Pistol Basics: The IDPA 5×5 Classifier 

A neat fact I learned about IDPA is that one of its primary methods of classifying and evaluating students, the IDPA 5×5 Classifier, also happens to function quite well as a basic independent drill and shooting diagnostic test. I’ve only ever shot a single IDPA match in my life so far, so I’m not as familiar with this action pistol sport as I am with USPSA.

The IDPA 5×5 Classifier is the de facto way to determine a shooter’s classification in the sport of IDPA. According to instructor K. A. Clark of Citizens Defense Research, the IDPA 5×5 Classifier is also a great prognostic in evaluating 80% of the handgun shooting’s public skill level and pistol aptitudes.

In a nutshell, the IDPA 5×5 Classifier can perhaps be described as something that approximates a gentler version of Gabe White’s Standards—but nonetheless useful.

IDPA 5×5 Classifier Setup And Procedure

Setting up the IDPA 5×5 Classifier consists of placing an IDPA paper target on a stand 10 yards away. That’s it. 

Unfortunately, I only keep USPSA targets around. (Seriously, I tried looking everywhere around the house on the off-chance I could find an old IDPA target until realizing I was wasting too much time before my hour-long drive to the range). So, I ended up improvising a USPSA target and traced a Down-0 eight-inch circle using the base of a cone. I traced the smaller “head” Down-0 portion with a four-inch coffee can. Official? Hardly, but it worked in a pinch.

The rest of the IDPA Down-1 areas mostly coincide with the C-Zones of USPSA targets. Don’t worry. The dismal shooting I carried out for the sake of this article won’t give me an official classification, either. To get a classification, one has to shoot the IDPA 5×5 Classifier at a valid IDPA match hosted by a sanctioned club and administered by a qualified range officer.  

Like setup, the procedure for the IDPA 5×5 Classifier is also simple. In addition to the requisite IDPA-legal firearm and holster, this exercise only requires 25 rounds of ammunition and one spare magazine. Each of the four shooting procedures start at a shot-timer’s beep: 

The Four Procedures

1. Draw and fire 5 rounds freestyle
2. Draw and fire 5 rounds strong-hand only
3. Start with only 5 rounds loaded, draw, and fire them freestyle. Perform an emergency reload from slide-lock and shoot the target 5 more rounds. 
4. Draw and fire 4 rounds freestyle to the body and 1 round to the head

Shooting The IDPA 5×5 Classifier  

Writing an article about the IDPA 5×5 Classifier is as good of an excuse as any to dust off an old friend from the back of the safe. Especially the kind of friend that the sport was literally built around back when its founders established it. It also helps that said dusted-off friend is IDPA match-ready and legal for the Custom Defensive Pistol (CDP) division.

Of course, I’m talking about the .45 ACP Colt Competition Series 1911. I can’t remember the last time I actually tried shooting that Colt, excluding its linked review I wrote this spring. So, I was due some trigger time with this pistol, without a doubt.

I wanted to observe the spirit of IDPA rules, so I donned an original OWB strongside Raven Concealment Phantom holster. Even though I don’t know the minutiae of IDPA rules, I do know that the Phantom is IDPA legal as it’s essentially a carry holster that tucks close to the body regardless of “which side of the waistband” it sits on.

As a rule of thumb, USPSA-style competition belts and holsters with hangers are a no-go at IDPA events. I’m so used to either drawing from concealment with an AIWB holster or from a USPSA style belt that I had to give myself time to re-familiarize myself with the OWB strongside draw of the closely tucked-in Raven Phantom. 

Scoring The IDPA Classifier 

After warming up with the Colt 1911 independently from the IDPA 5×5 Classifier, I gave myself two runs at the classifier itself. None of my scores or times here are official, and it’s also not like I got an IDPA Master (highest level) class run. I shot the classifier simply for the sake of this article, for educational purposes, and to have fun.

I’m used to USPSA style ‘hit factor’ scoring, which measures the ratio of points scored divided by the time. IDPA scoring is a little bit different. While time is still of the essence, misses, penalties, or shots that land in the different scoring zones add to the raw time. Shots that catch a target’s Down-1 zone add one whole second to the shooter’s raw time, and Down-2 shots add two seconds.

In IDPA, missing a target is catastrophic; every missed shot adds five seconds to the raw time. And in any action pistol shooting sport, five seconds is a long time. To score, one adds up their total raw times and factors in misses and penalties. 

First Run

1. 3.64 (-1)
2. 6.06 (-1)
3. 9.73 (-1)
4. 3.79 (ouch, -7) I missed the very last shot of this string, and misses wreck scores.

Raw Time: 23.22

Final Score: 33.22 (Marksman)

Second Run

1. 3.93 (-1)
2. 5.30
3. 8.09 (-2)
4. 4.83 (-1)

Raw Time: 22.15

Final Score: 26.15 (Sharpshooter)

I’m not happy with my scores, but I won’t hammer myself too much because I hardly shoot that gun, and I’ve never shot this drill before. By all means, it is an easy drill, and any skilled shooter can crush it, especially one that regularly trains, dry fires, and practices.

I’m sure I’m not the only one who is way too comfortable with taking the entire height of the A-zone on a USPSA target when shooting a Bill Drill. However, by virtue of the “shorter” 8-inch Down-0 scoring area on an IDPA paper target, I noticed that I had to shoot more deliberately to avoid catching time-consuming misses. 

IDPA Classification Stages: Standard Method vs Abbreviated Method

In the action pistol sport of IDPA (International Defensive Pistol Association), there are two main ways for handgun shooters to get a classification—by the Standard Method or by the IDPA Abbreviated Method.

The IDPA Standard Method consists of four different stages totaling 72 rounds shot over the same array of three paper targets and a couple of barricades. On the other hand, the Abbreviated Method consists of the IDPA 5×5 Classifier, which is shot at 10 yards on a single target and only takes 25 rounds. The Abbreviated Method / IDPA 5×5 Classifier isn’t a stage like the Standard Method.  

The Takeaway 

Clark mentioned to me that he’s fond of the IDPA 5×5 Classifier for many reasons. It covers the better part of handgun shooting mechanics (except for support-hand-only shooting), and since the classifier only consists of one target at 10 yards, it’s very easy to set up in virtually any shooting venue.

As an instructor, he added that because the IDPA 5×5 classifier is so straightforward, it’s easy to shepherd his students through it and lets him gauge their “real-world” handgun talent. He did warn me that as a diagnostic tool, the IDPA 5×5 classifier may be “too easy” for the top 10% of shooters.

Clark’s only real critique of this shooting exercise is that it ignores support-hand only shooting even though drawing and shooting with the strong hand only is codified into the IDPA 5×5 Classifier’s shooting process.