Pistol Distance for Practice

[Jackson]

At what distance(s) do you typically practice your pistol shooting and on what type or size of target? I know most people probably vary this, but I am curious at what range of distances people primarily practice.

At what range do you consider yourself effective and how do you measure that? What distances start to challenge your marksmanship?

What do you consider a "long" distance for pistol shooting? Is it different for "practical" shooting type stuff vs "bullseye" type shooting?

 

[451_Detonics]

The Practical event in Action Pistol has you shooting from as far back as 50 yards, other competitions are much closer. It all depends on what you are practicing for. Start close and work back while maintaining good groups.

 

[Bapak2ja]

7-10 yards practice. If I can cover the group with my hand I am satisfied. My hand is roughly the size of the heart at COM. Just my way.

 

[KLB]

I also practice in the 7-10yd range. I generally use a 66% torso.

 

[gregkl]

Noob here. But if I am shooting slow, I practice at 10-15 yards depending on the firearm I am shooting. I use a IDPA type target since I am trying to learn how to shoot action pistol. The slow bullseye style shooting is not my cup of tea.

I consider myself effective at 15 yards by being able to keep 100 rounds or so in the "A" zone which is typical for my practice sessions. At 20+ yards my marksmanship is being challenged for sure. I consider 25 yards to be long range for me. I definitely think it is different for "practical"(if I understand what you mean to be action style like IDPA, USPSA, CASS. etc) vs. bullseye.

For me, when I try to shoot fast, I totally crash. 7 yards is hard for me if I try to put 3-4 rounds on target.

 

[chezuki]

Anywhere from near contact distance out to 20-25 yards for self-defense type practice. I like to incorporate forward and reverse movement as well as lateral to make sure I know how much (if any) of the sights I really need to see at a given distance.

While basically all of my pistol shooting is done with my carry gun these days, I do still like to throw some rounds at the 100yd gong with it every once in a while to ensure both the pistol and myself are up to it. I can't imagine a defensive scenario where I'd need to shoot much past 25yds though.

 

[Rob377]

42 ft, 7.3 inches.

 

[Jackson]

42 ft, 7.3 inches.

I was under the impression from other threads that you did a lot of stuff on the timer and kept track of your performance pretty closely. I assume (and maybe I shouldn't assume anything on here) that distance is a factor in that, and even your performance might vary as it increases?

Was it just that dumb a question? Am I asking it wrong? (I know worrying about my effective range will probably get me killed on the street, but I spend more time playing on the range than in the street anyway. )

 

[EyeCarry]

7,5,10 yrds in that order of use. I print off targets found online on 8 1/2 x 11 sheets of paper. Some with 5 small bullseyes and others with multiple 1" red dots aligned on a grid. I've been thinking about printing some zipper targets to use (crotch, heart, head)

 

[halfmileharry]

My practice line is 20 yards to start. It's also where I set up my bows and archery practice.
I shoot out to 90 yards sometimes depending on weather, wind, etc. Mostly it just depends on my mood.
I like to practice longer than I need to in case one day I need to.

 

[chezuki]

Bicycling blindfolded will get you killed on the streets.

 

[ADDICTED2TONE]

I've shot my pistol as far as 350 yards at steel pigs and bears just because I can.. After 3 shots and a liberal dose of Kentucky windage I'm makin hits.. Mostly I shoot 25 yards and 7 yards with my handguns.

 

[ryan3030]

I typically shoot at 45 feet. When shooting slowish (1-2 second splits) I should be able to keep all my shots in a 6" circle from that range.

When shooting quickly I should be able to keep all my shots in a torso at that range.

 

[CB45]

At what distance(s) do you typically practice your pistol shooting and on what type or size of target? I know most people probably vary this, but I am curious at what range of distances people primarily practice.

At what range do you consider yourself effective and how do you measure that? What distances start to challenge your marksmanship?

What do you consider a "long" distance for pistol shooting? Is it different for "practical" shooting type stuff vs "bullseye" type shooting?

Good thread. I typically practice shooting targets between 2-20yards for USPSA. Measuring successful target engagement depends heavily on the goals.

Good luck finding a correct answer.

 

[Jackson]

Good thread. I typically practice shooting targets between 2-20yards for USPSA. Measuring successful target engagement depends heavily on the goals.

Good luck finding a correct answer.

Thanks for the response. I am not really looking for a correct answer. I'm just curious what people are doing at the range. I've started to do more >20 yard shooting when I get the chance to hit the range. I'm hoping if I get used to shooting at longer distances it will make the shorter ones seem much easier.

 

[chezuki]

Thanks for the response. I am not really looking for a correct answer. I'm just curious what people are doing at the range. I've started to do more >20 yard shooting when I get the chance to hit the range. I'm hoping if I get used to shooting at longer distances it will make the shorter ones seem much easier.

For me it seems that if I spent too much time shooting at longer distances it actually slows me down for a bit once I move back up because I start looking for more of a sight picture than I really need at the closer distance. This phenomenon is what caused me to start varying distances frequently during range sessions.

 

[romack991]

My typical practice varies from 7 to 25 yds. ~15 yds being most common, just far enough that you need a decent sight picture but within the range to run the gun fast. Full and partial USPSA targets. 8" steel.

Every once in a while, I like to shoot longer 50 yd mini poppers or 100 yd USPSA targets. I'm usually not focused on time but I expect myself to be able to make hits at that range.

Almost never shoot sub 7 yds unless we are getting bored with practice and throw in some Mozambique drills or mag dumps to see how fast we can get our splits. That is hard on the ammo reserves though.

 

[CB45]

I'm hoping if I get used to shooting at longer distances it will make the shorter ones seem much easier.

To an extent this works. It all depends on the goals. Slowly shooting 50yard targets won't mean you can shoot 20yard targets fast.

Edited to add: The reverse also applies. I once got owned by a ironed sighted shooter at the 50yard line. He is a fundamentally better shooter and it showed at the 50 yard line.

For most action shooting sports, I think shooting targets from 5-20 yards will take you a long way.

Bullseye and Bianchi may be a little different.

 

[halfmileharry]

I don't think a repetitive distance is an issue except to keep you sharp in any circumstance. I think the whole deal is just to get enough practice to be sharp and stay sharp at any distance so it all comes natural.

EDIT: I'm only referring to self defensive practice and not paper or steel punching.

 

[451_Detonics]

A good practice drill is the El Presidente

Range: 10yd
Target: three IPSC targets spaced 1yd from each other shoulder to shoulder

Start position: back to targets, hands above shoulders (“surrender position”), pistol concealed

Rounds fired: 12



At the start signal, turn, then draw and fire two rounds at each of the three targets. Perform a reload, then fire two rounds at each target again. There should be four hits on each target for a total of twelve.
The classic standard was to perform the drill in under ten seconds with all A-zone hits. Any run with less than 12 A-zone hits was a failure.

Do it in 10 seconds with a carry gun and you are getting there...