Performance Driven Drills for the Indoor Range

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

There are plenty of reasons the outdoor range isn’t always available. Weather, hours of operation, work schedules, or simply not having the time to make the drive all push shooters indoors. The indoor range earns its place in a serious shooter’s training plan, and I am fortunate to have three within 15 minutes of where I live.

The Indoor Range Challenge

Indoor ranges come with challenges though, especially if the goal is to do more than just plink at a paper target with no real goal or learning objective in mind. Other shooters on the line make the use of timers difficult, often indoor ranges do not allow drawing from the holster, and some ranges have limitations on the type of targets that are allowed. Working around those limitations for the performance driven shooter can be a challenge, so here are some drills, or more accurately shooting standards, that can serve well enough on the indoor range.

All of these drills can use the same type of target, just scored a bit differently. Since some ranges frown on silhouette type targets, NRA B-8 repair centers, or other similar bullseye targets like the FBI-IP1, or the printable B-8 repair centers online can be used.

Rangemaster 7-yard Standards

First up, the Rangemaster 7-Yard Standards.

The target is scored with actual point value. So, a hit in the 10 ring is worth 10 points, a hit in the 9 ring is worth 9 points, etc. With this drill, any hits outside of the 7-ring count as 0 points.

This is a 15-round drill, so the maximum score would be 150. The goal is score 90% (135), but you shoot what you can. If you are below 90%, then you know where you need to work. The 10-ring on a B-8 is only a 3.36” diameter circle, so that is some real deal shooting if you are pulling off a 150-point score or close to it.

For the string of fire that has you draw, if that is not allowed on your range choice, start from low ready and reduce the par time by 1 second.

Justin Dyal’s Double Add One

Next up in the batter’s box, Justin Dyal’s Double Add One. We aren’t taking any prisoners with these drills, and this one might lull you into a sense of security early on, but it turns into a real smoker by the end. The idea behind the drill is for each string, double the distance, and add one second to the par time. Each string of fire is 2 rounds. It breaks like below.

It is a quick 10 rounds drill, but on a B-8 or similar target, those 10- and 20-yard strings of fire will make you earn it. Total points possible is 100, 90% is a decent score. Since this is a par time drill, just like the 7 Yard Standards, it makes it easier to manage the timer on an indoor range. Just keep the shooting between the beeps, and you are good. No need to tracking the actual time for each string.

More from USA Carry:

The Eastridge Drill

Last up we have the Eastridge drill, or the 2.5 Second Standards. Technically, this drill is meant to be shot on an IDPA target. If you have an IDPA target, great, but really all you need is an 8” torso zone, and 4”-6” head zone. If you want to shoot this drill using B-8’s, you stack two vertically. The bottom B-8 is the “torso” and you need to stay inside the 8-ring. The top B-8 is the “head zone” and you need to keep it in the black (5.5”). That will be close enough for this kind of government work.

Every string has the same par time, 2.5 seconds (you probably already figured that out), and start position is user’s choice. If you want to make it “easy”, start from a true low ready, defined as the muzzle below the base of the target or target stand. Medium mode is from open carry, hard mode is from concealment. But, seeing as how most indoor ranges don’t allow drawing from the holster, I suppose we shoot it from low ready. The course of fire breaks down as below.

Fortunate for us, this drill doesn’t have an official scoring rubric. As I understand it, the idea is less about score and more about being a diagnostic tool to find skill areas that need attention. But, if you want to throw a scoring system at it, you can. There are a few different roads you could take for scoring, but I will leave that up to you.

If your indoor range won’t allow for 25-yard shooting, just cut that string of fire from the drill. There is still plenty of good work to be done with the other strings of fire.

The Wrap

You can shoot all of these drills with less than a box of ammunition. As long as you have a shot timer that can do par times, you are all set. These drills will be a good stretch for most shooters, and all from the comfort of an indoor range on that cold winter day. See you on the range.