Goals

[breakingtime91]

So every few months I reflect on my work out program, what goals I set, and if I met them or not. I realized I had not done that with pistol or carbine and am looking to change that.
Background: I am a former marine corps infantryman so I have a base to build off of. Since I have been out I have progressed but not as much as I wished at this point. While I know I should seek out more training from a reputable instructor, finances and time do not allow that right now (I am a college student). With that stated I am going to state the goals I want to meet and if you guys and gals could give me some drills and pointers on how to reach that I would appreciate it.

Pistol: This is something I really enjoy training but I am not seeing the gains that I want. After the winter (no indoor range where I live and its -14 out) I would like to be shooting 200 rounds every three weeks. The two goals I have already set up for myself is to be able to pass Kyle Defoor's pistol tests and earn a respectable time on the FAST. On top of those two I would like to improve my shooting at 25 which as of right now is inconsistent.

Carbine: I recently made the switch back to the Ar-15 from the Ak. I am using a colt 6720 and it is set up almost exactly like the carbine I used on my two deployments besides the optic which is an aimpoint h1. Honestly I am at a loss at what I should be trying to achieve here. I have the means to shoot from 0-200 if I want but I am unsure if distance shooting really equates into my civilian life. Any ideas would be appreciated. Round count would probably be about 100 rounds a month as 5.56 is pretty pricey for me right now.

Thanks for looking.

[gringop]

It seems like you already have some goals established and a good idea of of a possible training budget/round count. The unknown in the equation is "how long until you meet those goals".

I would start off with these steps.
1: Make sure you have a training notebook and keep track of what you are doing. Plan out the practice sessions, record the results of your testing, write it all down. No farting around plinking, make every shot expended a learning experience.
2: Use the info to adjust your goals and the timing of your goals. If you feel like you are not making progress set a lower intermediate goal. Plan your training so that you are making progress no matter how small and celebrate your successes. You are not just training your hands and eyes, you are training your brain and ego to know that you are a better shooter.
3: No one improves much without dryfire. Plan it just like the live fire. Look at Steve Anderson's or Ben Stoger's dry fire books and do the drills.
4: Work on the stuff you suck at. Fumbling reloads? Practice the hell out of em. Missing 25 yard shots? Spend more time on that. Use your tests to find out what you are weak on at that time and plan to practice those weak areas.

Gringop