How much ammo to use for practice?

[Kourosius]

Hiya, Gents,

Just wondering how much ammo you should go through to keep yourself proficient with a firearm. I know the standard answer is always "it depends," but I'm curious as to what you gents do.

I have an AR-15, a tactical 12-gauge and a Glock. I go to the range about once a month and go through about 100 rounds on the AR, 20 on the shotgun and about 100 on the Glock. I feel like I have plateaued accuracy-wise, but I don't know if going through more rounds at the range or going more often would help.

[russ69]

10 good shots is better than 100 bad shots. I shot "Bulls-eye", you can only shoot so many shots before your performance goes bad. I very seldom shoot more than 50 or 60 shots in a half day of shooting. I never try to practice more than one discipline at a time, unless I need to test fire something.

[Can'thavenuthingood]

Proficient?
A subjective term?

An amateur practices until they get it right.

A Professional practices until they cannot get it wrong.


I suspect it depends on the depths of ones pockets or anticipated threats.

Vick

[bob7122]

Proficient?
A subjective term?

An amateur practices until they get it right.

A Professional practices until they cannot get it wrong.


I suspect it depends on the depths of ones pockets or anticipated threats.

Vick

this^ also i go to blm and make my own course and practice doing time trials and quick reloading.

[ExtremeX]

Personally, I found it isn’t how much ammo, but how often I shoot.

My local range membership was a fantastic purchase, since it allowed me to come and go freely without feeling the need to bring a bunch of stuff or ammo when I had to pay per use.

Since the range was local and something I pass by often it wasn’t a big deal to just pop in and shoot a box, sometimes less. I used to do this 3-4 times a month (sometimes more) which probably averaged out to 200-300 rounds a month shot from my pistol.

[ratled]

Doing things other that shooting in between range time also helps and keeps the round count (expenses) down too. Dry fire drills, IADs etc can all be part of keeping proficient.

As a minimum, I have always liked the adage Doing something fire arm related weekly, shoot monthly and take a course annually


ratled

[autoduel]

Depends how bad of a shot you are.
Depends on your objective, type of drills and how many variables are involved.
Practicing prone at a 200 yd target generally doesn't need as much as shooting offhand at 50yds.

[Kourosius]

@ExtremeX @ratled thank you, gents. some sound advices there. i should probably do more dry fire drills.

[18Dmedic]

If you plateau, as in any sport or endeavor, you must push yourself harder and further. But you must do so safely. I recommend taking a good training course from a good instructor. A couple come to mind right away. My friend John teaches for Grey Group Training. Also, Max with TFTT is awesome. In NorCal, Gordon and Pat with Gray Ops Training is top notch. But you need a good instructor like these guys that can push you and do so safely.

As for amount of rounds. 300 rounds pistol and 300 rounds rifle should be good for a controlled, deliberate training session for a civilian over a weekend.

FYI, For perspective, I used to run 3000 rounds a week in a Tier 1 unit. Including numerous subject matter experts consulting, myriad of situational awareness training, etc...but that's for military.

[CrippledPidgeon]

Hiya, Gents,

Just wondering how much ammo you should go through to keep yourself proficient with a firearm. I know the standard answer is always "it depends," but I'm curious as to what you gents do.

I have an AR-15, a tactical 12-gauge and a Glock. I go to the range about once a month and go through about 100 rounds on the AR, 20 on the shotgun and about 100 on the Glock. I feel like I have plateaued accuracy-wise, but I don't know if going through more rounds at the range or going more often would help.

If you feel that your abilities have plateaued, take a class. If possible, take a class from someone you've never taken a class from before to add more tools to your toolbox.

As russ69 said, 10 good shots are better than 100 bad. Along the same lines, 50 shots per month are better than 100 shots every two. Don't throw good money after bad, so if you're not having a good shooting day, and it's not getting any better, stop shooting. If you can't afford the ammo, dry fire drills are great for maintaining your feel of the trigger.

[gemoose23]

There is always something else to be better at.

Drill: http://benstoeger.com/joomla30/index...he-accelerator


There is always something to work on... just find your weakness and practice..

Attend local matches, USPSA, IDPA, 3 Gun. etc.... Watch fast people perform on a stage and you can directly compare contrast your speed/ability with your stage score.

[Ritchie8719]

If you can practice from holster, weak hand, and one hand, with the option of concealment, you are doing plenty. Blasting from a rest, more than enough.

[toby]

All depends on how much you suck at shooting.

[Kourosius]

@18Dmedic @CrippledPidgeon @gemoose23 @Ritchie8719 thank you, gents

[CK_32]

If its legit practice there is no number. You practice until you see fit, kinda like asking how many ground balls do you take when you practice, Cant really say you go until you've learned something or get it down pat.


But if you mean just a typical range day as practice I usually take about 200 per caliber per range trip, more depending on how many people I have going with me or meeting with.


I always bring more than needed just in case, I know some who bring all they can afford, and some who bring enough to run out to make sure they limit their stash.