Do your groups get worse after a couple of hours at the range?

Went shooting this morning and was doing very well until a few hours had passed and my groups started opening up after about 300 rounds. Earlier in the morning I was drilling out little holes in the middle of a 7 yard target and was even doing well with my support hand for once.

At that point I decided the target had had enough and packed it up.

Does this happen to you? Is it eye fatigue? grip strength?

It's fatigue. Happens to everyone not a cyborg.

Nope. Usually better. Focus. Aim small. Take your time.

My pistol groups get horrible after 10 minutes.

Generally better, then worse. Warm up, get in the groove, then get fatigued and/or recoil shy, start flinching, and groups open up.

Taking a break helps. But too much shooting at one time invariably causes my accuracy to degenerate.

Not really. I get tired of shooting or run out of ammo before I get fatigued from shooting.

Mine usually improve as well. As the day goes on I increasingly concentrate of breathing, grip, trigger control, and I get better.

But once in a while the first round out of the gun is dead center... when that happens I'm tempted to pack up and leave because it's going to be downhill from there

same here.

i need to stop after the first reload.

i don't know i guess i start trying to compensate or something and i go from ok to shit.

I experience the same thing, but I think it's because I get excited because I'm doing well and start to lose concentration and shoot faster than I can shoot well.

Yeah. Trying to shoot small pistol groups gets tedious pretty fast. I'll only shoot about 30 rounds of slow fire before moving on to some faster shooting. I really like the 3x5 card drill for slow fire practice. I start at 3 yards, and then 5, 7, 10, and 15 yards. The goal is to put 6 rounds on a 3x5 card before moving to the next distance.

For sure!

I expended 220 rounds of ammo today, 100 from a C-Mag, the others from 30 round magazines. I used the C-Mag exclusively at 200 yards, sitting position. I don't know how many times I hit the X-Ring, but after 40 rounds I was getting badly fatigued. I had to stop and rest a few times. Still, most of my hits were in the black portion of the target.

The best thing to do is bring 100 rounds of centerfire ammo to the range and a 22 caliber gun and 500+ rounds of 22

shoot the 100 rounds of 223 or 9mm or whatever and MAKE them COUNT

then go to the 22

A 22 is a real gun, if you cannot shoot a 22 well, then you cannot shoot a centerfire gun well.

Use the 22 for ammo wasting and high volume practice - it's invaluable for those two things.

If you're you're going to waste ammo, it might as well be 22. Even the full auto guys buy 22 kits.


A lot of young tacticool guys turn their nose up at 22s since it doesn't fit their goofy high speed / low drag veiw of the shooting sports, but it truly is an invaluable tool in the toolbox.

In addition to the low ammo cost is the fact that the guns themselves are dirt cheap. A ruger 22/45 and 10/22 will run you less than $400 together.

My best pistol group of the day is always from the first mag. After that, it just starts to open up. I probably should practice more than I do.

my best pistol group is normally my 2nd or 3rd one. after that, i start loosening up. this means that fatigue is setting in and that i need to shoot more and flinch less. same for unsupported rifle. with supported rifles, i tend to get better as i go along because i'm relaxing and focusing better.

my brother is way worse than i am––his first pistol group is usually a ragged hole. then he starts thinking too much and it's like opening the choke on a shotgun.

Guys, shooting is a craft, just like playing golf or tennis

If you cannot hit after 10 minutes of shooting them you need to study up on your technique

You probably are making some fundimental mistake that you can overpower for ten minutes until your concentration breaks down

Shooting should feel like playing a video game, your brain should relax and concentrate on its own. You shouldn't be straining to hit something.

In fact its the opposite, if you are straining that is detrimental to shooting well.

Put your gun in your hand and point it with your eyes closed. That'll tell you a lot when you open your eyes, see where the gun is pointing.

Also, have a friend hand you a gun so you don't know if it's loaded or not and fire it downrange. On an empty chamber, you'll see a lot of weird stuff, the gun jumping all over.

Yep. physical and mental fatigue.

Here's another thing -

The old guys, from my dad's generation, were fanatical about shooting well.

You'll notice that they tended to shy away from really hard kicking, short barreled guns because those kind of guns are really hard to shoot well.

That's why they loved 38 special. Because the cartridge is actually fairly powerful and it has outstanding accuracy with little recoil and muzzle blast. Also, S&W revolvers had a superb single action trigger.

I'm often surprized by a lot of the guns that people pick for themselves now, they are really stacking the odds against themselves.

Muzzle blast from a short barrel alone is enough to keep you from being a good shot.

Yeah, but what one man can do another can do.

It's within anyone's ability to pass the "paper plate test" at 25 / 100

Not me because like most typical Arfcom-ers' I can shoot better groups than what is advertised on the actual box, offhand.

Yep. I'll see some improvement but by the end of a few hours I'll start slipping.

My shooting falls apart after the first magazine or two because of my neck injury. I hold up well with my rifle because of the sling but my pistol is another story. When

Not if you start from smallest cal to largerst

My shooting tends to get bad after 40ish benched rifle rounds for accuracy. This is mainly due to boredom.

My pistol groups get horrible after the first shot...

I'm terrible at pistol to begin with. I start with rifle because it's more fun, 100 yard steel ringing over and over with a cheap red dot is just fine for me.

Then I shoot my Glock at 7 yards but no more than 150 rounds. Just enough to practice trigger control and such.

I do not compute what you're saying at all. Whether I'm tuning in a reload, running a time clock on drills, function checking gear, or just shooting at shit for the LOLz, I can spend 5-8 hours easy out at my range. The last time I went shooting, I was gone for two days. (carbine training weekend)

There's sort of a curve. I start out okay, get better as I get into the groove, then at some point I start getting wore out and getting worse and worse.

Did the wind pick up?

Did you start rushing shots?

Did the sun increase the temp of your rifle/ammo?

Something changed, you just need to figure out what it was then you can correct for it. Most of the time people get bored and start rushing shots.

Yep. I will generally put in a dip of snuff and crack a mountain dew, and take a break. The first hundred rounds of pistol I am fine but after that I have a harder time concentraiting on the front site when shooting pistol. Take a break, dont wast ammo IMO.

I cant do that. If I start with .22 and go to hell even a 9mm, my shooting is not as good as if I go the other way. Same as rifle, If I start with .308 and go to .223 I am fine, the other way .308 kicks my ass

Yup, after about an hour and a half or so of handgun shooting, it just pays to pack it in because I begin to feel like I'm just wasting ammo.

It's not the guns, and im sure that physical fatigue plays a role; but it's my eyes that begin to fail me first.

Yes, especially with the .375 HH Mag. I just know its gonna hurt, and each shot adds to it.

absolutely yes.


I seem to shoot my best after I've been there about 15-20 minutes. Initial shots are ok, they get very nice, and then after an hour+ I get a little wild.

Mine get worse the second I start pulling the trigger

it's like working out.
you hit your workout with intensity and focus, then go home and relax.
shooting is no different.

I usually bell curve my performance. Shoot crappy groups first mag or two, tighten up after that before opening up after an hour or two.

First post and all.

Yes, It happens to me.
When it does I go up to the 3 yard line and do concentration drills....

Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Usually depends upon what I'm shooting, how tired I am, if I need to eat, etc.

If I'm shooting groups and I start shooting like hell and get frustrated, I will pack it up and shoot something else, like steel. I always try and end up a good note.

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