Packed range, at least 15 shooters and that's right for a hot second I was a little smug and then I realized.........holy hell I suck actually what does that say about these 14 other folks!!!!

So sadly less of a celebration of my skill and talent and more of an indictment of the others folks.

But hey in that small pond today I was a big fish for a hot second.

Take care, shoot safe,
Chris

Pistol/rifle targets that look like shotgun targets is the norm at most public ranges.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
Pistol/rifle targets that look like shotgun targets is the norm at most public ranges.

Yep, that's true. Except for the Squad I shoot with, that is. In their case, the targets look like long time proficient shooters shot them, and that's true. My Squad has been shooting together once a week minimum for over 10 years at this point and take pride in their marksmanship.

I rarely go to public ranges anymore, but did last week with my FIL when were were in FL visiting. The girl in the lane next to me on the pistol range was shooting the ground in front of the target, which was hung about 5 feet off the ground at 7 yards. It might have been partially due to the 2" finger nails...I can't imagine that contributes much to proper grip or trigger control. To her credit, she did a good job keeping the muzzle down range...I stood back and watched for a while before taking my lane because I had concerns.

There was another dude shooting one-hole groups with a Kriss Vector. I wasn't too terribly impressed with that at 7 yards until he started doing the same thing with a 1911. There are still some good shooters out there at the public range.

Then we moved to the rifle range. I had the binoculars and was spotting for my BIL, and at one point the guy 2 lanes over put 3 rounds in our target, then denied doing it. It was only a 25 yard target, and they were numbered...BIL was not shooting at the time and that guy was...I literally watched 3 holes appear in our target as he fired. Another kid was shooting an AR pistol without sights on it, and rounds were going over the berm !

Had a good conversation with a guy about his new 1894 in .357...he was having some trouble getting it dialed in. Hopefully I gave him some hope. Another good ol' boy was breaking in his new 1895 SBL in .45-70, was doing a good job of it, and appeared to be having a blast...which IMO is a requirement when shooting a .45-70! Not sure how they sourced those two rifles right now, but if anyone is wondering where all the nice Marlins are, apparently they're on the Gulf Coast around the Florida/Alabama line.

My typical shooting MO is to grab 1 target, flip it over and run 3 small 3 inch targets, usually one per gun. Usually around 10 yards or so.

I had folks looking at me like I had 3 heads as they blazed away at 5 or 7 yards with an ENTIRE FULL SIZED TORSO full of holes. I kid you not there was a dude running a 12 gauge printing tighter. . I mean I guess this is usually the case and maybe it’s because I don’t get to shoot as much and I just happen to really notice today.

I mean I generally put a box of 50 into a palm or hand sized group with the occasional couple shots flying a bit wider if I get a little to lax with almost any gun. I am passable. Today however, you would have thought I was Taran Miculek.

Again it probably comes from shooting far less then I have in past years and I am just noticing it more.

The thing that frustrates me about public ranges is they leave the line go for so long that your target is just one big hole by the time you get to switch it out, and you can't see where you're hitting. At this particular range, you were only allowed to hang one target at a time, too, so that made it even worse.

I ended up hanging a dot torture target, that way I had 10 2" points of aim at 7 yards to work with. It worked out pretty well...still not as nice as shooting at my club back home during the day on a weekday, though, which is my usual MO. I also paid 1/4 of my annual club dues for just one day for me and my son at the Alabama place.

I change targets constantly. Paper is cheap. Ammo is not.

Yeah that’s why I typically just use the target as a backer for my targets. No point is using that giant ass torso when I am only going to use 4 or 5 inches or so of it.

Dot torture is a good idea though.

Almost never shoot at a public range because I've always been lucky enough to have a private gun club fairly nearby. But even at a private club I usually feel like I'm some kind of weird outlier.

For example, at the rifle range it seems like every other shooter is there to shoot off a bench with sandbags or a rest up front and a rear bag. They are either there to get a new scope set u or to plink off the bench.

If I go to the range it's generally to work on some aspect of my marksmanship. That's either shooting my AR offhand slow fire at 50-100 yards. Or shooting from low ready/rapid fire at 25-50 yards. Or trying to hit 6"steel plates at 200 from a siting/prone position.

Or I'll take my pistol and shoot at paper at 25 yards offhand. Or at steel plates if I go to the pistol range. Of course the pistol range is set up with 6" steel plates that are approximately 15-20 yards out. Great if I'm trying to improve my speed. But if I want to shoot for accuracy I generally find myself stepping back so I'm 15+ yards behind the firing line to make it somewhat challenging. (And for you safety nazis, I obviously only do this when there is not one else at the range, much less on the line).

In any event, I feel like I'm the only one who has a specific goal for each range session, rather than just showing up, blasting away at some targets for 30 minutes and then leaving.

And one other thought on targets. Am I the only one who uses 3" sticky shoot and see targets? I just slap one (or several) on an 8.5x11 piece of paper. If I'm shooting a red dot pistol at 15-20 yards it makes a challenging target. If I'm zeroing a rifle or trying to gauge the accuracy of ammo it's a great target at 100 yards. And they're super cheap. I think 100 of the shoot and see stickies are about $7-8. And the 8.5x11 paper is $10 for 500.

I have a folder of targets on my computer. I print out what I like and keep them in a binder in my range bag. It just costs me printer paper and some toner. I might go through 20-25 of them at a range session, depending upon what I'm shooting, so buying targets would be painfully expensive.

I tried something new my last indoor range trip. At 5 yards i shot my normal right two hand grip and alternated with left two hand grip. After that I shot single right hand grip and alternated with single left hand grip. Used 2 firearms, a full size and micro compact. Have not done that for quite awhile. What an eye opener. I encourage everyone to alternate hands once in a while.

I am a member at a local range that has a day shooter side and a members only side. I love it that way. I can shoot and move and ALWAYS have an entire outdoor range to myself. The day shooters are very closely monitored every 20 mins while the members are checked on roughly every hour. There are holes in the supports at the daily shooters side that makes you wonder what the hell.

So there I am at an LGS' gun range a week and a half ago, finding out what ammo my Kimber Rimfire Target likes and what it does not, and adjusting the sights.

Guy a couple lanes down, when I stopped to clear away the brass: "Are you training for competition?" (I'm shooting one ragged hole, less the rare flyer, at seven yards or so. This guy's got targets well under that that look like he'd taken a shotgun to them.)

Same thing earlier this week. Heck, even out to twenty yards I'm keeping them mostly in the ten-ring. (At twenty yards the ten-ring on an NRA B-8 target is just a round, red blur for me.) Here's a guy two lanes down with his target not fifteen feet out, spraying 'em all over creation.

Then again: I'm shooting slow-fire. These other guys were just blasting away.

I dunno... If I'm going to be blasting away I'll put a full-size silhouette target out at seven yards and practice double- and triple-taps.

And, even then, if it looks much worse than this, then I ain't doin' it right:



(That was with my Ruger LCP-CT .380 ACP at ±7 yds. It's a remarkably shoot-able little pistol.)

How a target “looks” doesn’t mean a thing to me. It’s the quality of the training I get to put in.

Watching gun handling tells me more about someone’s training, or lack there of.

In my experience attending a USPSA match works great for bringing almost everyone back to Earth.

Cool. I was shooting a P2000SK……….sort of like a life raft gun to that MK23. You know you hang 4 or 5 of them off of it in case of emergencies.

quote:

Originally posted by YVK:
In my experience attending a USPSA match works great for bringing almost everyone back to Earth.

Attending? I would think participating? Perhaps that's what you meant?

I've been meaning to give USPSA or IDPA a try for years. Maybe this coming year will be the year?

I've also found nearby clubs that hold pin-shooting and steel challenge matches.

I think, were I to do it, I'd start with pin-shooting (I've done that before--it's fun), then go to steel challenge, then to IDPA or USPSA.

I’ve done IDPA and it’s a lot of fun. You will learn alot about your shooting and gear. You will also learn there are some robots masquerading as humans out there shooting because they are INCREDIBLE.

quote:

Originally posted by jljones:
How a target “looks” doesn’t mean a thing to me. It’s the quality of the training I get to put in.

Watching gun handling tells me more about someone’s training, or lack there of.

That's the scary thing and why I don't go to public ranges anymore.
You can tell instantly who is a 1st time shooter is and who has years/training. New gun owners who just bought the pistol/rifle/shotgun that day and show up are safety hazards if they don't have someone there that knows what they're doing.
I have a friend who bought a 30 acre farm and he's no farmer. He set up a pistol range and long distance rifle range complete with dirt backstops. I just go there.
I know some may not have that luxury so a public range is all they have.