Best Range Drills That Actually Improve Your Accuracy
- Rick Crawley
- Sep 23, 2025
- 5 min read
Improving accuracy isn’t just about shooting more rounds; it’s about training with purpose. Too many range sessions end with shooters blasting through ammo without a plan, walking away with empty magazines but no measurable progress. At Achilles Heel Tactical (AHT), we teach performance-based training that challenges students to measure, track, and improve every repetition.
The following five drills are staples in AHT training programs: the Transition D.O.P.E. Drill, Chaos Drill, Can You Confirm Drill, Command Drill, and Man Card Drill. They’re designed to improve processing speed, refine sight picture discipline, and build accountability for every round fired.
The Transition D.O.P.E. Drill – Mastering Rifle-to-Pistol Transitions
When your rifle goes dry, every fraction of a second matters. The Transition D.O.P.E. Drill is designed to test how quickly and cleanly you can switch from rifle to pistol while still maintaining a high level of accuracy.
How It Works:
Start at 5 yards on a USPSA target.
Fire 1 rifle round, transition on an empty mag, then fire 5 pistol rounds into the A-zone.
Repeat at 10, 15, 20, and 25 yards.
Score using hit factor: total points ÷ total time.
What It Trains:
Speed & Efficiency: Get the rifle out of the way and pistol into the fight with no wasted motion.
Processing Under Stress: Maintain visual discipline as you switch weapon systems.
Accountability: Each round is scored — sloppy transitions or poor hits show up instantly.
“A two-second transition isn’t going to be an asset to the team. If my rifle goes down and I take forever to get the pistol into play, my teammates are taking rounds they shouldn’t be taking. This drill forces you to perform under pressure.”
For shooters looking to pressure-test their transitions, this drill is a must.
The Chaos Drill – Accuracy and Reloads Under Stress
The Chaos Drill, created by AHT instructor Paul Costa, builds on the D.O.P.E. Drill by adding more layers of stress and forcing you to throttle your speed as distance increases.
Setup:
USPSA target with headbox marked.
Yard lines at 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25 yards.
Two magazines loaded.
Execution:
On the buzzer, draw from OWB/IWB, fire 3 rounds into the A-zone, reload, then fire 2 rounds into the head box.
Record your hits, mark your time, repeat at each yard line.
Calculate hit factor: total points ÷ total time.
What It Trains:
Throttle Control: Learn to push speed at 5 yards and tighten confirmation at 25.
Reload Discipline: Clean reloads are critical — sloppy reloads hurt your hit factor.
Precision Under Time: The headbox shots force accountability even under fatigue.
Paul recommends shooting for a hit factor of 5+ as a good baseline, with elite shooters pushing into the 6 HF range by getting aggressive on body shots and staying disciplined on the headbox.
The Can You Confirm Drill – Sight Picture Mastery
Accuracy isn’t just pulling the trigger when you see the dot — it’s knowing how much sight information you actually need at different distances. The Can You Confirm Drill, developed by Matt Adams of Eagle Tactics, is one of the best ways to teach shooters about confirmation levels.
The Three Levels:
C1: Predictive — break the shot as soon as the dot enters the zone.
C2: Stabilized — allow the dot to settle briefly before pressing.
C3: Final Rest — sights must be completely still for precision hits.
We run this drill in AHT’s Baseline Pistol classes to help students understand throttle control:
“You go from 100 miles an hour to a complete stop in a few feet — you have to settle, stabilize, and get the hit. This drill teaches you when to press fast and when to slow down.”
This drill is versatile enough for live fire or dry fire. You can replicate it at home with a sheet of paper, a note card, and a small sticker for the head box.
Command Drill – Building Efficient, Repeatable Draw Strokes
The Command Drill uses a timer’s random start and stop beeps to break down and study each element of the draw stroke or transition, isolating inefficiencies and trimming wasted motion.
Purpose:
Focus on reaction time to the start beep, not just raw speed.
Study grip establishment, sight picture, and trigger press within the time given.
Slowly reduce par time to build efficiency without slapping the trigger or outrunning your sights.
This drill is versatile; you can run it with pistol draws, rifle-to-pistol transitions, or target-to-target transitions. It’s as much a diagnostic tool as it is a performance builder.
Man Card Drill – The Ultimate Performance-on-Demand Test
Nothing brings out stress like performing in front of peers with only one shot to prove you can meet the standard. The Man Card Drill is AHT’s premier test for Baseline courses and a badge of honor for students who pass.
Course of Fire (Short Card):
Pistol from compressed ready – 1 sec.
Pistol from holster – 1.5 sec.
Rifle from low ready – 1 sec.
Rifle from high ready – 1 sec.
Rifle-to-pistol transition – 2.5 sec.
All shots must land in the C-zone. Misses or overtime runs are failures. You get two attempts per stage, then it’s over. Pass, and you retain your “Man Card.” Fail, and you know exactly where to improve.
“This drill humbles shooters fast. It shows exactly where the cracks in your fundamentals are — and it does it cold, just like real life.”
Why These Drills Work Together
Each of these drills works a different part of the accuracy equation:
Transition D.O.P.E. Drill: Weapon transitions and first-round accountability.
Chaos Drill: Distance management, reloads, and precision under time pressure.
Can You Confirm Drill: Sight picture discipline and throttle control.
Command Drill: Breaking down draw strokes, refining reaction time, and trimming wasted motion for maximum efficiency.
Man Card Drill: Cold, on-demand performance that exposes weaknesses and forces shooters to deliver when it counts.
Run them as a block in your next range session, log your scores and par times, and repeat weekly. You’ll start to see measurable improvement — not just in your groups, but in your ability to process information, control your throttle, and perform under pressure.
Take Your Training to the Next Level
If you want to take your skills beyond self-practice, consider enrolling in an AHT course. Baseline Pistol and Baseline Carbine build upon these drills by incorporating movement, multiple targets, and real-world problem-solving under pressure.
Check out the training schedule at AchillesHeelTactical.com and get on the line with our cadre. Your range sessions and your accuracy will never be the same.