I debated for a while to ask this by round count or by occurrence. After all, wouldn’t the guy firing 500 rounds in one day of shooting get more experience shooting than a guy who goes three times and only shoots 100 rounds each time? But my reason for this thread is to actually see how frequently other people get out and shoot. I’m going to try and not make this post a humblebrag, but I have to relate it to the forum somehow and that may be the only way I know of.
There is so much discussion on this forum about such trivial things like muzzle devices and lube that it boggles the mind. No one asks shooting related questions anymore. After reflecting about this, I looked back on times I have been obsessed with the latest and greatest and I noticed a significant correlation between times I was not shooting and times I was “upgrading” my rifle. I’m sure there are some folks who buy rifles just to have them - not get proficient. These guys never plan on shooting their rifles hard and they don’t want to. But I think most guys tell themselves they shoot hard, which is why they want the latest and greatest, but rarely have the opportunity/want to. This leads to a disconnect where folks are upgrading their rifles with things that are not based on any experience and lead to an abundance of really stupid questions on the forum.
When people ask what type of buffer tube has the better finish my curiosity gets piqued. Because someone who’s shot an AR alot knows that buffer tubes get scratched up from normal use. Why would anyone care what the finish looks like? I don’t want to make this about me, but I shoot all the time, whether it’s good for me or not. And I realized that the more I shot, the less I cared about my flash hider or how many ounces my sling swivels weighed. Does that apply to others as well?
I shoot twice a week. If it’s pistol shooting, 200-300 rds a day. Carbine, 100-200. .22LR, 300 at least. Bolt gun, 50-100.
For close range stuff I’m always using a shot timer and trying drills so I can get the most use out of my time and ammo. For bolt gun, most of my time is load development these days.
I chuckle sometimes when I read how much time, effort, and money goes into shaving a few ounces off a gun, or someone griping about their upper having a finish that doesn’t perfectly match the lower. My ARs are both behind the times when it comes to having the “latest and greatest”, but they work for me. I do work them when I go shoot. However, I don’t shoot more than a couple times a month anymore. I’m a retired cripple and have all the time in the world to go shooting. (No job) Just can’t afford the ammo like I used to be able to. Yes, I can buy some ammo, just not as much as I’d like, and something keeps telling me to keep as much of it as I can…
Gee, I’m so confident in the great positive future we have in store…
I hope my post didn’t come across as condescending toward those unable to shoot frequently. That was not my intent. There have been many times I am unable to go for a while, and there will be many more in the future.
But I don’t feel sorry for people who say they can’t afford ammo to go to the range when they’ve got a $2,200 LWRC. (Not directed toward Maximus) If people put half as much effort into shooting as they do researching comps they would end up saving money in the long run and becoming much more confident and proficient with their equipment.
It took me a long time to figure out that I wasn’t nearly the gun guy I always thought I was. I got into this from a love of shooting. Now I’ve pared down the collection and shoot a lot more.
I voted for 2-3 times a month as that is what it averages out to during the past two years. When personal/work life balances it can be brought up to one or more times each week.
My last range session reminded me I am not shooting nearly enough…a huge dropoff in my ability even to hit a paper target from a bench from when I was going to the range once or twice a week. Shooting skills truly can diminish.
I voted 2-3 times per month. That’s roughly my average between sanity trips to get some rounds fired off, testing of revised gun configurations, and various competitions. For me, my main limitation is just range access. Living in the city, I’m limited to primarily indoor ranges of 25 to 50 yards and bench/standing shooting only. There are some sportsmen clubs locally that have general purpose bays that allow movement, multiple targets, drawing from holster, etc. but those facilities are members only and some are quite expensive. Having said that, there is one that’s fairly close to my house and is reasonably priced with no wait time for new members. Once that gets ironed out, my shooting will likely be able to be ramped up (until winter, at least).
I have found a strong inverse correlation between how much I shoot and how much I care about “upgrades.” But I also find that shooting reveals any defects in what I have, and sometimes prompts me to do useful upgrades and ditch things that don’t work as intended.
I’ve also found that amateurs like me and my shooting buddies generally underestimate the importance of getting a really good zero, tested at multiple distances, or of making sure that all the cool accessories they bought actually work together. Someone with a factory stock rifle and a really good zero can shoot much better than someone with an awesome gear setup and nothing tested out and debugged.
I think people also overemphasize the “true 1x” question in 1-4x scopes. I just shot a 9 stage competition with a 1-6x scope and I found that I used 6x on four stages, intermediate settings on eight stages, and 1x on only two stages. For me at least, a true 1x isn’t truly needed beyond about 10 feet, and isn’t useful beyond maybe 5-10 yards. YMMV of course.
Actually, I find that the more I shoot, especially in competitions, the more I care about weight and balance. An excessively heavy and front-heavy gun is a pleasure to shoot slowly at a bench, but a dog to shoot in two-gun style competition.
I voted Once a week or more. Depends on my work schedule and other factors but at least once a week. I keep a log of number of rounds fired for each firearm I own, date, weather conditions etc. I fire on average anywhere from 200 to 500 rounds each secession sometimes more. I don’t shoot from a bench but from prone, kneeling, sitting and standing at varying ranges from 25 to 300 yards and out to 500 if I have the M1A. I also shoot at targets on the move in the woods at stationary, pop-up and moving targets at varying & unknown distances. The woods walk targets are changed often so you never know where they are. Most of my shooting is with an AR but also shoot AK, FAL, M1A. I don’t shoot handgun as much, yeah I know I should shoot it more but my rifles won’t let me.
In the winter time I go to my local indoor range once a week, I usually put 100-150 rounds thru my AR and 200-300 rounds thru my 9mm pistol each trip. Maybe once per month I will bring my 38spl wheel gun and 22wmr pistol and shoot a box of ammo thru each of them just to keep them from sitting. In the spring/summer/fall I usually make it to the range twice a month to shoot, sometimes more depending on my free time. I drag race cars as a hobby so I dedicate more time to that during the spring and fall as its usually prime weather to be at the track.
I put down 2-3 time a month but sometimes I get lucky and go more often. I’ve been visiting my folks and my dad and I have been blasting every few days or so.
I’m lucky enough to shoot 2-3 times per month, on average. I agree with Euro that the more I shoot and clean guns the less I fiddle with upgrades. I try not to buy anything until I’ve considered the upgrade through a couple of shooting sessions. I also find that the more I dry fire (mainly handgun) the better my shooting sessions. I’ve always been surprised by the number of guys who either don’t know their zero or have never zeroed their gun.
When I do shoot, I alway confirm zero, then do stuff like positional shooting, target transitions, dot drills (with a precision rifle), etc. I thought I would enjoy handloading ammo but it turns out doing stuff like ladder tests and chrono work drives me bonkers. I also don’t shoot for groups - that to me is also boring.
On average, I get trigger time 2-3 times per month. However, the type of shooting usually breaks down like this:
Indoor range - typically 2-3 times a month with 100-200 rounds per trip. It is close to my house so it is the most convenient. Plus, I’m a member there so no range fees to pay. I’ll usually work on pistol accuracy, trigger control/manipulation, and reloads. On occasion, I’ll bring the SBR but that is usually just to make some noise.
Outdoor range - 2-3 times per year with 100-200 rounds per trip. A much further drive for me so I don’t get to this range often. When I do, I’m confirming zero on my rifle optics / sights and shooting distances from 50 to 200 yards.
BLM Land - 1-2 times per year with 500-1,000 rounds per trip (pistol & rifle). This requires the most planning and is the farthest for me. So, I bring a lot of rounds and work on shooting on the move, transitions, engaging multiple targets, speed, accuracy, manipulations, reloads, etc. Basically, all the stuff you can’t do at the square range.
I really wish I had a ranch or private acreage like some of you lucky dudes out there. It would be awesome to go out back to get some shooting done and not have to deal with stupid range nazis watching your every move.
