Designated Target

Setting Up The Drill: Place four USPSA torso targets in the shooting area. One target should be positioned directly in front of the shooter at 7 yards. This is your Designated Target and will be the target you continuously return to throughout the drill.

Arrange the remaining three targets around the designated target according to the drill layout in the video. 3 yards to the left and 3 back from the designated target, 3 yards to the right, and one between your two 7 yard targets, 12 yards back. Watch the video… These three targets may be engaged in any order.

This is a 14-round drill. The shooter should begin with enough ammunition to complete all 14 required shots without a mandatory reload.

Starting Position: For those shooting from the holster, begin with your handgun loaded and holstered with your hands below the beltline. For those shooting from low ready, begin with your handgun loaded and at low ready.

Drill Instructions: Upon the audible start, engage the 7-yard Designated Target with 2 rounds.

From there, engage any one of the three remaining targets with 2 rounds, then immediately return to the Designated Target for another 2 rounds.

Engage a second non-designated target with 2 rounds, return to the Designated Target for 2 rounds, then engage the final non-designated target with 2 rounds.

The drill finishes by returning to the Designated Target one final time for 2 rounds.

Your shooting order should look like this:

Designated → Target → Designated → Target → Designated → Target → Designated

Every target engagement is 2 rounds, for a total of 14 required shots.

The three non-designated targets may be shot in any order, but you must return to the Designated Target between each one.

Scoring and Handicaps: We are using Hit Factor scoring for this drill. If you are unfamiliar with this scoring system, your final point total is divided by your total time.

Alphas are worth 5 points.
Charlies are worth 3 points.
Deltas are worth 2 points.

With 14 required shots, the maximum possible score is 70 points.

The engagement sequence is part of the drill. Skipping the Designated Target, engaging two non-designated targets back-to-back, failing to finish on the Designated Target, or otherwise shooting the targets out of sequence means the run does not count for official leaderboard scoring.

Extra shots are not allowed for leaderboard scoring. The purpose of the drill is to execute the required 14-round sequence cleanly while maintaining control through every transition.

If you shoot this drill completely from concealment, remove 1.5 seconds from your final time as a handicap bonus.

Safety Note: Any unsafe gun handling voids the run.

Summary: The Designated Target Drill is built around one simple rule: every new shooting problem brings you back to the same place.

The challenge is not remembering to shoot four targets. It is repeatedly leaving a known target, aggressively finding a new one, firing two controlled shots, and immediately driving your vision and gun back to the Designated Target before moving on again.

Because the three outside targets can be engaged in any order, shooters have some freedom in how they attack the drill. What never changes is the requirement to return to the 7-yard target between each transition.

This makes the drill an excellent test of target transitions, visual discipline, throttle control, and your ability to stop the gun exactly where you intend instead of simply swinging from one target to the next.

Speed matters, but only when the hits come with it. Find the next target, shoot what you need to shoot, and get your eyes moving back to the Designated Target.