Pistol-Only Drills for Kill Zone Target

Here’s a few pistol-only drills that can be done on the RE Factor Kill Zone target. Each drill includes a description, times, and skills worked. Some of these are derived from drills I used to have to qualify on quarterly.

Pistol Draw

Drill: Shooter will begin holstered at the 7-yard line.  There will be 1 target 7 yards away.  On the buzzer, shooter will engage the target with 1 round.

Grading criteria: All shots must remain within the “A” zone.

Novice: 2.5 seconds
Intermediate: 1.75 seconds
Advanced: 1 second
Skills:
Draw stroke
Sight acquisition
Trigger manipulation

Pistol Multi-Target Engagement

Drill: Shooter will begin holstered at the 7-yard line. There will be 1 target 5 yards away and 1 target 7 yards away. On the buzzer, shooter will engage the 5-yard target with 2 rounds, then engage the 5-yard target with 2 rounds.
Grading criteria: All shots must remain within the “A” zone.

Novice: 5 seconds
Intermediate: 4.5 seconds
Advanced: 4 seconds

Skills:
Draw stroke
Sight picture acquisition
Trigger manipulation
Target transitions

Pistol Reload

Drill: Shooter will begin holstered at the 7-yard line. There will be 1 target 7 yards away. On the buzzer, shooter will engage the target with 2 rounds, conduct a slide-lock reload, then engage the target with 2 rounds.

Grading criteria: Shots must remain within the “A” zone.

Novice: 5 seconds
Intermediate: 4.5 seconds
Advanced: 4 seconds

Skills:
Draw stroke
Sight picture acquisition
Trigger manipulation
Slide-lock reloads

Pistol Reload Variation

Drill: (For reload isolation) Shooter will begin with the pistol on target, finger on the trigger at the 7-yard line.  There will be one target 7 yards away.  On the buzzer, the shooter will engage the target with 1 round, conduct a slide-lock reload, then engage the target with 1 round.

Grading criteria: Shots must remain within the “A” zone.

Novice: 4 seconds
Intermediate: 3.25 seconds
Advanced: 2.5 seconds

Skills:
Sight picture acquisition
Trigger manipulation
Slide-lock reloads

El Presidente

Drill: Shooter will begin holstered, facing up-range at the 10-yard line with 3 targets approximately 24-36” apart (adjust for target array restrictions). On the buzzer, shooter will engage each target with 2 rounds, conduct a slide-lock reload, then engage each target with 2 more rounds.

Grading criteria: Shots must remain within the “A” zone.

Novice: 10 seconds
Intermediate: 9.5 seconds
Advanced: 9 seconds

Skills:
Turning
Draw stroke
Sight picture acquisition
Trigger manipulation
Target transition
Slide-lock reload

Bill Drill

Drill: Shooter will begin holstered, hands in “surrender” position, at the 7-yard line.  On the buzzer, shooter will engage the target with 6 rounds.

Grading criteria: Shots must remain within the “A” zone.

Novice: 6 seconds
Intermediate: 4.5 seconds
Advanced: 3 seconds

Skills:
Draw stroke
Sight picture acquisition
Trigger manipulation
Recoil management
Balancing speed and accuracy

Give these a try and post up your times to the comments!

About the author

Joel is an 11 year veteran of the US Coast Guard, where he has served at various units including the International Training Division and Maritime Security Response Team. He has held qualifications including Deployable Team Leader/Instructor, Direct Action Section Team Leader, and Precision Marksman – Observer. He has deployed/instructed on five continents and served in quick reaction force roles for multiple National Special Security Events in the US. He is the owner of Hybrid Defensive Strategies, LLC in Chesapeake, VA, and can be contacted on Facebook and Instagram. Any opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the US Coast Guard or the US Government.