What do you do with your range time?

[Blanman]

Ok, here's a discussion topic for you guys. What target sizes do you guys usually practice shooting at (1 MOA, 2 MOA, or more?) when you go shoot? Feel free to include distance as well as shooting position (prone, slung kneeling, some kind of barricade type support etc). I know there are a lot of you guys out there that are shooting quite a ways!

Do you feel that you get valuable practice in every time you go shoot? If so, what do you do to make it valuable?

 

[djskit]

When I only have access to my club's 300 yard "public" range and have limited time:
Cold bore on a 1 moa target at 200
Five rounds for grouping at 200
5 rounds at 300 on a 1 MOA target
200 yard KYL drill (self made target)
2 shots at 1 moa targets at 150, 200, and 300 and back in as fast as I can get hits (on the clock).
Sniper's hide 100 yard dot drill

 

[2clicks]

I shoot high power. I practice with those black bulls eyes with iron sights. But The best training aid I've come across is a torso sized piece of steel 12 inches wide and 24 inches tall and a 10' circle at 600 yrds which is my ranges longest distance (12x24 is great cause I'm an MOA guy with My ffP scopes I can practice range estimation too at any yardage). You can really see the wind picking up and letting off and also you can see the impacts on steel and the affect the wind has on your shots I paint my steel flourescent orange only because it's the best color to see the hits distance. White is not so good. I can usually get 10 good shots off with any scoped rifle before the target needs a new coat of paint. (great use of time it's hard to see holes at longer distances) I use a data card to record the shots and try to plot & call the shots. By far it's been the best wind reading education yet. Oh take a tape measure too that way you can see exactly how far a given wind pushed your shots off. Takes the guess work out of windage correction. I shoot sitting and prone mostly but there is always the 200 yard standing to work on for the high power matches and most of that work is done in the basement on a black dot on the wall. Valuable practice every time I can get out! yeah the bitch is making sure you have your shit all together so you can get some work done when you get there. I'm most productive with one rifle and it's data book. I make my own out of heavy card stock and a little 3 ring binder.

 

[BlackWhiskey]

I place my steel at ranges that give me about 1moa - 2moa of target area depending on the shooting position. I find I get lazy with my positions/technique when I engage larger targets. It feels good to hit a coldbore shot at 1000yds, but when it's 36", it doesn't tell you much.

 

[wigwamitus]

Ok, here's a discussion topic for you guys. What target sizes do you guys usually practice shooting at (1 MOA, 2 MOA, or more?) when you go shoot? Feel free to include distance as well as shooting position (prone, slung kneeling, some kind of barricade type support etc). I know there are a lot of you guys out there that are shooting quite a ways!

I usually shoot on private land, sometimes on public ranges. On private land I can get to 600yds at public ranges, usually only 300yds. Target sizes vary from 6 inch circles ( to simulate local range smallest 300yds gong ... i.e. 1 MOA) to 21x28 NRA Target #1 sillouettes. I usually shoot prone bipod, but have also shot sitting bipod, kneeing bipod and standing tripod, depending on the terrain. Around where I am (Flint Hills Kansas) the grass in the pastures can get up to chest high, so lying down in that grass you can't see more than a few feet ... hence the need to get up higher.

Do you feel that you get valuable practice in every time you go shoot? If so, what do you do to make it valuable?

When I go out by myself, I also use a "structured practice" concept. I always have a shooting goal and plan to meet that goal. I only take the ammo called for in the plan. Occasionally, I engage in "social shooting" where we go make some noise. I don't think I get valuable practice from those activities, but I do get valuable social time.
Examples: For night shooting, I spend more time navigating than I do shooting. I try to navigate with minimal visible light. I have a 3 lumen (yes 3 not 3000) nav light, that has red, blue, green and white. If I need some light in the open, I turn on the red. It is only visible for a few feet in front of me. I also use a walking stick if possible. All nav aids do is increase your speed to closer to daylight speed. So I've learned I need to set time limits. All exercises have time limits. This also helps mitigate complaints from wife about (what are you DOING out there! ).
When totally on foot, I try to minimize the gear I'm carrying. The land around here has trees, creeks (pronunced "crik") hills and pastures.
But the basic idea is to hit what I am aiming at and challenge myself to do things I have never done before, and plan our the exercise and grade myself depending on whether I accomplished the goals within the allowed time/ammo limits.

 

[40xs]

What do I do with my range time? Hmmmm, let me think.....here lately it's been whatever my wife wants to do. LOL.

 

[0481]

I shoot my guns

 

[downrange67]

1. Cold Bore at a 1/2" dot at 100 yards
2. dot drills
3. positions
4. hold overs
5. Hot bore
around 2 hours of range time

 

[Notso]

I always start out with a cold bore shot at whatever the furthest range I can shoot. Usually 400 yds or 600m depending on which range i start on. it focuses your mind and makes you really think of the environmentals correctly. I finish up a string of 4 at the same target to see how consistent I am before I am warmed up.

Then I do whatever I came to do for the day. It might be load testing, chrono work, steel at long range, carbine stuff, box test on a new scope, pistol, positional shooting and dot drills for an upcoming tac match or whatever. I think if you do the same thing every trip, you'll get stale and/or bored. Above all else, have fun. It's not a job (for most).

 

[TheMonge23]

When I only have access to my club's 300 yard "public" range and have limited time:
200 yard KYL drill (self made target)

At the risk of showing my ignorance, what is a KYL drill?

 

[djskit]

Know Your Limits. Progressively smaller targets engaged from largest to smallest with one shot each. Hit the first one and consider moving on to the next. You "lose" by missing. So you have to know when to stop and think hard about where that last bullet went before deciding on engaging the next.

 

[mountainman308]

This is my practice regime geared towards F class. Done in 2 hours (if the range runs smoothly) with 120 rounds.
2x 5 shot groups at 100yds
2x 5 shot groups at 200yds
2x MOA dot drill at 100 yards (10 dots)
Same as above with time constraints
2x 1/2 MOA dot drill at 200 yards (10 dots)
Same as above with time constraints
All remaining ammo (20 rounds if I shot every drill satisfactorily) is mixed with snap caps and loaded into mags by a shooting buddy for a blend of fundamentals focus and flinch tests.

 

[todd]

I've been working dot drills at 100. Started with 1" dots, but I like a challenge, so now I'm working on 1/4" dots. Just to work on fundamentals and consistency. When I get out to the 300 yard range, groups on 1 MOA targets. Mostly prone supported. Learning how to shoot from a pack, and working on standing, kneeling, and prone unsupported. Work in progress.