Posted: 3/29/2023 5:55:24 PM EDT
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I'm not a newbie to firearms or shooting, but a newbie to consistent training. I've taken defensive pistol and carbine courses, have had a CHL for over 10 years, but have never sat out to train and definitely don't train/shoot regularly. I want to change that. Like many others, the two limiting factors are time and money. I'm looking at an annual membership at a local range to avoid range fees, but I'm wondering for someone who knows how to shoot but can certainly stand to improve, will 50 Rounds a week shooting 9mm be enough? Is there any type of proven threshold for training volume to actually get consistent groups with speed? Thanks in advance. |
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50 rounds a week will be more than 90% of shooters. Like going to the gym, have a plan before you go to maximize your 50 rounds. Dry firing throughout the week before you hit the range will also give you the reps needed to build confidence in your shooting process. Lots of good resources out there for dry firing. |
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Originally Posted By 58Teague: 50 rounds a week will be more than 90% of shooters. Like going to the gym, have a plan before you go to maximize your 50 rounds. Dry firing throughout the week before you hit the range will also give you the reps needed to build confidence in your shooting process. Lots of good resources out there for dry firing. Thank you. I'll start searching dry fire training. |
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50 rounds a week is pretty good for most folks that aren’t carrying guns for a profession or training for competition. Add in dry fire a couple times a week, and you’ll be ahead of 90 percent of gun owners. Get a timer, and shoot some drills that have measurable standards. Just shooting 50 rounds with no plan or goals will be less effective. |
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Originally Posted By Drengr: 50 rounds a week is pretty good for most folks that aren’t carrying guns for a profession or training for competition. Add in dry fire a couple times a week, and you’ll be ahead of 90 percent of gun owners. Get a timer, and shoot some drills that have measurable standards. Just shooting 50 rounds with no plan or goals will be less effective. Thanks for the reinforcement of having a plan. That's part of what I was hoping to get out of this post. 50 rds a week, how can I make them count? |
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Originally Posted By cXpSRi3x: Thanks for the reinforcement of having a plan. That's part of what I was hoping to get out of this post. 50 rds a week, how can I make them count? Originally Posted By cXpSRi3x: Thanks for the reinforcement of having a plan. That's part of what I was hoping to get out of this post. 50 rds a week, how can I make them count? Try a few of the 50 round range guides like TrexArms and Clint Smith has one too I believe. Might find some on youtube. Also, police or federal handgun qualifications are sometimes 50 rounds. They are a great way to get a baseline. After that, its go where your ability takes you. Isolate what basics you need to improve, find specific drills for those and then progress into a variation of drills like 25 yrd B8 slowfire or Bill drills. This site helped give me a few ideas on what to practice https://tacticalhyve.com/shooting-drills-the-ultimate-list/ Originally Posted By ruger556boy: Just shooting is not training. Take a class, that actually is training, then practice what they tought you. Sounds like he has I've taken defensive pistol and carbine courses |
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Originally Posted By vengarr: 50 rounds a week is a great amount. Buy ammunition by the case. Thanks. I usually do, but I haven't purchased ammo in a while. I still have around 600-700 round, so it should me started as I choose the right range for me and research training topics. |
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Originally Posted By 58Teague: Try a few of the 50 round range guides like TrexArms and Clint Smith has one too I believe. Might find some on youtube. Also, police or federal handgun qualifications are sometimes 50 rounds. They are a great way to get a baseline. After that, its go where your ability takes you. Isolate what basics you need to improve, find specific drills for those and then progress into a variation of drills like 25 yrd B8 slowfire or Bill drills. This site helped give me a few ideas on what to practice https://tacticalhyve.com/shooting-drills-the-ultimate-list/ Sounds like he has That tactical hyve site is an awesome resource, thanks for posting that! |
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5×5 Drill is only 5 rounds. It's a good start for balancing speed and accuracy. Bill Drill 1 & 2 burn a bit more ammo, but are well worth it The Test is more advanced |
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As others have said, you’ll be training FAR MORE than the vast majority of “gun people”. As a Newb, working on safe gun handling skills, dry practice, etc is very important. It costs nothing but be HYPER VIGILANT about insuring your weapon is unloaded and no live ammo is nearby when doing this at home. I’ve been carrying since 1992 and have witnessed a couple of bad things happen when people get lax with the basics (usually due to over familiarity). |
| Everyone is different OP. Different money, time etc. Use the 50 rounds to achieve something as oppose to just plinking. Try for a 5" group at 10 yards for the last 5 rounds of the day for example. Next week if you make the five inch group reward yourself with a second try at it. Things like this do make you focus. |
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Do what you can with what you got. When ammo qty is tight, having a decent plan for use is probably handy. Down load magazines- i.e, put 6 in a full capacity magazine, etc. in order to maximize mag changes, etc. Lots of dry work between range sessions will help also. I'm helping some friends that do combatives with gun training. We do a regular session of dry work and then every few months live fire at our range. I can certainly see the progression in the ones that are regular to the dry work sessions and practice at home. But you still have to convert money into sound.... It can't be all dry work. |
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Like others have pointed out, have a plan on what your shooting (practice) will involve. Strong hand, weak hand, emergency reloads, tactical reloads and if possible, move and shoot. Don't just stand and shoot at a target. If possible, practice different distances. There is no need to go through 100 plus rounds each time you go to the range. Also do not load your mags full. I load 2-5 rounds in a few mags and mix then up. That way I have no idea when I am out of ammo. |
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It depends on how you utilize the limited time and ammo. Used judiciously, 50 rounds / week can certainly keep fundamental marksmanship skills sharp. Draw and fire one round 3x from close range (3 - 5 - 7 yards) into the ocular window (9 rounds). A couple series of Bill Drills at whatever distance is appropriate for your skill level (12 rounds). Shooting several "slow and deliberate" 5 round groups at 15 and 25 yards (20 rounds). Then maybe several series of "shoot two rounds / reload / shoot two rounds" to practice speed reloads (start the sequence with one round in the chamber and one round in the mag in the firearm). Bottom line is alternately work on your weakest technique and / or focus on basic marksmanship as outlined above. |
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TonyF
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"No such thing as tough. There's trained and untrained. Which one are you?" (Denzel Washington -- Man on Fire)
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OP- Training can be very subjective. To begin I would identify the objectives you want to accomplish in your firearms training with realistic goals achieved per expected time period. Determine a good mix of dry practice that will complement your live-fire 50 round practice. What Tactics, Techniques and Procedures (TTPs) or skillsets are you striving to achieve, and are you logging your dry practice and live-fire practice sessions to identify your strengths, weaknesses and gains? Creating a robust firearms training program for your expected needs, you’ll need to be honest with yourself to determine your useable firearms skill set and determine what skills you’ve learned along your firearms journey that have held the test of time with positive results and still offer that flexibility for growth. My almost 30 year career in the firearms training field I encountered a lot of people who over complicated their firearms training and failed to identify the most important skillsets of the basic marksmanship fundamentals. Example: Step 1: ID your strengths and weaknesses; Step 2: Design a firearms training plan that will measure and strength your firearms objectives and expectations; Step 3: Establish a scheduled time table and resources dedicated for the training plan. Since you indicated 50 rounds a week, then will design a robust dry-fire practice sessions that will validate your live-fire sessions. For every live round fired, your plan should include at a minimum 10 dry-fire trigger pulls, which is about 500 dry-fire trigger pulls a week. For a 5-day practice plan that’s about 100 dirt-fire trigger pulls per day. Step 4: As indicated, time is a factor, so setting aside 15 minutes of dry practice a day is feasible within a 24 hour period. As you progress you can always add more time to your dry-fire practices to build stamina for live-fire sessions, just be cognizant not to burnout during dry practice. It will carry over to live-fire sessions. Step 5: Keep your training fun and invigorating. You’ll recognize the time when its a life saving skill your learning and applying, and when it’s just to let your hair down and have fun! ( I shot for 17 years on my National Marksmanship unit. It started out as fun but then became work and I pursued the peak skills to win matches! Take a few steps back and identify your strengths and weaknesses, and log them into your training book. Design micro drills, both dry-fire and live-fire practice sessions that will test your perceived firearms skillset to measure your abilities in the mental, visionary and physical planes. Don’t be afraid to experiment and fail in your practice sessions, that’s how we excel. Failure points bring out our will to strive, excel and improve our abilities for continuous improvement! Best of luck in your training journey and best wishes! |
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50 rds a week is 200 rds a month, is 2400 rds a year. 9mm is currently about $250 a case (1k rds) including shipping. So, for about $625, you would have 2500 rds. That does not include range fees or gas for your car to make it too/from the range. For about $900 you could purchase a Cool Fire CO2 dry fire system and a Mantis X10 Elite and be able to “shoot” as many rounds as you want, whenever you want. If you only “shoot” 50 rds a week, it will take about 18 months to pay for itself,(based on ammo prices alone). If you “shoot” 100 rds a week, it will pay for itself faster. You might consider going that route. |