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Lousy Range Day with 9mm

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rs525

rs525

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Dec 14, 2021
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UGGGH. Just came back from the range with my three 9mm pistols and it stunk today. I found out the range I go to has some falling metal plates so I decided to try those. I brought my Hi Power, Beretta 92FS and Glock 17. I had 250 rounds of Southern Munitions remanufactured 124 FMJ. Well shooting at the plates turned out to be a big disappointment. I don't what it was today but it looked like I just wasn't hitting the plates. Only a handful of times did the plates actually fall down. It could have been any number of things:
Me (missing the plates completely), the ammo (is reloaded ammo inherently more inaccurate compared to new factory ammo?), the guns just not hitting where I'm aiming, or the plates themselves just bad and not falling down like they're supposed to? They were also surrounded by metal so I could not tell if I was hitting them or the metal barrier.
Also, something might be up with my Glock trigger and its reset because once I accidentally double fired it. Before any of you get upset, nobody was hurt, nobody else was at the range and suprisingly no range officers came over to investigate. So yeah terrible day at the range. Let me know any of your thoughts for any improvements or if I just had an off day.
 
Zero clue about your ammo choice or your aiming ability..

However, Its been my experience that 9mm and steel equals aim near the top.
 
Get an idea where they're printing on paper first, say 7-10yds. My range has 25yd plates and I can hit them consistently with my little LCP MAX 380 and knock them over. Once you're grouping well on paper then move to the plates. Recently did that with a Ruger Wrangler Birdshead, it was shooting a bit low at ~7yds and at 25 yds I was missing a bit, found out I had to aim about halfway up the plates to near the top of the plates in the 1 o'clock position to hit the plates at all, it's a fixed sight gun so I had to "dial it in". I shoot a lot of Glocks so my advice there is just to be very aware of the trigger in terms of if it has reset or not, chances are you came out to the point of reset (which is correct) but thought perhaps you came all the way out so when you took up the slack, there really was none so it fired....I've done it when I was getting used to the Glock trigger system. Also some days are simply better than others, some days we don't shoot that well, others we do. I have no issues most days, but we all have bad days.
 
What I've noticed over the decades at various shooting facilities. The 50Yrd line is the least utilized. The closer the target distance the more that distance is utilized. For myself past the mid point of my seventh decade 10Yrds and under is what I shoot on a regular basis. Gone are the days that I shoot 50Yrd line targets.
 
I usually start a range session puttin some 5 or 10 rounds groups at the paper, at the 10 yards distance, more or less.
I shot at a full white paper target; I shot the first round "randomly" and then I aim flush at the hole. That way I'm sure exactly where the pistol is firing. If the subsequent hits go into the first, it means that the round/sights combination is perfect, if the hits go lower it means that I have to use a combat hold, if the hits go higher then I have to use a six o'clock hold and so on. I usually repeat the procedure two or three times firing each time in a different area of the white paper target. If I have brought different types and brands of ammunition with me, I repeat the procedure for each type of ammunition. Once I understand the round/sights hold, then I can start having fun.
 
Surely I can't be TOO alone with the "Today, I just sucked" problem...
I try and get in some range time weekly, and bring various platforms just to spice things up. But there've been one or two occasions when, after only a few rounds, I noticed that I just wasn't hitting where I wanted. I think of it like a constantly-touring musical band: You know the songs inside and out, and play them day after day... but sometimes, well... ya just SUCK. Coming in late, or early; just not being in tune (even though you KNOW your axe is tuned right!); or flubbing lines. Being human can kinda suck sometimes.

I left early, called it quits for the week... and everything was fine the next time around.
 
If I really stink at the range I usually figure it is me. Everyone is different but if I go a while without shooting my handguns I have to go back to basics & break bad habits again. The thing I always seem to fight is wanting to milk the grip (tightening my grip while pulling the trigger). I have shot a 5 shot group at 25 yards then when I checked my target I had one round perfect dead center & 4 rounds low all touching. Extremely frustrating. If I catch myself doing that crap I spend a little time dry firing in the evenings to reinforce good habits & break myself out of it. It usually gets me out of it until I get complacent & it pops up again.
 
Me too. Some days I suck. I'm not concentrating, or too tired, or not feeling well, or whatever.

The next day will be better.
 
Throwbackguy said:
Surely I can't be TOO alone with the "Today, I just sucked" problem...
I try and get in some range time weekly, and bring various platforms just to spice things up. But there've been one or two occasions when, after only a few rounds, I noticed that I just wasn't hitting where I wanted. I think of it like a constantly-touring musical band: You know the songs inside and out, and play them day after day... but sometimes, well... ya just SUCK. Coming in late, or early; just not being in tune (even though you KNOW your axe is tuned right!); or flubbing lines. Being human can kinda suck sometimes.

I left early, called it quits for the week... and everything was fine the next time around.
Click to expand...

You’re definitely not alone. Even the best have off days. Just look at elite athletes. Sometimes you can eat well, hydrate properly, get a full night’s rest, and your brain and body are still just in a foul, uncooperative mood the next day. Downsides of being human.
 
We all have our good and bad days. You learn something from all of them, especially the bad ones, if youre paying attention and not beating yourself up too much over it. Learn from it and move on, dont worry over it. ;)

Keep in mind too, good enough, is good enough, unless youre one of those unrealistic perfectionists, who insist that only tight little groups at any distance are acceptable.

Shooting tight little groups simply mean you're shooting too slow. Besides, good dispersion in the general vicinity of POA tears up more stuff. :)
 
Tallball said:
Some days I suck. I'm not concentrating, or too tired, or not feeling well, or whatever.
Click to expand...

Same here. Sometimes I think I just lose focus. Generally tho, after a while I get serious, go back to the basics and I see things improve. Then there's those days when I impress even myself. But those are few and far between. At my personal range, down at the cabin, I find it helps to put a small "bullseye" on my steel gongs. Instead of aiming at the whole plate, it makes you aim at the center. The "aim small, miss small" thing. You have to remember to pick a spot.
 
Mike J said:
If I really stink at the range I usually figure it is me.
Click to expand...
As do I.

But I try to console myself by considering I’m shooting at a relatively small target at a considerable distance with accuracy adequate for self-defense.
 
Do you flinch? How can you tell? If you are dry firing and see no sign of a flinch, that's promising. But the mind is a sneaky thing. If you know you're going to fire real ammo you may flinch without knowing you're going to do it. The best way I've found to detect a flinch for myself or other people is to shoot revolver with only 2 or 3 rounds loaded in it. Click, click, BANG, click, BANG, click. What if you do flinch? The best therapy for that is to shoot a .22 a lot. Or an air pistol. Shooting an air pistol has helped me a lot.
 
Flinching is a thing I'm constantly fighting myself, especially when I'm cold and just getting the first rounds down range. Not saying you do, just that it is a factor with a lot of shooters. I would put the pistols and ammo on a solid bench and group at the desired range. Once zeroed in and group size is satisfactory, all that's left is controlling the human off-hand induced dispersion.
 
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