A look at the infamous Bill Drill. We’ll show you how to do the drill at your shooting range and share what it can help you improve as part of your shooting skill set.

If you’re looking for a simple, repeatable drill that stresses all the fundamentals of shooting, the Bill Drill… well, it definitely fits the bill. 

This classic, high-speed drill takes all the fundamentals of pistol shooting and mashes them up into one effective exercise. 

The high-speed Bill Drill not only puts your skills to the test, it will also reveal areas of shooting you need to improve. Plus, the ability to put lead on target in a hurry could be a life-saving skill in a real defensive situation.

The Bill Drill

What it works:

• Draw speed
• Sight tracking
• Trigger control
• Recoil control

Position a silhouette target seven yards from the firing line. (Although seven yards is the accepted “standard” for the Bill Drill, you can start at 3-5 yards and work your way up to seven yards and beyond.)

Start with either your hands raised in a surrender position or hanging comfortably at your side.

At the start signal, draw your weapon and fire six accurate shots to the “A-zone” (or center torso) of your target as fast as possible.

Only accurate shots count. If any of your shots fall outside the “A Zone”, you have failed the drill. Shots should be fired as fast as you are able, however they shouldn’t be so fast that you miss your intended target. 

The Bill Drill is performed for both accuracy and time. Your goal should be six accurate shots in under four seconds. Complete it in under two, and you probably have superhuman powers. 

This drill can help you train your brain away from poor range shooting habits. Many shooters develop habits at the gun range that don’t transfer well to defensive shooting. It isn’t uncommon to see a shooter positioned at the firing line who fires a round and then looks to see where it hit. Then the shooter fires another round and pauses to see where it hit. Then they rinse and repeat until their hour is up, and then they head for home. 

When it comes to self-defense shooting, the goal is to get multiple rounds on target as fast as possible to eliminate a threat. This drill will get you in the habit of placing multiple pieces of lead on target without assessing your accuracy between each shot. 

Increasing Bill Drill Difficulty

Once you’ve mastered the basic version of the Bill Drill, you can add some variety to keep things interesting and further challenge your skills.

One option is to increase the distance to your target. You may be surprised how much harder the drill becomes when the target is at ten, twelve, or fifteen yards.

Another option is to practice your reload. After firing the first six loads, drop your magazine, reload, and fire six more. Just make sure that all twelve shots hit the “A Zone” or it doesn’t count. 

If you’re really looking for a challenge, you can fire all six shots while on the move. It is much harder to maintain concentration and sight control when you’re moving to the side. However, the ability to get off-line of a threat while firing accurate shots is a valuable skill in a real-life defensive situation. 

Working On Your Draw

Obviously your draw is a major component of this speed drill. While speed is an important goal, you should start by focusing on making your draw smooth. If you hang up on your draw, you’ll be adding precious seconds to your time. Also, if you miss your grip on the draw, it will cost you either time or accuracy as you either adjust your grip or pull shots off target. Neither is a good thing. 

While the stars may align in your favor and allow you to get an accurate hit with a sub-par grip, you won’t pull off five more unless Hell freezes over. If you want to run this drill well, you’re going to need to work on your grip. 

As the old military saying goes, “Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast.”

If you want to speed up your draw, it is usually best to first slow it down. Performing a shooting technique correctly is much more important than performing it fast. 

If you can’t do it slow and right, you won’t ever be able to do it fast and right. So, slow it down to Tai Chi speed while you focus on maintaining a solid grip from the time your hand touches your weapon until you achieve proper sight alignment and press the trigger. 

Once your slowed down draw is smooth, you can start incrementally increasing your speed. 

Luckily, you can practice your draw right in the comfort of your own home. You won’t even need to waste any ammo. Just be sure to always practice the Four Basic Rules of Gun Safety. 

Safety First

Speaking of Basic Gun Safety, here is a quick reminder of the basics:

• All guns are always loaded. 
• Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy.
• Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on the target.
• Be sure of your target and what is beyond it.

The Bill Drill isn’t exactly an entry level drill. It’s important for new or inexperienced shooters to master shooting fundamentals before they add speed to the mix.

For those who are ready to give the Bill Drill a try, you should be hyper aware of your trigger finger when drawing your weapon with speed. It isn’t uncommon for wayward fingers to cause accidents during the draw. Keep that trigger finger well outside the trigger well until your sights are on target and you’re ready to shoot.

A Word About Sight Alignment

While a proper grip is important for Bill Drill success, it isn’t the drill’s only key component. Proper sight alignment is just as important. (If you want to review proper sight alignment, check out our in-depth article here.)

Keeping those sights aligned while making six rapid-fire shots is no easy feat. Technique tends to degrade with each successive shot. 

Spraying and praying isn’t a good idea on or off the range, so using the Bill Drill to help improve your sight control is smart. Try to focus on that front sight post and time the trigger break for when the post falls into the rear sight. 

There is some wiggle room with accuracy on the Bill Drill. You aren’t trying to keyhole your shots, they just need to land in that fairly generous “A-zone.” With practice, you’ll develop a rhythm or cadence that makes timing your shots much easier, resulting in a faster drill time.  

So, Who is “Bill”?

The Bill Drill has been around for some time. Unfortunately, its origins have been mostly lost to time. The drill is often attributed to Bill Wilson, an accomplished competitive shooter, gunsmith, and founder of Wilson Combat. However, the person responsible could just as easily be Bill Rogers (founder of Rogers Shooting School), Bill Jordan (Marine Corps colonel, quick draw shooter, and Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient), or just plain ol’ Bill from the gun range. (The good and typical well-informed folks at Pistol-Training.com insist this drill was in fact designed by Bill Wilson, however.)

For all we know, some random guy named Eugene developed the Bill Drill and just thought the “Eugene Drill” didn’t have the right ring to it. 

While we don’t know exactly where the drill came from, we do know that this is an effective exercise that experienced shooters should add to their training tool boxes.

Final Thoughts

If you’re an experienced shooter, the Bill Drill is a good one to pull out at the beginning of a range or training session. Trying this drill cold is a good way to assess your skills. 

The Bill Drill works well at honing real-world shooting speed and accuracy. Since few violent criminals allow you to warm up with a few slow, careful shots, starting out with the Bill Drill during your training sessions provides a realistic assessment of your real-world abilities. 

You should also keep a running record of your Bill Drill times. This will help you plot your progress over time and help you set long-term shooting goals.