Concealed Carry Corner: Top 4 Shooting Drills for Drawing Practice

Over the last few months, we have seen a massive increase in ammo sales. With the rush on common calibers in full swing the last few weeks, it’s more important now to use range time more efficiently to not waste ammo. The idea of high reps with a low round count isn’t a new concept, but there are a few free targets online that anyone can print out and take to the range for high reps while keeping your overall round count relatively low. Let’s jump into a few of my favorite fundamental shooting drills that work great for concealed carry practice.

1. Baer Solutions Shooting Standard Drill

Probably my all-time favorite drill to practice everything together is the Baer Solutions Shooting Standard Drill from Baer Solutions. This drill requires 13 rounds in the handgun but can be easily modified for 3, 6, or 9 rounds instead of 13. The shooting standard drill is great because it incorporates everything you need to practice for concealed carry. The drill starts with drawing from your holster, then shooting until performing a slide lock reload and ending with reengaging 2-3 shots to finish the drill.

Something like a shot timer can be added to track your times and progression over time which helps track your growth but it isn’t required. I will typically do this drill a few times to warm up and finish my range sessions with. Having a drill you can tailor your goals is a great tool to have when it’s time to train but you’re not sure how.

2. Dot Torture Drill

The Dot Torture Drill is another drill that’s completely modular. The Dot Torture Drill does a great job at mixing up your shooting routine with various draws and commands on the various numbers. If the Dot Torture Drill is shot correctly, the shooter will go through 40 rounds but will also draw from the holster a total of 30 times and practice reloads several times as well. If 40 rounds seems excessive, there are a few different numbers that require 5 shots to proceed and those can be easily condensed to 2-3 shots.

Having a number of small circles can really force the shooter to focus on sight picture and incorporate accuracy while being stressed from drawing and shooting in a reasonable time. Not only does it force the shooter to draw and shoot, but there are several strong hand only numbers and practicing with your weak hand only to make it especially challenging. Incorporating new movements into your routine will break up the monotony of a range routine and can improve your skills over time.

3. The Hi-Point 4-2-2 Drill

A few weeks ago I saw that Hi-Point was including downloadable targets to their website and after I stopped chuckling, I decided to take a look at the target to see what it was about and was pleasantly surprised. The shooter starts off by shooting 4 rounds in the large target and then transitions to the other circles and engages them with two shots each. The drill works on transitions and drawing from the holster while keeping the overall round count low. If 8 round is too much, you can always cut it down to 2 shots in the larger circle followed up by one in each of the smaller circles.

It’s one of the easier drills on the list and there’s no need to rush on this drill so it’s great for a quick warm-up drill or for someone just beginning to shoot. At 7 or 10 yards though, the circles seem to be significantly smaller which adds another level of difficulty to the drill. Honestly, if I had to shoot this drill with a Hi-Point C9 or something similar, I’m not sure how my groups would be but it’s a great drill!

4. T-Rex Arms Cadence Circles

Probably one of the most open ended drills is the Cadence Circle Drill. It is a simple set up with 6 medium-sized circles evenly distributed between the page. The goal is to shoot from 50% speed to 100% and see where your breaking point is when it comes to throttle control. This will give you a baseline for how fast you’re able to shoot. This drill can be used for either rifle or pistol depending on what you’d want to train. It’s one of the more basic drills on this list but also probably the most versatile targets you can have in a folder when it comes to range time. Adding numbers to the circles is another great way to spice things up and keep the shooters guessing. Have fun with it and be creative.

Overall Thoughts

Shooting can be tough these days with an ammo shortage but it’s still extremely important to get out and train. All of these targets are free online and can be easily modified to make it easier or harder depending on where your skill level is at. Even with limited ammo, there’s still plenty of ways to get some high reps in while using minimal ammo. If you guys are sick of being at home, I’d strongly encourage to get out there and try out some of these drills!

Having a few copies and 100 rounds will shake the rust off and let you have some fun along the way. Let me know what kind of drills you guys enjoy in the comments below. If you have questions feel free to shoot me a message on Instagram @fridgeoperator. Stay safe out there.