The Dot Torture Pistol Drill

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The Dot Torture drill is a very well-known shooting drill. I had first heard about it when I was taking a pistol course taught by a Swat Team Leader in my area. This was one of his top recommendations for shooting drills to improve your pistol shooting. It's one drill that I always planned on shooting but never got around too. However, just recently I finally made a point to print out some targets and get out to the range specifically for this drill. I'll say, it's harder than it looks!

Dot Torture is a 50 round course of fire with no time limit, focusing on marksmanship and fundamentals. If you're anticipating recoil, dipping the gun, jerking the trigger, etc. this drill will let you know. Generally, it's started at 3 yards and once you can routinely run the entire drill clean, then move back from there by one or two yards at a time. So, let's go through the course of fire. And remember, there is no time limit so down, focus, and make all your shots good ones.

Dot 1:

Fire 5 rounds, slow fire.

• This one is good to confirm your point-of-aim/point-of-impact and make sure your trigger pull is good and you're making good shots.

Dot 2:

From the holster, draw and fire 1 round. Do this a total of 5 times

• Focus on a good draw and clean presentation to the target

Dots 3 and 4:

From the holster, draw and fire 1 on Dot 3 and 1 round on Dot 4. Do this a total of 4 times

• Again, clean draw and presentation to the target and a smooth transition to the next dot.

Dot 5:

From the holster, draw and fire 5 rounds strong hand only

• Here's where is starts to get tricky. One handed shooting is something I am always needing to work on. Slow and steady, focus on a clean trigger pull with dipping or jerking the gun

Dots 6 and 7:

From the holster, draw and fire 2 rounds on Dot 6 and 2 rounds on Dot 7. Do this a total of 4 times

• Incorporating everything you've done so far, focus on regaining a good sight picture for the follow up shot

Dot 8:

Weak hand only, from the low ready fire five rounds

• The dot that everyone is worried about. Weak hand only is a difficult skill to learn, so focus on keeping your sights steady on the target and getting a good trigger pull

Dots 9 and 10:

From the holster, draw and fire 1 round on Dot 9, perform a speed reload, and fire 1 round on Dot 10. Do this a total of 3 times

• You're almost there! Tie it all together and add in a reload. I like to shoot this with a round in the chamber and an empty mag so I can reload from slide lock

I shot drill using my Gen 5 Glock 17 with iron sights.

So, how did I fare? First time shooting this drill and I'll just say, I left some room for improvement. But overall, I'm not too upset with how I did. I gave myself a generous 47 out of 50 calling that low left shot on Dot 7 a line break, which is questionable at best. The highest round on Dot 8 is actually a round I pulled from Dot 5 shooting strong hand only. With the other pulled shot from Dot 5 and the low left shot from Dot 10, that was my 3 misses. By the way, 2 rounds on Dot 2 went through the same hole. Luckily, this was the one Dot that I was actually filming, and I looked at the video to verify. I'm not trying to pull a fast one on you Haha!

Surprisingly enough my best group I think was from Dot 8, shooting weak hand only. 4 out of the 5 rounds made a single hole right in the middle of the "8", with fifth round touching the bottom left of the "8". Again, that top hole on Dot 8 was a pulled shot from Dot 5. While weak hand only should have theoretically been my worst group, it ended up being one of my best. This tells me that when I slow down and focus that I'm able to make the shots without any issues. If I miss while shooting with both hands, then I probably rushed the shot or wasn't focusing enough on a consistent trigger pull.

All in all, it's a very fun and productive drill to shoot and work on your fundamentals. Looking forward to going back out, cleaning it up, and then moving the distance back. I'm also wanting to try it out with different guns, like my concealed carry firearm, and see which ones I might or might not be shooting as well. So, print out a handful of targets and let me know how you do!