Correction: Beware the man who shoots one gun. He will know how to use it.
This +1000 ^^^
for me it depends. If I’m just going for an hour or two, then usually just a few. If I’m going all day, especially if others I know will be there, I may take a bunch. I don’t always shoot all of them. Sometimes I’ll trade shots with others. Let them shoot something they like of mine and I’ll shoot something I like of theirs.
The range I go to is usually people who all know each other and is as much a social event as shooting.
In all fairness I don’t know who the original quote was credited to, but it was implied the gun was actually used. I think it was from the wild west days.
A handgun, shotgun, carbine, and bolt gun. All I really plan on owning, one of each type.
I see tons of people show up to the range with a few different pistols, and they can hardly stay on the black (or paper) of a B27 at 7 yards. If you can’t knock out the X ring of a B27 at 7 yards you won’t impress me with the 15 other handguns you own that you can’t do it with either. If one of the 15 is a Judge, thats a tell.
I’m much profficient with my pistol than my carbine, but that is only because of the training i’ve taken and practice.
Range time and ammunition costs money. I want to get the most out of what I carry everyday and what I may be expected to use, not a hobby or “hey look at this” gun.
Honestly, owning an AK doesn’t mean you suddenly are no longer capable of shooting your AR. Either a person is proficient with a chosen weapon or they are not. You can own just one carbine and not be able to do a damn thing with it, you can own 12 and not be able to do a damn thing with any of them.
By the same token you can be very proficient with a carbine and/or pistol. If you buy 12 more you are just as good as the day before you got them. I think this is just one of those things people let themselves be distracted by. More guns doesn’t make you any more or less skilled than you already are, it simply means you have more guns and have a wider knowledge of operating systems. Nothing more, nothing less.
But if you feel owning one gun gives you some kind of edge and it works for you, then that is all that really matters as far as your needs are concerned. You probably shouldn’t spend time worrying about other people and what they own. It is as useless as the guy who worries he doesn’t have enough guns yet and lets that distract him from working with what he has.
I just think demonstrated skill with a gun is more impressive than a gun collection.
I don’t have the money or time to invest to practice as much as I would like with what I have now, let alone spread across multiple types of the same platform.
Well that is another discussion entirely. And the merits of it depend upon the values of the individual. I know quite a few collectors who I would not call shooters as they are only interested in collecting guns and see shooting them as something that depreciates a collectible firearms value.
The only point I was making is that more than one gun is not a roadblock to skill. Training and practice are the only issues that factor.
And that being your situation it is perfectly reasonable for you to do things the way you are doing them.
So a couple of good points were made here by certain people that I failed to realize when I started this thread in haste. For one, I completely ignored the large group of individuals who shoot for recreation/sport and aren’t there as a means of training/practicing for use as a defensive weapon or hunting tool. There are also collectors who may shoot some of their firearms for pure enjoyment, with no real need to be proficient or master any such firearms.
Lastly, there are people like SteyrAUG (I’m not calling you out, and correct me if I’m wrong) who have firearms that they are proficient with and can use “at the limit,” so to speak, but also have a vast collection that would be purely recreational/collectable.
All that being said, I’ll stick to bringing less than four guns to the range. I hate loading anymore than that into my small Jeep and I would burn through way too much ammo and accomplish so very little while I am there.
Thanks everyone for their input.
I typically take one, or one type (1911) and do at least 500 rounds of drills.
But the one gun things is such a farce. I pick guns for different requirements, and then I train the shit out of them.
Daily carry, one of my 3 full size 1911s. They get used a lot. Gotta go small? Formal? MP9c. Off body carry? P7M13, etc. Like most other people around here, it’s use should drive the gear. I’m not going to off body carry a glock,etc. Not just cuz I have one gun and know the shit out of it.
Pretty much.
I usually have, as someone stated earlier, “chores” to do so it varies how many I take along. I do my chores and then I keep it to one carbine and one secondary. I always bring my patrol rifle along and shoot at least 20 -30 rounds out of that at the end of my session. Lately, I have been working on my handgun so I had my G34 and new G26 out. I ran about 250 rounds and did constant fundamental accuracy shooting today.
I would need a truck to get my whole collection to the range…:dance3:
Depends on what I’m doing. Today, I took one G23 and a case of ammo. I had installed a set of Trijicon HD night sights, and needed to get to know them and their POI on the gun. I’ll do some snub work tomorrow.
I try not to mix different systems in a given range session, and prefer to focus skill maintenance in one direction at a time. There’s a time and place to mix them, but I don’t do bring out everything at one time.
Usually 2 or 3, depending on what I’m doing. Almost always my AR, and usually my carry 1911 or carry Sig.
Sometimes I will bring both the 1911 and the Sig and put a few hundred rounds through both so that I get enough practice with both since what I carry generally depends on my chosen or required attire. Every once in a while I’ll also bring a conversation kit for either just for some funzies.
This all changes when I’m taking friends out to blast. Most of them aren’t gun people so I’ll generally bring a few rifles, and a few pistols so they can shoot whatever they’re comfortable with. Usually I’m doing more babysitting than shooting in these situations, but I try to limit my shooting to my carry guns even when there are more guns available.
I typically bring one or two guns to the range–no more than that.
One. Always just one. And I still don’t shoot it as well as I want to.
when going to the range to test or sight in stuff, i’ll bring whatever’s needed for that purpose.
for shooting, i’ll bring two carbines and two handguns, but only shoot one of each. the extra carbine and handgun are backups. it’s an hour to the range, so i’d rather be able to keep shooting if something breaks. however, i haven’t yet had to resort to the backups. they’re just there if i need them, and don’t cause any extra inconvenience to bring them along for the ride.
Rifle and pistola, I own maybe 4 or so guns now (down from dozens) the only reason I own more than my rifle and pistol are simply due to sentimental value of the others, never shoot them.
I moved this thread into Training and Tactics, as I see it as a viable question about how people use their range time.
Anyway, here’s my answer:
Usually 2, rarely 4.
The 2 that almost always go with me are my primary pistol and my primary carbine, as they are the center of my attention and I try to get live-fire practice with both whenever I go to the range.
Occasionally I will bring the j-frame, but to be frank I don’t shoot it much since it is an emergency/very close range tool.
Sometimes I will bring out multiple ARs, especially if I am rezeroing or confirming zero, or to run comparative times on different setups.
Whenever I take the shotgun out I alwasy take the pistol as well, as a little shotgun goes a long way for me since the primary training for SG is manipulations and reloading, for me.
One determining factor on what I bring to the range and why is the distance I have to travel to my “home” range, which is about 1.5 hours away. When I go to my local ranges I usually only shoot 1 due to range rules and turn-over time.
THIS is exactly the direction I’m headed. Now, I take one or two firearms on a trip to the range. About a year or so ago, I decided to get serious about shooting, training and becoming proficient. Instead of running a box of ammo through 10 different guns; I shoot 10 boxes of ammo from one gun. For me, less has been better. I have made real improvements and developed new skill-sets as a result of shooting more from fewer guns. I don’t take a truck load of guns to the range anymore; because I don’t own a truck load of guns anymore.
I had a whole bunch of dissimilar firearms, many that I am not sure what I was thinking about at the time of purchase. I had waaaay too many different platforms, calibers, ect. I ended up with a cool ‘collection’ of spiffy toys that mostly sat there and looked good. I had 20 or so firearms that had not been shot in the last ten years. All guns I bought over the course of a half a lifetime for various reasons that I now do not (and probably never did) have a need or use for.
I’m consolidating. I’m selling. I’m trading. I’m not keeping anything that doesn’t have a very specific purpose. I’m slowly getting rid of guns that just sat in the safe and are not relevant to my new focus. The money from the sale of these orphans is being used for schools/training, purchasing ammo & gear, and on a few guns for redundant back-ups.
Usually 3. My carry guns and the AR. If I’m not shooting the AR, I only shoot the M&P.
If I have a guest I bring a loaner.