Advanced Marksmanship 21 Dot Drill: what is a good run? Post pics of an "average" dot drill for you

[z7.jled]

So i was shooting a dot drill a about two weeks ago and had some success and struggle.

I was not following any particular time constraints, just engage each target at a comfortable pace while trying to focus on good shooting fundamentals.

if I completely missed a dot I would shoot that dot again. it happened 6 times.

if I clipped the dot it counted. I had only 13 dotes where the bullet hole was all in the black.

obviously 21 for 21 all in the black is ideal, what is realistic?

 

[diverdon]

Back on the old hide we had a member Moboost who used to run a monthly competition for dot shots. It used to be a lot of fun. But Moboost had an argument with people about what a quarenteed 1/4 MOA rifle should shoot and left the hide on poor tearms with many. For a few months Frank took the shoot over but now it is just a memory. Too bad it was a lot of fun.

 

[Whiskey 2-1]

There are, of course, a lot of different "realistic" expectations for a dot drill, depending on size of dots, position, platform, distance, time limit, etc.

For 3/4 -1" dots like Franks target, a non hurried, non interrupted, prone position at 100yds with a quality rig, it is not unrealistic to expect to clean it. Do most people? No, but the better competitors will. With my AI, I expect a clean run on non hurried range practice. However, that's not always the case.

Here are some examples of various 100yd dot drills on 3/4-1" dots I have seen in matches (and therefore added to my practice sessions):
- one shot on each of 5 dots in 20-30 seconds total, starting from standing with a grounded rifle (I expect a clean run here)
- same drill, support side (4-5/5)
- decreasing times for a single shot on each of 5 dots, dropping down from standing. Begin at 12 sec, subtract 2 seconds each dot. (3-4/5. That 4 second one is a bugger)
- (my favorite) 20 dots at 100. Begin at unloaded decked rifle, with all ammo loose 10yds behind firing line. On start, retrieve one bullet, return to rifle, shoot first dot. Retrieve another round, shoot second dot. Repeat. Time limit varies. This makes you build a good NPA quickly, but make a controlled shot. (I usually drop 1-2)
- barricade dots, various barricades, usually 5 dots, 70-100yds, 30-40 seconds.

For practice, I would definitely suggest at least standing up between each shot, forcing yourself to rebuild a positive each time. It helps greatly.

Doc

 

[Rthur]

Shoot 10 times and you'll have the answer.
The only real metric is how you shoot it.
It was designed to show your strengths and weaknesses.


R

 

[lash]

The dot drill is a staple for our practice, whether done as a complete drill or variations such as Whiskey mentioned above.

I also use a variation in matches with six 3/4" dots done either as a speed drill or as the drill with ammo placed behind the shooter requiring single feed and run to get next round, build position and fire under extreme time stress. You would be surprised how many "good" shooters hate this drill. It's not easy.

I know this doesn't answer your question, but I rarely shoot all of the dots as a session practice and admit to never cleaning it when I do. My caveat to that is that when doing slow fire dot drills I always use 1/2" dots. Otherwise it's just cheating...

 

[Kane0519]

Some good dot drill ideas here.

 

[todd]

A couple of years back when I was just getting started and was trying to work on my fundamentals, I would shoot at 1/4" dots, because I felt I got better visual feedback on what was happening while I was shooting. 1/4" dots are very hard to spot though - those things are tiny. It also made 1" dot drills much less of a mental challenge, and helped me to improve my cold bore shot hit percentage because I had been practicing on so small of a target.

The other side of the coin is the capabilities of your rifle system. If your rifle/ammo is only capable of >0.5" groups at 100 yards, then frustration will follow. Make sure you are practicing within the capabilities of your system. A 1 MOA rifle shooting 1/2" dots will not be a very fun day at the range.

 

[z7.jled]

The rifle is capable, LRI Mausingfield 308 build. Ammo is pretty good, just changed to the 178eldm and am fine tuning it, so it is really good.

The shooter, well that is debatable

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[pwhite11798]

Back on the old hide we had a member Moboost who used to run a monthly competition for dot shots. It used to be a lot of fun. But Moboost had an argument with people about what a quarenteed 1/4 MOA rifle should shoot and left the hide on poor tearms with many. For a few months Frank took the shoot over but now it is just a memory. Too bad it was a lot of fun.

I personally know Moboost and he told me that he was band after he got into a dispute over a certain brand of rifle able to shoot 1/4 moa with factory ammo.