This is Rangemaster’s “Drill of the Month” – a piece that has become a part of our feature rotation. It is part of that company’s monthly newsletter. As always, start slow before trying to progress. If you’re not familiar with use of the holster – especially from concealment – and, the most dangerous thing you’ll do at the range, REholstering – seek education first. You can shoot the whole thing from low ready, just to see how you fair. The Rangemaster instructors travel. Check the website.
(From RANGEMASTER - DRILL OF THE MONTH: Throughout 2025 we will be running a Drill of the Month in each edition of the newsletter. The goal is to help motivate folks to get to the range and actually shoot their defensive weapons, and to have some fun in the process. Each month we’ll post a drill or a short course of fire. You are encouraged to go to the range, shoot the drill, and then post your thoughts and a photo of your target on the Rangemaster Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/groups/rangemaster/.)
The Drill: Card Challenge, Consistency
These cards are scanned in a post from pistol-forum.com. There are other scanned playing card targets out there or you can just buy a deck.
We are all familiar with the standard card test—place a playing card at 5 yards, draw from concealment, and fire 5 rounds in 5 seconds or less. This month we are looking for consistent performance, so we’ll do the drill a bit differently. Place 5 cards, at 5 yards. On signal, draw and fire 5 rounds at one card, record the time. Do this separately for all 5 cards. The goal is all 5 rounds into each card, in less than 5 seconds each time. If you can do this -- all 5 times with no misses, under the par time -- you are pretty skillful with a pistol.
-- Tom Givens, Chief Firearms Instructor, Rangemaster Firearms Training Services
Editor’s note – the scanned cards in the image are from a post on this page. If you find this too difficult at first, try the 5^5 drill from The Tactical Professor: a rendition of the Gila Hayes “5-5-5” test. Calling for five rounds into a five-inch circle from five yards in five seconds from low ready (repeated for a total of five times), it’s a way to see if a particular gun/caliber/load combination is good for you – or simply shoot the playing cards from ready, as in the 5^5 drill – to start.
