Practice frequency?


R

robfrommaine

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I've been around firearms most of my life, but mostly rifles & shotguns. I've recently purchased a Ruger SR9c for home and carry, and have a Ruger Mark III Target for indoor range and I hope winter Postal League competition.

What do instructors here recommend for practice? I'm thinking at least once a month, but being new and needing to feel more confident as far as carrying open/concealed, I should get more range time to achieve muscle memory and proficiency.

My club's indoor range is .22 full lead only, so the 9 will be always be at the outdoor range across the road.

The only personalized instruction I've had has been at the NRA pistol class I took for my CCW. I qualified to shoot indoors fairly easily, putting 12 of 12 rounds on the target at 50 feet w/ the Mark III pretty much right out of the box. It wasn't a tight group or anything, but it was reasonable for the first try.

I'm thinking about taking the NRA sponsored defense courses, but have to find them in my part of Maine.

What do police folk do as far as range time? I imagine when they're at the academy it's pretty intensive, but once they are in the routine of being a cop, how often do they practice? Thanks for any input you gentlemen care to offer.
 

I try to go once per month. I am very proficient with the two handguns I own so I mostly go just to have fun shooting at targets. One thing I will say is that there are two types of practice. One is at the range where you practice your breathing techniques and trigger squeeze to stay on target hitting a paper target in a controlled environment. At home you should be practicing with how to clear your weapon from concealed carry and hitting a target quickly. In other words, in a real violent encounter you may not have the time to get into the proper stance and recreate the controlled environment you are used to at the indoor range. One of the instructors I had told me to buy a cheap laser pointer and rubber band it to the barrel of the weapon (if you can not afford the real thing) and make sure the weapon is not loaded. Then practice clearing the holster and pointing the weapon at an object such as a pillow on the couch. Practice it until you can hit the target with the laser beam successfully.
 
As a LEO I practice once a week but sometimes due to schedules I do every other week. I practice as much as possible.

The frequency on how often you practice is up to you . It all depends on your experience and your confidence with your firearm . I always say practice because you are never good. You can always get better.
 
Lately I've been trying to get to the range every couple of weeks. But then, I recently updated my firearms collection, and have been getting more serious about my defensive shooting skills.

The range I go to is very informal and private, part of a little out-of-the-way gun shop. I usually can get it to myself on Saturday mornings, so I can do proper isoceles stance / target shooting at 25 to 50 feet. Or I can get up close and personal to the target for defensive draw-and-fire drills.

PS - if you have a range where you can do the close up drills, BE SURE to wear proper safety gear. Which you should do anyway. But I'm emphasizing it because I got a nice little shrapnel cut about an inch above my right eye last time. Safety glasses kept it from being much worse...but a baseball cap might have been a good idea too.

Anyway - happy shooting, and stay safe.
 
Thanks for the sound advice, gents. I will practice quick draw accuracy drills at home w/ dry fire (I have some snap caps for the SR9c). I bought a Mitch Rosen leather holster for o.c. It need a little breaking in because it is super snug - hard to draw.

There was a shrapnel issue at my indoor range before I joined. Apparently some irresponsible types were in there shooting jacketed high velocity stuff and pitted the back stop and then other lead rounds started hitting the pits and coming back. Like you, Philip, one guy sustained a facial cut. They had to tear it all apart and install a new back stop, computerized i.d. keyless entry, etc, etc. Only lower velocity lead allowed now, but I'll ask about closer range shooting.
 
robfrommaine said:
What do instructors here recommend for practice? I'm thinking at least once a month, but being new and needing to feel more confident as far as carrying open/concealed, I should get more range time to achieve muscle memory and proficiency.

My club's indoor range is .22 full lead only, so the 9 will be always be at the outdoor range across the road.

The only personalized instruction I've had has been at the NRA pistol class I took for my CCW. I qualified to shoot indoors fairly easily, putting 12 of 12 rounds on the target at 50 feet w/ the Mark III pretty much right out of the box. It wasn't a tight group or anything, but it was reasonable for the first try.

I'm thinking about taking the NRA sponsored defense courses, but have to find them in my part of Maine.

What do police folk do as far as range time? I imagine when they're at the academy it's pretty intensive, but once they are in the routine of being a cop, how often do they practice? Thanks for any input you gentlemen care to offer.
Click to expand...

Well, I always tell my students that you should practice with your carry firearm routinely, if your new to carrying and to hand guns, you need to practice a lot, I would say at least once a week NO LESS than once every two weeks. When you have to use your firearm, god forbid you ever do, when fight or flight takes over and your adrenalin starts pumping you would probably not hit your attacker even from 10-15 feet away, which is the average distance when you get attacked or a gun fight breaks out. Have you ever seen the news clips on TV when police officers and bad guys shoot at each other and neither one of them hit each other? Thats why.
I have found that 80% of my concealed weapons students that walk through the door honestly think they do not have to practice and there would be no way in hell they could miss 10-15 FT away. a lot of them also think they can handle themselves with no problem in a situation like that and the justification is normally "because its my life or theirs". Its never that simple, even defending yourself, a lot goes through your head in such a short time. Thats why you need to practice routinely so muscle memory takes over and you kind of automatically do things when the situation calls for it.

If you have any other questions, feel free to contact me.
 
Ideally twice per month. At least once if that's all you can get in. I recommend students fire one snap cap for every live round. That means homeowrk. Put a target on a safe wall and practice the fundamentals (grip, position, sight picture/sight alignment, trigger control, follow through). Focus on smooth & even trigger control. If you have a laser even better. You can observe poor trigger control by the laser point. Do I have to say it???? ---- no live ammo in the room!
 
I don't practice as much as I have in the past. Since I have my own range, I can shoot anything anytime I want. I shoot 22 thru 38/9mm right in my yard and have a 100 yard range with bench just outside the yard gate. As hunting season approaches, I'll be cracking off more rounds but now I just shoot a few a week to keep my trigger finger from itching too much.
 
I'm lucky. I shoot in my yard. I try to practice at least once a week, weather permiting. Been kind of tough with the 100+ degree weather lately.
I have four handguns that I practice with routinly. I break others out occasionally just to cycle and clean them.
When I practice, I will go through 200-300 rounds at a set.
 
boatme98 said:
I'm lucky. I shoot in my yard. I try to practice at least once a week, weather permiting. Been kind of tough with the 100+ degree weather lately.
I have four handguns that I practice with routinly. I break others out occasionally just to cycle and clean them.
When I practice, I will go through 200-300 rounds at a set.
Click to expand...

God I miss being able to practice in my yard, haven't been able to do that since I was in high school. Where I live now I make about a 20 minute drive to an outdoor range that is apart of the Lincon National Forest, it has no range officers so people must watch out for one another at all times. It's usually pretty good with only a few idiots.

Anyway, back on topic. My minimum is once a month, but I like to go every weekend. Although this gets costly, so I usually go every other weekend due to $$ constraints.
 
Obviously, you'll have to practice within your time and money constraints. Remember that you can use cheap ammo for practice, just be sure to clean your gun! Also, check different ranges and clubs in your area - sometimes their prices can vary substantially. Also ask around - sometimes you can find a neighbor, friend, co-worker or even someone that will rent you space that is a LOT cheaper than a standard range. One time, after three phone calls, tracked down a little torn up patch on the edge of a Forestry-owned area that the State permitted the local shooters to use as a makeshift range. A use letter from the State a week later kept everyone else away for three years and it was all free! Keep an eye out - you never know what can happen.
 
Although I am at the range three or four days a week I do not get to shoot much. So we try and follow two practice regimes, monthly live fire with our EDC, normally 200 rounds in a couple of real life scenarios; car-jacking, street muggings, things like that. We do not do normal public range practice anymore as standing stationary shooting at a stationary target does not benefit the skills needed for defensive shooting. Of course if you have no place to shoot, it is what it is. I also suggest to all of our students to join the IDPA and participate monthly.

The second bit of practice is dry fire at least once a week for as long as I can possible stand it, drawing from concealment. This is the one bit of practice I am not sure people really practice enough . . . as an add, when we live fire we use a yaqui slide type of holster since reholstering a IWB can have risks that are not warranted.
 
I've found that for me a minimum of 1 trip a month consisting of about 200 rounds fired is barely enough to keep the rust off. If I want any improvement in my accuracy, I need weekly or bi-weekly trips of at least 200 rounds per trip to see any improvement. That's not counting dry fire practice. That's a daily thing for me anyhow (usually 10 to 20 minutes per day).
 
I'm going again this weekend... that makes three weekends in a row! Ah, life is good :)

Going to do some more drills with my AK, 12ga, and secondary's(M&P 9mm & 1911 .45)
 
practice

I am a novice shooter. I do some practice at home but how important is it to also go to the range for practice as well?
Also, we only have 1 range close by that will allow drawing from the holster. They require you to prove proficiency with the rangemaster in order to do it? I know this is a stupid question but what do most instructors consider proficient?
 
Gabe Suarez recommends daily for up to 30 minutes dry practice when learning something new, then a maintenance level of two or three ten to fifteen minute sessions per week.

Sonny Puzikas recommends the following ratio of training: 10% live fire, 50-60% dry practice, the rest FOF.

My current goal, not always met, is at least fifteen minutes dry per day and shooting at least once, preferably twice, per month.

I would go with a minimum of twice a week, at least 15 minutes, of dry practice and live fire at least once a month, more if you can manage it.
 
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