Curious as to what distance everyone shoots from at the range?

K

KLCane

New member
I've been shooting at around 10 feet when practicing with my carry pistol and 15-20 with my .22 for fun.
 
I normally shoot from point blank to 20 yards.
Most targets between 5 and 10 yards. I have been shooting handguns a very long time, and I do not normally carry anything smaller than a compact pistol. Semi Auto: G23, G38, and my 1911 Colt some. Revolvers: 2" K Frame S&W 64, 3" K Frame S&W 66 being my normal carry rotation at the moment.

My suggestion for you, would be to keep expanding your horizons during your training/practice.

No mention of what you are shooting. This can have a big impact on training distance. Little toy size hideout guns are normally very hard to shoot well.
Are you shooting on a Range? Indoor or Outdoor?
More information on what you are shooting would help with responses. Their is a huge difference between what can be done with a subcompact pocket pistol, and a Glock 19 as far as engagement range.

EDIT: OK looks like you are shooting a SIG 938 and live in South Florida, and have been shooting for only about a year. That gives us something to work with.
The 3" barrel Sig 938 should be a pretty good pistol for a small compact carry gun. It is a single action with a thumb safety. So far that tells me that you should have a tolerable trigger, and enough sight radius to shoot it reasonably well with practice and training.
I would work on accuracy with it first. Keep moving back from 10 feet to 30 feet as you keep getting better with it.
Once your accuracy is at an acceptable level, start your drill with your pistol concealed the way you would normally carry it. This will probably require an outdoor range to practice at. Now try and wear your Sig 938 out, one round at a time. Shoot it as much as you can, making every shot count. Your LE shooting buddy should be able to keep you pointed in the right direction.


Bob R
 
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I think it wise to vary the distances at which I shoot. I don't expect a defensive shooting, if it ever happens, to go according to a script. Point shooting close and aimed fire further out are both useful skills.

I shoot at 25 feet more than any other distance, but that means that maybe half of my targets are at 25 feet, and the others range from 10 to 75 feet. If you can hit targets at long distances you can hit them that much easier close, but there is a certain skill to seeing the targets at different distances that needs to stay fresh.

For you, I would say focus on technique, get good groups, and gradually back your targets out to longer distances, working to tighten your groups at each extension of your range.
 
Most of my practice is at the 5-7 yard distance. For self-defense shooting, I believe rapid sight acquisition and the ability to make solid hits quickly is more important that precision. I do work on longer distances as well, out to 25 yards, but that is usually slow fire.

I'd say work on good accuracy and precision first so you have a strong foundation and then work on speed. A fast miss is still a miss and a slow hit is still a hit. The other thing to think about is collateral damage.
 
KLCane said:
I've been shooting at around 10 feet when practicing with my carry pistol and 15-20 with my .22 for fun.
Click to expand...

With a handgun at ranges of 5-7 yards about 75% of the time, 10-15 yards about 20% of the time and then 25 or 50 yards about 5% of the time.
 
When i'm practicing slow controlled precision fire I use 50' and ocassionaly at 25 yds . When i'm practicing double tap speed i'm at 25' . My outdoor pistol bays have rocks hidden in the dirt berms and i'm always concerned about getting grazed with a ricochet so I prefer not to be too close. If i'm proficiently accurate at 25' i'll be even more accurate at 15'
 
I shoot at an outdoor range at a private club. I shoot from 7 yards out to 25 yards with the bulk of the shooting between 10 and 15 yards.

With my 2.9" barreled 380, it's closer in at 7-10 yards. With my 3.8" barreled 9mm, it's 10-15 usually and occasionally out to 25 yards to see what I can do. Once I'm satisfied with my shooting at a given distance, I generally move back further.
 
25 feet for self defense practice. 75 feet (the max available at the indoor range where I shoot) when working on retaining whatever skill I might once have had.
 
All of them. I have shot handguns from 3 ft to 300 yds.

Last night I shot my s&w 17-3 from 25 ft cause that is what the target said. It was hard to keep them in the black, let alone the 10 ring!
 
Range is commensurate with the target. Very small targets, dime size or less, 7 1/2 ~10 yards. Bigger targets 15 ~ 25 yards. Sometimes gallon jugs or Styrofoam cups, 100 yards. Washing machines, stoves, dryers, at gee-whiz distances. Sometimes rapid fire at 6" bull at ten yards. All depends on my mood and location. I shoot for fun, and shoot to hit.



Bob Wright
 
typically between 1-25 yards.

Many will tell you that shooting over 15 feet is useless because statistically self defense distances are much closer. I would certainly agree that this is generally the case. But I don't believe that it necessarily follows that distance shooting is useless. The 25 yard line reveals technique flaws that go unnoticed at 25 feet. It forces one to think more about sight alignment and trigger control. Also, while rare, there have been documented cases of justifiable self defense at longer than average distances. I think Massad Ayoob has an article on this subject. And if I remember correctly from my days stocking shelves at the local grocery, aisles are usually around 80+ feet from end to end. Just some food for thought.
 
50’ indoors, 50 yards outdoors- nra bullseye targets. Cowboy revolvers at the 25 yard range but once dialed in, they are still go to 50 yards if the yahoos show up at the 25 yard lane.
 
Most handguns 10 yds and 25 yds. My carry guns usually ten yards. With an ocasional 25. My more target shooting orientated handguns, 25 yds.
My "speciality" hunting and target handguns are shot from 50 to 100+ yards. Ruger Charger Takedown, Ruger Super Blackhawk, 50 yds. TC Contender 100 or more yards.
 
For practice, 5-25 yards with most handguns. (Mainly closer to 15 yards.)
For practice with certain revolvers and hunting loads, I might stretch that to 75 or even 100 yards.

For fun, the sky is the limit. The last time I had my Super Blackhawk out, I was smacking a 275 yard popper with a 'weeny load' (750 fps 240 gr SWC) -- not with every shot, but with enough to make me feel good.
 
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