Rangemaster Professional Pistolcraft Qualification | Skills and Drills

In December of 2023 I attended the inaugural Rangemaster Professional Pistolcraft Instructor Development course. There are two shooting qualifications students must pass to earn a certificate in class. This is the “field” course, along similar lines to previous Rangemaster instructor qualifications. Check out the details below!

Setting Up the Drill

This is a relatively straightforward course of fire. You’ll need one target, the RFTS-Q4 specifically is required here, and is the only designated target for use. Shooters will need a pistol, a concealment holster, and 50 rounds of ammunition. Additionally you’ll need a shot timer to ensure you’re making par times. Distances range from 5 to 25 yards. At least one spare magazine is necessary to perform a mandatory reload.

Scoring the Rangemaster Professional Pistolcraft Instructor Qualification

Scoring is a 2/1/0 setup. Shots inside the “A-Zones” award two points each. Anything on the silhouette outside of those zones are worth one point. Missing the target is worth zero points. In total there are 100 points possible, with a 95 being required to pass.

Firing the Drill

Your start position will vary throughout the course.

• 5 yards
  • Draw and fire 3 rounds with both hands, 3 rounds dominant hand only, and 3 rounds non-dominant hand only, all without stopping. Par time is 9 seconds. Repeat one time.
  • Draw and fire 3 rounds to the body and 1 round to the head. Par time is 4 seconds. Repeat 4 times.
• 7 yards
  • Start at low ready, loaded with 4 rounds total. Fire 4 rounds, conduct a slide lock reload, fire 4 rounds. Par time is 8 seconds.
• 15 yards
  • Draw and fire 2 rounds. Par time is 5 seconds
  • Low ready, fire 3 rounds. Par time is 5 seconds
• 25 yards
  • Draw and fire 3 rounds. Par time is 8 seconds

My Results

I first shot this course during the Rangemaster Professional Pistolcraft Instructor Course. If the name was a hint, this is one of the qualifications for said course. During class I managed a 98% for my first outing. This was at the conclusion of a 3-day course, so my skills were pretty sharp at this time.

It wasn’t until June of the following year that I tried the Rangemaster Professional Pistolcraft Instructor Course again. Unfortunately I did not have access to the RFTS-Q4 target for my own practice, so a Q-PT acts as a stand-in. However, this attempt was cold to start my range session. This was done to see how much my skills had degraded over time, and reestablish a baseline for myself.

For this run I managed to get a 94%, just slightly failing. However, I did make one procedural error when shooting the course of fire. For the repeat for the “333” stage, I moved to 7-yards. This cost me a single point, just outside the “A-Zone” which I believe I would have cleaned at 5-yards. That said, I’m not upset with this score, and I think it’s a solid baseline for cold performance. One day I’ll try to pick up some RFTS-Q4 targets to make another attempt, but for now my stock of Q-PT will have to do.

Final Thoughts on the Rangemaster Professional Pistolcraft Instructor Qualification

This is a challenging course of fire. While there are many similarities to other Rangemaster qualification courses, the accuracy and time standards here are tighter than what you’ll see in earlier courses. If you can pass this, you’ve definitely got a solid amount of skill under your belt. I won’t be shooting this often, but it’s a great status check to run every few months.

Give it a try and let us know what you think!

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