How many rounds per month?

F

FUD

Moderator
I've been hinting at this question in a few different trends but finally decided to come out and ask it directly ...

I know that everybody is different, but on AVERAGE, how many rounds do you need to fire to become good with a weapon (hit the X-ring at 25feet? 50feet? 75fett? etc.) and then how many rounds a month should you practice with to maintain that level of accuracy?

Specifically speaking, I'm thinking about getting a 10mm and after firing it, found it to be a handful (please, no laughing, big-bore shooters). I'm curious if I can tame it & be accurate with it and more or less how many rounds a month it'll take to remain good with it? 200-300? More? Less?

Share what you know, learn what you don't -- FUD
fud-nra.gif
 
For me... and I know I'm an old bugger... to stay fairly accurate it takes me one or two hundred rounds a week with each of my favorites; my TPH, the S&W Model 41 and my favorite Makarov in 9x18.

If I don't shoot for a couple of weeks (it's been two now) I can really see the fliers mounting up and the groups widening. When I was younger I shot more but I was a LOT more accurate then too.

NOW the front sight is blurry, the rear sight is blurry, the target is blurry and all three of them dance and wiggle like a dervish dancer on an electric grill.

Old Age is NOT for sissies!

To hit anything at all I have to rely on "the power of the Force", luck, coincidence, a good tail wind and some time in my folding easy chair between rounds.

But I still get a certain satisfaction out of taking my TPH or my Makarov and outshooting these youngins with the thousand dollar .45s. But they shoot a box of ammo once or twice a month at the most and usually with a different gun each time. For them, most of them, they are toys not tools.

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Talk is cheap; Free Speech is NOT.
 
Jody Hudson:

I agree with each and every part of your post except the references to the self loaders. I just happen to carry and drill with wheelguns.

Easy to see why so many law types cant shoot, they don't shoot. Momma drives her own car but they won't fork out the bucks to obtain and maintain skill with their weapons.

FUD
Listen to your elders, boy. :)

Sam...my favorite 9mm is the 9X32R
 
Good habits will cut down the amount of ammo you will need to maintain a fair amount of accuracy.Check out the Bullseye Pistol web page for some great info. I take the ERROR CHART with me to the range all the time. It tells me what i'm doing wrong and why.Like having a coach there with me.I practice with 500 rounds a month, and i'm not too good a shot,but that's all the ammo I can fit in the budget now.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by C.R.Sam: ... Listen to your elders, boy. :)[/quote]Elders? Well, maybe. But I'm older than I look -- I've been at this for close to two decades (I remember the JFK shooting and watching the funeral on TV) and I can relate to the sight looking blurry ;)
 
If you count 22's, I spend between 500 and 2000 rounds per month.
 
I only shoot about 200-400 rounds per month. I'd like to do more but time is a precious comodity. Plus, I have too many passions to occupy my leisure time. What's a man to do?

RJ

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"Never turn your back on the crew."
 
FUD...I used to laugh at the Mr Magoo cartoons: Now I AM Mr Magoo. Shot in my first rifle match seven decades back.

People complain bout excessive muzzle flash. I like lots of muzzle flash; that way I know if the thing went off.

Sam
 
Hmmm, well I dont know if I am any good, most of the people I shoot with have been shooting for less time then me (in fact, I was usually the one draggin them to the range for the first time :))

I shoot about 4-500 rounds of .40 a month and probably 1500-2000 rounds of .22

I get about 5-6 inch groups at 25 yards with the .22, and 6-8 inch with the .40.

Probably pretty crappy (after hearing about some other TFL members groups), but it's close enough to where i know I can get the BG, and that's good enough for me.




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"Freedom is that instant between when someone tells you to do something and when you decide how to respond."
-Dr. Jeffrey Borenstein

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."
-Martin Luther King Jr.
 
It's not how many rounds you put through a gun. It's trigger control, concentration, and shot placement. Remember practice doesn't make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect.

Focus on the items I mentioned, not so much on how many rounds you put through the gun. This was a valuable lesson for me to learn.
 
I agree with Mr. Wedge there. You don't need to get ankle deep in brass to get good and stay good--but you do need to practice seriously when you practice. My 'secret' is to shoot 'ball and dummy' a lot with the DA revolver; that way 50% of your hammer falls are on an empty chamber--instant, accurate feedback. Saves ammo and makes you a better shot. Load only one round in the cylinder and you get the same results with even less ammo. Get an identical subcaliber gun in .22 LR and you can do the same things even cheaper. Do it enough years and even though your body lets you down what's left of your mind will carry you through subconsciously.

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I guess I'm above average shooter but it took a lot of time and bullets. About 10 years ago I decided to get serious about shooting so I started to shoot about 3 days per week every week for about 2 years. During each session I would shoot until I could not concentrate on each and every shot. In the beginning I would shoot about 100 rounds in about 30 or 40 minutes. Towards the end I would shoot longer and for a while I was shooting about 500-600 rounds in about 2 hours. This may sound easy but it is very difficult to concentrate on every shot. I would consciously concentrate on trigger control, front sight, signt picture, etc. on every shot. As time went by
 
sorry... made a mistake. Let me continue.

As time went by most of the physical aspect of shooting (triger control, breathing, front sight, etc.) would be controled by my subconscious mind. I think when you reach the level when your subconscious mind can control these things your shooting skill improves dramatically in terms of accuracy and speed.

Today I can shoot about 3-4" group with most of my full size handguns at 25 yards when shooting about 1 round per every 2 seconds and I can keep this up for about 200 rounds. Also, I don't need to shoot so much to keep my shooting level up. I usually shoot about twice per month and during each session I'll shoot about 200 rounds. Even after not shooting for about 2 month I was able to keep up my skill.

When shooting targets or in competition I only have to make a conscious decision to shoot a certain target and my subconscious mind will take care of all the physical thinks and next thing I know the gun goes bang and hits the target.

I realized my subconsious mind was really working hard when during a IPSC competition my front sight broke off and when over my shoulder and I was following the sight all the time and was able to pickup the sight from the ground.

I don't think this is feasible for everyone but it worked for me.
 
This may not be much of an answer but here it is anyhow. It seems as though it took me 20,000 rounds through a semi auto to do what it took less than 500 rounds to do with a K-frame S&*. The transition, for me, from semi auto to D/A revolver takes 2 shots most of the time.By that I mean, I can pick up just about any D/A revolver after not firing a revolver for months at a stretch, and after 2 shots be pretty much back to a comfortable level. OTOH, if I shoot a box of .38's, it takes a lot of ammo to get back on track with a semi auto. That's one of the reasons I shoot a .22 semi auto so much. and own so many of them ;)
 
Fud,

I am so glad to see this post, because I once again find (thanks Sam and Jody) the exigencies of 50+ ages are common.

I shoot about 400 rounds weekly, on two-separate days. After a 200 round session (usually at least two hours), my vision makes it a lot tougher to focus sharply of the sight picture. I practice principally with revolvers (either of my Smith 627s or my Ruger GP100) and I shoot 75 percent of my rounds DELIBERATELY and at 50+ foot ranges. My goal is to keep 90+ percent inside the seven ring, a six inch diameter target (I'd love to improve on this). The remaining 50 rounds in each session are fired for speed at seven to ten yards; I do this last, since my eyes are marginal for distance at this point, but I have no problem "finding the bull" at decreased ranges.

I have found that my proficiency continues to improve with this regimen.

Best regards.


[This message has been edited by RWK (edited August 02, 2000).]
 
Ed,

"Keep 'um in the X ring @ 25 yards"?!!?

I'll let ya know how many rounds it took when I get there...

In the mean time I go to the range once a week for an hour. That's 200 --> 250 rounds. Most at 25 yards, except for the PPA targets.

Joe


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Go NRA
 
Guess I am weird. I am 29, been shooting since I was 11 or 12. Maybe earlier if you only count bb guns. I go maybe once every 2 or 3 months. I shoot both my .40's, and a .22. I put about 100 through the .40's, total, and maybe 150 through the .22. Sometimes it is a bit more if I am cycling out carry ammo. I still get consistent groups around 4-6 inches. Not the best, but definatly nothing misses the man size target at 25 yards. Of course on my taurus, the laser sight doesn't hurt. :)
Maybe that size group is bad, and I need more practice, but I figure if I can hit my target near center of mass, and can do it consistently, how bad can it be.
 
Wedge and Robert Foote say it all. Endless rounds done incorrectly are not only pointless, but detrimental.

I am now working to around 1000 rounds a month and would like to increase that. Again, though, round count doesn't do the job if each round is not done correctly. For me the first year or so with 500 rounds a month was a slow progress until I really started paying attention to mentors like the people on these forums and focused on the precise details. This includes thousands of repetitions of dry fire while carefully observing the fronts sight's reaction and my hand, arm and body positions and stresses.

Until the subconscious figures it out like Taco's did, paying close attention to what the front sight is doing on each round and to where your body stresses and fights itself are the key. Like golf, it helps immensely to keep the eye on the ball until it plops down. Dummy rounds in unexpected intervals allow you to see whether you are paying attention to the front sight or paying attention to anticipating recoil.

And I don't go for this 50+ stuff, either. I have been wearing glasses since 4 1/2 years of age, took up handgun shooting when I was 52 years of age with little or no shooting the previous 25 years. I am now closing in on 55, use computer distance glasses to see the front sight and let the fuzzy target hover in the background. My shooting went from not being able to keep them all on the cardboard at 7 yds with DA revolver in offhand position (began with full power magnums out of a 686+) to being able to keep most on the 5 1/2 inch bullseye at 15 yards with the majority going through a two or three inch hole. It does take a larger number of rounds than I like to warm up sometimes, though. I am also beginning to get the hang of 50 yd shooting and can keep them in a 12 inch circle from prone.

Not great shooting, but the point is that with age is coming improvement, not deterioration. At age 53 I began shooting in competition and about two months ago began reloading. I've also become a bit sadistic as I like to come up next to one of the box a year young bantam roosters who scatter shots all over the target at 15 yards and quickly sqeeze off 50 or so into the bullseye.

[This message has been edited by Guy B. Meredith (edited August 02, 2000).]
 
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