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Sidearms & Scatterguns When shooting your handgun at the range.

Re: When shooting your handgun at the range.

anywhere from 1-50yds normally. Every once in awhile I shoot a steel target at 100yds
 
Re: When shooting your handgun at the range.

I always love answering questions this way..."It Depends."
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It depends because I shoot handgunds for a LOT of different reasons some of which require VERY short ranges for practice (a few steps) and others require shooting targets from longer ranges (50yds). I occassionally shoot out to 100yds+ just for the hell of it (steel and clay pigeons at 100yds is a lot of fun and can really make you concentrate/work hard on fundamentals of marksmanship because even small "issues" are magnified at greater distances).
 
Re: When shooting your handgun at the range.

Practice from 50 and in, experiment out to 200 just to see where to hold to get close and get hits.
 
Re: When shooting your handgun at the range.

Defensive practice generally at the 7-15 yard range. Accuracy practice, 25+. Actually shot my Buckmark on steel at 230 yards a couple of times, its pretty fun. Steel at 100 is tons of fun and makes you better in a hurry.
 
Re: When shooting your handgun at the range.

Defensive practice generally at the 7-15 yard range. Accuracy practice, 25+. Actually shot my Buckmark on steel at 230 yards a couple of times, its pretty fun. Steel at 100 is tons of fun and makes you better in a hurry.
 
Re: When shooting your handgun at the range.

Defensive is 15yds and under. Target at 25', 25 yards, and 50 yards.
 
Re: When shooting your handgun at the range.

1/2 of arms length to the target to 100 yrds.

Standing
Seated
Seated in the vehicle with seat belt on, vehicle in gear
Kneeling
Kneeling in back seat of the vehicle 'attending to a task'
Prone
Supine
Roll Over Prone
Walking
Running
Forward, backward, laterals
Freestyle, strong hand only, weak hand only
Cover
No Cover
Daylight
Low Light
No Light


.......as one once told me a long time ago - "MSU" - Make Shit Up....start with your daily life and base training off of it...get to the 'zombie attack' some time later.


Good luck
 
Re: When shooting your handgun at the range.

Normally 25 yards. Defensive 5 ft to 5 yards, speed is all I am after. Hunting 100 yards but I have never taken game at over 65 to be honest.
 
Re: When shooting your handgun at the range.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: nock</div><div class="ubbcode-body">All distances!!! </div></div>

What he said.
 
Re: When shooting your handgun at the range.

10 feet to 25 yards. Someday i'll make it to 50 yards...
 
Re: When shooting your handgun at the range.

Frequently I shoot a plate rack at 20 yds, freestyle, strong hand, and weak hand. Instant feed back and quick to reset.
 
Re: When shooting your handgun at the range.

all distance when just shooting...but when i am really practicing i stand at 7 yards and shoot at homemade targets with 5 quarters scanned on a piece of paper...if 1 nickel is missed i start over...

i have discovered this to be the easiest and most efficient way to practice....i use dimes scanned on paper now, but nickels still work
 
Re: When shooting your handgun at the range.

I always practice at the 7yd, 15 & 20yd distances. I shoot at the 25yd but I don't think this is a realistic scenario, if I have that much distance between me and a threat it's time to move out! Just my .002
 
Re: When shooting your handgun at the range.

I use my handgun to hunt whitetails in Ohio so I practice at 50 to 150 yards. I've been known to take some shots quite a bit further.
 
Re: When shooting your handgun at the range.

It's good to see more people practicing at 25 yards+. As for the whole "shooting from long distance is unrealistic"...I have some news: Shooting on the range (at all) is unrealistic.

You are there to develop and refine your marksmanship and gunhandling skills...extended ranges are all but required if you really want to improve.
 
Re: When shooting your handgun at the range.

Only one person mentioned shooting with their weak arm. Wow.

I shoot supported, unsupported, different positions, from a quick draw, moving in all directions, from cover, etc... If I can imagine it happening, I practice it. Ranges vary from 3 arm's length away (It's faster for me to use CQC techniques within that range to put somebody down/remove their weapon/snatch an eye ha!) to 100 yards. I haven't shot further than that because if I only have 3 mags and have threats that are forcing me to use my glock, I don't plan on exchanging fire or giving away my position from that distance (unless it's intentional). I would rather shoot once and put them down than send a hail of fire their way and pray one hits them. JMO

Doesn't hurt to try to hit something at 200 yards for fun though.
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Re: When shooting your handgun at the range.

All distances available. Shooting at long distances makes shots at short distances seem a lot easier.
 
Re: When shooting your handgun at the range.

Definitely all distances, from zero to 30 yards or so. While longer distance pistol shooting is good for training and evaluating technique, keeping training realistic is also important to me. The likelyhood of engaging a target beyond 30 feet is low for me (LE). So familiarization with a fast sight picture and keeping groups small at the short distances is more important than taking my time for long shots. That's what I have a carbine for.
 
Re: When shooting your handgun at the range.

Long distances (e.g., 25 yds, trying to keep all shots inside the x-ring of a B-8 slowfire pistol target) really do a lot to refine trigger manipulation. Teaches you what a good (aka, non-anticipated) shot feels like (and I need to be taught every time at the range, and reminded several times during any given range session).

I'll do a 10 round group at 25yds first thing during the practice session, then another 10 round group at 25yds the last thing in the practice session. Then, I'll work draws, rapid-fire drills, and others at 15, 10, and 5yds. Accuracy goal is to keep everything on all drills inside the A-zone of an IPSC target, IDPA target, or 6" circle.

I'd like to start working out to 50yds, as an instructor at a recent course had us do. Headshots on an IPSC target out at 50yds. One student who was shooting an M&P went 8/10 shots in the head. Incredible.
 
Re: When shooting your handgun at the range.

if it's a defensive pistol, never more than 10 yards. Beyond that you're not in fear of your life...according to what prosecution will say. Hell, I don't even have sights on my defensive piece.
 
Re: When shooting your handgun at the range.

Contact shooting to 50 yards tops, shooting no more than 20 rounds at 50.

occasionally I will shoot Steel at 100 yards with my g19 and g17 but i only do that when time permits and the range permits. just to practice the fundamentals
 
Re: When shooting your handgun at the range.

I always start at 25yds. 2 rounds in 4 seconds on the timer from the concealed draw. I have to do that for work so I run it 5 times. For the rest of the day I shoot from 7ft-25yds mostly. Like most of the guys above I'll sometimes go back to 100yds to shoot steel an practice fundamentals.

I'm a big believer in scoring everything for time or accuracy. This keeps everything constructive and it keeps me from just playing around.
 
Re: When shooting your handgun at the range.

3,7,15,25 yards .... and at times will do drills with hands on target...Will also shoot while moving and from behind fixed objects, weak hand/strong hand .....
 
Re: When shooting your handgun at the range.

25 yards is the standard by which most handguns are measured. I normally shoot at that distance and closer, but occasionally go further for the practice. i always fire the first few mags from my Ruger 22 to get rid of the jitters. Its much cheaper to blow some 22 round vs .45