Range Practice Tips

[ah141nj]

Hello Again,
New to the shooting sport.
Any advice or suggestions on how to spend my practice time at the range? Dont think just going there to shoot will make me a better shot.
Any drills or techniques to practice?
Currently I shoot a "tweaked" Glock 19 & a XD 45 service.
Right handed & left eye dominate, so I am going to start turning my head to the right with both eyes open.
Right now I want to be accurate & consistant, then I will like to try IDPA competition.

[Thekatar]

I would recommend some formal training first, and then you can practice what you have trained.

[ah141nj]

Nobody else has any suggestions...wow.
Hard to believe with this large opinionated group.

[ah141nj]

Thanks all

[P-11 shooter]

training, read what you can find. and come to the group shoots! There are alot of places that run idpa shoots that you can go and shoot. You might suck at first, but the more you do it the better you will get, and there will be lost of people to tell you what you're doing wrong.

[DaveM55]

Originally Posted by ah141nj

Nobody else has any suggestions...wow.
Hard to believe with this large opinionated group.

That's because Thekatar hit the nail on the head.

Buy more ammo and some formal training, you won't regret it.

[Lycanthrope]

It depends on your application. Do you want to compete, carry or just be a good shot?

In the meantime the best thing you do is ......every day......dry fire. But...make sure you see the front sight and keep it in focus while you do it.


Lycanthat'sastartthrope

[Philadelphia]

I've started practicing with a pellet gun and a BB gun at home (basement). Makes dry fire practice less boring and you can see where it hits. I actually enjoy it almost as much as shooting "real" guns for the most part, and both are pretty darn accurate. My shooting has improved a lot and I've discovered and fixed flaws in my technique that I doubt I'd ever have realized otherwise.

The trigger pull on the BB gun must be about 20 lbs. Turns out to be good practice for proper grip and getting the trigger completely independent of the grip.

Airsoft is pretty good too but better for "live" drills (shooting moving targets while moving, retention, disarming, etc.). Wear eye protection.

In addition to safety (always comes first), shooting is aligning the sights and pulling the trigger without disturbing them. Not any more to it. Like golf, you can spend the rest of your life trying to perfect those simple acts in a variety of circumstances.

Oh and of course, training. You can spend months trying to fix something that a good instructor or coach can tell you exactly what you're doing wrong and how to correct it on the spot.

[BullfrogKen]

It really depends on what you want to accomplish and your personal goals.


If your goal is putting holes on paper in tight little groups, then find a bullseye competition and participate. Do you intend to hunt with a handgun? There are so many different aspects to the sport of shooting.

You didn't buy .22 competition guns, or something for hunting. You got something more appropriate for practical use, which suggests that your goals are geared towards self defense. Your training should reflect that. Living in New Jersey I doubt you'll be carrying it, though.


Find a club that hosts some of the action pistol sport activities and join it. Go out to a practice or match, make some friends, and shoot with those folks. Its impossible to teach shooting fundamentals over the internet; you need to learn those skills in person from someone else who knows them and has the gift of imparting them to someone else.

I'd also recommend getting some professional training. But are you at the point that you see the value in paying for it? That's a question you must answer for yourself.

[DanV1317]

You dont need to go to the range to practice. You can practice your dry fire, draw, movement, shooting from around baricades, mag changes and just about everything else in your living room. Just dont put any ammo in the gun or near the gun.

Just show up at an IDPA match and watch or bring your gun. They love new shooters. Just ask around what to practice, or you will get an idea of the patterns that are shot, the standard stages to practice, or the certain movements.

Dont be afraid to just show up and tell them you're a new shooter. Bring you gun. Some people say go watch, i say if you're going to drive there, bring your gun. The Safety officers will help you get everything in order so you're safe and have fun.