Target Distance for a Newbie?

[GrandpaDan]

I just got my M&P shield 9mm. Any recommendations for how to approach "practicing" or breaking it in? Also, at what distance
should I practice for the development of accuracy?

Thank you in advance.

 

[fdw]

Congrats, I'd recommend practicing at 5-7 yards. If you are shooting center mass at that distance you should be good to go.

 

[xray 99]

I do most of my practice at 3, 5, 7 and 10 yards.

 

[Big Cholla]

If you can spit on it or "P" on it, you're good to go for a beginning. As you get better, move back some and speed up the rate you shoot at. ..... Big Cholla

 

[Trons]

Being new to shooting, I picked 7 yards because when I went for my CCDW that was the range we would be shooting. I'm still not great with my shield, but I'm getting better. My friend who owns a lot of guns and has been shooting most of his life says that, at that range, if it's on a standard 8 1/2" X 11" piece of paper, then your target is dead. I don't know if he told me that because when I was getting started, I wasn't that good. Now, I can do 3" groups without much difficulty. Getting better every time.

 

[Llando88]

Warm welcome from Tampa.

Being new to shooting myself, I'd suggest looking into a good dry firing program, to go along with your time at the range. I probably do 100 dry fires for every bullet I shoot.

Once at the range, though, I'd try starting at 3 yards, until 1) your rounds are ending up in the same place, mostly, and 2) that same place is the center of the target, all through one ragged hole.

You may find that a bit of a challenge at first. There are some good "shooters wheel" diagrams to help diagnose common errors.

After that, extend the distance to 7 yards, until you achieve the same result, but with 1" groups.

Then, for fun, I'd get some B-8 targets and see if you can put 10 rounds into a 4" group at 25 yards.

You might also like the book, "The Perfect Pistol Shot", by Albert League III. Marksmanship fundamentals are simple, but kind of hard to put into practice, and I think this book does a good job explaining it.

The Perfect Pistol Shot: Albert H. League III: 9781610045711: Amazon.com: Books@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51k6fo3E%2BRL.@@AMEPARAM@@51k6fo3E%2BRL

I would say I'm not (yet) shooting to these standards, but I'm geting there.

Good luck!

Rich in Tampa

 

[Llando88]

I just got my M&P shield 9mm. Any recommendations for how to approach "practicing" or breaking it in? Also, at what distance
should I practice for the development of accuracy?

Thank you in advance.

Oh, forgot to mention, there should be no "break in" needed on an M&P. Clean, lube, shoot.

 

[Ranger514]

Based on your question, which indicates you're just starting out, I'm surprised nobody has advised you to get teamed up with a good firearms instructor who can coach you in sound self defense handgunning. That would be my best advice. Start with the basics, and go with a pro. Just my 2 cents. You've got a good handgun, now learn how to use it to your best advantage.

 

[Rastoff]

...I'm surprised nobody has advised you to get teamed up with a good firearms instructor...

Well, I didn't see it 'til now.

The NRA Basic Pistol course is really good if taught properly. It covers every aspect of owning and using a pistol. I'm an instructor so, I'm obviously biased, but I have yet to have a student who didn't learn a lot in this course.

Target distance? To answer that, we first need to know if you know the fundamentals. So, lets see if you can answer these questions:
What is a proper grip?
What is the proper sight alignment?
What is the proper sight picture?
What does it mean to have good trigger control?
What is follow through?

If you don't know these without looking them up, seek instruction. This may sound harsh, but the value of instruction early in your shooting career cannot be over stated. It's easy to develop bad habits and very difficult to over come them later.

Even so, I understand the desire to just get out and shoot. So, start at 9' - 15'. Shoot at a blank piece of paper. Concentrate on the proper sight alignment, sight picture and trigger control. Once you can put 5 rounds in about 1" with slow fire, move back.

 

[RobzGuns]

As Rastoff wrote, if you're new to pistols, it's worth taking an 'Intro to...' class. I've been shooting since the 60's and I still treat every new pistol as if I just started. I review the fundamentals and start at 3yds and STAY there until I'm satisfied with my grouping and accuracy. Many times that's only 1 or 2 mags. There have been a couple that took longer.
Once I'm satisfied at 3yds, only Then do I move to 5yds and repeat, then 7yds and repeat, then see what it will do at 10yds.

Before heading to the range, field strip it a few times to get familiar with it, give it a good cleaning and a light lube.

 

[wtburnette]

As Rastoff wrote, if you're new to pistols, it's worth taking an 'Intro to...' class. I've been shooting since the 60's and I still treat every new pistol as if I just started. I review the fundamentals and start at 3yds and STAY there until I'm satisfied with my grouping and accuracy. Many times that's only 1 or 2 mags. There have been a couple that took longer.
Once I'm satisfied at 3yds, only Then do I move to 5yds and repeat, then 7yds and repeat, then see what it will do at 10yds.

Before heading to the range, field strip it a few times to get familiar with it, give it a good cleaning and a light lube.

Agree with most of the above, a good course, or at least instruction from someone goes a long way. The post above I most agree with, start close and work your way out. At 3 yards, you should be able to judge how your point of aim (POA) and point of impact (POI) correlate. It's much easier to see at a closer range and you can get a good feel for things and move back around 2 yards at a time until you are at whatever distance you want to go for. Even after a year of shooting 4 - 5 times a month, I still rarely shoot past 7 meters. I'll occasionally go out to 10 or 25, but more just for fun. Best thing is, after figuring out the proper technique (grip, stance and such), make sure you get out to shoot often enough to get used to it. Enjoy!

 

[Sean from Vt]

Start at 5-7 yards. Use cheap paper plates. Put a sticky dot in the center if you want.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[rdtompki]

Is this your first handgun? Is it a range "toy" or self/home defense tool? A good instructor will save you tons of ammo and greatly increase your enjoyment of your new handgun. Check with local gun stores and/or ranges to get recommendations on instructors. Discuss your goals with the ones you contact.

My wife and I are new to handguns, less than 1 year, and have benefited greatly from the help of two instructors. You'll find there is a bit of conflict between the requirements for self-defense and small-group range accuracy, but once you've mastered trigger management (we're still working on it), then doing so at speed will come.

 

[checkmyswag]

5 yards. But don't just keep repeating the same thing. Work on the fundamentals but also push yourself and dont get into a rut...then go back to honing the fundamentals. Also back it way out occasionally.

 

[ironhead7544]

Get some training.

7 yards is a good place to start. Use a full sized target. Turn it around for a blank white sheet. Put a 1 inch orange dot in the center. Concentrate on your sight picture. "Float" the dot on top of the center of your front sight.

 

[Bozz10mm]

If this is your first pistol, start at 3 yards til you see where the Point of Impact is, then move back a couple yards at a time. Many shooters have a bit of trouble hitting the bulls eye with the Shield. Even more experienced shooters. Right handers tend to shoot low and left. That's from a combination of the short sight radius and the fairly stiff trigger pull on the Shield.

Before you even get to the range, you should dry fire it a couple hundred times. Concentrate on maintaining the sights on the target, without moving, after the trigger press.

 

[checkmyswag]

If this is your first pistol, start at 3 yards til you see where the Point of Impact is, then move back a couple yards at a time. Many shooters have a bit of trouble hitting the bulls eye with the Shield. Even more experienced shooters. Right handers tend to shoot low and left. That's from a combination of the short sight radius and the fairly stiff trigger pull on the Shield.

Before you even get to the range, you should dry fire it a couple hundred times. Concentrate on maintaining the sights on the target, without moving, after the trigger press.

I disagree with much of this.

What pistols are you comparing with the Shield?

 

[RobzGuns]

I disagree with much of this.
What pistols are you comparing with the Shield?

What exactly about Bozz's reply do you disagree with?
That many people new to shooting the Shield shoot Low-Left? The Hundreds of threads on this Forum (as well as other Forums) dedicated to new members shooting Low-Left and/or can't seem to hit the bulls-eye seem to validate his statement. Some (if not many) are from 'experienced' shooters (both Career Military and LEO) changing from a Full-Sized Service Pistol platform, or even a Compact Double-Stack platform to the Subcompact Single-Stack pistol (not just Shields, by the way).

Do you disagree with starting at 3yds, checking accuracy & grouping THEN moving further out? If your grouping sucks at 10' and not dead center, it's going to be even worse at 15', or 21'... and if they simply sling their 1st target out to 30', probably mostly Off Paper.

 

[GrandpaDan]

Warm welcome from Tampa.

Being new to shooting myself, I'd suggest looking into a good dry firing program, to go along with your time at the range. I probably do 100 dry fires for every bullet I shoot.

Once at the range, though, I'd try starting at 3 yards, until 1) your rounds are ending up in the same place, mostly, and 2) that same place is the center of the target, all through one ragged hole.

You may find that a bit of a challenge at first. There are some good "shooters wheel" diagrams to help diagnose common errors.

After that, extend the distance to 7 yards, until you achieve the same result, but with 1" groups.

Then, for fun, I'd get some B-8 targets and see if you can put 10 rounds into a 4" group at 25 yards.

You might also like the book, "The Perfect Pistol Shot", by Albert League III. Marksmanship fundamentals are simple, but kind of hard to put into practice, and I think this book does a good job explaining it.

The Perfect Pistol Shot: Albert H. League III: 9781610045711: Amazon.com: Books

I would say I'm not (yet) shooting to these standards, but I'm geting there.

Good luck!

Rich in Tampa

Rich, Thank you. I bought the book and plan to use it as a basis for my training towards true "marksmanship". Thanks for taking the time to provide me with information.