Well, probably not profit in the sense of cold cash unless you’re a professional hunter for hire, but personal profit in terms of skill and self-evaluation as a marksman. And undeniable fun—at least for some of us.

The subject of “dot” drills and their value has been discussed here before, but my own recent activities prompted a revisit.

Dot drills are just that: trying to hit target dots firing from various shooting positions and distances with your favorite firearm. Pictured is one of my efforts from yesterday. The dots are 3/4 inch in diameter, the rifle was a Ruger 77/22 in 22 Long Rifle, shooting from a bench at 50 yards using a new Area 419 clamp and bag (https://www.area419.com/product/the-gripchanger-from-area-419-and-armageddon-gear/) on an improvised rest.





There are many ways of testing and improving our marksmanship, but dot drills provide certain advantages.

Even if the dots are close together, moving from one to another is just that: movement that forces a readjustment of our aim. That’s beneficial if we ever might want to shoot at a target such as a game animal that doesn’t just sit in one spot while we fire multiple shots at it. One thing I normally do with dot drills is get up off the rifle and scope between dots. Getting back onto the rifle to aim at another target is something that’s important to practice because achieving a consistent position is critical for maximum precision and accuracy. My session yesterday involved firing two shots in immediate, fairly quick succession, and something I noted (yet again because it’s so common) was how often the two shots on one dot were close together, but not in the same place as on other dots.

What that indicates to me is how minor changes in position and perhaps trigger control changes where the two-shot “group” ended up on the target. If, as with the first target at the upper left of the array, the shots touched, that indicates I was doing the same thing for both shots, but because they weren’t located in the same place as on the dot immediately below, something probably changed with my control of the rifle: support hand position, cheek weld, trigger control, and/or something else. On the other hand when the two shots were far apart as with the second and third dot in the first row or the third dot in the second row, then I wasn’t being consistent for the two.

As I progressed down the array of dots from left to right and top to bottom, my results generally got better and that was because I was becoming more accustomed to the rest method I was using as well as paying more attention to my shooting fundamentals.

So all that relates to the “profit” I get as a marksman from such a drill. As for the fun, it’s that as well. Unless you’re one of those benighted souls who believes you can’t have fun unless it’s clearly defined and even mandated by some controlling group, we can get it any way that won’t get us in (too much) trouble. For me, though, shooting is most fun when it includes some sort of challenge such as hitting a small target every time. I have other drills that provide different levels and types of challenges that I rotate to from time to time, but the simple dot drill is one I go back to frequently.

The details:

Rifle and ammunition should be chosen so that you’re confident they are precise enough to consistently hit the target you choose. I know that my Ruger with Lilja barrel and SK Standard Plus will almost always hit a 3/4" dot at 50 yards if aimed and controlled properly. But if great-grandpa’s Montgomery Ward rifle and bulk Remington Thunderbolt will only consistently group in 2 inches at 25 yards, well then, use 2 inch dots at 25 yards. In time you’ll probably want something capable of better accuracy, but they will get you started.

I usually use a rifle chambered for 22 Long Rifle for my dot and similar target drills, but occasionally use a centerfire rifle for variety and confirmation. 22LR is obviously much less expensive and tiring to shoot; I fired 100 rounds yesterday and walked away feeling just as not tired and not too much poorer. Plus, I didn’t have to clean the rifle when I got home.

My targets for the dot drills and variations are all printed on card stock from Microsoft Word documents. The targets themselves are made using MS “Paint,” or are such things as reduced size commercial human face “sniper” targets. (If you’re interested in any of the ones I use and want a Word .doc, don’t hesitate to contact me.) But you’re obviously not limited to such types. I like mine because I can vary them as I want, but any commercially available type including stickers from an office supply store will work as well.

If you have a shot timer with a random start feature or a friend who can start the timer, that’s another way of adding to the challenge. Now it’s not only hitting the target that counts, but trying to do it on the clock.

The drill can involve firing just one but also more shots at one target. The benefit of firing two or even three shots at a single target is that it gives us practice at identifying what led to a poor hit and then correcting for the follow-up(s). I did that more than once during the series pictured above: “Okay, settle down. [bang] All right, much better.”

For variety I shoot from different distances and positions and shooting aids. I’m too old, creaky, and lazy to get down into the prone or other traditional unsupported positions such as kneeling or sitting very often, but I use various supports such as a bipod on a bench and tripods with different support methods such as Arca rail clamp.
I and other members discuss various methods in this thread:
https://sigforum.com/eve/forum...350051584#4350051584

One of the benefits I get from trying different support methods is a clear understanding of what works and doesn’t for me, but what’s most satisfying is seeing the improvement I get from the practice. For example, at one point I decided I wanted to improve my marksmanship when shooting with just a clamp on top of a tripod like the Secret Service sniper evidently used to neutralize the murderer who tried to kill President Trump. Not surprisingly, firing several hundred rounds using that method has resulted in my performance being much better today than it was three months ago. Last weekend I used that single support method with an old iron-sighted Colt AR to smack a 7×12 inch steel target at 200 yards five times in a row.

Will I ever need to take out an assassin myself using that method? Of course not, but the improvement of my skills is very satisfying, and you may find such improvements equally gratifying.