Qual is fired from 50 to 5 yards. There are 8 stages, but all are repeated (some several times) for a total of 18 separate stages of fire. This drill is intended to be fired on a TQ-15 target, scored 5-4-1, with a 4″ circle drawn in the head. I didn’t have a TQ-15 so I used A IALEFI-QP scored 5-4-0. It’s not exact but it’s a reasonable approximation. Forty rounds are required, and a 90% (180 or higher) is required to pass.
Course of Fire
The COF is available on in the article I mentioned above in a screenshot, but I’ll type it out here.
- Stage 1: 50 yards, low ready, 2 shots offhand, 5 seconds
- Repeat Stage 1
- Stage 2: 50 yards, low ready, 2 shots kneeling, 5 seconds
- Repeat Stage 2
- Stage 3: 25 yards, low ready, 2 shots offhand, 3 seconds
- Repeat Stage 3
- Stage 4: 25 yards, low ready, 2 shots kneeling, 3 seconds
- Repeat Stage 4
- Stage 5: 15 yards, low ready, 1 head shot, 2.5 seconds
- Repeat Stage 5 for at total of 4 iterations
- Stage 6: 15 yards, low ready, 2 offhand, reload, 2 kneeling, 10 seconds
- Repeat Stage 6
- Stage 7: 10 yards, low ready, failure drill, 2 seconds
- Repeat Stage 7
- Stage 8: 5 yards, low ready, failure drill, 1.5 seconds
- Repeat Stage 8
I counted shots in the 8″ circle and 4″ head circle as 5 points each. Shots in the -1 zone were scored as 4 points each, and all others were scored as zeros. I managed a 196 with my rifle…and a not-so-great score with my pistol. Get out and shoot this one!
