Self defense practice distances???

To make the drills more interesting sometimes,
I'll put the targets up with the blank side out and use that for a
COM aiming point. Works at 25 yards as well as 25 feet.
Best,
Rob
 
I'm really new to shooting, only 150 rounds ago I learned how to control recoil. I went from just pointing and shooting to trying to control that B*#*% and get the sights back on target pretty fast.

At 21' I can shoot about a 5 inch group pretty fast( with my glock 22 .40 cal), how tight do ya think it should be before moving back?

And while I can control the gun during recoil I think I can save a lot of time if I could line the sights up a lot faster. I will practice with the .22 for now but sometime in the future I might get a 40-9 conversion so I can practice with a little more recoil.
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Serious answer and I can hear the screams of anguish now is forget the SD drills for right now and practice marksmanship.

Buy your choice of 22 ammo by the case and a set of snap caps for your guns. Dry fire drills at home and slow fire at the range. When you can keep 8 or 9 shots out of 10 in the black at a slow fire target and I don't care if its 50' or 50 yards you are ready for some fun shooting namely time and rapid fire.

Get a timer to help time you or shoot with a friend and time each other. You aren't trying to learn to shoot fast but to get all of your shots on target in a short period of time. Unlike what most will insist it is not the first shot that wins a gun fight but the first good shot. Spend at least part of your time during or at the end of your session with the weak hand/strong hand drills.

When you are shooting better than 80% at a standard bullseye target at a fixed range and you transition back to a silhouette target without a set aiming point there is a brief period of adjustment but it won't take long. Do not make the rookie mistake of chasing your bullet holes. That means you shoot, the bullet landed in a good spot and you shoot at the bullet hole. Do NOT do that. If your sights are off an inch at that range you are good, if you start chasing your bullet holes your next shot will be an inch from that or 2" from your original aiming point.

Keep your focus on your sight and your sight on one part of the target and shoot till your gun is empty. You are shooting for group not bulls eyes. If you find you need to change your aiming point you can do that next time around. If you need to change your sights do it the next time around. Right now you are only shooting for group.

Don't worry about flyers, keep practicing the fundamentals and they will diminish. Do not worry about your group size, it will shrink as you get better. Do not get all down on yourself because not every shot goes where you want it to. I have been practicing and competing for nearly 50 years and I didn't get started till I was in my middle 20's. I still don't have all my shots go where I want them to. Don't worry about that one, don't worry about the next one. Just relax, have fun and concentrate on your frontsight and trigger pull.

It takes a lot of gun powder and even more trigger time to make a shooter, do not think you can do it over night, that leads to frustration and irritation and depression and giving up. Be patient, keep grinning, enjoy the fun part of it and the serious part will happen a lot faster. Get in to big of a hurry and it won't happen at all.

Dos Centavos from a dinosaur who made every rookie mistake there was to make because I was a hard headed Bohunk who didn't listen to his coach for 18 months. How was I supposed to know he was an Olympic caliber shooter, he never talked about it.
 
For practicing stuff not allowed at public ranges, don't forget about airguns.
You can do that at home in any manner you like.
Along with dryfiring your real gun, getting the feed back of actual holes in targets is mighty useful practice.
Try to find one that mimics your real guns as much as possible.
Not difficult these days with the very authentic models of airsoft and pellet pistols.
 
For practicing stuff not allowed at public ranges, don't forget about airguns.
You can do that at home in any manner you like.
Along with dryfiring your real gun, getting the feed back of actual holes in targets is mighty useful practice.
Try to find one that mimics your real guns as much as possible.
Not difficult these days with the very authentic models of airsoft and pellet pistols.
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Funny you should mention it cause I was thinking about picking up a co2 powered BB handgun, I tried to use my brothers but its broken.

When you can keep 8 or 9 shots out of 10 in the black at a slow fire target and I don't care if its 50' or 50 yards you are ready for some fun shooting namely time and rapid fire.
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How big is this black area? I make my own targets out of loose lief paper, I trace a quarter with a sharpie then color it in.
 
I practice with my g21sf45acp at atleast 7 yards and work my way out as far as i can so that i can practice the most i can. how far is too far? ive seen more than plenty of shoots at 100 yards yet noone practices that far or at least 50 yards, gee i shot a five seven once that didnt have an issue ringing at 100... i find the 45 more practical for ccw but dont limit yourself is all iam trying to say, does competition guys are good because they try and are not affraid to try new things hence the "latest in training" thats how we get better so go out there and see how far you can shoot, its always a good excuse to shoot some ammo and have a little fun while experimenting.:cool:
 
How big is this black area? I make my own targets out of loose lief paper, I trace a quarter with a sharpie then color it in.
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25' - 1 1/2"

50' - 3"

25 yds - 5"

50 yds - 8"

When you can do these targets with slow fire you will find your time and rapid fire get a lot easier.
 
If you credit Jeff Cooper as an authority, then you might follow his advice on "Skill Maintenance Exercises".

In part, his course of fire is mainly at the 3 yards (1 head shot from holster in 1.5 seconds), 7 yards (1 head shot from holster in 2 seconds) and 10 yards (2 shots to COM from holster in 2 seconds) distances (standing). At 15 yards you practice kneeling and at 25 yards you practice prone. [Page 143, "The Modern Technique of the Pistol" by Morrison]

Of course, his concept of "The Modern Technique of the Pistol" includes balancing Power, Speed and Accuracy. You could acquire a shot timer and work on balancing speed and accuracy.

You must place your shots (generally aimed pairs) in a vital area (8" center of mass) or you can not stop a threat. However, the shooter who can place those accurate shots faster is in a better position to prevail over the shooter who is slower to place accurate shots. A shot timer is critical to get an objective measure of how you are doing in the speed department.
 
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In a way I'm with Cooper.
I don't count group sze , ever.
I count disabling hits or kill shots.

Anything center mass is good.

Distance from 1 foot to 12 yards.

AFS
 
My eyes are TOAST.:rolleyes:

I don't practice any further then fifteen yards and most of the time it's seven to ten yards with some targets running towards me on the electric switch (indoor range)really close too.

If you can group well at 25 yards you're just a step ahead.
 
Accuracy drill @ 25 yards

I took a handgun class from Louis Awerbuck back in 2006.

One drill he suggested was the following:

Target at 25 yards from the shooter. All shots begin from the holster. At the signal, draw and fire one round. When beginning on this drill, the shooter can begin from ready and with longer time limits, but the eventual goal is one center hit at 25 yards from the holster in 2-1/2 seconds.

The target is an 8 inch circle (the A zone on an IDPA target is an 8 inch circle)

I've done this drill on IPSC and IDPA targets, on 8 inch paper plates and on 8-1/2 x 11 sheets of blank paper.

I cannot routinely do this drill in 2-1/2 seconds! I usually set the par time on my timer to 5 seconds and I'm usually just under that.

I haven't shot the drill in a while, and I don't have my log book handy to check. Usually I do this drill 25 times and record how many center hits I've achieved and what time limit I was using.
 
It depends on the gun. My S&W M36 and Walther PP are practiced with a 15 and 30 yards, all of my other semi-autos are 15, 30, and 50 yards, and my S&W Models 28, 66, and 629 are 15, 30, 50, and 100 yards. Occasionally, just for kicks and giggles, I'll take the 629 to the 200 yard range but I'm not particularly serious about it. I don't practice any closer than 15 yards because that's the shortest distance available at the range I frequent and mid-range shooting is prohibited.

I know full well that 30 yards is probably stretching what's realistic for self-defense, but I figure that it can't hurt anything to have the ability to make a longer shot even if I never have to.
 
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