Analyze Your Marksmanship Skills with the Baseline Drill

The target at three yards.

When practicing handgun shooting skills, it is important to know if you are getting better. Establishing a baseline can help show where you may need improvement. This drill will help you test your current skills and provide a guide for future practice.

What You’ll Need

For this drill you can use any silhouette target at your range. You will need a roll of masking tape, preferably something that doesn’t contrast too much with the silhouette. This drill consists of 50 rounds total. You will shoot five separate sequences of 10 shots each.

Performing the Drill

Place the target at three yards distant from your shooting position. If your shooting facility doesn’t permit the target to be set that close, put it at the closest distance the facility permits. To begin the drill, load your handgun with five rounds only.

Sequence 1 (10 rounds)

1. 1. Start with handgun held in both hands, aimed at the floor below the target (the “low ready” position), finger off the trigger. Have a spare magazine loaded with five rounds, a speedloader with five rounds or five loose rounds on the bench.

The target at five yards.

1. Bring the handgun up on target and fire one shot at the center of target. Follow through for one second, then return to low ready. Decock, if your pistol has a decocker.
2. Bring the handgun up on target and fire two shots at the center of target. Follow through for one second, then return to low ready. Decock.
3. Bring the handgun up on target and fire three shots at the center of target. After two shots the pistol will be out of ammunition, so you will reload the gun and immediately fire the third shot. Follow through for one second, then return to low ready. Decock.
4. Bring the handgun up on target and fire four shots at the center of target. After the fourth shot the pistol will be out of ammunition and, if you’re shooting a semi-automatic, your slide should have locked back.
5. Place your empty handgun down on the bench.
6. Bring your target back to the bench and write on the target how many hits you made in the body scoring area. For purposes of this drill, count only hits in the scoring area (for instance, the 7-ring and higher on a B-21 target), not the entire silhouette. Do not count any hits in the head. Use the format of 3-X-10, with “3” standing for three yards, “X” being the number of scored hits and “10” being the total number of shots fired in the sequence.
7. Cover all the hits with masking tape. (Never shoot at a target that has so many holes in it that it looks like Swiss cheese. You have no idea where your bullets are going if you don’t cover the bullet holes regularly. Always mark your target after no more than 10 shots.)

The target at seven yards.

Sequence 2 (10 rounds)

1. Place the target five yards out from your shooting position.
2. Repeat Sequence 1 through Step 6, placing your empty handgun on the bench.
3. Score your hits as with Sequence 1, but now when you write on the target the format will be 5-X-10, same as the first format, but now scoring your hits at five yards instead of three.
4. Cover all the hits with masking tape.

Sequence 3 (10 rounds)

1. Place the target seven yards out from your shooting position.
2. Repeat Sequence 1 through Step 6, placing your empty handgun on the bench.
3. Score your hits as with Sequence 1, but now when you write on the target the format will be 7-X-10, same as the first format, but now scoring your hits at seven yards instead of three or five.

Sequence 4 (10 rounds)

1. 1. Place the target 10 yards out from your shooting position.

The target at 10 yards.

1. Repeat Sequence 1 through Step 6, placing your empty handgun on the bench.
2. Score your hits as with Sequence 1, but now when you write on the target the format will be 10-X-10, same as the first format, but now scoring your hits at 10 yards instead of three, five or seven.

Sequence 5 (10 rounds)

1. Place the target 15 yards out from your shooting position.
2. Repeat Sequence 1 through Step 6, placing your empty handgun on the bench.
3. Score your hits as with Sequence 1, but now when you write on the target the format will be 15-X-10, same as the first format, but now scoring your hits at 15 yards instead of three, five, seven or 10.

The objective of this drill is to determine at what distance you can make 100-percent hits on the vital area of a silhouette target. By establishing this baseline of how well you can shoot right now, you can measure your marksmanship progress over time. You don’t necessarily have to repeat all the sequences in the future, simply start at the distance you couldn’t shoot 100 percent.

The target at 15 yards.

The most missed shot in pistol shooting is the very first shot of a string of fire. That’s why this drill includes four first shots in every sequence. The second-most missed shot is the first shot after a reload, which is why every sequence also includes a shot after a reload.

We don’t count hits on the head of a silhouette target in this drill because they are actually misses if you are aiming at the body. The head area is more than a foot away from the center of the body. If you hit the head area when you’re aiming at the body area of a silhouette target, it’s just a lucky shot and doesn’t count in terms of performance measurement.

Final target with pistol.