The Range Master April 2026 Drill of the Month

When I read the April 2026 Range Master monthly newsletter, I realized that the Sensible Self Defense Academy (SSD-A) monthly match was scheduled for 11 April 2026. April 11, 2026 was the 40th anniversary of the infamous shoot-out in Miami, FL, involving a squad of FBI Special Agents and two serial murderers/bank robbers.

To commemorate the FBI agents who fought these murderers, I used Tom Givens and Range Master’s monthly drill for the SSD-A standards drill for April 2026. Per the Range Master newsletter, the drills sought to approximate some of the conditions the agents encountered as they fought the two bank robbers. The drill names reflect the name of the agent who did something very similar at some point in the fight.

I adapted the drills to reflect the SSD-A match’s standards drill requirements. We used the modified Shoot Steel target covered by a T-shirt that generally obscures the scoring area and we used SSD-A scoring as follows:

Hits in the target’s center area or the ocular cavity are down zero (worth five points). Hits in the remainder of the target or head are down three (or worth two points). Lines count for the higher value; however, bullet must clearly cut the line--edge hits and misses are down five (earn zero points). 

I started competitors from the twenty-five-yard line (thirty yards for PCCs) and moved forward. Competitors using pistol caliber carbines (PCCs) fired from longer distances than those shooting pistols. Per the Range Master newsletter with my adaptations:

Risner Drill - At 25 yards, holstered. On signal, draw and fire four hits to the upper chest on T1 (target 1). Standard: 10 seconds or less.

Hanlon Drill - At 10 yards, holstered. On signal draw, drop to kneeling or assume a cover crouch and fire two hits on T1 and two hits on T2. All to the upper chest. Standard: Six seconds or less (comment: the range we use has a fair amount of rocks, fired brass, etc. so we allowed the “cover crouch” that Massad Ayoob teaches to preclude any knee injuries for those without pads).

Mireles Drill - Start at 7 yards, gun in dominant hand. All shots fired with dominant hand only. Fire two hits on T1. Take two steps forward. Fire two hits on T2. Take two steps forward. Fire one head hit on T1 and one head hit on T2. Standard: 10 seconds or less.

McNeil Drill - At 3 yards starting from Low Ready. On signal, fire one head hit on T1, and one head hit on T2. Standard: 2.5 seconds or less. You will do this three times.

The SSD-A match has two divisions – concealed and unconcealed. Within the divisions, we have three categories as follows: carry pistol (a pistol the competitor states that they routinely carry), back-up gun (e.g. SIG 365, Glock 26, Springfield Hellcat, etc.), and non-carry pistol which is any other pistol the competitor wishes to use.

Unfortunately, on match day we only had about one-half of our normal turnout due to some early rain in the San Antonio, TX area which caused several competitors to drop out. We still had fifteen competitors complete the standards stage: six shooting concealed and nine starting from no concealment. Several competitors shot the stage twice, some with different pistols. Of the competitors starting concealed, five made the time limits with six of the nine competitors starting unconcealed making the time limits.

My Target #1

We had two people shooting BUGs, one revolver, eight carry pistols, and five non-carry pistols. I personally shot the stage two times with my every day compact carry pistol starting from concealment. I scored 100 on my first run and a 94 on my second run and placed first and third respectively (my 25-yard target #1 shown above). We had a total of six competitors score in the nineties, three in the eighties, and the rest scored seventy-nine or below.

The Range Master Drill of the month is a good drill and I enjoyed shooting it. The Range Master Monthly Newsletter has a lot of good information and is available at:

https://rangemaster.com/newsletter/

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