Pushing Yourself at the Range

Many of us, myself included, do not get to the shooting range nearly as often as we want to.  Of course, if I had my choice, I'd be at the range every day.  So, that means that we need to make the most of our time on the range.  A caveat here, if you do not have a solid foundation of skills, go back and read my last post, about building up basic shooting skills, before you attempt to push your comfort level.  But, if you can consistently hit where you want during slow fire at a static range, then start challenging yourself.  Remember that safety is always paramount while you are handling firearms, and all the rules of firearms safety should be obeyed at all times.  Also, be sure to obey the rules of whatever range you are shooting at.  I am fortunate enough to belong to a private shooting club that is more lenient on what they allow than many indoor or public ranges that don't allow things like drawing from a holster on the range.

So, what are some things you can do to challenge yourself at the range?  The easiest that can be done at almost any range is increasing the distance, and/or decreasing target size.  Decreasing the target size can fairly closely simulate extending the range you are shooting at.  It isn't exact or perfect, as somethings like wind calls, and learning the trajectory of the bullets flight can really only be learned by shooting at longer ranges.  But, it still will present more of a challenge.  If you have the ability to shoot at longer ranges, then take advantage of that, and work your way out to longer and longer distances.  On my last shooting trip, here was one of my shooting positions:

I was shooting a pistol, the Ruger Mark III .22/45, at 50 yards, supported on the hood of my vehicle.  Yes, those white things in the distance, specifically the rectangle in the center of the 5 targets, was my target, at this range, with that pistol.   I worked my way out to 50 yards during my range time.  Everything under 25 yards was done offhand, standing with no support.  But, I made sure I had good groups at 7, 10, 15, and 25 yards.  For me, I considered good groups to be all rounds within 2-3 inches, while keeping up a tempo of a shot every couple seconds.  After I was getting the results I wanted at 25 yards, I decided to move back to 50.  I have shot a pistol at 50 yards before, but I was really more of making noise than seriously attempting to make longer than normal pistol shots.  I did also allow myself the use of a support device (the hood of my vehicle), while utilizing proper cover for these shots.  The odds of ever needing to defend myself with a pistol at a distance of 50 yards, while I have a vehicle handy are probably approximately 0%, but, it seemed like a good experiment.  And at any distance, if I can move to cover and support my shooting position, I will.  So, how did I shoot?

I fired several magazines from this position, but this was the first one, so it seemed the most fair to put a picture of it up there.  All 10 rounds were on the piece of paper, and if you take out the flier at the bottom, it is about a 4 1/2" group, which I am pretty happy with at that distance.  I wasn't using premium ammo or anything either, just normal Federal bulk pack high-velocity .22:

Some other ideas if you want to push yourself at the range:  Shoot while moving, or after pivoting.  Move towards/away from the target, side to side, and at the diagonals (see my note on safe behavior above).  Practice drawing and shooting.  Practice drills like a double-tap, Mozambique or failure to stop drill.  Practice multiple target engagement, where you have more than one target, and need to put rounds on each, in proper sequence, as fast as possible.  Shoot with your non-dominant hand.  Shoot from different positions than usual, shoot while using cover.  Induce stress and fatigue, do calisthenics for 60 seconds before engaging your target.  

Really the possibilities are endless, and limited only by your own imagination.  But, if all you do is stand static at the range, square to the target, you are never going to challenge your abilities and allow them to grow so that you can use more advanced techniques.  So, next time you find yourself at 7 yards, shooting slow fire, consistently putting all your rounds where you want them, find some way that your range allows to spice your range time up, and make the most of it.  If you have solid fundamentals, you may surprise yourself.