Reality check: How often do you REALLY practice?

I think a number of posters have identified the major problems preventing many folks from practicing like they should:
1. Time, or lack thereof
2. Money, or lack thereof
3. Range rules that all but prohibit effective defensive handgun practice
As far as the esteemed posters on this forum are concerned, I don't think there is any problem here with lack of desire to hone our skills or to prepare for the worst. It's more a case of easier said than done.
One of the reasons I became a range master is so I could practice my self-defense shooting without other range masters jumping all over me. You see, I'm disabled, and depend on the use of a cane to walk. I've even been known to use a walker from time to time (nasty little motorcycle crash a few years back). I'd show up at the local range, and begin practicing self defense shooting, and because of what they perceived as my "frail condition," the range masters on duty were scared to death I'd hurt or shoot myself LOL. They still won't let me participate in their three-gun matches (which makes sense, since I can't run anyway), but I do get to shoot the pistol stage, and usually school them in the benefits of self-defense handgun practice.
Bigray

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Originally Posted by BigRay

I think a number of posters have identified the major problems preventing many folks from practicing like they should:
1. Time, or lack thereof
2. Money, or lack thereof
3. Range rules that all but prohibit effective defensive handgun practice
As far as the esteemed posters on this forum are concerned, I don't think there is any problem here with lack of desire to hone our skills or to prepare for the worst. It's more a case of easier said than done.
One of the reasons I became a range master is so I could practice my self-defense shooting without other range masters jumping all over me. You see, I'm disabled, and depend on the use of a cane to walk. I've even been known to use a walker from time to time (nasty little motorcycle crash a few years back). I'd show up at the local range, and begin practicing self defense shooting, and because of what they perceived as my "frail condition," the range masters on duty were scared to death I'd hurt or shoot myself LOL. They still won't let me participate in their three-gun matches (which makes sense, since I can't run anyway), but I do get to shoot the pistol stage, and usually school them in the benefits of self-defense handgun practice.
Bigray

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Another good example of why we should never assume anything about someone! Glad to see you still get out there when you can!

And yeah, it looks like the main things holding people back from practicing as much as they want to is time, money, and the type of range.
But let's be honest here, we all pretty much like to shoot guns a lot, so I have a feeling that given the chance we would spend much more time and money shooting than we currently do.

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Originally Posted by Chad Rogers

Based upon my frequent observations when I go to the range I find it ludicrous to hear guys who are so fat that they look pregnant talk about how they are all about preparing for the worst case scenario. I just am dying to scream out to them "Dude, you can't even run 100 meters! You're only prepared for a small sliver of what might go wrong out there on the streets. You only possess a portion of the attributes and skills you might need to survive."

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^ :lol: Hey, I resemble that statement! :lol:

OK, not completely - but that's not all that far from the truth, either. :oops: OK, the 100-meter dash isn't a problem, but running away from a never-ending zombie hoard? yeah, I fail! :frown:

But that's where I'd like to point out something:

That none of us are ever truly "complete" in our preps. or training.

What one person may lack in fitness may be made up for by other skills. Maybe it's marksmanship/weapons manipulation. Maybe it's knowledge of medicine. Maybe it's exceptional interpersonal skills, be it intimate cultural knowledge or knowing the right language at the right time. Maybe that person knows how to work mechanical things better than I do - maybe they can fix that car or motorcycle in a way that I cannot.

I'd like to think that we're all on the path to bettering ourselves. Yes, I could be much more fit. Yes, I could use more H2H/knife skills. Yes, I could use more general outdoor survival skills - but those are areas where I'm actively self-improving, and that's how I hope others see it, too. :smile:

I live about 2 mins from my range. I have a full setup of steel targets as well as bunch of cardboard targets. I would say I practice 8 times per month. I try to run drills and practice both close up defense style shooting to long range 25 yards precision. 25 yards with a LCP is pretty tricky!!

I always plan to shoot once a week.It happends more often than not but sometimes life gets in the way.Shot this past tuesday. Practiced multiple target engagment with paper and steel.Intigrated plenty of reloads into that practice.Also worked on drawing from concealment and engaging targets.I am going to shoot the IDPA back up gun match on sunday.I am going to give that a whirl with the Mdl. 37 j-frame .

Private range so I can and do practice shooting with the draw, from retention, around barricades , shooting and moving and longer distance as well as with long guns. I get out once a month minimally , but usually much more than that.

"shooter sets up a target stand at five yards and another at maybe seven to 10 yards, then proceeds to carefully and slowly align their sights, then squeezes off about one round each five seconds."

Accomplished self-defensive shooting is a totally different animal than slow, methodical, paper punching. The two are pretty much in no way related one to the other.

QK you are correct but to many folks they are one in the same.

I can at least offer a solution to the non-pistol-friendly range problem. Go back a page or so and look at the photos I posted of our local range. Then consider the fact that five years ago it was an empty valley next to an abandoned county landfill. I asked the county supervisors if they would give the property to a non-profit, all-volunteer organization for the purpose of building a public shooting range. Not only did they say yes, but they also agreed to pay for liability insurance as long as it remained in operation as a public range. Volunteers were easy to find, and quickly began gathering gifts of materials, services (such as a month's free use of a bulldozer) and equipment (like a big JD lawnmower and a gas trimmer). A local farm equipment manufacturer donated literally tons of steel pre-cut for swinging plates, and I talked the county roads department out of a trailer load of used grader blades to use for hanging steel targets (they're absolutely indestructible!). From a very simple beginning, the facility has grown into a very shooter-friendly place, with a trap range, a three-gun range with two stages usually set up, a rifle range with targets at 100, 200, 250, 300, 325, 400, 500 and 600 yards, and a pretty decent pistol range. Both our rifle and pistol ranges feature covered firing lines (thanks to a grant from a casino a couple of counties away), and we even have a clubhouse/storage building that was donated by a local power company.
In other words, if you don't have the range you want, there's nothing stopping you from building your dream facility — and it doesn't have to cost you a dime! We charge a user fee of $5 per day per shooter, or offer a season pass for $40, so most anyone can afford to come out and shoot.
Bigray

And that is what made this Country what it once was. Instead of people standing around complaining about not having something and wanting someone else to give them what they want. You went out and did something about it.

GREAT JOB!

I practice weekly. I do practice accuracy but also drawing my weapon and shooting on the move. I'll be increasing my training soon for IDPA tho.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Originally Posted by BigRay

In other words, if you don't have the range you want, there's nothing stopping you from building your dream facility — and it doesn't have to cost you a dime! We charge a user fee of $5 per day per shooter, or offer a season pass for $40, so most anyone can afford to come out and shoot.
Bigray

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Hi BigRay:

I presume that you haven't spent much time around Chicago...

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Originally Posted by Gaius

Hi BigRay:

I presume that you haven't spent much time around Chicago...

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Ya from the news reports Chicago's range is the street, open every weekend with live moving targets. No user fee charge at all, that is unless you get caught.

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Originally Posted by RKM

One major problem is, many ranges don't allow for this type of shooting. I will only practice certain things when I'm at the range alone. My range is 95% old men who shoot skeet, .22 pistols and hunting rifles.

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This ^^^

I was lucky enough to live in states where ranges allowed the type of training OP has never seen. I put the training in practice in hundreds of practical shooting (IPSC, Steel, IDPA) competitions around the world. After settling here in Minnesota, I learned that one has to wait a year or two to become a member of one of those "old-men' clubs; and here we have the full circle - no practice.

The only way for my wife and I to practice (in addition to dry firing) is to rent a fellow's ranch an hour from the Twin Cities. There we have the whole range for ourselves twice a month for the entire day. One more thing, dry firing is an excellent method to practice every day.

My two cents!
Dry fire. Practice drawing and purposefully, intentionally dry fire. Using clothing you would be wearing. Use snap caps. Also, my eyes have been opened a bit by participating in action / defensive shooting events. Steel plate shooting events. At least shooting steel plate forces you to move your eyes quicker than normal and forces you to reload in a hurry. USPSA defensive matches help hone ones CC skills. It seems to me most people go shoot once a month or so and fire off a few rounds at a target, not even using a CC holster. Do they know how the weapon works? Can they clean it? Can they reload quickly? How do they react to a firearm jam, can they clear it quickly? Do they use the weapons' safety and can they do all these things without thinking about it?