What Does Your Practice Routine Consist Of?

[Dylan in AZ]

I know many of us just go out and shoot with little regard to what we plan to do once we're at the range.

I would like to set up some courses of fire to better my marksmanship with that I will shoot each day at the range. I personally feel that a warmup may be unneccesairy, however, I do usually shoot spotters to make sure my zero from the last trip hasn't changed. Call this a warmup if you will.

I'm thinking, since shooter's fatigue plays a part after a while, that a well thought out plan of action or course of fire could be a very helpful and usefull tool in bettering myself as a shooter.

Now, I do participate in online comps here, and hopefully soon I will be getting into comps directed by my local shooting range. So on those days, I will probably get going with my sighters and jump straight into the comps. Afterwards, If I'm not fatigued, I would like to practice some areas of marksmanship for improvement.

So on the last portion of those days, and the days I don't have anything planned, I would like to have some drills to undergo for some quality practice. I know that practice is practice, but I would love some imput on what you guys do or have planned for your days at the range or if you sort of just make it up as you go.

Personally I aim to benefit my abilities in all areas of shooting so singling out any particular areas would be redundant I feel...

Any suggestions to what I should/need to include into my time spent on the line?

Thanks to all who reply,
-Dylan

 

[Graham]

Re: What Does Your Practice Routine Consist Of?

Shoot dots. Shoot them weak side to help you spot your bad habits on the strong side.

Or, if you can't find spare time to practice just go shoot the matches.

 

[armorpl8chikn]

Re: What Does Your Practice Routine Consist Of?

"Did you ever see a Lion warm up before he takes down a gazelle?"

 

[reeljob]

Re: What Does Your Practice Routine Consist Of?

I typically shoot 3-5 times a week. If I am lucky and my schedules allows I like to stop by the bench in the mornings before work and shoot spots at fifty yards, my spot target is twelve 3/4" circles with a small dot centered. One shot per circle. If it is hit correctly the spot is cut out by a .22 bullet. One cold bore followed by eleven more and off to work I go.
The remainder of the box on days wind and weather permits I shoot small steel targets (3-1/2"x 5") from 100 out to 200 from different locations each day. Lately I have been shooting my saw blade gongs at the 250 distance and trying to beat myself on number of hits on steel before a miss.
Sometimes I use my rear bag other days I do not. I need to practice standing more often than I do, this is my weak stance and I believe this is true for alot of guys on here not wanting to get off the ground to shoot.
On days with moderate wind I like to see what those tiny pills are doing and record the info and on Brisk days I stay home and save the ammo.
Record keeping and plenty of time behind the gun is what this sport requires, not any different from the high power sport. If you use the rimfire as a trainer than train in the same fashion you shoot your .308 scaled down for realism in regard to target sizes and ranges.Shoot the same type and shape targets and scenarios you shoot in hi-power comps and the same drills on smaller targets.
Not sure if this helped or not but there it is all the same.
Good Luck

 

[Graham]

Re: What Does Your Practice Routine Consist Of?

What's a 'bench'?

 

[reeljob]

Re: What Does Your Practice Routine Consist Of?

The "bench" is where I sit my coffee while I am on my mat to the side of it. Before work morning trips, a man has to have his coffee and a place to set it don't you know!

 

[Graham]

Re: What Does Your Practice Routine Consist Of?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: reeljob</div><div class="ubbcode-body">The "bench" is where I sit my coffee while I am on my mat to the side of it.</div></div>That's the answer I was looking for!

 

[slothlacrosse]

Re: What Does Your Practice Routine Consist Of?

i shoot at nine 1 inch dots @ 100 yards.

the dots are arranged in 3 rows of 3.

i dial my scope in 2 inches up and 2 to the left. this will put my first group in the top left dot while i'm aiming at the center dot. i keep adjusting my scope left/right/up/down in 2 inch increments.

i shoot 5 shots @ each dot.

i feel that by focusing on each shot i'm about to take instead of the one you just took keeps me from getting distracted.

 

[Hoofy]

Re: What Does Your Practice Routine Consist Of?

12 year old girls aren't the only ones that should keep diaries.
Start one, you'd be surprised. You'll start to notice which practice is best for you. Which warm up drills lead to best scores, which warm up drills you can't blow off for 6 months and expect to perform well, etc.

 

[VJJPunisher]

Re: What Does Your Practice Routine Consist Of?

something like this generally....

1- arrive to range with 56 ounce slurpee big gulp

2- unload 16 too many rifles onto 3 benches

3- set up chrony, spotting scope, shooting mat, sand bags

4- walk downrange and staple up 1 white paper plate on the backer

5- pic out most high speed rifle (SKS Tactical) and load up a 30 rounder

6- get into a stellar standing position and dump 30 rounds in less than 4 seconds

7- walk up and down the line visiting with strangers and showing off my collection of tactical awsomeness rifles for at least 1 hour

8- pack up all mentioned gear and head to golden corral


ya'll know what im talkin about! thats just how I do it

 

[marduk185]

Re: What Does Your Practice Routine Consist Of?

aint that what everybody does vajayjaypunisher?

 

[RicosRevenge]

Re: What Does Your Practice Routine Consist Of?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: armorpl8chikn</div><div class="ubbcode-body">"Did you ever see a Lion warm up before he takes down a gazelle?" </div></div>

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.
.

 

[TrapperJ]

Re: What Does Your Practice Routine Consist Of?

That lion needs a Star"bucks" to start his day.

 

[Greg Langelius *]

Re: What Does Your Practice Routine Consist Of?

Years ago, I did much of the sort. These days, regardless of the additional time my retirement allows; I find myself failing to do much practice.

It reflects in my performance. So I really do think practice is critical to good performance and the stamina necessary to keep that performance up continuously.

I'm hoping to do better this Spring, but until I get a car up and running again, I'm currently dead in the water. We get Jen's car occasionally, but I don't think I can tie it up in good conscience for a half a day at the range.

Greg

 

[steve123]

Re: What Does Your Practice Routine Consist Of?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: TerrorInTheShadows</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I know many of us just go out and shoot with little regard to what we plan to do once we're at the range.

I would like to set up some courses of fire to better my marksmanship with that I will shoot each day at the range. I personally feel that a warmup may be unneccesairy, however, I do usually shoot spotters to make sure my zero from the last trip hasn't changed. Call this a warmup if you will.

I'm thinking, since shooter's fatigue plays a part after a while, that a well thought out plan of action or course of fire could be a very helpful and usefull tool in bettering myself as a shooter.

Now, I do participate in online comps here, and hopefully soon I will be getting into comps directed by my local shooting range. So on those days, I will probably get going with my sighters and jump straight into the comps. Afterwards, If I'm not fatigued, I would like to practice some areas of marksmanship for improvement.

So on the last portion of those days, and the days I don't have anything planned, I would like to have some drills to undergo for some quality practice. I know that practice is practice, but I would love some imput on what you guys do or have planned for your days at the range or if you sort of just make it up as you go.

Personally I aim to benefit my abilities in all areas of shooting so singling out any particular areas would be redundant I feel...

Any suggestions to what I should/need to include into my time spent on the line?

Thanks to all who reply,
-Dylan </div></div>

Hi Dylan,

It looks to me your headed in the right direction.+1 to confirming zero right off the bat!

To me the hardest stages at tactical matches are the offhand,kneeling,sitting and unsupported prone.If I were to bet I'd say the match for the better shooters,for the most part,was won or lost during these stages.So I'd suggest getting yourself a decent sling and practicing in all those positions.

Some of the other challenging positions are 90 degree prone strong side and week side from a bag or bipod.Or shooting from barricades in different positions.Shooting these are quite the eye opener!Practice goes a long way for these!

If you get a chance you should go check out Scottmilks tactical match at South mountain and see the types of stages they shoot.The experience will give you a good idea what to train for.

They might still do some 22 rimfire tactical matches there and will give you some competition under stress training for centerfire.

 

[Dylan in AZ]

Re: What Does Your Practice Routine Consist Of?

I love entering into a thread to see some good humor

Okay, so far what I am seeing is that I should practice anything that I have any interest in being proficient in correct? So if I want to be good at offhand, then I should be shooting offhand for at least a small portion of the shooting session. Now, considering that I would like to be very well rounded some day, practicing everything fairly often should yield a major advantage to my growth.

Considering I usually shoot anywhere from 100-200 rounds per day at the range, would shooting a group in each position be good enough? Or should I plan it out so that I get more time spent in specific positions and do them less often.

For example, this weekend I may shoot my comp target and then move on to offhand practice, then to sitting, and finally on to support side from the bench to round out the day. And then next weekend I will start up with prone off of the bi-pod, move on to prone slung up, and finish off with support side offhand. Just for example. Would this be better than doing it all for a small amount every time? Or should I start a diary as mentioned above to learn which works best for me.

I do however like that you all seem to agree that a "warm up" isn't entirely necessary, although if it is in any way shape or for, I do have it covered in my spotting shots. However, this brings a question to mind...

I have done a fair bit of research on competitions and it seems that the majority of them allow the shooters to have time before the actual competition starts to shoot practice rounds. I personally start to notice my own fatigue at about 250 shots. For someone more experienced than myself I'm sure the endurance level is much higher, but does this mean that this practice, or warmup for the match as I see it, is counterproductive or does it have a viable purpose? If so, then what is that purpose?

Overall, I get the feeling that shooting at least one session of the dots upon each range trip has produced alot of improvements for many shooters out there and I think that adding it to each session at the range would be a very helpful and productive thing to do correct?

Thanks for all the help so far guys, looking foreword to reading more replies soon!

-Dylan

 

[armorpl8chikn]

Re: What Does Your Practice Routine Consist Of?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: RicosRevenge</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: armorpl8chikn</div><div class="ubbcode-body">"Did you ever see a Lion warm up before he takes down a gazelle?" </div></div>

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.
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</div></div>

SWEET! Sure enough he seems to be warmi.......hey wait a minute. Don't I see chain link in the distance? No fair this pussycat is almost tame.

At our 22TSC at Conover we do not allow warm up before the match nor rifle sight in periods. Essentially the range is closed match day.
I am trying to think of my regimen for IHMSA match warm up. I may call the line, set up targets for other competitors, drink a monster and get a dip of snuff, at that point I am ready to hit the line with my rig and shoot for record. We do get 5 sighters in 2 minutes and I guess this is a bit of a warm up but it is short and sweet.
We have a 30 second prep period at the begining of each stage in the 22TSC and I have reccomended to some I have spotted for to use this time to settle in, dry fire, etc.

 

[JoeMartin]

Re: What Does Your Practice Routine Consist Of?

I normally plan out a few days in advance what I'll be practicing for the next range trip. Sometimes I'll cover a few disciplines in one outing, but mainly I just cover one discipline, be it, offhand, setting, prone, bench, kneeling. Our 25 & 50 yard 4 position comps each month here covers four of the above disciplines, so in that way those are taken care of.

My concern lays more with practicing, open iron, aperture, and scope from various yardage and position.

I also try to make time for pistol practice, but not often enough unfortunately. This year's plan was/is to spend more time at 100 & 200 yard bench and prone shooting, (as well as pistol), but the weather has not been kind so far in 2011.

I figure at my age and all the rounds I've sent down range over the years with many different firearms has had to teach me something. The biggest thing I've learned is that I can pick and choose the weather I want to shoot in, and I prefer good weather conditions. Otherwise I'll tinker around here at home.

 

[TOP PREDATOR]

Re: What Does Your Practice Routine Consist Of?

i think getting the shooter "warmed up" is more important than the rifle.

biggest thing i do is not feel rushed.

my better scores either here or elsewhere happens where my whole day is freed up so i can keep my concentration on shooting, not having to worry about getting somewhere else on time.

if i know it's a multi position match, i'll do abouot a half an hour of stretching, just to loosen up the body for better comfort later.

i'll play CCR's run through the jungle a few times on the way to the range and rooster by alice in chains in the cd player to get me in the mindset.

before and at the range, i'll do nothing quickly - no speeding, no hurry up load / unload stuff in the truck. no excessive coffee drinking, just one to shake off the sleep. no bullshitting with the guy next to me, just stay "in the zone" - i don't need to hear his problems, just have to stay focused on not thinking about my own during the session. following a routine of how you set up your shooting position keeps things "sterile". taking out the targets, staple gun, ear and eye protection, data book, loading of magazines, etc. are in a set order to keep the consistancy thing going. the biggest thing i've found to practice is staying calm and not being over confident.

all of the above things allow me to focus on the marksmanship fundamentals that'll carry throughout the practice and or match. i think that practice before the match adds value at least for being able to adjust for the conditions of the day, or adjust for how much the shooter may be "off" his game. i think many short practice sessions are better than infrequent long ones, at least for me, as i try not to allow enough time in one position to have a bad habit or two develop. i'd rather have 10 20 round sessions in a week or two than 1 or 2 100 round sessions a month.

if i feel that a particular position needs more work than the others, i'll shoot more rounds in that position than the others but will send at least a few downrange in the other positions just to keep it fresh in the muscle memory.

when it comes to weather, i like to pick and choose as much as i can to shoot on nice days, but also to shoot on not so nice days. most matches are shot regardless of weather, and IMO bad weather practice is more important than good weather practice.

 

[Dylan in AZ]

Re: What Does Your Practice Routine Consist Of?


I admit that I pick and choose as far as weather goes. I am at the range as soon as they open which is sun-up and this is to take advantage of the morning calmness (and in this season of the year for the cooler weather of morning time).

The whole reason I bought the 22lr in the first place was to get inexpensive trigger time and, more importantly, to learn the effects of the wind. So far I haven't accomplished much at all in this respect beyond a general understanding. This is why I cherry pick the conditions right now. Some day I hope to have a better understanding and be able to get a 'good' score in any reasonable condition.

On those windy days I tend to keep everything within 50 yards on paper, or I'll go to 100-200-300 just to see where I get impacts at and to try and guess where to hold to get an impact. So far, this hasn't yielded very great results simply because the wind isn't ever consistent, it is always choppy and as you all know it's hard to account for those changes.



Another thing I would like to bring to attention is that I'm not very good at anything but benchrest. In theory, prone should be close if not better but rarely being in the position has allowed it to remain unperfected. The same can be said for any of the other common positions. I just lack the time in any of them to be decent.

Okay, so here is what I've come up with: (Practice Days)

1) Sighters (only if starting at a different distance than I ended with on the last trip out; otherwise skip to step two)
2) Sniper's Hide Dot Drill @50 yards w/ 1/2" dots fired from the bench
3) 10 Shots Fired in each: Prone w/ bi-pod, prone w/ sling, sitting, kneeling, and standing (in no particular order)
4) Shoot an extra 15 shots in the "position of the week" (cycled evenly)
5) Move out to 100, 200, and/or 300 yards and shoot the last ten shots of the day.

And for days with scored targets:

1) Sighters at whatever distance the target is to be shot at
2) Shoot all targets repeating step one when distances change
3) Shoot the dot drill @ 50yrds
4) Shoot the "position of the week"


Does this sound like a good plan? Is there anything you all would advise I change? Am I forgetting anything important?

Oh and one last question: I've been shooting off of the bench for my entire shooting 'career' and consider myself pretty good at it. It's 100% comfortable and familiar, so, is it counterproductive to spend so much time on it? In other words, should I cut back on the amount I shoot from the bench and put that time/ammo into a different position?

 

[JoeMartin]

Re: What Does Your Practice Routine Consist Of?

I think your plan looks good, Dylan.

I don't think you spend to much time at the bench if that is your main objective and you're good at it. If anything I would look to duplicate the bench shooting with an alternative to the bench, say something like over a tree stump or barrel, prone or setting.

I shoot offhand only because the .22 & muzzle loading competitions I attend require this, as do some of the matches here. But if bench is your strong point, I'd say keep it your strong point and don't risk losing any edge on that. The other shooting disciplines will fall into place I feel under your training/practice day outings.

 

[armorpl8chikn]

Re: What Does Your Practice Routine Consist Of?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Does this sound like a good plan? Is there anything you all would advise I change? Am I forgetting anything important?

Oh and one last question: I've been shooting off of the bench for my entire shooting 'career' and consider myself pretty good at it. It's 100% comfortable and familiar, so, is it counterproductive to spend so much time on it? In other words, should I cut back on the amount I shoot from the bench and put that time/ammo into a different position? </div></div>

Dylan I am not trying to belittle your acheivement but we all shoot good off the bench. The bench is where you test loads if you must. After a load has been established leave the security of the bench and do some shooting using different positions, don't rule out practicing the standing shots it will help your overall shooting. Most of us old guys grew up shooting game from any field expedient position that would give us a little advantage over offhand. For a long time I thought a truck hood or side view mirror WAS a bench. I don't know how long your career has been but what you may need most of all is mileage. Keep at it and keep plugging, proficiency takes time and effort. It seems you have your head screwed on right and headed in the right direction just be careful not to over analyze.

 

[Greg Langelius *]

Re: What Does Your Practice Routine Consist Of?

I, too, support the viewpoint that the shooter needs warming up before doing same with the firearm.

Back when I was fit and whole, I would do some pretty extensive stretching before a High Power match.

Nowadays, a combination of physical factors makes shootng prone/supported only marginally achievable, and is accompanied with both fatigue and discomfort, no matter how I do it. I simply can't make it more than about halfway through a 20+ round string of fire before I'm essentially trembling and exhausted.

I've tried stretching, snapping-in, even OTC painkiller premediacation. Nothing really helps much.

So, never giving up; I figure anything's worth a try.

I think my next approach will involve the sitting position. Considering how lousy my prone is these days, it could even be an improvement.

Greg

 

[bubajoe]

Re: What Does Your Practice Routine Consist Of?

I shoot RBA rimfire targets from prone. After settled in I'll shoot another target to a timer that randomly goes off between zero and ten seconds. I'm not shooting for speed but to try to speedy my acquisition of the target and test ability to hold the crosshairs on target until it's time to shoot. Targets are at 50 and 100 yards.

What I'm not doing well is shooting in alternative positions or from the weak side...

 

[steve123]

Re: What Does Your Practice Routine Consist Of?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: TerrorInTheShadows</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I love entering into a thread to see some good humor

Okay, so far what I am seeing is that I should practice anything that I have any interest in being proficient in correct? So if I want to be good at offhand, then I should be shooting offhand for at least a small portion of the shooting session. Now, considering that I would like to be very well rounded some day, practicing everything fairly often should yield a major advantage to my growth.

Considering I usually shoot anywhere from 100-200 rounds per day at the range, would shooting a group in each position be good enough? Or should I plan it out so that I get more time spent in specific positions and do them less often.

For example, this weekend I may shoot my comp target and then move on to offhand practice, then to sitting, and finally on to support side from the bench to round out the day. And then next weekend I will start up with prone off of the bi-pod, move on to prone slung up, and finish off with support side offhand. Just for example. Would this be better than doing it all for a small amount every time? Or should I start a diary as mentioned above to learn which works best for me.

I do however like that you all seem to agree that a "warm up" isn't entirely necessary, although if it is in any way shape or for, I do have it covered in my spotting shots. However, this brings a question to mind...

I have done a fair bit of research on competitions and it seems that the majority of them allow the shooters to have time before the actual competition starts to shoot practice rounds. I personally start to notice my own fatigue at about 250 shots. For someone more experienced than myself I'm sure the endurance level is much higher, but does this mean that this practice, or warmup for the match as I see it, is counterproductive or does it have a viable purpose? If so, then what is that purpose?

Overall, I get the feeling that shooting at least one session of the dots upon each range trip has produced alot of improvements for many shooters out there and I think that adding it to each session at the range would be a very helpful and productive thing to do correct?

Thanks for all the help so far guys, looking foreword to reading more replies soon!

-Dylan
</div></div>

You'll find some positions are harder for you than others.For instance I can shoot offhand about the same as kneeling because kneeling is my weakest position.It's very uncomfortable and awkward to me so I need to practice it more often.I used to shoot Silhouette so offhand is a stronger position for me.I don't need to practice it as much.

Just getting down into position and familiarizing yourself with the sling set up and intricacies of the different positions will help a lot.You can do this in your back yard and do some dryfire with snapcaps.

The main thing to concentrate on is quality of practice not quantity.I'll use a friend and pistol practice as a example.He wanted to go to the American Handgunner World Shootoff with me so we started practicing 3-4 times a week a couple months before the match.I had been going for years and had worked my way up from "D" at the beginning into a high "A" classification whereas he was just starting out from scratch with pistol.Even though I explained to him over and over "NOT" to try and shoot at my ability level he just couldn't get it in his head to slow down and hit the steel with proficiency at his "D" ability level.The saying comes to mind - you can't miss fast enough to win.He would strive to shoot as fast as I could and he ended up developing bad habits in his pistol shooting form and had a tough time at the match.Mind you that he had shot upwards of 4000 rounds in practice but the practice had a large degree of inefficiency to it.

I think the best advise I can think of with practicing rifle and (still teaching myself every time I go out) is to wait for the shot to be right.Don't compromise the shot.

 

[gjantzer]

Re: What Does Your Practice Routine Consist Of?

Nothing like a gay lion to stir up a thread.............you cage too many male lions up in general population and this can happen

 

[Dylan in AZ]

Re: What Does Your Practice Routine Consist Of?

I think I need to start stretching more often... Which brings me to another question (which I've asked before but here it is yet again for more responses hopefully)

I go mountainbiking on the weekends and I don't really know if I should be doing this after my shooting sessions or if it is okay or even beneficial if I ride before. We don't do anything too hardcore but with the Arizona desert heat it can take alot out of me and sometimes leave me a bit shaky. Other times I may feel strong and stable because of the great workout.

I usually keep the shooting for the early morning and ride afterwards but could there be a legitimate reason to reverse my schedule and obtain similar or perhaps even better results than I'm currently getting?

 

[Oodin]

Re: What Does Your Practice Routine Consist Of?

I would say it depends on what you are training for. If you can shoot good after an exhausting bike ride, all shaky and shit, then you should be able to shoot even better after just a proper stretching and warm up routine before a match. A lot of guys like to simulate stress and will do sprints before getting behind the rifle. This way you need to practice calming yourself down quickly and making your shots count.

If you're trying to be your best at your practice sessions, then I would say bike afterwards, if you're trying to be the best overall shooter you can be then I say go shoot when you're exhausted and shaky and see what you're made of. Of course that type of training doesn't benefit the new shooter who doesn't have a baseline of performance to compare to, nor does it help with perfecting your fundamentals.

Bottom line, I would continue to bike afterwards.