Practice range.

F

Firepower!

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I would like to know at what range do you practice with your handgun? What caliber do you use?

If you use 45 and 9, do you use same range or adjust to caliber?

What do you think is the best practice range and why?

I have handgun range up to 75 yards! However, I read most post here talk about 15 to 20 feet.

Am I really stretching it or any of you guys practice over 50 yards as well?

Does anyone know of practice range for FBI?

I would also like add a comment here. At 72 yards I was able to perform better with 9 than 45. However, at under 30 yards the result were same. At higher range some how 9 seemed to be hitting harder at that target compared to 45.....why this may be the case?
 
I don't practice for/or compete in any kind of marksmanship events or anything. I only practice for self/home defense so I only practice from point blank to 20ft. Once in a while I'll fire off a few at 30. For my situation I can't imagine a senario where I would be defending myself from someone who is over 30ft away. When I practice I fire at least 100 rounds out of all my guns. In my primary weapons I fire anywhere from 500 to 1000. I would love to practice with the same JHP's I keep the guns loaded with, however I'm not a millionare so that's out of the question. I do shoot at least 5 of them off from each gun at the end of the day.
 
Depends...

Most personal defense gunfights happen up to 7 yards, so 21 feet.
I probably fire 50% of my practice rounds at this distance. I also practice a lot of double taps at the same range.

I also do not neglect the 30-50 foot range, but don't spend a ton of time there.

Once again, it depends on what you are training for.
 
I shoot at 25 yards. If I can hit at 25 yards, then I know I can hit at 25 feet, or 25 inches. The converse is not necessarily true. If you have a reasonable quality handgun and practice reasonably frequently, there's no reason you shouldn't be able to put a quick double-tap into the center mass of a silhouette target at 25 yards.
 
Lost state's CWP laws say something like the BG must have opportunity, intent, and ability.

It's the last that come into play. If someone is threatening to kill you with a knife from 50 feet away from you and isn't moving toward you, you can't shoot him. He doesn't have the ability to kill you with a knife from that distance.

As someone else said, most gunfights occur at very close range. I practice to shoot accurately and quickly at those ranges. 5 yards, 10 yards, and maybe once a month, 20 yards.
 
I shoot all my carry weapons at 7 yards. It's the longest distance I'd fire inside my house, or most houses for that matter.
 
Currently, I shoot at 25 feet. But as soon as I can shoot well at that distance, I will increase the distance. I agree with what csmsss said:
If I can hit at 25 yards, then I know I can hit at 25 feet, or 25 inches. The converse is not necessarily true.
Click to expand...
I have a ways to go, but I'm working on it a bit every week :)
 
First, if a threat is over 50 yards away, I back away, or hunker down. I don't plan on any shooting at that range.

However, I practice regularly with:

9mm at 10 yards
.357 magnum at 10, 25 yards
.44 magnum at 10, 25 yards.

I shoot the revolvers at 25 yards simply because I sometimes carry one, or the other. I have found that my efforts to get good grouping at 25 yards helps my shot placement at 10 yards.

I have a Desert Eagle in .357/.44 magnum and I will practice it out at 75 - 100 yards, but then it is practiice for coyote shooting.
 
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I shoot my Colt 1911 at 50 yards pretty much every time I go shooting. Not really as a practical exercise, it's just very satisfying to shoot good groups at that distance with a handgun.

It's good for spotting problems in shooting technique also.
 
Most of my pistol shooting is from 7-25 yards, but I like to shoot at 100 + yards just for fun. Even with my 642 pocket pistol. You shoot at 100 yards with a 2 inch pistol, you may not hit much but it helps your 7 yard shooting.

You'd be supprised with a little practice how you could get to where you could discourage bad behavier at 100 yards.
 
I shoot at 7 to 10 yards. 7 yards is about as far out as I can have groups in COM firing rapidly (2-3 rounds/sec). Sometimes I'll shoot at up to 20 yards, but only 1 mag or so and just for fun.
Most of my practice is kind of point shooting where I dont really get a sight picture, but try to just feel where the gun is going to shoot.
I think this is more useful than deliberately aimed slow fire.
Realistically, any self defense shooting (that I could find myself in) is more likely than not going to be at point blank range. For this range, marksmanship won't really be an issue, so practicing drawing from a holster is probably more important than actually practicing at a shooting range.
I suppose it's possible I could be in a situation where there is an active shooter and I would have to shoot 20+ yards, so I guess practicing at longer ranges doesn't hurt.

Of course, in Pakistan it may be a little different situation, so it probably is wise to practice hitting targets as far as you can.
 
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One type of target practice that I've seen alot in online training videos that I have not done yet is moving and shooting at the same time: moving straight towards or straight away, towards at a 45 degree angle, away at an angle, straight across with two shots per target keeping the same distance, changing mags while moving, etc. This seems like it would be the most 'real world' type of training. How many bad guys are gonna stand there at the same distance and take your bullets while you take aim and gently sqeeze them off like you do at the range?
 
I would love to practice what cchardwick described or something similar, unfortunately the only decent range I go to is indoors and due to safety reasons they would never let me do that. I can't blame them, but I do know that throws in a a whole lot of new variables that could very well be a reality in a S/HD situation.
 
I mainly shoot at about 20-25 feet with my 9mm and .38/357. I will take it out further with the MKIII .22 though. 20 feet is practical in the sense that if I'm in my living room and someone comes through my front door, I am at most 20 feet away.
 
I'm not good at much distance. However, I do shoot some at more distance than seems reasonable. My reason is...if I'm being shot at...I plan to return fire. If the BG is 100 yards away, I still need to shoot back. Even if it only gives me a chance to run for better cover/escape route I want to be in the ball park of his position!You know...minute of truck will do! :D

Mark.
 
I practice with my 9mm at 45 feet just about every time. I wouldn't mind shooting tighter groups at smaller distances but the lights at my local range don't really shine until 45' out.
 
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