Target Practice Drills

Fire 5 slow, deliberate shots at a single target from 7 yards. Measure group size — goal is under 2 inches.

Fundamentals: sight alignment and trigger control.

Have a partner randomly load or leave the chamber empty. Dry-fire on dummy rounds to diagnose flinch.

Eliminate anticipation and flinch.

10 perfect dry-fire trigger presses focusing on surprise break and front-sight focus. No live ammo in the room.

Trigger control and follow-through.

Draw and fire 6 rounds into the A-zone of a target as fast as you can keep all shots in the zone. Par time 2.5s.

Speed with accuracy; sight recovery.

Fire 1 round, slide-lock reload, fire 1 round on target. Par time 4 seconds. Builds reload under time pressure.

Reload efficiency and first-shot accuracy.

Three targets, 2 shots each, left-to-right then right-to-left. Engage transitions with eyes leading the gun.

Target transitions and sight tracking.

3 targets, 2 rounds each, reload, 2 rounds each. Start facing away, turn and engage. Par time 10s (clean).

Turn, transitions, reload under time.

Fire 5 rounds weak-hand-only at 5 yards. Builds ambidextrous capability for real-world scenarios.

Non-dominant hand fundamentals.

From 25 yards, fire 5 rounds slow-fire for smallest group. Tests sight picture and trigger at distance.

Precision and wind/trigger at range.

Dry fire at a blank wall from 5 yards. Press the trigger and watch the front sight — if it dips or moves at the break, you're mashing the trigger. Repeat until the sight stays still.

Trigger press that doesn't disturb the sights.

Fire two controlled shots into the same target, aiming for a 0.30s split. Both shots must land in the A-zone. Builds recoil management and sight recovery.

Recoil control and fast sight recovery.

Start at the 10-yard line. On the beep, step laterally off the X while drawing and fire 2 rounds on target. Movement must be finished before the shot breaks.

Shooting on the move and getting off the X.