How's your typical range session?

A

AL45

New member
I am only able to shoot about once a month and it seems to always take a couple of magazines or cylinders before I began to shoot consistently. How many of you typically take a little warm up before you hit your stride?
 
Yep, a little slow on the uptake, but after 5-10 rounds I'm good. Used to get to the range weekly, lately much less, but restarting for every other week, shooting 100-200 handgun rounds.
 
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I try wander out to the back yard two or three times per week. It takes me a shot or two to adjust and I find my accuracy wander after 75-100 rounds. I shoot from my garage door so it's a very short trip.
 
My range is close. In the winter, I get out only a couple times a month. When the weather warms, I'm usually out there at least once a week.

I'm generally on my third cylinder full or so, when I start to line everything up and everything clicks together nice n smooth.
 
If you want to learn how to shoot fast and accurately, get to your nearest competition match.
 
Dry fire daily between range visits. Work on concentration on the front post and perfect sight alignment pointing at a blank wall. (Forces the mind to the sights).

Then work on smooth trigger break that keeps the sights still.


Just 5 min a day on each drill will probable give notable improvement in just a couple weeks.
 
Yeah, I really need a bit of a warm up time too. Which bothers me a bit because if I ever need a gun in a self defense situation I doubt I'll get it.

Shrug.

One of Clancy's books (pretty sure it's 'Executive Orders') has an FBI agent that regularly goes to the range and shoots his 'for keeps' target first with no warm up at all. Sets up the target, does NOT check his carry gun, then shoots. Just like he might have to in real life. But it's a book, and he's an FBI guy.

You do the best you can and hope for the best...still sometimes I wonder if this quote applies to guns as well as parachutes...

'If at first you don't succeed, then don't take up skydiving.'
 
I usually need a couple shots to settle down, but it's more when I'm switching between guns and calibers.
But mostly I have the opposite problem.
For me the crappy shooting comes later. I have to know when to stop and say that's it for the day or else I'm just practicing every one of my bad habits. My groove sets in after the first shot or two and then, depending on what I'm shooting, ends between 150 and 250 rounds.
 
I shoot handguns 3 to 4 times a month, 100 to 150 rounds per session. First I shoot the ammo in my carry pistol, for two reasons, to refreshen the ammo, and to make sure the pistol is working correctly. That's usually enough to get me "in the groove". Then shoot 20-30 rounds out of a snub nose .38 Special, mostly because I'm still trying to figure out how to shoot the darn thing. This is all at 5 yards. Then back the target out to 10 yards for some serious work with a 22/45, 60-70 rounds. Then depending on my mood that morning, out comes either my 92FS or M1911 for 50 rounds or so for some more serious shooting. Last couple magazines at 15 yards. About one hour time.

Outdoor rifle during the summer is usually a 3 to 4 hour session, all serious trying for those tiny groups at 100 yards, about once a month. Then end the day with some fun time blasting with an AK.
 
I normally get to the range, do about 3 - 5 minutes of dry fire and then I'm ready to go hot. The dry fire gets me settled to my comfort level.

Then I'll put an average of 200 rounds down range practicing slow fire. I also do some speed shooting and weak hand drills. Weak hand is the hardest so I make myself do 30 rounds at least.
 
summer months 3 or 4 times a week, winter months 1 or 2 times a week. I prefer out doors but depending on the temperature and snow depth am forced indoors.
 
It's amazing how fast you can build up a little rust. Luckily I tend to shoot once a week. But I feel it in the first 5-10 rds if I don't shoot for a month or so.
 
Practice

Accurate shooting is a perishable skill. Frequent and proper practice is necessary.
I shoot indoors at 50 ft twice a week...50 rounds per session. I start with slow fire on an NRA B2 target. At least 20 rounds.... Maybe all 50. The rest are shot in strings of five - rapid fire.
Weekends are shot outdoors at 25 to 50 yards. Same drill.
At least once a month in nice weather, I will shoot 20-40 rounds of .223 prone slow fire at 100/200 yards...Colt AR.
Practice makes perfect. No. Practice makes permanent. Perfect practice makes perfect.
Pete
 
DaleA said:
One of Clancy's books (pretty sure it's 'Executive Orders') has an FBI agent that regularly goes to the range and shoots his 'for keeps' target first with no warm up at all. Sets up the target, does NOT check his carry gun, then shoots. Just like he might have to in real life. But it's a book, and he's an FBI guy.
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I have done that. More than once. And I'm not an FBI guy. ;) Not all the time and I can't draw from the holster at my range, but yeah, I've taken my first five shots from the low ready with my LCR. The last time I did that I had gone probably 4-6 weeks without shooting that gun at all and the result was, um, "less than ideal". :rolleyes: Since then I've made it a point to get a few cylinders through it most sessions even if it's just standard pressure range ammo.
 
My "normal"

I live only three miles from my range; so I usually get out about once a week. A little more in the summer; a little less in the winter.

My typical session is about 150 to 200 rounds. Sometimes a little more.

I usually bring only one gun. I rather like cleaning guns, but one a week is plenty ;) Sometimes I'll bring two. Rarely I'll bring three.
 
For pistol? I usually like to start with the basics: grip, sight picture, trigger control. I'll try for a nice, tiny group or to shoot out the X. I keep my eye glued to the front sight and make sure it is recoiling straight up and straight down.

Once I've warmed up a bit, I'll start working on draw, multiple targets, shooting at speed, weak hand, strong hand, shooting while moving. Whatever I have planned on working on. Sometimes I'll start cold with no warm up just to assess what my "cold bore" skill level is. A lot depends on the rules of whatever range I happen to be using at the time. Here in the city, you can either drive for awhile to a good range or drive nearby and barely be able to practice even basic fundamentals.

The important part for me though is the "warm-down." A lot of times, especially when you are trying to push yourself on speed, it is easy to get sloppy with the fundamentals. So while I may skip the warm-up, I never skip the warm-down at the end of the session (which is the same, work on the fundamentals). The warm down not only serves to reinforce good fundamentals; but it can be useful in reestablishing confidence after some of the disappointing range sessions where your skills weren't where you wanted them to be. ;)
 
Accurate shooting is a perishable skill. Frequent and proper practice is necessary.
Click to expand...

Perishable to a degree. Once someone has learned really well, they'll lose some of the edge but they'll be able to shoot well even after not doing it for years, and they'll be able to bring themselves back to speed pretty quick. Of course if you want to reliably shoot the 10 ring or straight Xs at 25 yards then you need constant practice, but shooting Xs at 25 yards with a handgun is beyond merely 'good'. Most hunters I know don't practice all that much between seasons, yet they bring home the bacon regularly with a rifle. 60-70 years ago, shooting rarely was the norm rather then the exception, and everything worked.

However, shooting is fun and nowadays we can afford to practice regularly, and that is good.

The Magic word today is "Airguns."
Even Sig is promoting their line of airguns for daily practice.
It works, too.
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Yes, this is a great thing for practice. I set my mini-range in the attic, 7 yards, a few cardboard sheets and stack of papers as a backstop and using post-it stickers for targets :) Inexpensive, can do it whenever I want to, and I just put the backstop away when I'm done.
 
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