When you go to the range, how much is recreation, how much is training?

I

ISC

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I'm just curious. What is the breakdown for your range time for actual practical training vs casual recreation? What are some examples of each?

I made a post recently about some of the techniques I use to practice stressed shooting. I also practice tactical reloads,shooting from cover, weak hand shooting, shooting from the prone, kneeling, sitting, and standing positions,engaging multiple targets, double taps, and sometimes shooting and moving. That last one requires an empty range.

For purely recreational plinking one of the things I like to do is to shoot golfballs. I'll screw in a sheetrock screw and tie it to a piece of 550 cord which I tie to a tent stake or the bottom of a target stand. It gives you a reactive target without littering the range with debris.

What are some of the other methods you use to train?
 
A range is practice not training. Yes you get benefits from shooting at the range but its not real training!
 
Range time is fun time, particularly if the results are good. To make sure that I am satisfied with myself, I have a range diary and some little parcours laid out.

Even if it can be considered training, it's recreation since I enjoy it way too much!
 
For the most part, I shoot at an indoor range, in which case it's more for training than recreation. It's just poking holes in paper.

Now then, when I get to my buddy's farm, that's another story. We set up tin cans, old fruit, etc. and shoot just for fun.
 
Sadly, my shooting now is almost all recreation. And more and more, I'm relying on .22LR ammo for this plinking.

I'm reloading less, and I've almost given up casting. Free time is so sparse now that when I have a free day I just go out and play.

If a buddy wants to shoot, it's usually at the last minute, and I grab some .22's or a Country Crock tub of whatever reloads fall to hand.

Then we chase beer cans for the afternoon.
 
I find going to the regular range very constraining for anything other than bullseye shooting cause I'm always being told to "slow down" :mad: ..it is frustrating not being able to shoot as fast as I can despite the fact that it is absolutely clear that all of my shots are in the center mass/head area..frustrating I tell you! :)
 
checking the sights and scopes 25%
plinking 20%
testing ammo 25%
clay targets 20%
quickshots ( walking towards target straight on or from left or from right) bring shotgun up fast to simulate move and shoot. i may kneel or stand. 10%

open range for the last. i thought i was all alone once then another guy showed up right when i was yelled HALT HALT DROP IT and fast fired 2 rounds. behind me i heard someone yell HEY WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON. YOU ALLRIGHT. i told him i was half left. :rolleyes:
 
Most of my range time is spent trying to match out a friend. Pick a spot on the paper and try to get good groups. Two-shot and three-shot practice is also a good skill to have from what I have been told. If we are out at the farm, it's all about just getting a "hit," whether it's a beer can or one of our kid's stuffed animals. (The old ratty ones, I know what everyone is thinking!). The important part is that even if it is "training," it should still be fun.
 
I practice at the range and it's mostly fun. Training is something I do under the guidance of a qualified instructor.
 
wow ATW, Don't you have any skills that you practice on your own to maintain proficiency?

To deny that practicing previously acquired skills has training value is obtuse.
 
For me, it is practice and training, and fun. As I shoot more, I do practice more "isssues" such as tactical reloads, or short magazines, etc.

Since it is an indoor range, I can't practice approaching the target, or other real "movement" based exercises. But at the same time, the only time I suspect I will be pulling a weapon will be because some jerk has decided to break into my house. Don't need to practice a whole lot of movement to pop someone coming up the stairs in my house, who is dumb enough to not stop with a gun in his face.

I typically set my .22 revolver (SA), P220 SAO, and Makarov .380 on the table. I then load them and pick one at random. Then I switch to one of the other ones, etc. I think the changing of gun/caliber helps me pay attention to what I am doing. I typically fire at targets at the 7 line since that's where I suspect most incidents will occur (big room). Anything further away, I'd hope to be able to find cover/escape. I do shoot a couple of rounds at the 3 line most sessions too, but it isn't my main concentration.

Can definately tell the difference between the .22, .380, and .45 between the 3 line and 7 line. At the 3 line, they all aim right on bullseye to hit it. At the 7 line, the .22 is dead on. The .380 and .45 have enough drop to have to aim higher to hit bullseye.

I also occasionally bring the Rem 870 Express Magnum 12 ga to the range as well. Though I had it a hair too much on the bone last time, and the 3" magnum loads kicked my rear (still have the bruises days later). The 2 3/4 rounds didn't bother me a bit for reference.

HTH
Jason
 
I figure I shot and killed all the bad guys that I'm ever going to in this lifetime back when I was younger. So these days, I just go to the range to shoot and plink for relaxation and recreation.

Jeff
 
wow ATW, Don't you have any skills that you practice on your own to maintain proficiency?
Click to expand...

Uh... didn't you read the first five words I wrote?

Practicing is what I do inbetween training.
 
Practicing is what I do inbetween training.
Click to expand...

But do you first do a hundred pushups, then turn five evasive, dodgeball avoidance somersaults while simultaneously executing a tactical-fast-draw-half-reload-with-a-full-twist (degree of difficulty, 3.1) after hanging like a vampire bat from the target pulley cables for a full thirty-minutes before practicing those things an instructor or trainer taught you?

Don't cheat yourself, man . . .

Jeff
 
But do you first do a hundred pushups, then turn five evasive, dodgeball avoidance somersaults while simultaneously executing a tactical-fast-draw-half-reload-with-a-full-twist (degree of difficulty, 3.1) after hanging like a vampire bat from the target pulley cables for a full thirty-minutes before practicing those things an instructor or trainer taught you?

Don't cheat yourself, man . . .

Jeff
Click to expand...

LOL... okay, sorry I didn't get that one at first
 
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