The FBI Qualification Course
The FBI Pistol Qualification
I recently wrote about the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA) Police Qualification Course. I also mentioned how a citizen that uses a firearm in a defensive capacity might be in a better position if they could demonstrate that they can pass this qualification. In that blog I mentioned that I would also post the FBI qualification, so here is the information I promised.The FBI qualification is the one used to qualify agents, who normally work in plain clothes. For this reason, the entire course is shot from concealment. To me this seems to apply better to the average citizen that would be carrying a handgun. It also focuses more on 7 yards and in, rather than on 15 and 25 yard strings of fire. This is also more consistent with typical self-defense pistol uses.
Having said that, I consider the FBI qualification to be more challenging. The target zone on the FBI QIT-99 target is considerably smaller than the G-17 target used by ILEA. If we compare the targets (seen below) the FBI “coke bottle” is the scoring zone. A hit there is 2 points. Anything outside of that is 0 points. The ILEA G-17, however, uses the large rectangular scoring zone for 2 points with anything outside of that but still on the silhouette as 1 point. The entire scoring zone on the QIT-99 is approximately 192 square inches. The 2 point scoring zone on the G-17 is approximately 182 square inches, which is slightly smaller than the QIT-99, but the remaining silhouette of the G-17 is a whopping 448 square inches. That means you have 630 square inches of scorable target compared to the 192 of the FBI QIT-99 target.
The FBI course also uses tighter time restraints on shooting strings. One example is the ILEA course has you fire 2 rounds, reload, and fire 2 more rounds at 3 yards in 12 seconds. The FBI course has you shoot 4 rounds, reload, and shoot 4 more rounds at 7 yards in 8 seconds. That’s twice as many rounds, at a target over twice as far away, in 33% less time. The close range work in the FBI qual requires more skill to complete well than the ILEA qual does.
I believe the FBI qualification to be a better skill test for a citizen that carries a pistol. It requires more skill at the ranges most likely to be important, it requires faster shooting constraints for someone wanting to use a gun in self-defense, and it requires shooting from concealment.
Here is the breakdown of the FBI course. It is a 50 round course of fire, using the FBI QIT-99 target. Any hit inside the “coke bottle” counts for 2 points for a total possible score of 100. Any hit outside of the “coke bottle” is 0 points. 80 points is required to pass. All strings are fired from concealment using both hands unless otherwise noted.
FBI Qual Course of Fire
3 yards (6 rounds)– Draw and fire 3 rounds strong hand only then switch hands and fire 3 rounds weak hand only in 6 seconds
5 yards (12 rounds)
– Draw and fire 3 rounds in 3 seconds
– From the ready fire 3 rounds in 2 seconds
– From the ready fire 6 rounds in 4 seconds
7 yards (18 rounds)
– Draw and fire 5 rounds in 5 seconds
– Starting with only 4 rounds in the gun, from the ready fire 4 rounds, conduct and emergency reload, then fire 4 more rounds in 8 seconds
– From the ready fire 5 rounds in 4 seconds
15 yards (6 rounds)
– Draw and fire 3 rounds in 6 seconds
– From the ready fire 3 rounds in 5 seconds
25 yards (8 rounds)
– Draw and fire 4 rounds standing then drop to kneeling and fire 4 more rounds in 20 seconds
While the ILEA qualification is a good one to have under your belt, particularly if you live in Indiana, the more difficult FBI qualification shows a higher level of shooting proficiency if you ever needed to demonstrate that for court purposes. With that in mind, We plan to offer this qualification course as well as the ILEA course at Applied Ballistics in the future.
Aaron