The student began by hip-shooting the .22 revolver at a row of six quart-cans 21 feet (6.5m) away. He would pivot on his feet to face the first (left-side) beer can; focus upon a point at the center of the can while he drew the gun and pulled the trigger; note which direction and by how far the bullet missed his aiming point on that can; decide instantly to miss that point on the next can the same distance but in the opposite direction; leave the gun in position and pivot to face the next can and pull the trigger as soon as he was facing the can; and so on, until he had fired at the entire row of cans. Usually he would learn to hit them consistently very rapidly, and McDaniel could then work down the size of the targets. When the student could regularly draw and hip-shoot a row of empty .22-short cartridge cases at 21 feet, McDaniel would have the student change over to his carry gun (usually a .38 Special), and repeat the process.