Staying proficient with a handgun...

I took a break from shooting for more than 10 years once due to job, family, and moving around. When I went back to the range, I found I lost very little in ways of marksmanship skills. I guess once you master the fundamentals, it never leaves you.

Can't say the same for my eye sight though. Am due for glasses at my age.
 
I live on a farm in KY and have the ability to shoot out to 300 yds from my covered back porch. That said, I shoot nearly every day; sometimes as few as 6 rounds from a revolver, or as much as a cpl boxes from one of my autos. It keeps me sharp, but I'll readily admit, as I've aged, my eyes just aren't what they were when I was in m 20's...but my trigger control & uniformity of grip are as good or better than they ever were...I'm over 70 now...HTH's Rod
 
I use to shoot every other weekend and I was pretty proficient. Now, because of work and other life commitments, I'm lucky if I have the time to go once every month or two. Because of the lack of regular practice, now when I shoot I've lost much of my accuracy. Hopefully I will get it back when I'm able to get back to some more frequent and regular practice.
 
Funny as I was just thinking of this today. Today was the 1st time I've shot in a couple months because of medical issues. Lost a lot of strength over the past 6 months because of it. I found that this time I was much more unsteady while trying to hold the target which I'm certain is a result of the inactivity I've had.

Still had fun and now know I need to work on strength training and more shooting.
 
Once upon a time, I shot A LOT. I mean a whole lot. When 100 round WWB 9mm was 11 bucks a box I would go through 2 or more per week. And probably about a box of 45 per week. Ok, I know there are some here who shoot more than 300 rounds a week... but that's neither here nor there. To me I shot a good bit back in those good ole' days.

I have not had the ability to shoot that frequently in a very long time now. My family takes most of my time and money now. I wouldn't have it any other way, but I do still enjoy sport shooting. I maybe shoot 200 rounds per month, in a good year, as opposed to more than that per week. I have found that my proficiency is not what it was, however I still shoot better than 95% of other folks at a public range and was fairly competitive in the last IDPA style match I shot in.

All of this to say... If you have put a good bit of time into being proficient then you likely can get away with going to the range once a month, or six weeks. If you have not gotten to that level, you will probably need more range time to maintain proficiency. Also proficiency is subjective. I'm angry with myself if I start dropping rounds outside the 9 ring on a B27 at 25 yards (rapid fire). Some people are quite satisfied doing the same at 7 yards. Some who are better than I would be displeased to drop rounds out of the x ring at 25 yards. It just depends on what level is good enough for you.
 
Just shooting is not enough. If you want to stay or get good with a handgun you have to shoot well and often. That means fewer rounds on each trip to the range but more trips to the range. 10 to 20 rounds is enough if you do it three or more times a week. When I was competing I fired 10 shots each day at 50 yards working on getting the accuracy in place. Consciously working on breathing, sight picture, target acquisition, trigger pull and follow through.
I would then go home and dry fire while working on the same things. I will tell you that dry firing did more to help my accuracy than the shooting did. The shooting just improved my confidence.
 
Practice does not make perfect, but it does make better when used regularly! Don't multi-blast your paper target because you think it is attacking you (unless you are rich and can afford the next box of stay bullets! Ha!). Go to the range and take your time regularly to become proficient when you need to protect your life and those innocent bystanders around you.
 
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And better practice makes better results.
Take your time at the range. Fire 10 rounds focusing on perfect results - breathing, sight alignment, target acquisition, trigger control, and follow through. Do that over in your mind a couple of times between shots. Do the same thing at home with your EMPTY gun. If you can't shoot small groups at 25 yards shoot at closer ranges. After developing a flinch early in my work with the 357 I had to start over. I practiced more dry fire at home working on a smooth trigger pull. Balancing a dime on my front sight while pulling double action helped a lot in getting rid of my flinch. Shooting at a 1" dot at ten feet helped to get small groups. When I put them through one small hole I moved the target out about 3 feet and fired again. I slowly worked my way out to 50 yards and then I would shoot at various distances out to 100 yards. When I found out that I was not just wasting bullets at 100 yards I started shooting hunter's pistol silhouette. I went through a lot of ammo but set the club record (at that time) of two back to back 40/40 targets down. You can do anything you put your mind to! It does take good practice and time but you can do it.
 
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