If you want to shoot better, then you need to try these 3 performance pistol shooting drills. They’re easy to set up, and they test the full spectrum of pistol shooting skills. They will certainly expose some of your shooting weaknesses, allowing you to improve in those critical areas. Keep reading for all the details
As the title implies, I’ve put together a battery of three shooting drills designed to give you an objective assessment of your current level of shooting performance. These drills are distinct from my pistol shooting standards, which are aimed at validating your concealed carry skills.
While I would love to take credit for these shooting drills, I can’t. These drills are USPSA Classifiers that I’ve carefully selected to be relatively easy to set up, and test a full variety of shooting skills. Readers of this website know that I’m big believer in USPSA competition shooting to improve your shooting skills. You can find more info on getting started here.
One of the primary benefits of using USPSA classifiers is that there is data on tens of thousands of shooters for these pistol shooting drills. The practical benefit is that we have a great metric to test your performance. Most online shooting instructors have drills, or standards, but none of them have this much historical performance data. Here’s the list of the three classifiers.
Top 3 Performance Pistol Shooting Drills
- USPSA Classifier CM 03-18 High Standards
- USPSA Classifier CM 13-04 The Roscoe Rattle
- USPSA Classifier CM 03-09 On the Move
If you want the link to the full list of the dozens of classifiers, you can find that here. Otherwise you can use the PDF below where I’ve merged each different drill into one PDF document. You’ll find detailed setup instructions, a diagram, and a score sheet for each of the three pistol drills.
Download the 3 Pistol Shooting Drills FREE PDF Here
Pistol Drill Scoring
For those new to USPSA style scoring, we will cover a quick overview here. USPSA is a practical shooting sport, which scores off of a standard set of targets. The targets for these pistol shooting drills are IPSC cardboard targets.
They have several scoring zones, worth differing amounts of points. The “A Zone” is worth 5 points. The “C Zone” is worth 3 points, and the “D Zone” is worth one point. Technically the C and D zones can be worth more points if you’re shooting larger pistol calibers, but we aren’t going to worry about that for this shooting test.
All these drills are done with a shot timer. Each drill has a specified number of shots. The score you receive is called your “hit factor.” Simply put, hit factor is points per second. Here is a quick example to illustrate.
Hit Factor Explained
If you shot 2 rounds into the A zone in one second you would score 10 points. Those 10 points are then divided by one second, yielding a hit factor of 10. If you instead shot 2 rounds into the C zone in 1 second, you would have scored 6 points. Your hit factor is now 6 divided by 1, or 6.
Some of you are saying that seems very straight forward. Here’s the tricky part. Lets say you really wanted to be accurate and it took you 2.5 seconds to shoot two A zone hits. That gives you a hit factor of 4. This means even though you are more accurate than the shooter with two C zone hits, they put those hit on target much faster than you. Consequently, they have a higher hit factor.
This type of scoring is by far the best metric for tactical shooters, police officers, and concealed carry folks. Any shooting problem comes down to how fast you can put decent hits on target. You can’t solve a 1 second problem with a 2 second skill set!
In the next section we’re going to cover some of the logistics for setting up these drills. Don’t forget to join the email list below.
Pistol Drills: Logistics and Setup
These pistol drills will require that you have access to a shooting bay that allows movement. You will also need 5 IPSC targets, and 5 target stands. I recommend setting up “High Standards” first. That pistol shooting drill uses 3 targets.
You can then set up “The Roscoe Rattle.” This drill requires you to move the outboard targets, and add in two no shoot targets, but keeps a similar setup to “High Standards.”
Lastly, you can set up “On the Move.” This requires 3 shoot targets, and 2 no shoot targets. Of note, in USPSA a white facing target is a no shoot, and brown is a shoot. You simply turn a shoot target around and use the white side, making set up simple.
“On the Move” is a great drill that requires you set up a shoot box, and some shooting walls, if you want to set it up perfectly. However, if you just want to get a good approximation, you can just shoot the outboard targets only when touching the edges of the shooting box. The goal is that you have to shoot the furthest outboard targets and then move laterally to engage the center set, finishing on the last outboard target.
You really only need a tape measure, a few shooting sticks, and the required targets and stands to run this three test battery. In the next section we’ll review the specifics for each drill, and I’ll give you a few pointers to perform your best.
Pistol Drill 1: High Standards
You’ll find the diagram with instruction for the first drill below. Remember there is more detailed info on the free PDF linked above. This drill is 24 rounds, with no make up shots. You’ll shoot it in two strings of fire, obtaining a time for each string. Of note, freestyle means you can use two hands like normal on the gun.
On the second string you will move up to the closer shooting line, and finish that string of fire. As you’ll see on the score sheet, the hit factor is the points on target, minus any penalties, divided by total time. The only penalties you would really run into here is a miss penalty which is -10.
Most shooters should shoot at a pace that their dot is relatively stable within the A zone at the 45 foot mark. Make sure you reacquire a solid grip after the reload. At the 30 ft line you can shoot while your dot is streaking through the A zone. If you wait till it’s stable, your losing hit factor! You’ll find scoring levels further on in the article.
Here’s a video of this drill shot very well.
Pistol Drill 2: The Roscoe Rattle
This drill is also shot in two strings of fire. It requires that you engage with only 18 total rounds, in the specific order specified. The first string is a Bill Drill on the center target. String two, is 6 rounds left, 6 rounds far right.
Of note, you will start facing up range. This requires you turn and draw your pistol for each string of fire. Please be careful, and do not point your pistol in an unsafe direction. In an actual USPSA match you would be disqualified for that.
This drill requires a solid grip. You don’t have to see a stable dot on these strings, just make sure you’re looking to a small spot on the target and letting the rounds go once your dot streaks through that spot. Obviously, string 1 requires a stable dot to shoot. Here’s a grandmaster run on this drill.
Remember a miss is -10 points, and hitting a no shoot is a -10 points as well. If you miss and hit the no shot, then you’re -20 points with one pull of the trigger! Now on to the last pistol shooting drill.
Pistol Drill 3: On the Move
This drill requires a bit more setup up, which is why I’ve left it till the end. Remember, you can set it up perfectly, with walls, or simply set the shooting box up and require that the shooter only shoot T1 or T4 on the edge of the box.
To do well on this drill, you will need to shoot aggressively at T1 and T4. Find a small point on T2 and T3 when you transition, otherwise you will shoot the no shoot. For more proficient shooters I would encourage you to shoot the last target on the move, as you come in to stop. Here’s a master class run on this pistol drill.
In the next section you’ll find the different scoring levels you should aim for. Pun intended!
Scoring Levels
USPSA has a classification system used to differentiate shooters by their skill level. The lowest level is D class. Next is C class, followed by B class. Those are the bulk of shooters.
After that there is A class, followed by Master (where I currently reside). The final level is Grandmaster. These levels are more or less an average percentage of your highest 6 classifiers. That means even if you shot a Grandmaster run on one of these drills, you would still need to do that 5 more times to have that level of skill!
Here is a chart that describes the hit factor you would need to achieve on each of these pistol drills, at each level.
Final Thoughts
I bet many of you are surprised how difficult shooting well truly is. When I first started, I was an “Expert” rated police officer. I shot my first match, and got destroyed. I was way too slow, even if I was accurate. It took years of dry fire and live fire work to get to Master class. It will take even more work to get to Grandmaster.
Use these drills as a diagnostic. If you performed well on the two handed portions, but had real trouble with one handed shooting, you know what you have to work on.
My last tip for you is to really focus on learning what level of sight picture you actually need to get the hits required. Practice the doubles drill for this. Similarly, you’ll find your transitions are probably too slow. This is another area where you can make rapid advancement. Even something as simple as a Mozambique drill will help you do this.
If you shoot these drills for score, please put them in the comments section below. I’d be interested to see where my readers are with their pistol shooting skills. Now get out there and get training! Don’t forget to join the email list.
All drills from this article are the property of USPSA. They are used here for educational purposes only. Please observe all firearms safety rules when shooting. Tier Three Tactical recommends training under the supervision of a professional shooting instructor.
