How often do you shoot?

used to do alot... but the old gang has faded...

I used to go once a week... we used the excuse of CMP practice... every week we decided what to shoot next week... it was great... followed by a trip to the local pizza joint... but the old gang of 8 has not survived thru time... our RO got a different job and could not keep the "bring your gun to work day Thursday schedule going..."I miss BYGTWD..." It lasted for well over a decade... but 2 of the old guard passed away the same week... and one moved to Colorado later that same summer... took the wind out of the sails... that was 3 years ago... and now I have been going thru Chemo, radiation and surgeries... CANCER SUCKS... I will be done with Chemo labor day weekend... then get my insides reattached in late October... but will not get my sub-dermal port removed for quite a while... so no rifle or shotgun for about a year... pistol only... hopefully in late October...
 
Sweaty Wimp

That'd be me.
July and August at the Wyoming Antelope Club just isn't happening. All those cooler months I'm on the line two or three times a month.
While I'd rather sweat than shiver there is a limit.
 
Two or three Times a month at an outdoor covered range and I usually stay for two timed sessions run by range officers; half hour each one so roughly an hour of actual shooting time. I have an annual membership and can go as often as I want and there is no time limit.
The only thing I don't like is that pistol side targets can only be set at 11.yds. 25 and 50 yds. I wish there was a 7 yd. target.
 
I used to go only a few times per year until I got into reloading two years ago. Now I'm always swimming in a sea of ammo. At one point I was burning about 1000-1200 rounds a month shooting ever weekend. These days I'm down to once a month due to other obligations.

Reloading will put a massive spike in range frequency and volume you fire while there. As a result I became a much better shooter.
 
Range time

I belong to a gun club that is 6 miles from my house. In door range is open 24/7 (key card to get in) and nice outdoor range is open 15 minutes after sunrise to 15 minutes after sunset.
It's a great facility (3 year waitlist) . Because it's close , I shoot about one a week. Usually bring 300 to 400 rounds per trip (all 9mm), less if I am shooting my revolvers and then I will bring couple hundred rounds of .38 or .22 magnums.
About 5 years ago the surrounding neighbors tried to shut us down. We went all the way to trial and won.
 
At least once a month, more likely two or three times a month.
 
When you go to the range will you concentrate on just 1 or 2 guns, or will you take as many as 3 or more?

The reason I ask is because I was told to only concentrate on 1 or 2 guns at a time to learn them well. I usually take 5 or more at a time.
Is this bad? I usually take my 19-3 4", 629-6 5", a Glock or two and a Ruger Blackhawk (I have several). I will also take a few rifles as well. Am I spreading myself too thin?

My SIL will usually go with me or my wife. She will spend her time shooting her CCW which is a Ruger LCR .38.
 
I just did! Ha. What was the question?

Btw. Heard the comments about dry firings. My take: dry firing is valuable with practice caps. You cannot achieve greatness without practice. Think of dry firing as practice and actual firing as the "fruits of your labor". Dry firing can tell you where you're pulling and why. If you concentrate on the front sight. When you fire, you should see the front sight more than the rears, focus on target; the mind will align the rears, see that target and you should be spot on. Hard to explain.
 
For the past three years or so I have been shooting on average of three days a week, mostly black powder muzzleloading rifles. I didn't spend alot of time shooting any revolvers or semi-auto pistols except about once a month. About a year ago I started shooting revolvers about once a week, usually on Monday which has been Musket Monday for years, muskets in the morning, revolvers afterward. A little while ago I go bit by the high end .22 target rifle bug and have been spending Mondays in morning while the air is calm shooting tiny groups at 100yds, then blasting away with .44 and .45AR revolvers afterwards. The other two days I shoot is dedicated to working my offhand shooting with blackpowder rifle and my smoothbore gun. I belong to a great rifle club that has been in existence since 1925, its become my home away from home. Look us up on facebook Spokane Rifle Club.
 
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I shoot outdoors in the Las Vegas desert, once a week, except during July & August.
Desert3.jpg
 
I don't really quantify my shooting by how many times I get to the range but by how many rounds I shoot. For pistol, I limit myself to 800-1000 rounds/month. That fits in my reloading budget. Rifle, much, much less as I don't reload any rifle...yet. That being said, I normally get out once or twice a week. Sometimes more in the summer when I throw my blackpowder guns into the mix.
 
Allen 1 said:
Now that its summer time here in Florida with 100+ heat index, I only go to the range maybe twice a month. I go early in the morning for a couple hours.

I do all my reloading in the cooler months when its bearable in my garage. Its actually quite nice those months when the temps are in the 60's and 70's.

In the cooler months I get to the range once a week. How often do you get out?
Click to expand...

our weather is almost always good for shooting. As for me, I am on a budget as I am retired and living on social security. Most months I shoot twice a month. I have not shot in July due to surgery on my hand. Looking forward to getting on the range on Thursday.
 
I have been good about going shooting 2-3 times a month, which is my goal. I am lucky and live relatively close to an indoor range where I now have a membership. Now that my SD9VE is going to the smith at the end of the month for some upgrades, I'm going to have to man up and continue practicing with the SD40VE. Makes handling a M&P9 Shield feel like shooting a .22 afterward.

I prefer shooting outdoors because you don't feel the physical sound pressure as much and it's brighter but dealing with waiting until the RSO calls a cease fire to then go down range to change the targets is a hassle, and it's not fun driving up ino the mountains to go shoot there.
 
OK, so I dry fire. I use the sights and pull the trigger 8 or 10 times, then what? Doesn't mean I can hit what I'm aiming at. Doesn't tell how I will react actually firing the gun.

No disrespect to those that do dry fire, but to me its like sitting in a car in the driveway and trying to learn to drive without actually going anywhere.

The reason I say this is because I have a neighbor that wanted to go shoot with me (He's never been shooting before). He bought a new 686 and said he had been practicing his trigger pull and using the sights.

After getting to the range and going over all the safety rules and proper gun handling, it was time to take his first shot. The sound and the recoil completely took him off-guard. He looked like a deer in headlights. He said it was nothing even close to what he had expected.

This got me to thinking. Is dry fire needless? What does it actually transfer to the range when you actually fire the weapon? Maybe I think too much.................?
 
arjay said:
It teaches follow through if you do it right
Click to expand...

Go on.............Explain it to me.
Would that be like follow through shooting a basketball without actually having a ball?

I seriously don't get it. I do see the reasoning for smoothing out the action without the ammo cost (But that is thousands of dry fires that has to have negative effects on a firearm). But say a person only has a .22. They say to never dry fire a .22, is he at a disadvantage? I don't think he is. Some of those .22 guys can really shoot!

And what about the early hammer firing pins? Were those guns never to be dry fired?
I have been shooting for 30 years, I never dry fire any of my guns. I also can shoot very accurately at varying distances. I also shoot with some guys that swear by dry firing it increases their abilities. Ability to do what? Pretend shooting at a bug on the wall? These same guys cant hit a 12" target at 50 yards. I can!

Go to the range, put some real ammo in that sucker and then practice, practice, practice. Dry fire is way over rated I think.
 
I live in a very rural area and can shoot in the backyard. I shoot some sort of revolver about every other day at least. maybe just a couple cylinders but sometimes more. For rifles I go to a friends place. We have a bench and 400 yards to shoot. Maybe do that every other week until hunting season.
 
i find if i shoot every day i get stale. i actually get faster progress shooting 5 days/week.
as to dry firing, i tried it.
didn't seem to help n was very boring.
i'd rather shoot.
 
Allen 1 said:
Now that its summer time here in Florida with 100+ heat index, I only go to the range maybe twice a month. I go early in the morning for a couple hours.

I do all my reloading in the cooler months when its bearable in my garage. Its actually quite nice those months when the temps are in the 60's and 70's.

In the cooler months I get to the range once a week. How often do you get out?
Click to expand...
About like you. Weekly unless something interferes, more often if I can.
 
Couple of times a week until deer season starts. My range is outdoors.
 
Not enough.

But winter, summer, spring, or fall, I'm more likely to be shooting indoors than out. I have some outdoor ranges I can get to but the indoor one is too close to my house to ignore.

:)

I do prefer to shoot rifles outdoors but I do that with hunting rifles, mostly, in cool weather. ARs are just as much fun inside as out. But there is a private, outdoor range I can go to occasionally and then we unleash our ARs and M1As, etc.
 
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