Can DOT Drills Improve Rifle Training?

The short answer: yes! But as with anything in life, it takes practice. At Qualification Targets, Inc., we offer a wide selection of paper and cardboard shooting targets that are specifically designed for military and law enforcement applications. 

Though we offer an expansive online store, our DOT shooting targets continue to be a popular option for military training and practice drills. 

What Are DOT Shooting Targets?

Glad you asked! DOT shooting targets feature a series of dots (typically up to ten dots) that range in size and placement. These types of shooting targets give you endless drill options to challenge your team using different commands, numbers, and sequences.

Sounds fun, right? It's actually quite competitive and addicting. DOT shooting targets are also printed on paper, which makes it even easier to track and compare scoring among shooters. 

DOT Shooting Targets for Military Training

Using any of our DOT shooting targets, you can easily create different drills that require the shooter to draw, shoot, reload, and shoot again with 100% accuracy. 

How DOT Drills Improve Accuracy

One of the main objectives behind many DOT drills is to increase your distance from the target while still maintaining a perfect score (100% accuracy). 

  • You can design each drill to have shooters begin at a shorter distance away from their targets. 
  • After they complete a series of instructions, have them back up a certain distance and repeat the same sequence. 
  • Those who still hit their targets with 100% accuracy get to move to the next sequence, but those who fail, have to start from the beginning. 

This helps train your shooters to keep their rifles in the same position, despite moving their bodies and furthering their distance from the target.

How DOT Drills Improve Timing

To help improve timing, you can choose to have your shooters maintain the same distance from their targets, but give them a set time to complete each sequence.  

This forces your team to shoot faster while still maintaining 100% accuracy.

How DOT Drills Improve Command Training

Most DOT drills involve a series of numbers that you need to hit (some include 10, others less). And each number can represent a corresponding instruction that may include:

  • When to fire a single round
  • When to reholster
  • When to reload a weapon
  • When to repeat a sequence

Because you can switch up the sequences and instructions each drill, your team is always met with a new challenge to master. This forces them to listen, think, and then respond within a tight timeframe. 

Shop DOT Shooting Targets

At Qualification Targets, Inc., we offer a large variety of DOT shooting targets to practice drills and improve training—all made right here in America. Browse our selection online and contact us for questions or to learn about how we can customize your orders. 

For military pricing and orders, please call us at 866-498-8228 or email us at sales@targets.net.