The D.O.P.E. Drill: How to Measure What You Can Actually Do With a Gun

Most shooters have an opinion of their skill. Very few have data.

They'll tell you they're "pretty good" with their carry gun. They'll show you a tight group they shot slow-fire at 7 yards on a calm Saturday. But ask them what their first shot from a ready position looks like at 15 yards under a timer — first shot time and splits — and you’ll more than likely get a shrug.

Not knowing that data is a problem. Because in a real defensive shooting, three variables decide everything: the size of your target, the distance to it, and your capability behind the gun. The first two will always be a guess. It looks about that big. It looks about that far. The third one — what you can actually do at speed — should never be a guess. It should be known, documented, and proven.

That's what the D.O.P.E. Drill is for. And now, for shooters who prove it in class, there's a card to back it up.

What Is the D.O.P.E. Drill?

D.O.P.E. stands for Data On Previous Engagement — a term long-range shooters know well. Precision rifle shooters keep dope books recording exactly what their rifle does at every distance, in every condition, so that when it matters, nothing is a guess.

We took that same discipline and applied it to practical shooting with a pistol and carbine.

The drill was developed in 2019, born out of a transition a lot of shooters can relate to. Our lead instructor came out of the military — where his confidence lived behind a bolt gun, a gas gun, a carbine — and into law enforcement, where suddenly a pistol was the primary. New platform, new problem: what am I actually capable of doing with this gun, at these distances, at rounds-per-second speed?

The distances chosen — 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25 yards — reflect the realistic engagement envelope of a law enforcement officer or armed citizen. The goal at each line isn't a pretty target. It's honest data: what can you do when you're forced to shoot fast?

In 25 rounds, you'll know more about your skill than a year of slow-fire marksmanship will ever tell you. And it won't be our opinion of you, or your opinion of yourself. It'll be hard data based on your ability to shoot on demand.

How to Set Up the D.O.P.E. Drill

Here's everything you need:

Equipment:

• One USPSA target (the perforated scoring zones — A, C, and D — are what you'll score against)

• A shot timer (if you don’t have one, GET ONE)

• 25 rounds

• Your pistol and/or carbine

• A pen or marker to designate hits, and something to record your times

The course of fire:

1. Start at the 5-yard line in a low cover position — not a 45-degree ready, but muzzle low enough that your red dot is not in front of your face. Your optic should be below the bottom edge of the target. This forces a real presentation on every string, not a cheated head start.

2. On the signal, fire 5 rounds into the A-zone as fast as you can, breaking acceptable shots.

3. Record your total time. Write it on your hand, in a notebook, in your phone — whatever it takes. You'll need it for scoring.

4. Go downrange and mark your hits with a designator for that yard line so you can track every string on one target:

   • 5 yards — slashes

   • 10 yards — X's

   • 15 yards — circles

   • 20 yards — squares

   • 25 yards — triangles

5. Repeat at 10, 15, 20, and 25 yards. Five rounds per line, 25 rounds total.

Marking each string separately matters. When you're done, that single target tells the whole story: where your accuracy held, where it fell apart, and exactly which distance exposed the crack in your foundation.

How to Score the D.O.P.E. Drill

The drill is scored with hit factor — the same points-per-second math used in USPSA competition. Hit factor is the great equalizer: it punishes you for being slow and inaccurate, and it rewards neither at the expense of the other.

Point values:

Zone	Points
A-zone	5
C-zone	3
D-zone	1
Miss	−10

Every round in your gun is worth five points. The goal is to harvest as many alphas as possible in the least amount of time.

Scoring shortcut: each yard line starts at a perfect 25. One Charlie is minus 2. Two Charlies, minus 4. A Delta costs you 4. Do the math top-down at each line.

Calculating your hit factor:

1. Add up your points from all five yard lines (maximum possible: 125)

2. Add up your total time from all five strings

3. Divide total points by total time

Total Points ÷ Total Time = Hit Factor

Here's a real example from the line: strings scoring 21 + 25 + 23 + 19 + 19 = 107 points. String times of 0.98 + 0.88 + 1.03 + 1.21 + 1.15 = 5.17 seconds. That's 107 ÷ 5.17 = a 20.69 hit factor.

Look at what that math demands. With a maximum of 125 points, a 20 hit factor requires a total time of 6.25 seconds — across all five yard lines, from a low cover start, out to 25 yards. There's no hiding in that number. And this is where the drill gets interesting: depending on your skill level, chasing a better total time and sacrificing a few points may actually be the smarter path to the goal. Learning to make that trade — consciously, based on your own data — is half the lesson.

The D.O.P.E. Drill Card

We just launched the D.O.P.E. Drill Card, and the standard is simple:

• Carbine: 20+ hit factor

• Pistol: 10+ hit factor

• Earned in class, on demand, witnessed — no range-day do-overs, no "I usually shoot better than this"

These cards are numbered, they're earned, and they cannot be bought. If you're holding one, it means you performed at a level we'd conservatively estimate less than a tenth of one percent of the world's population could match on demand.

Bragging rights? Sure. But that's not really the point. The card marks a baseline — a documented, verified statement of what you were capable of doing on that day, at that standard. It's dope in the truest sense: data on a previous engagement, in your pocket.

Why We Run It This Way

Because "certified" is not "qualified." Most law enforcement qualifications train to the lowest common denominator — a check-the-box standard that certifies an officer without ever revealing what they can actually do. The D.O.P.E. Drill forces the question the qual course avoids: what happens when you have to shoot fast?

Because failure here is free. On the range, a bad string costs you nothing but ego. A round enters a dirt berm. That's it. Redefine failure as learning in the training environment — because out there, in a real defensive encounter, you don't get do-overs, and you answer for every single round you send, in front of an attorney and a courtroom.

Because speed and accuracy are a balance beam. Let accuracy collapse and the minus-10s will bury your score. Shoot for the pretty target and your time will bury it just the same. A gunfight will not be slow. It will be fast, violent, and scarier than anything you've trained for — which is exactly why the hard skills need to be known quantities before you ever need them. If you're still building that foundation, start with the fundamentals in our guide on how to improve handgun shooting accuracy, then add speed against a standard.

Because a baseline you don't retest is a baseline you've lost. The first time you run the D.O.P.E. Drill, you're establishing where you are. But if you don't touch a gun for the next three, six, twelve months, that baseline means nothing. The drill only works as a recurring measurement — run it, train against what it exposed, and run it again. Structured practice like our 100-round pistol drills is exactly how you attack the gaps between baselines.

Because precision under time pressure is the whole game. Every shot fired for the A-zone is an exercise in the aim small, miss small principle — demanding a refined aiming point even when the clock says you don't have time for one. You do. The drill proves it.

Know Your Optimal Zone

In training, it's okay to outrun your headlights — to redline all the way to the point of failure. That's what the range is for. But the entire purpose of collecting your dope is so that when it matters, you're not guessing. You know your optimal zone. You know where your first shot lands at 15 yards and how fast it gets there. You know what you can hold at 25, and what you can't.

Target size will be a guess. Distance will be a guess. Your capability should be the one known variable in the equation.

Take a course and collect your data — and if you put a 20 on paper with a carbine or a 10 with a pistol, we've got a card with your number on it. See what's on the calendar at our training page and get on the line.

Achilles Heel Tactical is a veteran-owned firearms training company in central Ohio, delivering practical pistol, carbine, and CQB training for civilians and law enforcement.