What distance do you practice with your J frame snubbie?

Rules and no rules

I once bought a WWII hand to hand combat book for downed pilots. The intro said that combat was doing everything that would be illegal in a sport.
In boxing it is illegal to hit below the belt or kidney punches- so in combat hit there.
In sport karate it is illegal to kick with boots on - so do that.

Fortunately it is not illegal for honest people to own guns yet. And not illegal to practice shooting yet.

So practice now like it was about to become illegal.
 
I spend a lot of time shooting my J-frame snub at 1 and 2 yards. Yeah, it is a little embarrassing sometimes to bring the target in so very close at a range. But realistically, with a J-frame snub, that is where I am going to be firing. I spend a lot of time at this distance shooting without using the sights. My indoor range will not let me draw from a holster. But I will put my hand on the gun on the table and quickly raise it to the target and fire two shots with my arm level just above my waist in front of me (instead of raising to my sight line). Again, I think about the times I might have to use this gun, and it would often be in extremely close quarters without having time to do more than get it pointed at the point-blank center mass of my attacker. It has taken a lot of time, but I can shoot very small groups with a J-snub at 10 yards two-handed, taking my time, and using the sights. But realistically, I am unlikely to use a J-snub in the real world this way. Nonetheless, I still find it difficult to quickly point-and-shoot and hit my silouhette target where I need to every time. This is what I practice because with this gun, it's most likely what I'll need to do with it. You might be surprised how often you can miss a silouhette at 2 yards if you have to do a quick grab-and-shoot-from-belly-to-belly. If you consider that miss might hit someone else and ruin your life forever, then you quickly get over any embarrassment of having the paper in your face at the range.
 
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I practice at close ranges as well. 10,20,30 ft.

I target shoot at greater distances as well, but for actual concealed carry training, I practice close.

There are situations were it may be safe to take the shot. Say you are on the upper floor or walkway of a large open mall (a prime mass shooter target), and you can clearly see the shooter below with back toward you in the middle of a wide open floor indiscriminately shooting at people. It may be better to take the shot then to hope he doesn't come your way while you and your loved ones try to escape.

It is believed by many that the shooter at the Oregon mall was stopped by a CCW holder in a similar scenario, who then killed himself (?) as soon as his fantasy world bubble was popped. I don't know if that's been proven, but it seems a reasonable explanation as to how he was only able to kill two people in a very crowed mall even though he was well equipped to cause far greater damage.

As I said, it is extremely unlikely any of us civilians will be in that situation, but if you carry and you are serious about practicing there is no reason not to train for the possibility. Some shooters can hit out amazingly far with the small J-Frames.

I know you're new to all this so in time you'll start to weigh the consequences and probably realize (like many of us have) that you carry to protect yourself and your loved ones. Your first and greatest responsibility is getting your family out, not looking to try to scare the gunman or be a hero. Trying to show yourself to make the gunman kill himself, bad plan. Trying to take that shot with a J in a crowded mall, bad plan.

You're envisioning a perfect scenario in which you can take the shot. Guess what? The shooter is a crazed individual, trained by military or police (we know that can happen!) and is wearing a vest. You just shot at him with a 5 shot J Frame......
 
I practice at 10' and 21'. I hope that any distance over 21', I can evade and avoid confrontation.
 
7 yards and less, one hand, off hand, both hands and pulling the gun up quickly from the rest for double tap... Ruger 38 LCR

Best!
 
I do it at about 7 paces. I think that is practical range. Plus it is fun, cause you can see where you hit, until you get a bunch of holes.

Even my 6" 586 is sited in at 7 yards, I keep this in the bedroom.

I do must of my practice at 7-10 yards, and I am trying to analyze my shooting, to get better. I am hoping to dial in my shooting and move further out. I still shoot further out, but I am concentrating on getting better at close range first.
 
Do most of my snubbie shooting at 15 yards and a little at 25 yards so far the range hasn't built a barn out at the 50 yard line for me to shoot at!
 
Mostly 15 to 25 yards but I can't resist throwing a few shots at the 50 and 100 yard gongs. Once in a while I get lucky and hit them.
 
Did you ever watch "The FBI with Efrem Zimbalist Jr" ? He could shoot a bad guy on the run at 100 yards with his snubby. I think it was a Chief's Special. I shoot my snubby at 21 feet.
 
Lee Marvin fan

Did you ever watch "The FBI with Efrem Zimbalist Jr" ? He could shoot a bad guy on the run at 100 yards with his snubby. I think it was a Chief's Special. I shoot my snubby at 21 feet.

He was good, but not as good as Lee Marvin on M-Squad. He could appear to be shooting a semi auto very well.

Of course Lee Marvin really was a Marine in WWII. No doubt familiar with the 1911 at least.
 
I used to hang a 7 inch saw blade off of a tree and shoot at it from 25 yards with my model 60.I need to dig it out and do that again,it's been a few years.
 
The bulk of my usual training & practice occurs within 1-11 yards. This is where I emphasize the more demanding drills.

I still practice to make "precision" shots out at 15-25 yds, though, and shoot either paper or steel silhouettes at 40-50 yds.

Why the longer distances? Because it helps keep my foundation revolver skillset sharp, and any degradation is quickly revealed at those longer distances.

Granted, for optimal target-style accuracy, making shots at 20-50 yds is easier when the gun has SA capability, but the bulk of my training & practice is done with my DAO J's (and I have 5 of them), so that keeps my DA trigger control skills from rusting too badly.

It's sometimes said that a being able to make 5 shots in 5 seconds from 5 yds, and keeping them within a 5 inch group, is considered adequate for defensive use by some shooters. I'll practice that shooting 2-handed. I often practice making 5 shots in 3 or less seconds, from 3-4 yds, 1-handed, and keeping them in a group smaller than my fist.

I used to practice making called hits on wooden clothespins at 5 yds, positioned around a cardboard target board, and placed at different angles (vertical, horizontal and diagonal), as that's more challenging in controlling any tendency for anticipatory flinch or trigger jerk.

The little snubs are capable of much more inherent, practical accuracy than they're given credit for by many owners and potential owners.

Unfortunately, the very attributes that make them so handy for lawful concealed carry also tend to make them harder to shoot for many folks. It takes work and recurrent practice.
 
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Colt Cobra's?

He was good, but not as good as Lee Marvin on M-Squad. He could appear to be shooting a semi auto very well.

Of course Lee Marvin really was a Marine in WWII. No doubt familiar with the 1911 at least.

Oops... Wikipedia says that Lee Marvin carried two colt cobra's in M Squad. (The lightweight variant of Colt's Detective Special).

My mind is going fast..... Barely remember the Jack Webb scene where his partner (Henry Morgan?) was showing him his new lightweight stubby revolver?

Barely remember San Francisco Beat - except the 1950 ford? And maybe them stopping at the old locked, streetside telephone boxes to check in (before car radios).

Anyway it is enough to note what tools professionals use in daily work. Usually there is a reason.
 
Fastbolt, you have given me a goal. First to just start with the tight groupings.
 
Fastbolt, you have given me a goal. First to just start with the tight groupings.

It can help to use standard pressure ammo initially, too.

You're working to ingrain good skills, making them smooth and consistently applied upon demand.

If you want to use harder recoiling +P .38 loads in the +P capable snubs (or .357 Magnum in the Magnum J's), save them until after you've improved and have acquired some level of mastery of the foundation skills.
 
My 43C is often my second gun and I practice everything from contact distance (mostly shooting for the face) with both strong and weak hand, out to 50 yards using roll over prone. The long distance is mostly for maintenance of marksmanship skills but it's nice to know that the gun can actually do it.

I routinely shoot the 2" centerfires out to 25 yards. I have 2" 9mm and .45 ACP revolvers that I have shot at 100 yards with both being accurate enough to hit a man at that distance with a good rest, once you know how much front sight to hold up.

Dave Sinko
 
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