Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 24

Thread: What are your best range practice tips?

  1. #1
    Member feudist's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
    Location
    Murderham, the Tragic City

    What are your best range practice tips?

    How do you practice at the range? How do you select drills to practice? What are your go to skill builders, diagnostic drills, corrective drills?

    What about targets? Types, Taping, spray glue, scoring?

    How many rounds constitute a good session?

    What are your recording methods? Log books, phone apps, scattered sheets of paper?

    Let's get granular.
    Last edited by feudist; 06-29-2018 at 09:04 PM.

  2. #2
    My practice is generally open to whatever I feel like doing and what guns I brought that day.

    My go to for the last several months has been Dot Torture once or twice every session along with the modified dot torture that uses much smaller circles and only 30 rounds. I also do 3/2/1 walk backs until I miss the one inch square. Going to start incorporating FAST and 25 yard B8 drills in as well along with some others I keep in a folder of drills and targets.

    Rifle work has been very unstructured for me lately as I mess with new guns and LPVOs.

    I use cardboard backers and staple my targets or use Shoot N See’s.

    I’ve gotten out of my groove lately but I was going every other week and doing about 200 pistol and 100 rifle per session on the average. To me thats a good number at my range I can burn two or three hours and not just burning through tons of ammo.

    As far as recording until I started a journal on PF I barely did anything. Now I just drop my thoughts and scores for the day along with photos of targets for a record for me.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  3. #3
    Write down what you did when you get home. Learn from it later.


    Okie John
    “The reliability of the 30-06 on most of the world’s non-dangerous game is so well established as to be beyond intelligent dispute.” Finn Aagaard
    "Don't fuck with it" seems to prevent the vast majority of reported issues." BehindBlueI's

  4. #4
    Site Supporter Lon's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2011
    Location
    Dayton, Ohio
    Good use of 150 rounds:

    FAST x3 (18rds)
    Casino Drill x2 (42rds)
    Dot Torture (50rds)

    Leaves you 40 rds for whatever strikes your fancy: drawing to 1st shot, SHO/WHO, long distance precision, 1 reload 1, etc.
    Formerly known as xpd54.
    The opinions expressed in this post are my own and do not reflect the opinions or policies of my employer.
    www.gunsnobbery.wordpress.com

  5. #5
    My average range session is approximately 200 rounds of pistol. If I’m at a location that allows movement, I start every session with a cold Defoor Proformance Pistol Test 1. I think it’s very important to measure on-demand, cold performance because it’s highly unlikely your defensive encounter will take place on your way home from a range session. I chose the Defoor Pistol Test 1 because it measures a lot of the basic skills with some decent time pressure: 25y accuracy after a short sprint, your single shot draw time, a Bill Drill from concealment (recoil control, sight tracking, trigger control) and two shots to a low percentage target under a time standard.

    Next, I shoot a few B8 bulls at 25y. I normally shoot two slow fire and one using the Defoor standard of 10 rounds in 20s from concealment. That’s a solid test of your 25y ability. Just because you can shoot 85-90+ slow fire with no pressure, doesn’t mean you can maintain that standard when you add the pressure of a time limit.

    Then, I like to run through whatever the DOTW is. Depending on the round count, I’ll run it a few times. I also try to shoot a modified LAPD D Platoon qual almost every range session. It tests a lot of the basics using challenging but realistic time standards.

    Any remaining rounds are used to either run numerous strings of some kind of basic drill that tests a fundamental or two (2 rounds to a 3x5 card, Bill Drills, F2S, The Test), or something dynamic and fun that gets the heart rate up like Blaze X or something with target transitions if I have multiple targets available.

    Every couple of weeks I like to run some iterations of the 5y Roundup and every few months I like to do a Dot Torture. I don’t like running DT often because it uses so much ammo to test slow fire trigger control.

    I normally log my practice in a notebook.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    My posts only represent my personal opinion and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or official policies of any employer, past or present. Obvious spelling errors are likely the result of an iPhone keyboard.

  6. #6
    Chasing the Horizon RJ's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2014

    What are your best range practice tips?

    I think first about what I want to achieve. Skill, just fun, long distance work, whatever.

    Then I make a Range Plan in a Note on my phone. I edit this over several days.

    I check my paper target file and reprint any I am low on.

    I look over at DotW and see if there is one I can do.

    A few days ahead I prep my range bag and load my magazines, at least 10 or so (I’m not sure how many I have lol).

    I typically shoot at least Find Your Level, The Test, and one group of 10 at 25 yards. These are the three metrics I track in my Shooting Log. If I’m shooting my EDC I remove my carry mag and shoot off the chambered hollow point under a range mag.

    I shoot 80-120 rounds. More and I have shoulder issues. I try but usually forget to shoot one handed. I refer to the Note on my phone frequently.

    I take photos of almost all the targets for further assessment.

    I also normally turn off my Sordins and double plug. My square range is frequented by newcomers and there is a fair amount of chit chat I would rather not hear. I’m generally pretty focused. It’s also why I normally go sans partner.

    When I’m done, if it’s my carry gun, I load it up with a Barney mag then reinsert my carry mag, then holster up.

    At home, I do a self-critique, and post my thoughts including what to do better in my Log.

    I try and get to the square range once a month.

    I aspire to shoot a USPSA match once a month also, but with work etc. it’s hard. I’m just learning, as a Senior U shooter in Production, it’s a lot of fun.
    Last edited by RJ; 06-30-2018 at 07:30 AM.

  7. #7
    Site Supporter miller_man's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
    Location
    Nashville
    Been mostly just working on group shooting for last few months in live fire but back when I was shooting different things it was always these -

    2" dots @ 5yd - 5 freestyle, 5 SH, 5 WH
    FAST X3
    THE TEST


    And then for awhile it was a shorter version of gabe white standards - just shooting each drill one time. Or just working on whatever I wanted or needed.

    I don't even remember what its like to go the range with pistols "for fun".
    The stupidity of some people never ceases to amaze me.

    Humbly improving with CZ's.

  8. #8
    Member olstyn's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2014
    Location
    Minnesota
    Quote Originally Posted by Rich_Jenkins View Post
    I aspire to shoot a USPSA match once a month also, but with work etc. it’s hard. I’m just learning, as a Senior U shooter in Production, it’s a lot of fun.
    I think a lot depends on location, too. Here in the Twin Cities area of MN, if I was willing to drive a bit farther than I usually do, had a bigger ammo & gas budget, was willing to never see my wife, etc, I could theoretically shoot a short 4-5 stage match every weekday afternoon/evening but Friday from spring through fall (for some reason, nobody around here hosts matches on Fridays), and usually it would be possible to shoot a slightly larger match every Saturday and/or Sunday as well. As it is, I shoot a match every Thursday that it's not raining, because the two ranges that host matches on Thursday evenings are the ones that are closest to home, and occasionally a weekend match as well, because that's what fits my schedule. I gather people in many areas don't have the luxury of that many matches to choose from - what's the story in FL?

  9. #9
    Chasing the Horizon RJ's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2014

    What are your best range practice tips?

    Quote Originally Posted by olstyn View Post

    I gather people in many areas don't have the luxury of that many matches to choose from - what's the story in FL?
    I'm in the Greater Tampa area, so not sure of the rest of the state. Here I usually shoot at Wyoming Antelope Club as a non-member. It has several outdoor ranges and frequent action pistol matches; for example USPSA four stagers Tuesdays and Fridays, and a 7 stage match monthly.

    http://www.wacshooting.com/

    Winter is busier than summer; it's like eleventy billion percent humidity here at the moment. Shooting even an evening match is like being inside a steam oven. It is just part of living here summers, but the winter months are relatively pleasant.
    Last edited by RJ; 06-30-2018 at 08:05 AM.

  10. #10
    Member olstyn's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2014
    Location
    Minnesota
    Quote Originally Posted by Rich_Jenkins View Post
    Shooting even an evening match is like being inside a steam oven. It is just part of living here summers, but the winter months are relatively pleasant.
    Yeah, it's hot and humid enough in MN in the summer; FL is not where I want to be during that part of the year. My in-laws moved down there a few years ago. My FIL, while perhaps not the most competitive (he tends to move and shoot at a pace I would describe as a "mosey" ), is an avid SASS shooter, and he basically quits for the summer because it's too hot. I give him crap about it, but to be honest, I don't blame him - he's in it almost purely for the enjoyment of it, and at some combination of temperature and humidity, it ceases to be fun.

User Tag List

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •