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I Need Practice, And Somewhere I Can Do It - Atlanta Region

HousePlant

HousePlant

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    • Jan 16, 2020
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    I'm wondering if anyone within, say, 3-hours of Atlanta has any advice (PM me, that's fine) on where I can practice - at least out to 300 yards for wobble error to matter?

    Just finished a PRS match over the weekend. It was fun and was to me intended as practice (timed out a lot), but I did terribly... worse than my prior PRS matches.

    I watch, I learn, I take advice, I practice how I can, but I have to practice with actual firing at my pace. PRS's "chop chop chop" pace isn't working for me. Part of me wishes there was a version of PRS for amateurs that's only like 8 stages and maybe a max of 8 shots over 120 seconds instead of just 90 so it's easier to get the hang of it.

    Just getting frustrated. Seems so unattainable to practice around me. At least without owning land, which I was working on, then the COVID craze on property mixed with this administration's ability to fuel inflation without remorse turned every attainable piece of land I had on the radar into unobtainium in quite the rapid pace.

    Any advice is welcome!
     
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    Try dry fire. IDTS has a good system. Build a barricade at home, the 6.5 guys has a simple plan & practice at home
     
    River Bend Gun Club, not cheap but has a 585 range that can do steel.

    Georgia Mountain Shooting Association, goes to 300 up outside Toccoa. Not sure if theyre taking members right now.

    Elberton Gun Club goes to 400, but not sure about positional shooting.
     
    Man dont get discouraged. If you were at the match i was at this weekend it all sucked. Cold and windy is not optimal for performance for some folks. Myself included.
    Like others have said dryfire from a barricade at home
    I built a couple and drew some small dots on my privacy fence. Numbered them and would make up a stage with different target numbers in my head and run it then run it again and again and again. Change it up and do it some more. It helps a lot. Builds time management, target acquisition, maneuvering from one position to another.
     
    HousePlant said:
    Seems so unattainable to practice around me.
    Click to expand...

    Everything you need to practice, except recoil control, can be done in your home as dry practice on reduced targets.

    Use your imagination. Plus there are quite a few youtube videos on the topic.
     
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    you prob already asked the place that held the match if you could practice there?

    look on prs website and practiscore for clubs that are hosting matches "near" you and ask them?

    agree with others on dryfire/practice at home, not as fun as the real thing but less $ on ammo and also travel time to and from ranges.
     
    Dry fire "at your pace" to start. Lots of dryfire. Focus on calling your shots- that means knowing exactly where the crosshairs were when the trigger broke the shot.
     
    You can shoot 1” dots off a barricade at 100yds and use a timer. Build and breaks.

    You will be better prepared than 90% or more of people at a match. The only time I shoot at distance is for dope and occasionally at 400yds just to change it up.

    I’ve shot ~95% at the last few single day “trophy” matches. Shooting at distance is definitely not required.

    Dry fire indoors and shoot at 100yds for live fire.

    Wobble is wobble. Your reticle is angular and so are targets. .3 wobble on a .6 target is the same at 100yds as it is at 600yds.
     
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    HousePlant said:
    Part of me wishes there was a version of PRS for amateurs that's only like 8 stages and maybe a max of 8 shots over 120 seconds instead of just 90 so it's easier to get the hang of it.
    Click to expand...

    Oh lawd............
     
    Unless you’re in an area that doesn’t have club matches…..

    Most single day club matches are around 8 stages and about 80rnds or less. And most do 2min.
     
    NRL22 matches are 2 minute stages. It’s good practice for building and changing positions. There is a monthly match in Tallapoosa. West GA Precision Rimfire on practiscore. Really laid back atmosphere.
     
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    CBeck said:
    NRL22 matches are 2 minute stages. It’s good practice for building and changing positions. There is a monthly match in Tallapoosa. West GA Precision Rimfire on practiscore. Really laid back atmosphere.
    Click to expand...

    I'll check it out, thanks! Hopefully it'd be okay if I shoot my squirrel gun. Haha.
     
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    davsco said:
    you prob already asked the place that held the match if you could practice there?

    look on prs website and practiscore for clubs that are hosting matches "near" you and ask them?

    agree with others on dryfire/practice at home, not as fun as the real thing but less $ on ammo and also travel time to and from ranges.
    Click to expand...

    I can practice there, yes. It's 3.5 hours away though, I have to make a reservation basically. Not the end of the world. Just... 3.5 hours away. I'm really hoping some gem exists much closer than that. Inasmuch as I love paying $3.50 a gallon...
     
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    USPSA shooters who limit their practice to the times that they can go to the range rarely progress past C classification (second from the bottom).

    Those that spend the majority of time burning reps of all the non-shooting tasks (draw, target transitions, reloads, position entry, position exit, movement, unloaded starts, etc) in dry fire at home are the ones that move to B, A, and then Master classification, start winning level 1 matches, and start posting results in the 85% percentile or better at level 2 and 3 matches (the "pro" matches).

    The ones who do practice non-shooting skills at home still go to the range, but they spend usually less time there because their live fire practice is focused on marksmanship skills (which need live fire) and validating what they did in dry fire.

    I bet PRS works the same exact way.

    PS, I've never, ever heard anyone in USPSA wish for an easier version of the match that everyone has to shoot...............
     
    I don't see any match directors "dummying" down a match for beginners. I know there are a lot of views on this, but the more you shoot the better you will get.

    90 seconds is plenty of time
     
    Call these guys and ask about their long range shooting. I'm not sure where they go. It might be one of the places already mentioned.
    www.gafiringline.com

    GA Firing Line / Indoor Gun Range & Store

    GA Firing Line offers a clean and fun indoor shooting range environment, a fully stocked retail gun store, custom gunsmithing services, and weekly shooting leagues and classes. Come see us!
    www.gafiringline.com www.gafiringline.com
     
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    higginsworksforme said:
    Call these guys and ask about their long range shooting. I'm not sure where they go. It might be one of the places already mentioned.
    www.gafiringline.com

    GA Firing Line / Indoor Gun Range & Store

    GA Firing Line offers a clean and fun indoor shooting range environment, a fully stocked retail gun store, custom gunsmithing services, and weekly shooting leagues and classes. Come see us!
    www.gafiringline.com www.gafiringline.com
    Click to expand...
    I think they are actually having a match soon. Maybe this weekend? Look up rifle ranch on FB. It’s in Graham Alabama just over the state line. The NRL club I mentioned earlier is on a range with a cheap membership of you wanted to join. You can only shoot out to 200 yards but you can shoot off props. Positional practice out to 200 is more than enough. 100 works great.
     
    One of the reasons Tx Precision Matches has one of the largest clubs/most attendance in the country is because their monthly matches are beginner and intermediate friendly.

    They generally run 2min stages, no more than 10rnds per stage, and except for troop lines you won’t see many more than 2 targets per stage. You’ll get a few small 1/2 - 1moa targets (smallest on kyl rack, prairie dog about 4” wide….etc).

    They have to cap their monthly centerfire at 80 and many times have a waiting list. They get 60-80 each month at their Rimfire match. Those are impressive numbers.

    There’s another club nearby that knowingly makes their single day monthly matches mimic the difficulty of a two day. They cap it at 40 people are are well aware their goal is to challenge top shooters a bit more.

    Tx Precision’s single day “trophy” and their two day national matches are a bit harder, but usually in the middle of the road as far as two day difficulty.

    I can think of at least 3-5 shooters who have won at least one two day match and countless other top 10 shooters who cut their teeth at Prentice’s matches.

    Obviously two day matches need to retain a certain level of difficulty as long as they are considered “pro” series.

    But you don’t grow and develop the game by making all matches challenge the top shooters as that will crush the rest of the field.

    And, even the top shooters get something out of this. You can drop 3-5 shots in 10 stages and if one of those was a shot you blatantly shouldn’t have missed, chances are you’re getting 2nd place or worse. So you get training on keeping your shit together and focused on every single shot.

    There is absolutely a place for “easy” matches. I’m not sure if the OP meant for two day matches, as no, that’s not the way to do it. Single day club is what that’s for.

    If there’s none in your area, find a range and start holding such matches.
     
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    I am a Georgia PRS shooter. Pickens County Sportsmans Club between Jasper and Ellijay has 300 yard range. Need to go as a guest as private club. I shoot as many PRS rimfire matches as I can as they are great for fundamentals and practice. I took two classes at K&M Precision and I try to go to K&M for a few days per quarter to use the props for practice. My buddy lives in Savannah so we practice a lot at 17 Rod & Gun in Richmond Hill GA as they have 525 yards. I suspect that a lot of the Georgia PRS practice is at private ranges like off season hunting clubs you need to find by word of mouth as they are not open to public.

    PS. If it was the Cool Acres one day it was set challenging plus cold/windy so all the scores reflected the opportunities.
     
    I’m fairly new to ATL (>5yrs) and went with the IDTS w/ D.F.A.T. lense. I really need to start using it 2-3 times a week.
     
    Just ran across this post but I shoot at South River Gun club in Conyers. It's a great club with very nice facilities. Only problem is it only goes out to 300 yds, you have to reserve rifle range time the day before you want to shoot. If you have found a good place to practice out further please let me know as I'm in the same boat.
     
    You can schedule a practice day at Cool Acres in Swainsboro, Georgia to use the PRS props and steel out to 1000+. Reach out to the owner - look at their FB page or his webpage. Technique would be get a group of 4 or so together and essentially shoot a practice match - that is what we did.
     
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    Lightning8 said:
    You can schedule a practice day at Cool Acres in Swainsboro, Georgia to use the PRS props and steel out to 1000+. Reach out to the owner - look at their FB page or his webpage. Technique would be get a group of 4 or so together and essentially shoot a practice match - that is what we did.
    Click to expand...
    I need to do something like this.
    I haven't had a vacation for going on 3 years now, sigh...
     
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    I've joined Dead Zero Shooting Park. It's okay. I can reserve a space and do my thing right online, show up, and go about my business.

    I really am not a lover of electronic targets, which they have, but they have steel targets, too. They also always seem to have someone with a 50-cal when I'm there, which is just a PITA to be anywhere near -- maybe just my luck. The place is bench shooting oriented but the benches are really nice. You can prone shoot and if you coordinate with the range master at the time, you can shoot off PRS-like props (if you bring them... they seem to have a few-ish props sitting around there that are like rifle holders and what not that could be repurposed).

    I was just there testing a rifle of mine using my suppressor for the first time. Naturally after a 2.5 hour drive it pissed rain...

    I have also learned I can coordinate with the owner of Rifle Ranch in AL but I'd pay for every visit. Luckily he hosts affordable PRS events which have become my favorite because the $100+ entry fee to a PRS match + 3 hours of driving at least + $200+ in ammo + hotel hurts.
     
    I went to Rifle Ranch in graham ala and shot one of there matches a month or so ago it was great for a beginner like me and we engaged targets out to around 800 yards and it’s only an hour or so from ATL.
     
    Alabamablammer said:
    I went to Rifle Ranch in graham ala and shot one of there matches a month or so ago it was great for a beginner like me and we engaged targets out to around 800 yards and it’s only an hour or so from ATL.
    Click to expand...

    I was there. Been there twice. I was the ridiculously good looking guy... :unsure:
     
    I've bee to CMP and seen the field but never shot. It's all e-targets. Not very fun to me to not have steel. When did they add steel? I didn't see it.
     
    HousePlant said:
    I've bee to CMP and seen the field but never shot. It's all e-targets. Not very fun to me to not have steel. When did they add steel? I didn't see it.
    Click to expand...
    Last summer I think it was goes out to about 750 has lots of gongs and life size animal targets pretty nice you shoot off the top of a covered conex.
     
    It’s sure would be nice to have somewhere to practice on steel within an hour of ATL. I’m headed to K&M tomorrow so I can get some practice in prior to the Kahle’s 2-day match this weekend.
     
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    smoothy8500 said:
    Why wouldn't an e-target be worthwhile? At least it gives immediate feedback exactly where your shot impacts, versus "somewhere" on a steel plate.
    Click to expand...

    Because it doesn't go "piiiing" and no visual feedback. If PRS, for example, was all e-targets, I probably wouldn't do it. Thing is, I want to train seeing my impact in dirt (if I miss) and adjusting with the reticle. Not shooting at a huge board, looking at a tablet, mathematizing in an adjustment based on the virtual grid that is not the same as my reticle, and then trying again. If I could put my actual reticle in on the software, that would be interesting. I realize that the grid is MIL or MOA (depending on setting) and it's the same thing in the end but I don't want to deal with variables when I'm trying to work on real world use. Plus the e-targets don't have a very distinct aiming point -- like I never see them with a small red dot (appropriate-sized for the distance so you can actually see it, of course). It's just a huge black center NRA-style circle or some variation. So I can't pick a consistent, precise aim point. I dunno... I like the analog experience because it's more real to me.
     
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    HousePlant said:
    Plus the e-targets don't have a very distinct aiming point
    Click to expand...
    Ok yeah, I forgot they are just a black meatball there. I admit the same frustration. But aren't steel plates the same? Use the screen's mil grid lines option to avoid issues. The target board and sensor is pretty big, I hardly think you'll make that big of a mistake in wind call or elevation to "miss" the board entirely on a Known Distance target at 600yds.
     
    Go visit the guys at GAFiring line in marietta, andy (the gunsmith) and peter (the store manager) are pretty plugged into the long range scene. I think Andy is currently doing elr matches (and building guys for it) but i know they shoot prs too.
     
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