More often than not while at the range or working with students, I find that on the silhouette-target engagements, the shooter will shoot two center-mass shots and call it a day, returning to the low or high carry to repeat again. As discussed before, there may be times when the engagement will take more than two rounds. Training the standard two-shot drill into your muscle memory will only scar you in the long run. Here is a fun/practical drill you can run on the range with your friends or by yourself that will help not only break the two-shot scar, but will also force you to engage various target areas, increase your accuracy, and force you to conduct combat reloads.

What you will need:

  • Target (cardboard or paper)—preferably a human silhouette
  • Deck of cards

The drill:

Before heading to the range, you’ll need to prep your targets. Shuffle the cards and count them out, two per target. Ten targets=20 cards.

Place one card center-mass on the target (high chest/aorta), and place one card center of the T-box area. If your card is a king, place the card on the left hip of the target—this is to be engaged with three shots. If the target is a queen, place it on the right hip of the target—also to be engaged with three rounds. Aces and jokers do not apply.

The number on the card indicates the amount of rounds you will use to engage the card. All rounds must be placed inside the card. Any shots that land outside of the card do not count.

Have fun with it and mix it up as you see fit.