Profiling Handgunners

[JTROKS]

I shoot my revolvers out to 25 yards or 50 yards. My shooting experience is very similar with the OP. I have a 10.5" Super Blackhawk and TC contender in 44 mag that I enjoyed shooting in Silhouettas Metalicas. Bullseye shooting taught me a lot, but in my younger days I wanted to shoot USPSA Open division. I did it religiously for 1.5 decades. Now with kids I can't really afford to shoot every week. I just shoot to keep proficient and also teach my trigger slappers the fundamentals. My oldest boy is the hardest to teach due to his favorite game, Call of Duty. Nowadayd most of the people that are shooting on the line can't even tell they have a bad case of the flinch.

I in no way trying to offend anyone and if I do I apologize in advance. PM me to let me know is also welcome, but be nice about it. This is probably more than a year ago. Last time I was at an indoor range there were two guys a few lanes to my right talking up a storm. I had my Pro-Ears on with plugs so I can hear mostly all the talk near me. They were saying, "That N..... is dead", while snap shooting from low ready position. Their targets were full size human silhouette at 7 or 5 yard line. Yes, all their rounds hit inside the silhouette, but most of the center mass hits are scattered all over the torso and about 25% of the hits are near the outline. I also over heard them say, "S...! This is hella fun", so for me as long as they are safe and having fun it's a plus for us gun owners. Well, maybe they could've pulled their pants up.

[Pally]

Nice post. It made me think about my own shooting skills.

I do tend to put my targets out at 7 yards at the indoor ranges.

I personally attribute it to my poor vision. It may sound like a lame excuse, but I like to see where my shots go, before I pull in the target. Perhaps I am just impatient.

Come to think of it, in these last few years, most of the training I received was to put the target out at 7 yards, for self-defense purposes. (I assumed that was because I am a woman).

I am OK with this type of training, although I am very interested in pushing out the target to 25 yards soon when I get my new eyeglasses.

I'd also like to do some ld rifle shooting outdoors, if only I had the time!

[iCalvin]

[Click Boom]

I appreciate you taking the time to speak on your experiences OP.

[ScorpioVI]

I think the old "aim small, miss small" has a lot to do with the lack of proficiency in this new type "Call Of Duty Generation" shooters. These indoor ranges mostly just have silhouette targets and instead if aiming for a little dot, any hit inside the silhouette is "good enough".

I'm a volunteer RSO at a local range. The range is owned by the city (our club runs it for them) so the Parks & Rec department has a "no silhouette" rule in place (PC purposes). It's funny how quickly newcomers will tighten up their groups on the bullsye targets when they see the shooters to their left and right shooting tiny groups. Increases accuracy by way of public shaming/peer pressure.

I still get a few lost causes every now and then who are simply intent on sending good money downrange as fast as possible but what can you do.

I forgot to mention that we don't have rentals at our range so that cuts down on the dumbass factor quite a bit. 13 years I've worked as an RSO and I've only ever had to kick out one patron who I judged to be unsafe (despite my repeated talking to), and one kid who walked out on his own because I jumped all over his *** (he swept the entire line, including me, as he was uncasing his AR behind the line, then had the gall to bust out the "but it's not loaded" line).

[Tok36]

I appreciate you taking the time to speak on your experiences OP.

Agreed, Thank you for the insight OP. Interesting stuff.

[tomk556]

I'm not implying that there is anything bad about this. I am merely presenting my observations of the transitioning from target shooting to combat shooting.

I like the way this is said. I'm just old enough to remember the before times. I remember going to the rifle range and seeing lots of bench rest shooters with wildcat calibers or guys practicing with weighted ARs for DCM matches. That was only 10-15 years ago. I'd perhaps say the world, for whatever reason, shifted from shooting for the sake of shooting, to shooting for the sake of training? "Training" is probably too generous to the modern epoch.

In ways I miss bench rest shooting and DCM matches. I was too young for target pistol matches. The discipline is definitely much different. If I was able to shoot a few afternoons a week, I'd probably go back to some of those disciplines, but on the whole I'm more interested in controlled pairs and running and gunning these days.

hehe I shouldn't but the thought cracked me up: who would win in a fight? Three old timers with wheel guns with target sights spaced 100m away from twelve guys with glocks, armor, etc.? The image just cracks me up- on one side, dudes firing with one hand in a pocket, pausing after each shot to stare down a spotting scope and have a sip of diet 7-up, and on the other, a dude dumping a mag from inverted prone...

[ScottyXbones]

Well, we have a little more information now than we did in the 70's, most importantly that a .45 is not a one-shot showstopper.

Since the need for self defense changed from cattle rustlers to street gangs/muggers, the tools for the job changed as well. A 1911 is accurate and packs a punch, but difficult to conceal and a hassle to spend all day with. Not to mention the 7/8 rd capacity if you ever have to defend against multiple attackers.

The polymer "wonder nines" are more durable and not prone to rust, and in free states will hold 17 rounds. They're lighter and easier to conceal, which means you're less likely to leave it at home, but they are not necessarily tack drivers.

Tl:dr Today shooting is done more for utility than pleasure, it's a product of the changing culture in CA. All of the gun owners have left, so young people are introducing themselves to guns and don't have a mentor, time to perfect their techniques, or a place to shoot other than a range.

[Chaparral]

There's precious little I like more than ringing 40, 71 and 130 yard steel at Angelus with 1911s and wheel guns. I've had other Calgunners along with me hitting a gong at 35 and 50 yds with a subcompact xd40 and a Para Ord warthog.

Ill run stock Glocks and XDs in competition so that is what i try to practice with at least 50% of the time. The rest of the ammo gets fed to some very nice 1911s and 2011s and revolvers.

I thought I'd never set foot inside an indoor range again after my first IDPA match but i find that punching holes at indoor paper is satisfying so long as I'm improving at a particular thing like split times etc. I run my targets out as far as they'll go because in competition, I'll get dinged either in seconds for being too slow or getting -3s for being too sloppy. Practicing at 20-25 yards helps me where the cardboard bad guys and poppers are a ways out.

[teflondog]

One of the problems I have with indoor ranges is that they're poorly lit compared to shooting outdoors. Because of this, I can't shoot past 15 yards since I can barely see the target. At an outdoor range, 25 yards is easy.

[NapalmCheese]

Heh, I get giddy when I can hit an 8 inch plate at 100 yards with a Glock 29. I would be ecstatic if I could do it 3 times in a row.

[phantomx48]

I shoot indoor ranges a lot, and I also do outdoor and take lots of classes. I think the key here is having a wide range of skills under ones belt. An accomplished shooter should be able to hit decent groups at 25 yards, but also be able to quick draw and engage a target at arms length. These are two very different skills that require very different training. If someone is at the range every week, but only practicing one of these two, then they are doing a serious disservice to themselves. Also, it seems to me that those tight groups at 25 yards help you hit a man at 7 yards with adrenaline pumping, while if you only practice at 7 yards, and are hitting dinner plates, then you might miss completely under stress.

Oh, and don't get me started on people who think they are bad *** operators because they stand in an indoor shooting bay twice a week and put a few hundred rounds down range. Standing still is great for bulls eye, but it will get you killed in a self defense scenario. Moving and shooting is hard, and require tons of practice, which you obviously can't get at the indoor range.

[jpx0123]

I used to shoot at 15 yards and then I stopped for almost a decade. I picked it back up and found I was nowhere near as good as I used to be (not that great to begin with but decent). so I started back down at 7 yards to fix my issues. grip, trigger work.. etc.. I worked on getting my groups to as small as I could. when I take my time at 7 yards I do maybe 4 inch groups and was getting it tighter each time I went to practice. but recently I decided to change my style. I figured if I ever had to do a HD or SD situation that I wouldn't be able to take my time to aim and do things properly. so I started training on getting on paper with the tightest groups I can while shooting 1 shot per second to get back on target as best as I could. I would do faster but indoor ranges don't allow for rapid fire. when I can get down to a good group, say around 3 inches at 7 yards with as quick successive shot as I can, I will go back to taking my time to do a quarter sized hole for 10 shots at 7 yards. when I get there, I plan on moving the target out farther and farther until I can do it at 25 yards.

[Issara]

I go to indoor ranges since I am in the city too and want to go to outdoor some day, I use bulls eye targets and keep them at 15 - 20 yards. I have yet to do 25. My groupings seem ok at 10-15 but not mainly on the red dot. I need practice. I have a GP100 6" and I use a scope and set it usually to 3-4x for 15 yards, It helps a lot with trigger control and I do not flinch so it lets me keep the bobbing down more as time goes.

[SomeGuy75]

When I go to my local indoor range, about 50% of the time I am practicing for competition. Most of the competitions shoot at closer distances so that is what I practice. I prefer to practice mag reloads, draw and double tap, multiple targets etc. I usually keep this between 7 and 15 yards and try to keep all rounds in the 8 ring.
25% of the time I am practicing for a possible CCW encounter, I rarely go past 7 yards, and that's drawing from concealed and putting shots on center of mass as quickly as possible.
25% of the time I will do slow, controlled fire at 25 yards trying to get the tightest group possible.

One of my favorite drills is to load only 4 or 5 rounds in my revolver and fire it till I hit the empty space and see if I am flinching. Even though I have been shooting for 35+ years, I still think this is one of the best drills you can do to keep on target. And it's something I do with every new shooter I go to the range with.

I agree with the OP, the dynamics have changed since I worked at a range in the late 80s. But there will always be the guy with the $3000 gun that can't hit the 8 ring at 5 yards lol.